Mr Putin noted that the planned merger of the Perm Oblast and the Komi-Permyatsky Autonomous District was an initiative that came from these two regions themselves.
The purpose of merging the two regions is to create broader opportunities for their economic and social development and increase the effectiveness of the regional and local authorities’ work.
A referendum on the subject will be held on December 7, and if the merger proposal gets the majority of the votes, then the two regions will form a single united region – the Perm Krai – by December 1, 2005.