Mr Kozak informed the President about the ministry’s work. The ministry’s main task, he said, is to improve regional development policy in order to make relations between the different levels of state power – from federal to municipal – fairer and more predictable and transparent.
Commenting on this issue, Mr Putin stressed the importance of relations between the budgets at different levels and the development of taxation legislation.
Replying to a question from the President, Mr Kozak also reported on work in three important areas: preparations for the 2012 APEC summit in the Russian Far East, for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and construction of protective installations in St Petersburg.
Mr Putin also noted the importance of road construction. Mr Kozak said that large subsidies are being allocated this year to the country’s regions for this purpose.