President Vladimir Putin: Alu Dadashevich [Alkhanov], I have examined the request that you made at the start of the month to be transferred to other duties. Today, I signed a decree appointing you deputy justice minister of the Russian Federation.
You have held the office of President of Chechnya since August 2004, and there has been much change for the better in Chechnya over this time. This has not been the easiest time for you in your work for Chechnya and for the country, especially in the Caucasus.
Much has been accomplished. I am confident that you will continue to do just as much for Chechnya and for the country as a whole in your new post – also not an easy one.
I also wish to inform you that today I signed a decree awarding you the Order for Services to the Fatherland IV class.
I would like to thank you for everything you have done for Chechnya and I hope to be able to count on your active work in the future. Of course, the achievements reached in Chechnya are the result of collective effort – the effort of the republic’s government, your team, and local officials – but they are also very much your achievements, the result of your work and your contribution to the common cause.
I would like to thank you for this and I wish you success in your new post.
Alu Alkhanov: Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for this positive assessment of my work as President of Chechnya. Over this time, I have done all within my power and possibilities to follow the state policy that you have defined, and to support and continue the course set by Chechnya’s first President, Akhmat-Hajji Kadyrov. This has been a policy of consolidating Chechnya’s society and achieving harmony among all its people.
Not only over the little more than two years that I was in office, but over these last six years in general, much has been accomplished. The greatest achievement, in my view, is that we have broken the backbone of Wahhabism and extremism. All institutions of state power are effectively functioning in Chechnya today. The republic is stable today, and this is not just the result of my work, of course, but is the work of many, many people, the work of officials and ordinary people, the work of the federal and regional authorities and the Chechen law enforcement and security agencies.
Chechnya has indeed taken on a whole new look over these last years, and most importantly of all, people there now have confidence in the future.
I think that the course you have set, the policy being carried out in the Chechnya today, will be continued.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.