Presidential administration's chief meets residents of Makhachkala

Today the head of the presidential administration, Vladislav Surkov, met residents of Makhachkala, who were asked to talk about their demands, RIA Dagestan reports.

The federal official said he sees positive changes in the republic and thanked the local authorities for their hospitablity.

"We pay special attention to the needs of the Dagestani people, who represent the Muslim community of Russia. Islam is a religion of peace and justice. We think the most important thing is to fight with extremism and religious intolerence," Surkov said.

"One of the most important problem in today's Caucasus is the emigration of the Russian population. One may argue about the reasons, but the problem remains. Russian people are leaving the Caucasus. The region is already experiencing the lack of Russian language teachers. My mother was a Russian teacher and I understand what I'm talking about," he added.