Putin to discuss North Caucasus unemployment

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will host a meeting of a governmental commission on economic and social development of the North Caucasus Federal District on Tuesday.

Participants of the meeting will discuss the situation at the labor market and measures to increase employment, development of small and medium-sized businesses as well as implementation of investment projects, RIA Novosti reports.

At the moment the registered unemployment rate in the North Caucasus Federal District is 7.2% among the economically active population (the national average - 2,1-1,6%). According to the data of the International Labour Organisation, the unemployment rate in the district is in fact 14.3% (the average in Russia - 6.2%).

Unemployment is considered one of the biggest problems in the region since it contributes to the aggravation of the situation. The higher than at the national average, population density, as well as a large number of young people and predominant rural type of settlement make it harder to solve unemployment issues.

In 2011-2012, 36 projects will be implemented in the North Caucasus to solve the problem of unemployment. The state will provide guarantees for loans. The total investment for these projects will amount to 138 billion rubles. As a result, more than 14 thousand new jobs are expected to be created. Payments to the budgets is expected to exceed 20 billion rubles per year.