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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday blasted the government’s feeble policy toward the development of the Russian Far East, saying that it had resulted in poor ties to the rest of the country, excessive rates of crime and corruption and a severe population drain. All these factors are directly threatening Russia’s national security, Putin stressed.

“The gap between the territory’s potential and the current depressive state of its economy and social sphere presents a serious threat for both Russia’s safety and its political and economic position in the Pacific Rim region,” Putin said at a Kremlin meeting of the Security Council, a statement from his site www.kremlin.ru said.

When speaking of negative trends, Putin cited the dwindling population and overwhelming imbalance between domestic production and foreign trade as chronic problems in the region.

According to statistics, some 274 people leave the region daily which has resulted in a 20 percent decrease in the population of the region in the recent 15 years.

"The Far East is poorly linked to the economic, information and transportation network of the rest of Russia. The region is using its natural competitive advantages, including transit corridors, very ineffectively,” Putin condemned.

Among other major troubles in the region, Putin mentioned high rates of both crime and corruption. “The territory’s economic field should be securely protected from the pressure of organized crime groups and corruption,” he pointed out

According to Putin, the existing problems of the Far East are rooted in the lack of a coherent approach to the strategic development of the remote region. Putin urged that a special commission should be organized for the region to propel its social and economic development. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov is expected to head the commission.

“The commission will receive the status of a governing body and may turn into a ministry for the Russian Far East,” the presidential envoy to the region Kamil Iskhakov said, a press statement from his office reported. “The three-stage strategy should be worked out during the first nine months of 2007,” Iskhakov elaborated.

According to statistics, the Russian Far Eastern District, covering 6.2 million square kilometers, has a population of some 7 million people. The territory has many valuable natural resources such as timber, fish, oil, gold and minerals but most of them are pumped out of the region to be exported abroad.