Matvienko advocated the enlargement of the regions

Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko announced the need to enlargement of the regions. This was reported by TASS with reference to the statement of the head of the upper house on the air of the NTV.

“There are subjects of the Federation who are definitely not viable independently for objective reasons, and not because there are bad governors,” the agency reports Matvienko. The enlargement of the regions in the presence of "economic, investment and other justifications," said the speaker, "improving the quality of life" in objectively "non -viable" subjects of the federation.

According to the head of the upper house, now is the time to solve the issue of enlargement of the regions. “The country has a stable political and social situation,” the speaker explained. “We can afford to carry out those reforms today.”

At the same time, Matvienko did not specify which regions, from her point of view, are "non -viable."

In the originally operating version of the Russian Constitution, the number of constituent entities of the Federation was 89. However, in 2003-2009, the number of regions was reduced to 83 due to the abolition of the six autonomous districts: Komi-Permyak, Ust-Ordinsky and Aginsky Buryat, Evenki and Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets). The enlargement of the regions caused an ambiguous reaction; So, in Buryatia they criticize the abolition of the Buryat autonomous districts in the Angara region and Transbaikalia.

After the annexation of Crimea in the spring of 2014, the number of subjects of the Federation listed in the Constitution increased to 85 due to the inclusion of the "Republic of Crimea" and Sevastopol in their composition. However, the international community, as well as consistent representatives of the democratic opposition in Russia itself, does not recognize the annexation.