Ilsur Metshin holds a meeting of members of the Association of Volga Region Cities

The meeting of the members of the Association of Volga Region Cities (AGP), dedicated to the 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod, was held today by the Mayor of Kazan, chair of the association, Ilsur Metshin. The participants discussed the issues of creating a comfortable urban environment, industrial waste management, and also proposed amendments to the federal legislation regulating the treatment of stray animals.

“An integrated approach is used by the municipalities for the improvement of yards and public spaces”

At the beginning of the meeting, Ilsur Metshin congratulated the mayor and residents on the anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod. After that, the participants proceeded to discuss the agenda, in particular, the issues of the development of the urban environment. Igor Kulyazhev, deputy head of the Executive Committee, reported on the experience of Kazan in this area. The heads of Samara, Saratov, Cheboksary and Nizhny Novgorod also shared their experience.

“The improvement of cities, the creation of comfortable and safe conditions for living and recreation of citizens, as well as new public spaces is one of our main tasks, - said Ilsur Metshin. - Municipalities actively participate in federal projects and regional programs, approve and implement their programs.”

Experts are involved in the development of urban improvement projects to control compliance with all regulatory requirements at every stage of design, I. Metshin added. At the same time, it is important to engage the population and young people in this work, to interact with the business community, attracting investments, the chair of the association believes.

Municipalities implement an integrated approach to the improvement of yards and public spaces, I. Metshin noted. Thus, to ensure the comfort and safety of citizens at public spaces, safe playgrounds and sports grounds are installed, the parks are equipped with modern equipment, a round-the-clock video surveillance system and provide access to wireless Internet.

“Preservation of the existing eco environment of the city, as well as the development of green belt is very important,”- the Mayor of Kazan stressed.

“Conducting the Dog census as an experiment and sharing our best practices”

The participants of the meeting also discussed the treatment of animals, including stray ones, this issue is relevant for municipalities. Deputy Head of the Executive Committee Iskander Giniyatullin shared experience of Kazan in this area. In his speech, he noted that the issue of stray animals is one of the priorities for the capital of Tatarstan.

The current federal legislation in this area is imperfect, the Mayor of Kazan reminded. This year, the city together with the Kazan State Veterinary Academy will conduct a so – called dog census, the Mayor noted. “We are conducting this work as an experiment and based on its results we will share our best practices on organizing the process,”- he said.

The control of stray animals is facilitated by the sterilization of stray dogs. Since July of this year, free sterilization and vaccination of animals has been carried out in Kazan at the mobile points at the urban settlements. However, this is not enough to solve the problem, the chair of the AGP emphasized. Among other things, it is necessary to make changes that will allow re-catching of chipped animals for annual vaccination. “We consider it necessary to come up with an initiative to introduce the proposed amendments to the federal legislation,”- I. Metshin said.

The issue of introducing amendments to the federal legislation on waste management was also discussed at the meeting– Igor Subbotin, deputy head of the Perm administration, made a report on this topic.