The first section of a new Grozny district named after Russian President Vladimir Putin has been opened. Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak attended the opening ceremony on Tuesday, which coincided with Putin’s birthday.
The total area of the district is 300 hectares, and it is intended to house 150,000 residents.
During the opening ceremony, Kadyrov described the district as a modern residential complex with wide streets, landscaped courtyards, and social infrastructure. The project plans include multiple schools, two cultural centres, a madrasa, a mosque, a sports complex for people with disabilities. Kadyrov noted that the project will create more than 20,000 jobs and provide infrastructure for a comfortable life for residents.
He also added that he intends to invite Putin to the official opening of the entire district.
In turn, Novak emphasised that naming the district after Putin was symbolic. He recalled that in 2004, Putin, together with the first president of the Chechen Republic and Kadyrov’s father, Akhmad-Hadzhi Kadyrov, decided to rebuild Grozny following the mass destruction that occurred during the two wars, a process continuing to this day.
The construction of the district is part of Grozny’s city infrastructure development programme. The new buildings are being constructed in the local ‘vainakh’ architectural style, which, according to Kadyrov, will become a new architectural landmark of the Chechen capital.
Earlier, pro-government media reported that the new residential complexes were being built with the participation of local entrepreneurs and business structures, who take part in the project as part of social and investment cooperation with regional authorities. Kadyrov stated that the district is a ‘business project’ through which local entrepreneurs can express their gratitude to Putin.
Separately, on Wednesday, Kadyrov reported that Putin had awarded Kadyrov’s daughter Khadizhat with a certificate of appreciation. She allegedly received the award ‘for active participation in the preparation and organisation of socially significant events’. Kadyrov added that he considers the award a recognition not only of his daughter’s personal achievements but also of the achievements of Chechen youth.
‘It is pleasing to note that, despite her young age, Khadizhat has already made a significant contribution to the development of her native republic. She has actively taken responsibility in various roles — from head of the preschool education department of the Grozny city administration to first deputy head of the administration of the Head and Government of the Chechen Republic for social affairs. She is distinguished by high professionalism, energy, ambition, and unconditional dedication to serving her people’, Kadyrov wrote.
Previously, Kadyrov told state-run news agency RIA Novosti in an interview that his three daughters, including Khadizhat, had left politics.
‘I thought and decided for myself that politics is not quite a woman’s business, especially in the Chechen Republic’, he said in the interview.
Elizaveta Chukharova
