Medvedev offers appointing a government official in charge of situation in Northern Caucasus

President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev, who announced today his Message to the Federal Assembly, said that the level of corruption and clannish rule in the republics of Northern Caucasus is "unprecedented."

In his opinion, it is necessary to have a person in the Russian government, granted with sufficient powers, in charge of the state of affairs in Northern Caucasus.

Mr Medvedev has also instructed the government to approve by 2010 a system of criteria for evaluating the overall performance of the ministries and departments in the region.

The event was live on "Vesti-24" TV Channel and covered by 387 media professionals, as reported by the "Gazeta.Ru".