North Caucasus Federal Region created to control Chechnya

As is known in January 2010 Russia created the North Caucasus Federal Region with the aim of economically reviving that area, or so it said. Polish political analyst Wojcek Kurecki thinks that in fact the federal region was created for only one reason, to control President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadirov. The Russians believe that this politician is very independent, more so than his predecessors, and has destroyed opposition to himself and thus achieved stability in Chechnya. Therefore the Russian Federation has decided to establish a broader official structure above him to control him, the analyst thinks.

The question remains however whether subordinating the constituent republics to this new federal region will improve the situation there, which is very explosive and could go off at any moment. The Polish analyst thinks that Russia does not really need the North Caucasus except as a base for controlling the South Caucasus. Unless it controls the North Caucasus it cannot control the South Caucasus.

One very significant reason for creating a federal region in the North Caucasus is of course the forthcoming Winter Olympic Games in 2014 in Sochi. Russia is very much concerned about, and will do its best to secure the stability and safety of the Sochi Olympics.