Deputy Prime Minister Khusnullin announced his unwillingness to work with some regions

In his opinion, it is necessary to enlarge the Russian regions, as well as revise the approach to the territorial-administrative division of the country.

"We don't need 85 regions. I don’t want to deal with the Jewish Autonomous Region - I don’t want it in terms of labor costs. It must be connected either with the Khabarovsk Territory, or with some other. Or Kurgan. Why should the Kurgan people live worse than the Tyumen people, but they live 190 km from each other? Some have oil revenues, others do not", - said the Deputy Prime Minister during the round table "Home, Road, Habitat: Development Scenarios, Challenges, Expectations, Risks" at the Higher School of Economics.

In addition, he is sure that the current principle of territorial-administrative division is incorrect.

"We have to go to the agglomeration - the points of growth in our agglomeration, removing administrative divisions from them. Why can't we create an agglomeration today? Administrative division interferes", - said Khusnullin.

The Deputy Prime Minister explained that it is necessary to regulate budget rules not on an administrative basis, but to define territories with one tax base. He specified that 21 major agglomerations of three thousand strong points, including the countryside, can become the basis for development.

In turn, the head of the Jewish Autonomous Region Rostislav Goldstein, in response to the Deputy Prime Minister's words, indicated that the issue of uniting the region entrusted to him with the neighboring Khabarovsk Territory can be decided exclusively by the residents themselves, and Khusnullin's opinion has nothing to do with it.

"Issues of unification or non-unification can only be raised by our residents, and they will decide regardless of the personal opinion of Marat Shakirzyanovich Khusnullin", - quotes the words of Goldstein RIA Novosti.

He added that the Deputy Prime Minister's statements came as a surprise to him.

"It is quite unexpected to hear from a high-ranking official of the federal level about the unwillingness to deal with a specific region, namely the Jewish Autonomous Region. Such issues are resolved at the level of the country's president and prime minister. It is easy to work with economically developed territories, the Jewish Autonomous Region is a complex subject, efforts must be made here", - the governor is sure.