Duma Deputy Kobzon: Crimea is a burden for Russia
People’s Artist of the USSR and Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Joseph Kobzon called the Crimea an unbearable burden for Russia at a meeting with journalists in Chita, NEWS.ru reported.
“We have taken on an unbearable burden – the Crimea. It is a native Russian territory but we fund it from our poor Russian budget. This seriously affects sectors like health care, education, culture and other important sectors,” the State Duma deputy from Zabaykalsky Krai stated. The artist emphasized the importance of the development of culture. According to him, few funds are allocated for culture in Russia today.
Joseph Kobzon believes that alcohol abuse, criminality and drug abuse are widespread in Russia because of lack of funding in the cultural sector. Kobzon also said that he would resign his parliamentary seat in favor of Russian actress Maria Kozhevnikova.
“I will not hide that I’m thinking of handing over the mandate to a younger representative despite the fact that it is my closest political region. I’m 79 years old and residents of Transbaikal aren’t my close neighbors,” Kobzon explained.
Last summer during his visit to the Crimea, Joseph Kobzon called on people to collect funds in order to help the peninsula in the health care sector. His comments, “it is better to help the Crimea than collect money for the treatment of children,” resulted in strong criticism on social media. In April 2015, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, presented the gold star medal of the Honorary Title Hero of Labour to Kobzon for his concerts in the Donbas.