Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday...

"We would like to see the first results this year," Medvedev told journalists, adding that economic and social indices of the new district should at least reach Russia"s average figures and that the investment climate should be improved.

The Russian president announced the establishment of the North Caucasus district on January 19 and named Krasnoyarsk governor and former business executive Alexander Khloponin as deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the volatile North Caucasus. Analysts describe Khloponin as a "crisis manager" for the region.

Khloponin has headed the Krasnoyarsk Territory, a vast Siberian province, nearly four times the size of France, since 2002. His gubernatorial term was marked with a fast economic growth in the region and a visible improvement in living standards.

Parliament is still to approve the creation of the new administrative unit Khloponin will oversee.

So far, most North Caucasus tsars appointed by Moscow have focused

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