Russia's President Vladimir Putin called on federal and regional authorities to minimize red-tape and bureaucracy in the process of helping those affected by the floods in the southern Kuban region, his press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.

Putin held a tele-conference with officials on Saturday to discuss the course of the relief operation.

"The president called for special attention to be paid to the need to minimize bureaucratic procedures and also not waste citizens' time in the process of issuing new documents to people who had lost them in the floods, and also speed up payment of compensation," Peskov said.

"The president intends to maintain control of relief work himself," he added.

The floods which hit three cities in Krasnodar Territory on July 7 killed 171 people and flooded 7,000 homes, causing massive damage to the gas, electricity and water supplies and road and rail links. Most of the deaths occurred in the village of Krymsk.