As of January 1, 2013, the Russian rural population stood at 37.2 million, or 26% of the entire national population. Rural communities account for 18,717 (81.4%) of the Russian Federation’s municipal entities.
Measures to ensure the social development of the countryside are being implemented under the federal targeted programme, Social Development of Ru7ral Areas to 2013, which aims to increase the income and improve the quality of life of the rural population by improving the social and engineering infrastructure in rural communities. During the five years of the programme’s implementation, from 2008-2012, 190.9 billion roubles were allocated from all sources for the development of rural territories, including 41.8 billion roubles’ worth of federal-budget funding. Actual funding volumes from regional and local budgets totalled 71.7 billion roubles, as well as 77.4 billion roubles from extra-budget sources.
The funding was used to improve the housing conditions of rural residents, including young families and young specialists; to build additional gas pipelines and water-supply systems; and to develop the network of secondary educational institutions, primary healthcare facilities, physical fitness and sport facilities, as well as culture and leisure facilities.
In all, 7.1 million square metres of housing were built and purchased using all sources of funding under the programme, including 3.5 million sq. m. for young families and young specialists. As a result, 97,100 rural dwellers, including 51,400 young families and young specialists, received improved housing conditions.
Under engineering infrastructure development projects, 24,600 kilometres of gas-distribution networks and 11,300 km of local water-supply systems were built. This made it possible to provide a centralised gas supply to 280,400 homes, and to increase the total gas and drinking water provision levels for the rural population to 55.8% and 59.1%, respectively.
Furthermore, educational institutions for 27,900 students, clubs for 3,600 people, 51 sport facilities and 332 paramedic-obstetric centres were built.
In 2013-2015, there are plans to spend 90.2 billion roubles, including 27 billion roubles’ worth of federal-budget funding, 42.8 billion roubles from consolidated regional-budget funding and 20.4 billion roubles’ from extra-budget sources, on the implementation of the federal targeted programme, Social Development of Rural Areas, of the priority national project, Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex.
In 2011-2012, 15.5 billion roubles were allocated in the Russian Federation for the construction of motor roads linking rural communities under the federal targeted programme, Transport System Development in 2010-2015. In all, 970.3 km of motor roads were completed, and paved roads were built to 442 rural communities.
In 2013, 10.1 billion roubles, including 7.4 billion roubles’ worth of federal-budget funding, are stipulated for motor-road construction projects.
Currently, Russia has over 27,000 rural schools, which account for 60.3% of state secondary educational institutions implementing secondary education programmes. Over 3.6 million children study at rural secondary educational institutions, which employ 416,000 teachers.
Rural secondary educational institutions received substantial state support under the priority national project, Education, and during the modernisation of regional secondary education systems.
In 2012, rural schools received 136,300 units of learning and laboratory equipment, 55,200 units of learning and practice equipment and 77,900 units of sport equipment. They also received, 300,400 units of other sport implements, 123,900 units of computer equipment, 39,800 units of medical equipment for school students and 56,100 units of school cafeteria equipment were received. In all, 72.5% of school students received textbooks and teaching aids.
In all, 3,414 institutions were renovated and 240 were reconstructed and overhauled prior to the 2012-2013 academic year.
Currently, 14,800 rural schools have 19,700 buses and other vehicles, facilitating daily transportation of students to schools and making quality education more affordable.
In January-December 2012, the average wages of teachers was raised in all Russian regions. The average wages of rural teachers totalled 19,455 roubles.
Currently, there are 1,148 hospitals and 2,587 independent and affiliated outpatient clinics in the Russian countryside. Furthermore, 1,700 central district hospitals, including 734 rural hospitals, provide medical assistance to rural residents. In 2012, there were 1,053 rural ambulance stations (their branches), including 787 ambulance stations at central district hospitals.
There were 13.1 doctors per every 10,000 rural residents, as well as 54.2 paramedics and nurses per 10,000 rural residents.
All Russian regions stipulate the development of visiting consultative services and intensive care assistance, including for children living in the countryside.
In an effort to make medication more affordable for rural residents, a clause allowing medical personnel of independent medical organisation divisions, that are located in the countryside and that lack pharmacies, to sell medication, upon the issue to these organisations of a license for pharmaceutical activity, has been added to Federal Law No. 61-FZ of April 12, 2010 On the Sale and Purchase of Medication.
Under Government Directive No. 2599-r of December 28, 2012, regional executive agencies have drafted and approved the regional action plans (road maps), Changes in Social Sector Areas Ensuring More Cost-Effective Healthcare.
In an effort to provide the most effective ambulance services to rural residents in small communities with a population of less than 100 and where there is a lack of paramedic-obstetric centres, work will continue on establishing household centres and on providing them with the necessary first-aid equipment and instruments and communications systems. In 2011 and 2012, 3,894 and 3,205 household centres were established, respectively.
The chain of paramedic and paramedic-obstetric centres and outpatient clinics continues to expand. Ambulance posts, daytime and general practitioners’ offices are being opened there.
Under regional healthcare development programmes, efforts will continue to improve the quality of material and technical assets at paramedic and paramedic-obstetric centres, outpatient clinics and general practitioners’ offices, and to more evenly distribute the population among regional medical organisations’ sphere of responsibility.In addition to developing the rural medical-organisation chain, there are plans to more actively use visiting services, including visiting teams of specialist doctors, mobile outpatient clinics, mobile healthcare centres, mobile fluorography and mammography laboratories, and others.
Under regional healthcare modernisation programmes, 7,758 medical specialists have been employed in the countryside. The programme will continue to be implemented in 2013, and over 4,000 doctors are to relocate to the countryside over this period.
The countryside has over 40,000 cultural and leisure centres, 33,042 libraries and 1,878 art schools for children. This accounts for 80% of cultural institutions in the Russian Federation.
Under the Government’s social standards and those for cultural and entertainment centres, Russian regions account for 55% of the required number of culture and leisure centres and for 60% of libraries being required by rural residents.
In all, 33% of rural cultural institutions’ buildings are in a rundown state, 30.5% of them are in need of overhauls, and average equipment wear-and-tear rates total 70%.
Currently, rural districts and rural communities have 578 auto clubs and 127 mobile libraries.
In all, the rural cultural sector employs 208,000 specialists, or 57% of the total number of cultural workers nationwide. Only 8% of specialists at rural cultural institutions have college and university degrees, and over 40% of cultural workers don’t have any specialised education.
In an effort to promote culture in the countryside, the following measures have been included in the federal targeted programme, Culture , 2012-2018, from 2013:
· Creation of a mobile system for servicing communities that lack libraries, with annual funding volumes of 30 million roubles;
· Creation of multi-functional mobile cultural centres in order to provide Russian citizens access to electronic information databases, including online databases, with annual funding volumes of 55 million roubles;
· Modernisation of rural cultural institutions, including the renovation of their material and technical assets and specialised equipment purchases, with annual funding volumes of 20 million roubles.
· Provision of specialized vehicles for rural communities, with annual funding volumes of 40 million roubles;
In addition, Presidential Executive Order No. 1062 of July 28, 2012, On State Support Measures for Municipal Cultural Institutions in Rural Communities and for Their Employees, stipulates, starting in 2013, 1,000 cash bonuses worth 100,000 roubles each for the best municipal cultural institutions in rural communities, as well as 1,000 cash bonuses worth 50,000 roubles each for the best employees of municipal cultural institutions in rural communities.
Under the state programme of the Russian Federation, Information Society, 2011-2020, there are plans to digitise up to 69% of rural communications networks in 2013 and to increase their share to 73% in 2015. Moreover, 93% of rural communities must receive telephone networks in 2013, and their proportion should reach 95% in 2015.
The rural sport infrastructure is developing under the federal targeted programme, Promoting Physical Fitness and Sport, 2006-2015. In 2012, 104,900 sport facilities, including 383 stadiums with grandstands for 1,500 spectators and more, 64,100 single-level sporting grounds, 27,400 gyms, 577 swimming pools, 35 roofed-in synthetic-ice sport facilities, over 1,000 ski bases, and others, were used to implement physical fitness and sport projects in the countryside.
In 2012, the Ministry of Sport financed construction of 108 facilities worth a total of 6.23 billion roubles. In all, an average of 30% of sport facilities that are built under the federal targeted programme are located in the countryside.
In 2012, 7.4 million people, or 19.8% of the entire rural population, engaged in physical fitness and sport on a regular basis. The nationwide average was 22.6%.
There are 84.2% of the necessary number of gyms per 10,000 rural residents. The nationwide average is 55.5%. The break-down for swimming pools and single-level sporting grounds is 4.1%/8.5% and 47.7%/26.7%, respectively.
Under the Unified Calendar Plan of Inter-Regional, All-Russian and International Physical Fitness and Sport Events, the Ministry of Sport, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Council of the Urozhai (Harvest) Voluntary Sport Society, has been holding summer rural sport games every two years since 1995. About 5.5 million rural residents are involved in annual physical fitness and sporting events that are organised as part of these games.
In an effort to involve specialists of the main rural professions in sport competitions, the programme of rural sport games stipulates competitions between machine operators, milking-machine operators and mowing-equipment operators. These competitions include various sport disciplines and elements of production activity.
Since 2003, All-Russian Winter Rural Sport Games are also held once every two years.
Rural territories have a powerful natural, demographic, economic and historical-cultural potential. The fuller, more rational and effective use of this potential may ensure sustained multi-sector development, 100% employment, as well as high living standards and quality of life of the rural population.
The creation of favourable conditions for the sustained development of rural territories is a long-term strategic state policy goal. The achievement of this goal will make it possible to ensure national food security, to make the Russian economy more competitive and to improve living standards of the population.
In 2014, rural social-development measures will be implemented under the draft federal targeted programme Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in 2014-2017 and until 2020. The programme is an instrument making it possible to accomplish a strategic long-term objective and to improve rural living standards and quality of life. Under the programme, there are plans to implement a range of measures making it possible to improve housing conditions of the rural population and to develop the social, engineering and transport infrastructure.