Agenda: Implementation plan for the development strategy of the Siberian Federal District, results of road network development.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Marat Khusnullin’s report on the results of road network development
From the transcript of the meeting:
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
The President emphasised the need to focus on the development of Siberia in the interests of the entire country. It is one of the state’s priorities for the next period.
At the beginning of the year, the Government adopted a strategy for the socio-economic development of this federal district until 2035. Its main goal is to provide for sustainable economic growth and improve the quality of life of the people in the macroregion.
A plan for implementing this strategy has just been approved. The document was created on the basis of proposals by the Russian regions and relevant agencies in accordance with the national goals set by the President. It includes over 150 measures aimed at, in part, creating and modernising infrastructure and improving transport accessibility.
The measures include reconstructing and increasing the capacity of over ten airports and repairing major road sections. This is very important, given the growing popularity of the tourist sites in Altai and the Irkutsk Region.
In some regions of the federal district, a solid educational and research base has been formed; it is necessary to improve this so that our country can achieve technological sovereignty. The project to create the Siberian Circular Source of Photons will be finished in the next few years. Two world-class campuses will be built for the Tomsk and Novosibirsk universities.
The plan prioritises the creation of favourable conditions for attracting large-scale private investment using the cluster approach. We will implement investment and infrastructure projects in key sectors of the macro-region, including the mining and processing industries, agriculture, the oil and gas sector, and the tourism industry.
Implementation of the plan’s measures will make it possible to accelerate economic growth in these regions, to make the economy more competitive and to create jobs.
The next issue is roads.
Quite recently, we marked the professional holiday of the road specialists and workers. It has been developing dynamically in the past few years, and we are building new routes and motorways nationwide ahead of schedule. We have built and resurfaced over 10,000 kilometres of roads since early 2023.
Last week, the President took part in launching several new and upgraded projects in five Russian regions, including in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Dagestan, the Krasnodar Territory, the Sverdlovsk and Leningrad regions. They will have a major impact, primarily on the residents of these and neighbouring regions. They will make it possible to reduce traffic congestion on various motorways and to expedite local traffic. It is also necessary to provide all federal, regional and local routes with the infrastructure needed for road safety.
Efforts to reduce accident rates rank among the high-priority objectives in this sphere. That is why we organise the annual National Safe Roads competition for schoolkids. It is very important that children know how to behave near traffic from first grade on.
Mr Khusnullin (addressing Marat Khusnullin), the fourth such
competition ended last week. Please tell us about its results.
Marat Khusnullin: Mr Mishustin, colleagues,
Over recent years, we have gained good momentum in the development of the road network. We carry out this work in a comprehensive manner: we build federal highways, develop international transport corridors, repair thoroughfares as part of the backbone network, bring regional and municipal roads up to standard, build bridges and junctions, and restore the road network in new regions. This large-scale work is yielding results. Regional connectivity is increasing, travel time is decreasing, and road safety is improving.
As you have already said, more than 10,000 kilometres of roads have been built and repaired in the regions since the beginning of this year. We have paved 118 million square metres of road surface.
Our goal for the year is to build, reconstruct and improve 31,000 kilometres of roads, including 4,500 kilometres of federal roads and 26,500 kilometres of regional and local roads.
Thanks to the support of the President and your attention to the industry and advanced financing, more than 180 million square metres of asphalt will be laid in the regions this year, which will be a new record. Never before has so much road surface been repaired in Russia.
The Safe Quality Roads national project is a powerful driver of the transformation of the country's road network. The national project sets the goal of bringing at least 60 percent of regional and inter-municipal roads in each constituent entity up to the standards, as well as up to 85 percent of roads in major urban centres by 2030. I can say that we have met the targets set for 2023 ahead of schedule. We have already got 52 percent of regional roads and 81.2 percent of roads in agglomerations up to standards.
In implementing the national project, we are not only repairing roads and building new ones. One of the most important tasks is to improve road safety. I would like to note that thanks to the comprehensive work done in the first nine months of this year we managed to reduce the number of pedestrians killed in road accidents by almost five percent. In addition, the number of people killed in road accidents involving intoxicated drivers has decreased by 26 percent since the beginning of the year compared to the same period in 2022. We pay special attention to child safety. This is very important work, which allows us to save thousands of lives.
To solve these tasks, we are creating easy-to-use, reliable infrastructure for both motorists and pedestrians. We build pedestrian crossings on roads, install traffic lights and road signs. Educational work is also extremely important. It is necessary to inform adults and children from a very young age about the rules of behaviour on the roads. The Safe Roads national online competition, which is part of the national project, enables schoolchildren to reinforce this knowledge.
The online competition was held for the fourth year in a row. From 19 September to 22 October, it involved almost five million children in 1st-9th grade from 89 regions of the country. This is 500,000 more than last year.
I would like to mention the most active regions. These are the Ivanovo Region with 86 percent of pupils in 1st-9th grade that took part in the competition, the Belgorod Region – 72 percent, the Republic of Ingushetia – 71 percent, the Republic of Mordovia – 68 percent, and the Tambov Region – 64 percent.
Overall, over the years of the competition, more than 15 million schoolchildren have already improved their level of road literacy. Children's safety on the roads is our priority. Taking into account that every year traffic intensity is growing and the country's road network is expanding, the competition has proved to be a useful event that provides vital knowledge on road safety issues.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Khusnullin. It is wonderful that so many children took part in the competition. This is very important educational work. And of course, it should be continued. Thanks to it, children get a lot of useful information about road traffic, about the rules of behaviour, which will allow them to avoid situations that risk injury or death.
