Agenda: Increasing the subsistence level, subsidies for investment projects in the Far East, support for handling equipment manufacturers, and the progress of the summer tourist season.
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Dmitry Chernyshenko’s report on the summer tourist season
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
In a May executive order, the President approved preserving the population, enhancing health and well-being, and supporting families as key national development goals. To achieve these objectives, it is essential to meet social obligations.
The Government has increased the subsistence level in Russia for the next year. Previously, this figure was determined by the federal budget law for both last year and this year. Now, it will be based on the median income, which is used to assess the standard of living in the country when forming the main financial document and preparing important social programmes and assistance measures.
Russian regions will determine their own figures, which will be used to calculate various types of benefits. These include payments to needy families with children and pregnant women, as well as pensions for those whose income does not meet the regional subsistence level.
Colleagues,
Providing social guarantees is our priority. It is essential that people receive the state support they are entitled to, promptly and in full. I urge you to ensure that this is monitored nationwide.
Another important topic is the Far Eastern Federal District. Following the President’s instructions, the Government is prioritising this region, with a focus on concentrating resources in promising growth areas.
To accelerate the socioeconomic development of the Far East, we will allocate additional funds to ten advanced investment initiatives that have successfully passed the competitive selection process. This year, over 9.5 billion roubles from the federal budget will be allocated for these purposes.
These projects encompass improvements to tourist infrastructure, transport connectivity, logistics, and food security in the country.
These initiatives include an agro-industrial park in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, a meat processing complex in the Primorye Territory, a cargo terminal in Nizhny Bestyakh in Yakutia, the new seaport of Sukhodol in the Primorye Territory, a hotel and business centre in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and a recreation centre in Paratunka, Kamchatka.
Additionally, these projects include mining, metallurgical, and gas chemical facilities, along with other necessary infrastructure to meet the goals set by the President.
With the subsidies provided, enterprises can cover the costs of electrical, engineering, heating, and transport networks essential for their operations. These projects are expected to create nearly 8,000 jobs.
For the period of two years, over 18 billion roubles are being allocated for these purposes.
We anticipate that this decision will attract private investment, primarily in sectors crucial for economic development, and improve the quality of life for our citizens in the Far East.
Additionally, we are supporting enterprises that produce lifting and transport equipment, which is essential for various sectors such as industry, construction, agriculture, mining, and others.
Purchases of certain goods and equipment for state and municipal needs are made from a special list. This enables companies to receive an advance payment of at least 80 percent of the contract value.
Now, manufacturers of passenger and cargo cable cars will also be eligible for this opportunity.
This measure will support organisations producing these products by boosting their working capital and expanding their capacity quickly. Overall, it is expected to have a positive impact on their financial and economic condition.
We remain committed to executing all necessary measures to accomplish the national goals outlined by the President. At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, the President emphasised that our country can and will increase production of goods, machinery, equipment, vehicles, and medicines.
A year ago, at a meeting on the development of tourism in the Republic of Altai, and later at the corresponding strategic session, we had a detailed discussion on the need to create Russian-made cable cars, lifts and other equipment like this; equipment that is necessary for tourism and travel in general.
Thanks to the decision made, the formation of high-quality and comfortable tourist sites throughout the country will become more active.
Moreover, the summer holiday season is in full swing. As the President noted, tourism in Russia is becoming a significant factor in strengthening the economic and infrastructural potential of villages, cities, and entire regions.
The demand for inbound travelling is also growing. Last year, our citizens and guests took over 80 million trips.
We have many beautiful and interesting places that people enjoy visiting. Unique nature, rich history. New destinations are being developed, and hotels and glamping sites are opening. Educational tours are gaining popularity. There are preconditions for various types of recreation.
We are doing our best to fully unlock the tourism potential of Russia. It is important to launch attractive routes, create up-to-date and high-quality accommodation facilities, and improve the level and quality of service. Special attention must be paid to training personnel for this industry. And, of course, we must actively inform people about available travel opportunities.
Mr Chernyshenko, please elaborate on how the summer holiday season has begun and is going.
Dmitry Chernyshenko’s report on the summer tourist season
Dmitry Chernyshenko: Mr Mishustin, you are right. Tourism in Russia is booming. This is one of the most dynamically growing sectors in the economy.
The President set the task of increasing the tourist flow to 140 million trips per year by 2030, and the contribution of tourism to GDP will be more than 5 percent.
Today the Government, together with the regions and businesses, have concentrated their efforts and resources on three priorities: increasing the number of rooms, expanding current attraction points and creating new ones, and developing the infrastructure.
The share of tourism in Russia’s GDP has shown constant growth since 2020. It is already at 2.8 percent. It should be noted that tourism as a sector has a multiplier effect on employment and production in 53 related sectors, including transport, construction, and agriculture.
It is also the main sector for some of our tourist-attractive regions, above all, South and North Caucasus federal districts.
Today there are over 1 million hotel rooms available for tourists’ summer vacations.
We continue to create accessible hotel infrastructure and, at your instructions, have expanded the programme for the construction of modular hotels. The regions have received money: more than 9 billion this year, and by the end of the year 18,000 rooms will be introduced. Of those that we financed last year, more than 5,000 are already available for our tourists’ summer vacations. Thank you very much for supporting the decision to expand this programme; it is in great demand.
The demand for recreation continues to grow. Perhaps, this year will see over 90 million trips. According to the latest data, over four months the growth in domestic tourist travel was 13 percent compared to last year, and the summer months are traditionally the busiest. According to tour operators, about 60 percent of tours had already been sold by June.
Traditionally, most tours are to the south, and they are sold due to early booking. On average, travelers now book their trips 1–3 months before departure.
We expect tourists to make more than 44 million trips across the country over the three summer months, which is almost half of the total annual amount of 90 million.
I would like to note that systematic work, including with Russian Railways, made it possible to extend the booking window from 45 days to 90 days in advance this year.
As for Crimea, the general planned number of train tickets offered in the summer season will reach 2.6 million, which is 4 percent more than last year.
The most popular summer destinations are traditionally the resorts in the Krasnodar Territory (64 percent of all bookings), Crimea (10 percent), Caucasus Mineralnye Vody (9 percent), followed by St Petersburg and Moscow.
The top 10 of the 2024 summer destinations also includes river cruises in Russia: Dagestan, the Kaliningrad Region, Kazan, the Altai Republic, and the Altai Territory. Also, children’s summer holidays are currently in full swing, with numerous tour routes organised for them, including historical and patriotic ones, to places of military glory.
You have mentioned human resources. Today, over one million people work in tourism. The sector’s growth requires an inflow of new personnel. As part of their training, a separate enlarged group of Service and Tourism specialties and areas has been envisaged in the national project. This year, about 7,000 state-funded places have been established for higher education programmes, while the number of state-funded places under secondary vocational education programmes will exceed 68,000. In tourism areas, admission is carried out in more than 100 universities and 1,300 colleges.
The admission campaign in all universities across the country kicks off on 20 June. We assume that the number of those willing to work in tourism will increase.
The Путешествуем.рф national tourist website informs our citizens about tourist opportunities for summer vacations.
I would also like to inform you that, according to your instructions, the fourth Travel! Russian tourism forum was held from 12 to 16 June at the International RUSSIA EXPO Exhibition and Forum at VDNKh. It included a large number of exhibits, a festival for citizens, and a business programme. Visitors could choose a trip to their liking and, what’s also important, get a discount and buy the trip on the spot.
In addition to this, later this week Moscow will host the first BRICS tourism forum, where a meeting of tourism ministers from various countries will take place.
According to your instructions, the coordination centre monitors prices for accommodation and transport services as part of the special project. We react promptly in case of deviations.
I would like to separately elaborate on tourism safety issues.
Starting 1 July, a new mechanism for regulating the activities of instructors and guides comes into force. The measures are aimed at improving the safety of people and the quality of tourism products. This is relevant due to a significant increase in active recreation.
So, we are creating all the necessary conditions for a successful summer tourist season at all levels of government, in cooperation with regions and businesses.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Chernyshenko.
Let me repeat once again that a major task today is to make travelling around the country even more comfortable and exciting, so that people choose vacations in Russia knowing about the opportunities that both state and private agencies can provide today.
For several regions, tourism is a driver. This sector has the largest coefficient of related industries, which grow around the creation of relevant projects, such as various service sectors, catering, and other tourism-related industries. Roads are being developed, too.
It is necessary to continue to take measures to stimulate this sector, focusing on people’s opinions and requests. This is the feedback the president has always said is the most important.
