Agenda: the results of a working trip to the Far Eastern and Siberian federal districts, financing the Moscow-St Petersburg high-speed railway, Strategy for the Development of the Mineral Resource Base until 2050.
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Last week, we made a working trip to the Far Eastern and Siberian federal districts. We visited many major sites that are vital for enabling people to live better lives there and for the further developing education and healthcare. We visited enterprises that are making a meaningful contribution to the regional economies and to attaining the goal of technological sovereignty set for us by the President. We also discussed the demand for the current state support measures in the macro-region.
As per the President’s instructions, master plans have been drafted for Far Eastern cities. The heads of regions reported on their implementation in Magadan, Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. These plans incorporate initiatives that provide for upgrading the education infrastructure, healthcare, tourism and transport facilities, as well as the housing and utility sector. We will hold an in-depth discussion on the district’s urban development plans at a strategic session of the Government this autumn.
The regions are also working actively in many other spheres.
The Magadan Region is developing Mayak Park, a winner of the national contest for the best projects on creating a people-friendly urban environment. We visited it four years ago, when we supported the idea of the park and allocated federal budget funds for its implementation. Since then, the area has been transformed into a recreational space where people can enjoy a walk. There are visible improvements, but the park’s development is not over yet. Its embankment has become a popular destination for families with children who come there to take a walk and spend their time.
We inspected the results of removing sunken ships from the Nagayev Bay. Twenty vessels have already been salvaged, and another three are to be removed by the end of the year. This important work is underway within the framework of the General Cleaning federal project. Its goal is to remove ship graveyards in Russia’s Far East and, most importantly, minimise obstacles to navigation, improve the environment and renovate embankments. Nature is very beautiful there, and the creation of a modern infrastructure there helps attract more people to this region and encourage them to visit it, find employment and settle down there. We must obviously continue to keep a strong focus on these issues.
While in Magadan, we also reviewed plans to rebuild a fishing port. In fact, we discussed this project and the way it could be carried out four years ago. The Government has transferred titles to the hydrotechnical facilities it needs to the region. Of course, it takes several years to upgrade infrastructure sites of this kind. That said, it is instrumental that this project be completed, and we need to be more proactive in our efforts to draw businesses into it.
We also visited a fish oil processing and refining factory to see how it works. It uses cutting-edge manufacturing practices and makes products for the pharmaceutical industry, which have found their market in Russia, as well as in other countries.
Federal and regional funds tasked with supporting manufacturing are also there to assist Russian companies. In Khabarovsk, we visited a high-technology manufacturing site which has benefited from this funding and used it to expand its operations. This is the only power engineering plant in Russia’s Far East making gas turbines, centrifugal compressor sets, and turbine blades – one of the most sophisticated and complex technology products. This enterprise delivers its products not only to the Russian market, but also to the CIS and other neighbouring countries. It plays a major role in strengthening Russia’s independence from foreign solutions. It goes without saying that we must use all the existing mechanisms and tools, including the Manufacturing Development Fund, to make sure that it continues to benefit from this kind of support.
The Khabarovsk Territory has been paying special attention to improving its healthcare system. We visited a regional children’s hospital, which has used federal funding to erect one of its new buildings. It now has the everything it needs to offer its young patients state-of-the-art medical care. We will help it procure more equipment for the inter-regional child surgery centre, which operates within this hospital and serves children from the neighbouring regions of Russia’s Far East.
The Government will also be there for the region and will accompany it in its efforts to upgrade other essential social infrastructure sites, including by procuring tools and equipment.
We also visited the Far Eastern State Transport University, one of the biggest higher education institutions of this kind in Russia. It takes part in the Priority 2030 programme. This has enabled this institution to focus on developing forward-looking degree programmes and improve the quality of education on railway-related subjects. This has special importance considering that the logistic flows are shifting. Deliveries through Russia’s Far East have been increasing and the effort to expand the Eastern Operating Domain is underway.
In Novosibirsk, we delved into education-related topics during our visit to a research and educational centre, which has a mission to support pupils who excel in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, enabling them to acquire new knowledge. In September, this centre will have new buildings with cutting-edge educational infrastructure, enabling its students to learn and engage in scientific research, and also offering recreational opportunities.
The project to build recreational and educational buildings and renovate the dormitory was carried out as part of the effort to create a world-class campus in Siberia. In fact, we are creating an entire network of these campuses across the country at the President’s initiative.
In Novosibirsk, we also visited the industrial technopark in the Academic City. Its residents work on knowledge-intensive products and equipment, including for the IT sector, as well as healthcare, bio- and nanotechnologies, new materials and aircraft engineering. They help promote Russian goods and facilitate faster transition of our industries to Russian solutions, both in hardware and in software. At the President’s instruction, the Government will continue to create similar industrial, business and technology parks. The plan is to create at least 100 by 2030 so that companies could implement their innovations, ideas and developments faster.
The President also noted that it is important to improve our citizens’ air mobility and increase the intensity of air travel by 50 percent. We learned about initiatives to improve airport infrastructure in Gorno-Altaisk and other cities that we visited. These are crucial projects that will help boost passenger traffic, make travel more comfortable for people and cargo deliveries faster. They will ensure the country’s connectivity, which is also very important. It is necessary for all these projects to be completed within the set timeframes.
Colleagues, it is important to continue prioritising the improvement of the quality of life, economic and social development of the Far Eastern and Siberian regions. Please monitor the progress in the areas of your responsibility, with due attention to the instructions that have been issued and will be issued following the trips to these two areas.
Now, to the signed documents.
First of all, documents on improving transport connectivity. We discussed this matter at a dedicated strategic session recently. Among other things, we discussed developing high-speed connections between regions.
The President noted that these reserved routes would significantly boost the capacity of railways and propel domestic tourism and business activities.
A concessionary agreement on the construction of the first high-speed railway connecting Moscow and St Petersburg was signed in early July.
Just recently, we made a decision to include this project in the list of self-sufficient projects which will allow attracting up to 300 billion roubles from the National Wealth Fund on condition of repayment. The total amount of investment is estimated at over 2 trillion roubles. These funds will be spent on building required infrastructure, supplying high-speed trains and creating train management systems.
The new branch will stretch for 680 km, cutting travel time between Moscow and St Petersburg by half.
We expect that state support for building the first high-speed railway will accelerate the project and subsequently open more opportunities for an entire range of industries. It will also contribute to the dynamic development of industrial, machine-engineering, processing and other facilities. The project will give a serious innovative boost, help increase cargo operations, the number of orders; it will create jobs while the territories around the high-speed railway will be improved, for the benefit of people’s quality of life.
One more question. The Government has approved an updated Strategy for the Development of the Mineral Resource Base, and has extended the planning period in this important area by 15 years, until 2050.
In the context of modern challenges, Russia is vigorously modernising its industry. Factory capacities are being expanded in the regions. Advanced technologies are being created and implemented. Companies are launching production of a wider range of science-intensive products that have not been manufactured in our country until now.
It is important to fully meet the national economy’s current and future needs for strategic types of solid minerals, while significantly reducing dependence on foreign supplies. This primarily refers to manganese, chromium and titanium.
In his Address to the Federal Assembly, the President highlighted the need to focus our geological exploration on finding rare earth materials and other commodities that are crucial for the development of priority domestic industries.
We expect that the demand for them will increase significantly due to accelerated growth rates in the defence industry, as well as in the metals, chemicals, construction and other key industries.
We have updated our forecasts in the new strategy and set a number of key objectives envisioned by the target scenario. One of them is to discover new large mineral deposits. To this end, we will step up our efforts as part of the comprehensive study of territories, especially in the most hard-to-reach areas, including the Arctic and the Far East. Mr Manturov, you showed me a map of what has been achieved by our scientists and industrialists. A great deal has already been achieved. All we need is for our further plans to come true.
It goes without saying that we must rely on our own solutions in the field of subsoil exploration, extraction, and processing of minerals. We plan to offer businesses more attractive conditions for the development and implementation of such technologies.
Colleagues, the goals have been outlined. It is important to prepare an action plan without delay and begin implementing it in practice.
