Agenda: Supporting businesses in the Kursk Region, summing up the preliminary results for the tourism sector during the winter season.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Dmitry Chernyshenko at the meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin: Good morning, colleagues.
I would like to begin with a landmark decision to support businesses in the Kursk Region. The President has been paying special attention to all matters dealing with the border regions, including the Kursk Region.
Most of the taxes and social security contributions were postponed last year and before that in an effort to reduce the burden on businesses. Entities located in specific locations within the region with the most challenging operating environment could benefit from these measures.
We can see that these measures remain relevant. This is why the Government decided to extend these preferences for one more year. We hope that businesses will use the funds at their disposal for fully recovering their operations within a shorter period of time. Importantly, we expect them to preserve jobs and income for thousands of households.
Let us now turn to another topic, tourism. The President has designated this sector as one of our priorities in the long-term national development strategy. This industry has a lot of economic potential in most regions of the Russian Federation.
Every year, we see that people are increasingly eager to travel around the country, including both Russians and international tourists. There is a very wide spectrum of recreational options. Those who adhere to an active lifestyle during their vacations can benefit from cutting-edge, well-equipped alpine skiing resorts, especially considering that we had so much snow this winter.
People who want to spend their free time in a calmer setting, while also learning something new and interesting, can also benefit from ample opportunities. They can visit small towns with their unique vibe, and also travel to bigger cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan and others, considering their lasting appeal.
Mr Chernyshenko, the winter season is coming to an end. Can I ask you to sum up its preliminary results? Please, could you elaborate on this point?
Dmitry Chernyshenko: Mr Mishustin, colleagues, the winter season in Russia starts in November and lasts until March. However, we can already say that domestic tourism has been steadily enjoying a high level of demand among Russians. According to our preliminary estimates, we expect to reach a figure of 33.7 million tourist trips, up nine percent compared to the previous winter season.
As you have said, alpine skiing is one of the main winter activities. During the previous season, over 8 million people visited skiing resorts, and we expect this indicator to increase by another 10 percent this year.
During the New Year holidays, most of the tourists travelled to alpine skiing resorts in the Krasnodar Territory, the Altai Republic, Sverdlovsk Region, where we saw a 55-percent increase in occupancy, by the way, as well as to the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and the Sakhalin Region. The mountain skiing resorts in North Caucasus have also been quite popular, attracting a total of over 70,000 people, up 18 percent year-on-year.
Apart from the popular resorts like Krasnaya Polyana and Rosa Khutor, Arkhyz and Sheregesh, people can now visit new ones, including Mamison in North Ossetia and Arsenyev in Primorye, which was launched last year.
Many resorts have expanded their ski areas. In this regard, I would like to recognise Manzherok and Belokurikha in Altai, Gubakha in the Perm Territory, and Snegorka in the Magadan Region. The project to develop Elbrus, one of the most elevated alpine skiing resorts in Europe, continues.
In keeping with your instructions, Mr Mishustin, we have been paying special attention to ensuring that tourists remain safe.
Cableways and airlifts benefit from thorough maintenance before the season begins. Skiing tracks are ranked in terms of their complexity, and there are also measures to prevent avalanches. Instructors and rescue workers have been deployed. This includes holding regular trainings on saving people in challenging mountain environments.
That said, tourists not only want outdoor activities in the mountains but also to attend all kinds of events our regions can offer them. There is a national portal, Путешествуем.рф, where they can find information about the most outstanding projects in various regions all year-around.
Of course, offering vacation opportunities to special military operation participants and their families is a priority. They could visit Moscow, St Petersburg, Sochi and other regions as part of the Leave No Man Behind national project and the More Than a Winter Fairytale special project.
Speaking of the overall trends in the tourism sector over the past year, the growth rate was slightly lower than expected, as we have already reported. This is due to objective reasons, including the situation in Anapa and restricted air service.
At the same time, according to the latest data, the number of domestic trips exceeded 89 million in 2025. By the way, there has been a substantial increase in inbound tourism, as you have noted, with 4.8 international tourists visiting Russia, up 15 percent compared to 2024.
We will sum up the final results for 2025 and report them to you in April. Overall, the winter season in the tourist sector has been quite calm without any serious incidents, which results from the systemic and coordinated efforts by our ministries, agencies and the regions. I would like to thank all our colleagues for that.
In addition, as you have said, there has been a lot of snow this year, which means that people who prefer outdoor activities can plan their vacations without any fears. The high season has passed, which makes these trips even more affordable and cost-effective.
Let me note that all regions, not only alpine skiing resorts, are eager to welcome guests.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you. It is instrumental that our tourism sector has the capability it needs to meet the growing demand.
This includes making advanced tools and devices the tourism sector needs, such as cableways, cabins, special snow-removal equipment and many other elements for creating and perfecting tourist infrastructure.
Therefore, of course, we must enable the tourist sector to offer adequate service quality and infrastructure for people regardless of their income level.
