Agenda: indexing social pensions, an action plan for developing nature-based solutions, a roadmap for expanding freight traffic volumes via international transport corridors.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Dmitry Chernyshenko’s report on the three-year action plan for developing nature-based solutions
Vitaly Saveliev’s report on a roadmap for international transport corridors
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Vitaly Saveliev at a 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
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin: Good morning, colleagues.
In my report to the State Duma last week, I noted that the incomes of the older generation remain under the Government’s close supervision. As of 1 January 2026, insurance pensions were increased. Now, we will index social pensions from 1 April.
The increase will affect more than four million people. These include persons with disabilities, orphans and families that have lost a breadwinner, as well as individuals who do not have sufficient employment record to qualify for an insurance pension. Payments will also rise for Great Patriotic War veterans, members of volunteer units in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, those involved in clean-up operations at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and other categories of citizens.
All necessary resources have been allocated to meet these social obligationsIt is important that the increased payments are delivered to people accurately and on time.
Let me turn to another issue.
Technological development and digitalisation are creating additional opportunities in virtually every sector of the economy and the social sphere. However, their application also places a significant burden on the environment and leads to more intensive consumption of natural resources. We therefore need breakthrough solutions capable of restoring the balance between the biosphere and the techno-sphere, as well as strengthening public health. The President spoke in detail about this at the Future Technologies Forum.
The issue of innovation was also raised in the questions put forward by deputies during the report to the State Duma.
Acting on the President’s instructions, the Government has started preparing the necessary framework for research into nature-based solutions. The core principles and criteria for classifying such technologies have been defined, along with the prospects and priorities for their development in Russia.
Mr Chernyshenko, please outline how work in this area is to be organised.
Dmitry Chernyshenko: Mr Mishustin.
As you have said, nature-based technologies are multifaceted.
Their application has an effect in various areas: medicine and food security, energy and spatial development.
Just last week, at the Future Technologies Forum, the President underscored that an accelerated development of the bioeconomy requires an up-to-date legal and regulatory framework.
At the President’s instruction, the Government has drafted a three-year action plan for developing nature-based technologies. Its implementation directly bears on the national project Technological Support for the Bioeconomy.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade, under the guidance of First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, is creating the necessary conditions for the rapid adoption of advanced scientific developments.
The plan comprises several key areas.
The first is research and development. The Kurchatov Institute has been designated as the lead scientific organisation, responsible for monitoring and evaluating the results of both existing and newly established scientific centres.
Priority areas include energy-saving and energy consumption technologies, as well as the development of new biosimilar materials.
The second area is building scientific infrastructure.
To accelerate breakthrough solutions, we will continue to develop our mega-science infrastructure.
This year, the Siberian Ring Photon Source in the Novosibirsk Region will reach its design capacity.
Six other mega-science facilities are also being created as part of the Federal Scientific and Technical Programme for the Development of Synchrotron and Neutron Research.
These include the PIK reactor in the Leningrad Region and the RIF synchrotron on Russky Island.
The third area is personnel training for the bioeconomy. At the plenary session, Vladimir Putin highlighted the importance of this issue. Mr Mishustin, in your report to the State Duma, you discussed this topic in detail.
I can add that today, five leading engineering schools are engaged in preparing personnel directly for the bioeconomy and nine universities are implementing projects under the Priority 2030 programme.
And a new trend deserves noting: as we have reported, biology has become the third most popular subject for the Unified State Examination, chosen by 18 percent of schoolchildren last year.
The adopted Government directive provides for a number of systemic measures to raise the quality of specialist training. These include developing new educational programmes, improving the professional skills of teaching staff and setting up internships for young researchers.
Together with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Ministry of Education, we will work on other tasks assigned by the President at the forum's plenary session. These involve establishing new cutting-edge engineering schools in biotechnology, expanding the federal project Professionality in this area, and introducing additional career guidance programmes for schoolchildren, with an emphasis on the requirements of biotechnology, as well as the development of specialised training in natural sciences, and an assessment of the adequacy of state-funded places in universities and colleges.
Mr Mishustin, we will shortly formulate our proposals on these issues, by the strategic session on engineering universities and technical colleges.
Mikhail Mishustin: This is a complicated and large-scale task. What is important is that we have the required scientific framework and competence for fulfilling it. The main thing is to consistently implement the measures outlined in the action plan. Please keep this matter under your personal control.
Now, regarding the systemic decision intended to ensure a balanced development of international transport corridors in the Azov-Black Sea, Eastern, North-Western, and North-South areas, as well as our strategic Arctic route – the Northern Sea Route.
The President has set the task of increasing transportation along these routes by at least 50 percent by 2030, compared to the 2021 level. This is a unique and major undertaking of utmost significance for expanding foreign trade amid sanctions and ever-new challenges.
To preserve a stable and favourable trend in this field, we have updated all ongoing activities and synchronised them with the new national projects, state plans and business investment plans.
To this end, the Government has approved an updated road map for developing the relevant infrastructure of motor, railway and water transport, and border checkpoints.
Mr Saveliev, please tell us in greater detail what you are planning to do.
Vitaly Savelyev: Mr Mishustin, colleagues,
Vitaly Saveliev at a meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
To implement the President’s May Executive Order, the Government has approved a roadmap for expanding freight traffic volumes via international transport corridors by 50 percent by 2030, compared with the 2021 level. The roadmap envisages transport infrastructure development within five main corridors: North-South, Azov Sea-Black Sea, North-West, North-East, and the Northern Sea Route.
The transport system will ensure sufficient capacity for transporting the forecasted foreign trade volumes by 2030.
In accordance with the forecast issued by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, the roadmap envisions that, by 2030, the export and transit of fuel and energy will grow by 25 percent on the 2021 level, agricultural products by 74 percent, and industrial goods by 24 percent.
To remove infrastructure constraints, we have started, again guided by the roadmap, to increase the carrying capacity of the Eastern Rail Network and develop rail infrastructure on the approaches to seaports in the Azov-Black Sea and Northwestern basins, as well as in the North-South sector.
We are overhauling and equipping key vehicle checkpoints on the border with China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. We plan to increase their throughput capacity and cut down clearance time for commercial vehicles to 10 minutes.
A pilot project to reduce clearance time is being implemented at the Tagirkent-Kazmalyar vehicle checkpoint on Russia’s border with Azerbaijan. The number of vehicle checkpoints with a clearance time of less than 10 minutes will grow to 55 by the end of 2030.
The roadmap envisions measures to create seaport infrastructure facilities in all basins. This work is to result in augmenting seaport capacity by more than 175 million tonnes on the 2021 level by 2030.
The roadmap provides for continued work on internal waterways. We are planning to finish the overhaul of the Gorodets hydroelectric scheme on the Volga River in December 2027 and the construction of the Bagayevsky hydroelectric scheme on the Don River in December 2028.
We are creating competitive conditions for freight transportation via corridors passing through Russia. We are promoting multimodal transportation, introducing digital services and E-seals, and studying opportunities for introducing unified cargo tariffs in several countries.
The roadmap and cargo base measures will be implemented as part of national projects, such as Effective Transport System, Infrastructure for Life, International Cooperation and Export, and Effective and Competitive Economy.
The roadmap has been synchronised with state industry-specific programmes and strategies.
The Government Commission on Transport, which I chair, will coordinate the effort to implement the roadmap.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Savelyev. The main goal is, of course, to increase the global competitiveness of routes. They are very important for ensuring freight haulage towards friendly states in South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caspian Region, South Caucasus, as well as the Persian Gulf and Africa. Please focus on this issue.
