More on Russia's Imploding Economy: The Transport Sector

One easy to see component that readily shows the state of a nation’s economy is the condition of its roads and overall logistic network, which is something one experiences as soon as the drive away from the airport or train station begins. Another is how well does public transit interact with them if at all. Then there are other components few people include in the transport sector since they aren’t directly involved in transport as these are warehouse facilities and customs portals. Yet without enough of those facilities located in the proper places, efficient commercial flow is greatly restricted.

The Blagoveshchensk–Heihe Bridge is a bridge across the Amur River, connecting the cities of Blagoveshchensk, Russia, and Heihe, China

We often forget that many more goods are in constant motion versus that of people and that the real reason for good roads, railways, ports, and airports, warehouses and customs portals and other support facilities is to facilitate the efficient movement of those goods. The USSR concentrated on industrial development but didn’t pay enough attention to its transport network, and after the ten-year Neoliberal Rape Russia and all former Soviet states were in very bad condition in all economic and social areas. Some like Ukraine never recovered and continued to deteriorate. Russia for example, never constructed its equivalent of Eisenhower’s Interstate highway system to facilitate the movement of military and civilian goods across the Outlaw US Empire, although it’s doing so today 70+ years later. The amounts of investment made into Russia’s transport sector is huge as you’ll read, and its planning period goes to 2030 and beyond in some cases. So, here’s Transport Minister Roman Starovoit to tell us the current situation:

R. Starovoit: Allow me to report on the results of the transport complex's work and our plans until 2030.

Of course, as for the whole country, our main task now is a special military operation. That is why we are working to ensure that the country's transport system operates smoothly and safely. And of course, we take part in humanitarian missions, regularly send aid to our children on the line of contact, to our new regions and to those who live in the borderlands. In these circumstances, our task is to make sure that the enormous funds allocated by the Government of the Russian Federation for transport on your instructions are spent efficiently. We traditionally show close to 100 percent box office performance.

By road: of course, we also work in new regions. A ten-kilometer section of a four-lane road has been introduced in the Donetsk People's Republic. The long-awaited opening of the Tver bypass was more than 62 kilometers, thus completing the construction of the new M-11 Moscow – St. Petersburg highway. And also a long-awaited object in the Moscow region, 11 kilometers away, is a bypass of the village of Oktyabrsky on the M-5 Ural highway. This, by the way, is part of your assignment to build city bypasses.

Starting from 2022, about three trillion rubles will be allocated to highways. [Overall Russian budgets from 2022 through 2024 were 75 Trillion rubles.]

Aviation: the construction of the platform and auxiliary infrastructure of Yelizovo Airport, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, has already been completed.

Vladimir Putin: In Tomsk…

New Tomsk Terminal building.

Starovoit River: Yakutsk – 3600 [meters] new runway, new terminal in Tomsk, Stavropol, Ulan-Ude, Magadan. These are iconic objects that, of course, are waiting for our residents of the country.

Despite all the difficulties in maintaining the flight fleet, we are performing better than in 2023.

Railways: Of course, the task is not only to build new lines, but also to create infrastructure for railway stations. The railway station in Mariupol has been restored, and the second track on the Kuanda – Kuandinsky stage has been put into operation along the BAM-2 line.

I think it is very symbolic that almost every day on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of BAM, a concession agreement was signed for the construction of the Moscow – St. Petersburg HSR, and we are also working on it. It's a very complex project, but we're still on schedule. I head the project office on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation, so I think that this line will be built on time.

On passenger traffic: As I have already reported, we transported 688,500 children in organized groups during the summer holidays. This figure is also higher than in 2023. In general, the Government of the Russian Federation provides almost 17 billion rubles in support to passengers of reserved and shared cars. And of course, this is a popular service, so we plan to stay within the same framework.

We see an increase in the transportation of containers, including containers from the Far Eastern Federal District. You, Mr Putin, keep this indicator under your personal control, so we pay special attention to it. The headquarters of the Russian Ministry of Transport and Russian Railways is open daily.

By sea: we have already opened a coal terminal in Primorye this year, berth No. 2 of the Murmansk Commercial Sea Port has been reconstructed in Murmansk, and the first start-up stage of the Pionersky sea terminal has been commissioned in the Kaliningrad Region. It is a very important object that allows you to increase both passenger transportation and ferry transport by car.

River: I would like to consult you a little later, but in general, limiting sections in the Yenisei, Moscow, Volga, and Ob-Irtysh basins have already been eliminated for 1,756 kilometers [for additional navigation]. We have increased river transportation by 13.5 percent, to 10 million passengers. In general, we have 101 thousand kilometers of river highways, and we occupy the second place in the world in this indicator.

Checkpoints are a very important part of your work, and you also keep them under your personal control. The Yarag-Kazmalyar checkpoint in the Republic of Dagestan has been put into operation; the works have been completed, a very complex engineering facility, 39 lanes on the Upper Lars with Georgia; and the checkpoints with our new regions. We have increased the ability to search passing vehicles many times over. In general, the capacity of the Russia – Azerbaijan border crossing points has been increased five times in recent years, Russia – China has doubled, and Russia – Georgia has also doubled. Your goal of reducing the screening time to 10 minutes by 2030 will be completed. On behalf of the Prime Minister, an additional 150 billion rubles were allocated for this purpose.

BKD – according to social surveys, the most recognizable national project, we are going exactly according to plan. And a little later I want to say that the BKD is being transformed into the national project "Infrastructure for Life". We have already done a lot of work with the Government in this regard. [BKD—Safe high-quality Roads: Безопасные дороги высокого качества]

Also, within the framework of the BKD national project, a large-scale renewal of public transport is taking place: buses, trolleybuses, trams. This, of course, changes the appearance of our cities. First of all, it is the convenience and safety of passengers who use public transport.

By 2030, we have formed two national projects under your Decree. "Efficient transport System" – there will be nine federal projects, as well as the national project "Infrastructure for Life" in the part of the Ministry of Transport. I have already said that the BKD will move to this national project, and everything is also structured and coordinated. In general, more than nine trillion rubles will be allocated to these two national projects by 2030. So thank you so much for this support.

Of course, such large-scale work cannot be performed without reliable personnel. Therefore, for the first time, a federal project for the development of human resources in the transport industry is approved. I would like to inform you that today the Ministry of Transport has 19 universities with branches, and more than half a million people are studying. I would like to thank you for signing the Decree on awarding the Order of Naval Merit to the Admiral Ushakov State Maritime University in Novorossiysk. Thank you very much.

And I would like to consult you, Mr President…

Vladimir Putin: I have a question: everything is fine on the railway transport, but loading is a little slow, how do you explain this?

R. Starovoit: Loading has fallen by four percent, but we saw that loading will fall by five percent, which is lower than we expected. There is a complex of reasons: subjective and objective. We are working on this together with Russian Railways, shippers, and car operators. Very difficult task. I do this almost daily. At the site of the Ministry of Transport, the headquarters works together with Russian Railways and carriers.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

R. Starovoit: I wanted to consult you. Of course, I am engaged in all types of transport, but we see that the river has been undeservedly ignored since the end of the 90s, and this is very much in demand, including in terms of passenger transport, interregional. Therefore, I would like to consult with you and inform you that we have formed the project "River Highways". Here we have five stages until 2030. This is the Volga-Kama basin. We involve the regions of the Russian Federation and provide them with assistance in order, as they say, to roll out routes.

Vladimir Putin: The potential is very good.

R. Starovoit: Very good, yes, it was undeservedly in the background. This year, we are sending about 150 million rubles to carriers in our pilot regions on subsidized routes.

And, of course, in addition to passenger traffic, we analyze the presence of berths in the regions. We plan to sign an agreement with the subjects of the Russian Federation who are interested in implementing this project, and it is also necessary to perform dredging works. We have purchased 18 dredgers. We are working on the construction of the Bagaevsky hydroelectric complex on the Don River, Gorodetsky locks on the Volga River. And of course, not only passenger traffic, but also cargo traffic should go to the river. If converted to tonne-kilometers, then approximately the same amount is transported by all road freight transport during the season. Therefore, the potential here is very large, and I would like to get your support to work more closely on this project with the Government and come back to you with suggestions.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Thank you. [My Emphasis]

A program of continual modernization is one main method of promoting domestic economic growth. Bringing all Russian roads up to federal standards is one part of the safe roads national project along with the construction of new transport arterials, many of which require bridges and tunnels. In previous reports, I’ve provided maps of Russia’s internal waterway transport system, which as noted is very extensive and isn’t used to its potential. Russian Railways has always been the big mover and will likely remain so, although the ports will eventually boast higher tonnage figures. The new bridge to China is the first, which I find amazing given the two nations volume of trade. Connectivity corridors are all the rage but weren’t touched on at all in the above talk. Tourism was also omitted. And the subject of the previous day—unmanned aircraft as a transport vehicle—was also not discussed. But even in the depth of the Russian Winter projects are being completed and started. The gem of Russia’s transport system as said by many are its many Metro systems, with Moscow’s being the grandest.

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