VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
“Obsolete equipment must be replaced by efficient high-tech vehicles. I am referring to new rail locomotive models, commercial vehicles, buses, trolleybuses, trams and shuttle minibuses, which should meet the modern requirements of safety, comfort and environmental protection.”
“What we actually need is an efficient and transparent market of railway operations that would be immune to such artificially created problems as a shortage of rail cars. <…>We need a system that can ensure the coordinated work of the carrier companies and the availability of trains for customers. The transportation fares must be adequate – on the one hand, they should provide operators with enough resources for investment and development, and on the other hand, they should not constrain economic activity in other industries, and across the country.”
“I can tell you that we plan to attract 1.5 trillion roubles of private investment into the building of new roads by 2020. We should use leasing more actively, issue bonds to finance projects and use other investment tools. We will sign concession agreements and life-cycle contracts in road-building, when the contractor is economically interested not only in building a road, but also in doing so at reasonable prices and with a high quality of work so that the road will last for decades.”
“We will continue developing the infrastructure of the Russian railways. In the past four years over 50 complicated tunnels and bridges have been built or renovated. Access routes to key sea ports have been expanded, high speed passenger trains have been launched. Dozens of railway stations have undergone a complete renewal. <…>And I think we should develop a state programme on high-speed rail operations. Given the size of our country, this would be a highly popular project, and very important for the development of our economy.”
“I am confident that the role and importance of Russia's transport industry will continue to grow. First of all, we need higher living standards and better quality of life, a more comfortable environment in big cities and small towns. That is impossible to achieve without modern transport services, which include – and I would like to emphasise this – affordable public transport. Second, our task is to provide the required infrastructure for rapid economic growth, development of new industrial centres and for extending economic operations to remote areas.”
“We expect that federal and regional road construction funds will accumulate more than eight trillion roubles by 2020. With these resources we can tackle the most challenging tasks. Within the next five to ten years we must upgrade every federal highway in the country. This goal is realistic enough, and I have no doubt that we can achieve it. Regional, urban and rural roads require particular attention. We must support the municipalities and regions.”
“As Russian Railways’ sole shareholder, the government will certainly take an active part in the implementation of the company’s social programmes and backbone projects. Let me recall that the federal budget allocates 40.4 billion roubles in 2012 for these purposes. Moreover, in September, we decided to provide additional support to the company: notably, it will receive an additional 40 billion roubles in order to implement its investment programme in 2012 and for capital repairs of railway infrastructure. The returns here will take the form of a better quality of transport services, lower costs for economic agents and, of course, for people, for passengers.”
“Today, Russia has a larger fleet of rail cars than the Soviet Union, but we still carry less cargo. And there are also problems of a clearly systemic nature. <…>Russian Railways itself must act in a more timely manner. The Tariff Service has been instructed to calculate an appropriate rate so no private company bears any losses. Russian Railways bears no losses, but instead operates with a profitability rate of at least 10% – and maybe a little more – somewhere around 15%. However, work must begin now.”
“The development of infrastructure in general and roads in particular is very important for any country, any economy and perhaps is an issue of prime importance for Russia. However, we can see that road construction in such remote parts of Russia as the Far East or eastern Siberia is also extremely important because once they are in place, they will have a multiplier effect on the regional development in general.”
“Developing modern infrastructure along the Northern Sea Route is a major objective. We are launching a comprehensive transport project designed to ensure the dynamic development and exploration of our northern territories, resolve vital economic and social challenges and create new production lines and jobs. <…>The NSR and its major harbours will be integrated with other modes of transport. We are also planning to upgrade river, car and railway routes and communications, northern airfields, airports and polar aviation. We are going to considerably expand our ice-breaker fleet.”
