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
“The regions should also create their own road funds. I’d like to emphasise once again that we will primarily provide assistance to the regions that set up these funds. We have drafted the necessary amendments to the Budget Code and are about to submit them to the State Duma. I’d like to ask the deputies to review the government’s proposals as a matter of priority. I’d also like to request that our colleagues in the regions promptly make all of the decisions necessary for establishing road funds.This will allow us to launch the new mechanisms for funding road construction next January.”
“It should modernise the existing system, remove the bottlenecks, fulfil the requests of oil companies to be connected to new facilities - deposits or oil refineries - and reduce the costs of transporting oil by using new technology <…>. All this is very important because we must build the necessary infrastructure in order to have a flexible and competitive market of oil and oil products”.
“Added together, an increase in known reserves, the development of new oilfields and enhanced yields at old deposits will allow Russia to maintain current production levels, roughly 500 million tonnes a year, for several decades to come. This will be enough to meet the needs of the domestic economy and to sustain exports”.
“Among the large infrastructure projects we are currently working, perhaps the most important is the completion of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline. It is already in operation - part of the pipe is ready. We are transporting it to the Pacific by rail, and a good port has been built. The leg from Skovorodino must be extended to the coast. The second extension of the Baltic pipeline system is also very important for us”.
“We are finishing the highway from Chita to Khabarovsk. In fact, this is an historic event for Russia. Russia has never been entirely connected by road through its territories. Until recently - 100 years ago, or how many, up until 1903? - in order to travel from European Russia to the Far East, people either travelled on the winter road in winter or on ships across the Indian Ocean. A railway was built by 1904, and this was because of an impending war with Japan. In Soviet times, another branch of this railroad was built as a result of deteriorating relations with China. And there was no highway at all. And now we are completing 2,500 km between Chita and Khabarovsk. And for the first time in history, Russia will be connected by roads throughout its territory - you'll be able to drive from its westernmost to its easternmost point.”
“We all understand that for Russia, with its enormous territory, the development of aviation and airports is critical. It is one of our top priorities, and we must address it in order to ensure the unity of Russia's territory and the Russian nation. Air transportation in Russia is currently booming. Passenger air travel has not only recovered since the crisis, it has exceeded the peak reached in 2008. In January-May, 2010 air travel increased by 32.3% against the same period of 2009. These trends are directly related to the growing capacity of Russian airports.”
“Another issue the new technical regulations will address is establishing a legal framework for introducing high-speed passenger service so that in the future administrative barriers do not hamper the design and construction of new lines. As you know, in addition to the line from Moscow to St. Petersburg, high-speed trains will start running between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg and Helsinki and, in the future, in other areas, for example to and from Smolensk, which will allow us to establish a high-speed railway connection with our major European partners. I have also instructed those responsible to look into the possibility of bringing high-speed rail to Siberia.”
“Progress has also been slow on updating the regulatory framework for electronic bidding and applying it to road construction. Finally, we effectively lack a mechanism that would ensure the stability and predictability of funding for road construction, while it is clear that the successful implementation of expensive and capital-intensive projects is impossible if the amount of funds allocated for the project can change at any moment. So, we need to more clearly define government and private sources of financing for infrastructure. This applies to both large, strategic construction projects and our ongoing maintenance commitments”.
“I would like to emphasize that infrastructure development must be accompanied by serious investments in safety. It is essential that we guarantee a new level of anti-terrorism security, fire safety and technical monitoring of the tracks and rolling stock. Under the plan, 4.5 billion roubles will be invested to enhance railway safety in 2010.”
“It is necessary to increase the capacity of our railways in Baltic and Pacific ports considerably. They should operate as effective logistical hubs. We're talking about the reconstruction of the Mga-Gatchina-Ivangorod line and the railway providing access to the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. We're also talking about and the Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Sovetskay Gavan line, which will help develop the ports of Vanino, Sovetskaya Gavan and some other areas.”
“In 2009, the cost of freight carriage was supposed to increase by almost 16%, 15.9%to be exact, but in reality it did not increase by more than 10.6%. This took a burden off the real economy during a difficult crisis year by cutting transport expenses. We will continue to keep tariff increases under control this year.”
“Our priorities here? First, we must concentrate on the development of high-speed passenger rail along the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod line and the railway from St Petersburg to the Finnish border. The Moscow-St Petersburg line showed that high-speed rail is in much demand. Second, we must continue building a railway to connect Yakutsk with the general railway network.”
“A large number of important documents outlining the future of the industry were adopted in 2008, primarily the Strategy for Developing Russia's Railway Transport up to 2030 and the targeted federal programme for developing Russia's transport network through 2015. <…>I would like to start by saying that these plans remain in place despite the economic difficulties we and the rest of the world are experiencing.”
“It was so important for us not to scale back our construction projects or waste the experience acquired while implementing major projects during the downturn in 2009. Government support to Russian Railways in 2009 amounted to a handsome 130 billion roubles. Reimbursement for lower freight tariffs added up to 40.5 billion roubles; 38.4 billion roubles went in subsidies for discounted long-distance travel by students; 41.5 billion roubles for infrastructure construction in Sochi, six billion roubles to build a detour around the man-made disaster area in Beryozniki, and three billion roubles to purchase railway carriages from the Tver rail car plant. In addition, Russian Railways saved almost 900 million roubles - 890 million roubles, to be exact - on import duties for Sapsan high-speed trains.”
“The Russian Railways investment programme for 2010 amounts to 270.5 billion roubles. The amount of support from the federal budget will even be increased slightly, to 140 billion roubles. In other words, the government is again taking on more than half of all expenses for modernisation and new construction projects. The government will allocate 50 billion roubles to compensate Russian Railways for the indexation of lower freight tariffs, 27.8 billion roubles to partially subsidise long-distance economy-class travel and 60 billion roubles for the construction of transport infrastructure in Sochi.”
“The processes of building additional generating facilities, development of distribution grids and shaping an energy market are closely interrelated. If energy deficit persists and getting connected to power grids remains a problem, what we are likely to get in the end is a "quasi-market" controlled by monopolies, while the interests of consumers, the economy, and the country are simply ignored. We must certainly prevent this situation and we are determined to do so. Our mission is to create the most favourable environment for growth.”
“Under the project, the plant's 10 hydropower units are to be replaced with new ones of the same capacity but with improved characteristics. They are to be produced by Power Machines under a contract estimated at 11.7 billion roubles. Six power units are to be supplied in 2011 and the remaining four in 2012. On the whole, investment in the reconstruction and modernisation of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power plant will reach some 37 billion roubles.”
“Active construction of power units, modernisation of power plants and decommissioning of expensive, resource-wasting and inefficient facilities. During the reform of RAO UES, the new owners made serious commitments to invest in the development of the Russian power industry. A part of these commitments was financed by the issue of additional shares. They attracted approximately 450 billion roubles. <…>According to the latest data, however, only 270 billion roubles of the above sum were spent directly on the implementation of investment projects, and 66 billion roubles were spent on current operation of the company, including the purchase of non-core assets that are not connected to the power industry. <…>Let me tell you this straight away, for you not to take offence later: Penal sanctions will be used against those who "consume" the resources earmarked for investment or, worse still, pull these resources out of the business.”
“The commissioning of generating facility should be coordinated with the construction of a relevant grid infrastructure. Otherwise, starting new generators and boosting capacity becomes pointless. There are two companies in Russia responsible for development of power grids, state controlled Federal Grid Company and Interregional Distribution Grid Company. Let me warn their management that their fulfillment of obligations will be strictly monitored as well. Natural gas should also be promptly supplied to the new generating plants.”
“We formulated the following tasks. The first was to prevent the collapse of the dam in the harsh winter conditions in Siberia, meaning spillways, etc. We also needed to organise the plant's reconstruction, ensure the enhanced operation of the other generating power plants, first of all thermal power plants in the region, and to prepare the grid system for additional loads in winter to ensure the supply of electricity needed by consumers. Of course, all of these goals were set for the medium term but it was very important to attain them. I'd like to tell you about our results in this area. We have successfully achieved all of the goals.”
