Natalia Antipova, Novosibirsk
Vladimir Putin inspects Siberian transport system
Vladimir Putin continued his working visit in Siberia yesterday where he inaugurated another bridge, urged people to get rid of "hole-in-the-wall places" and approved the transport strategy through 2030. As chairman of the party in power he helped a local businessman obtain a bank loan.
After arriving from Tolmachevo airport, Mr Putin went to the site of the opening of the Northern Bypass Road around Novosibirsk with a bridge over the Ob, and immediately spotted a flaw. His car bumped over the joint between the road and the bridge itself. The road is generally smooth, and the structure may settle in a couple of months and if a vehicle moves slowly, this abutment is not very noticeable, but at speed, one feels it. Putin's vehicle was moving fast and he felt the bump.
"This is not the way," he told Transport Minister Igor Levitin and the Governor of the Novosibirsk Region Viktor Tolokonsky.
The bump episode was followed-up on at the Siberian State Railway University where the Premier saw an exhibition of transport infrastructure projects, attended a meeting on transport strategy through 2030 and talked with the students.
"Stand in a square," a university official was fussing with three female and seven male students. "Or is it better if you form a semicircle?"
The young people, all except two wearing uniforms, first formed a square and then a semicircle and then ended up just milling around.
"You won't see anything like this anywhere else," the official said turning to the journalists. We study all types of transportation here: road, rail, air, marine and river."
Then the students of all these types of transportation were ordered to form a semicircle.
"Introduce yourselves," the fussy official nudged the students. The students began introducing themselves, it turned out that one of them was majoring in "bridge engineering."
"Bridges?" the Premier sounded interested. "We saw a bridge today. Where is Levitin? Ah, there he is. I think he's hiding."
Levitin emerged from behind Putin's back as Putin was already telling the students about the bump he encountered on the road earlier.
"It happens," the railway engineering student was trying to reassure the Prime Minister.
"Nothing should change over time", Putin disagreed. "Everything should be built to last centuries."
"In other words, you felt a bump at the joint?" the student inquired to make sure.
"Yes, I did. I have driven on many roads," Putin added knowingly.
Vladimir Putin spoke about roads at a meeting on the transport strategy through 2030: "It is a comprehensive document that brings together plans for the development of individual types of transport and enables us to look beyond the horizon and get a vision of the transportation system in the future."
The Prime Minister said it was essential that all citizens have access to high quality and reliable transport services. Today 10% of the population lives in communities and villages that have no year-round access to the network of motorways, such "holes" should be eliminated. The goal of the strategy is to reduce the number of such remote places from 10% to 2% by 2030. Igor Levitin said the cost of implementing this strategy should be 170 trillion roubles, 60% of which should come from off-budget sources.
"The proposed transport strategy is being adopted. We should now concentrate on implementing it," the Prime Minister said solemnly before heading for the Novosibirsk branch of Alfa-Bank to check whether other government decisions were being fulfilled.
He was met by the bank's director Pyotr Aven. Putin asked whether government assistance was getting through to the banks and, upon receiving an affirmative answer (Alfa-Bank recently received an 8 billion unsecured rouble credit from the CB), warned that the bank was now becoming a "government agent".
"We borrow money not in order to keep it, but for the people," the head of Alfa-Bank said.
"It must go into the real economy," Putin added.
The Premier asked how active Alfa-Bank was in inter-bank credit. Mr Aven said the bank was fairly active in the inter-bank loan market and experienced no problems there in spite of the financial crisis.
However, later a small businessman visiting Putin's public reception office complained to Putin, who is the leader of the United Russia party, that he had problems getting a loan.
"I have just been to a bank, let's ask them to come over and talk about it," Putin said, wondering about the question. While Pyotr Aven was on the way to the public reception office, United Russia leader Putin managed to receive a student, two mothers with many children, a street sweeper, a retired woman and a young human resources manager.
"We have the capacity to issue loans. If it is a solid business, there should be no problem," Aven reassured Putin upon his arrival. A promise given in the presence of the Premier, even though only in a public reception office, bodes well for the petitioner.