RUSSIA, September 19 - Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:

Good afternoon, colleagues, Today, we will review issues with the national infrastructure and its earlier than planned development. As the President has noted, this is a very important condition for expanding business, investment activity and creating jobs. The Government is proceeding with large, ambitious plans to improve the image of cities and towns, and we are building housing, kindergartens, schools, hospitals, sport facilities, and leisure and recreation centres. We are modernising utility systems and upgrading the road network. It is also important to focus on the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. We need to create city environments there under the same standards as the rest of Russia. New financial tools, including infrastructure bonds, and budgetary and special treasury loans, were launched at the President’s initiative to help the regions accomplish all these goals. These important tools are proving quite effective. State support measures and a systematic approach have allowed the construction industry to see high growth rates in the past few years despite the external restrictions and sanctions. In the first seven months, construction has increased by almost 9 percent. The construction industry and related sectors, and the housing utilities sphere, added over 13 percent to the national GDP.  Certainly, the Government prioritises measures to improve living conditions for Russian citizens. Over 70 million square metres of housing have opened for occupancy since January. This is slightly more than January 2022, a record-breaking year. We also continue to develop the road infrastructure at a good pace. This is an important factor in regional economic growth, for invigorating business activity, forming new logistics routes and expanding tourism. The highway infrastructure also brings cities closer and connects people and businesses. To accomplish this, we are laying basic routes across the country. A section of the M-12 Vostok route opened recently, with the President taking part in the ceremony. The route links Moscow with Arzamas, and it is to reach Kazan by December. From there, it will extend towards Yekaterinburg, eventually reaching Tyumen. The Rossiya high-speed highway, to be built as a full motorway, will eventually link St Petersburg with Vladivostok. This year, we are planning to open over 1,000 kilometres of federal roads, and there are plans to resurface about 3,500 km more. The share of high-quality regional motorways will reach 52 percent, exceeding the planned targets. We will accomplish this by resurfacing almost 26,000 km of secondary highways. Regarding the new Russian territories, we will resurface about 1,200 km of new roads there. This will make it possible to deliver more essential goods and other cargo and to resume bus traffic where it was disrupted. Of course, the Government is expecting businesses to take a very active part in implementing these plans. Addressing Russian businesspeople at the Eastern Economic Forum, the President reiterated that it was more reliable and better to invest in Russia. This concerns large and ambitious infrastructure projects, as well as local projects for urban development and tourism, which are no less important. At our spring strategic session, we set forth a number of high-priority targets for the construction industry. Today, I suggest we discuss the fulfilment of these in greater detail, and update our plans. We also need to propose additional solutions that primarily aim to improve the quality of life for Russian citizens where needed.