RUSSIA, February 27 - Mikhail Mishustin: “Extra-budgetary investment is leading the way with nearly 9 trillion roubles invested as of late 2023. Over the past two and a half years, over 230,000 new jobs have been created. Goods and services valued at 6.5 billion roubles have been provided. These numbers show that interaction between the Government and the constituent entities has been effective, and we managed to establish cooperative ties that small businesses and major holding companies alike need, and to create proper conditions for cooperation between neighbouring regions within the federal districts.”

Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks: 

Good afternoon, colleagues,

Today, we will review the outcomes of the projects overseen by my deputies in eight federal districts. Two and a half years ago, the institution of curator for these territories was introduced to work on the assignments and goals set by the President in order to improve the quality of life in the regions and to enhance the pace of socioeconomic improvement.

When reviewing the year’s achievements, the President noted that we have accumulated enough capability to take us to a whole new level and to critically improve the dynamics of the entire national economy.

Our oversight of the federal districts has contributed to this overall success, which we can see from the data gathered during the monitoring of the socioeconomic situation in Russia’s regions.

Extra-budgetary investment is leading the way. By late 2023, nearly 9 trillion roubles had been invested. Over the past two and a half years, over 230,000 new jobs have been created. Goods and services valued at 6.5 billion roubles have been provided.

These numbers show that interaction between the Government and the constituent entities has been effective, and we managed to establish cooperative ties that small businesses and major holding companies alike need, and to create proper conditions for cooperation between neighbouring regions within the federal districts.

I will take a moment to discuss the projects separately. Currently, 357 regional initiatives are being implemented with strong support from the curators, and 33 projects have been completed.

Each of these figures implies specific results, sites, and solutions that are beneficial for the people and for industrial development. I will give you some of them.

The production of professional and household cleaning products and auto detailing supplies has increased in Volgograd, the Southern Federal District. Output has increased both for the domestic market and for export by over 16 percent.

A new tourist route, Terroir of Sevastopol, is being developed in Crimea, which will offer a winery tour.

The agriculture industry is making strides in the Central Federal District. A plant for deep processing of oilseeds is being built in the Kursk Region. Significant progress has been made in localising pharmaceutical production in Moscow with the capacity for the production of a wide range of medicines, including cancer treatment medicines, and is now operational.

Much is being done to upgrade healthcare in the Volga Region. A children's hospital was opened in the Orenburg Region this autumn, and the first young patients have already received surgery. A new pharmaceutical company in Mordovia will produce drugs and medicines for people with diabetes and several other diseases.

Systematic work is underway in the Northwestern Federal District as well. The first hockey matches took place on the Ice Arena in St Petersburg, where children can train as well. A major gas processing plant to produce LNG and a variety of polymers, including polyethylene, is being built in the Leningrad Region.

Another polymer production plant will be opened in the Irkutsk Region, the Siberian Federal District, later this year. This is a major investment project of over 217 billion roubles. Businesses are willingly investing in the tourism sector, with Manzherok, the Altai Republic, being among the most visited resorts in that part of Russia.

Innovative solutions are being offered to promote the energy sector in the North Caucasus Federal District. Another wind farm went live in the Stavropol Territory in late 2023. For over a year now, tourists and locals have been using the new state-of-the-art new terminal at the Vladikavkaz Airport, North Ossetia.

Another similar facility opened in the Far Eastern Federal District. I saw the construction site in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk during my visit there. Transport upgrades provide a powerful boost to many industries, including tourism. Upgrading the Vanino Seaport in the Khabarovsk Territory, has significantly increased cargo transshipment.

It is no less important to keep improving residential areas as was done in Yekaterinburg, the Ural Federal District, where the road network was renovated and occasionally built anew last summer. In the Sverdlovsk Region, in the same federal district, a modern rail wheel manufacturing facility has been launched creating hundreds of new jobs.

This is just part of the extensive agenda overseen by the deputy prime ministers in the regions.

Colleagues, heads of constituent entities are attending this meeting as well. We will discuss the institution of curators as it is and identify things that need to be improved.

Each of my deputies will report in detail on what has been done to date and the initiatives that are still in the works.

I would like to remind you about the benchmarks that we agreed to follow. The key ones include GRP, growth of gross regional product, increasing investment in the regions, increase in the number of jobs, and without a doubt, growth of real incomes. Please use these benchmarks in your reports.