Government meeting

The agenda includes subsidised loan programmes for funding new construction projects; financing the development of medical organisations in the regions; and expanding the regional road network.

Mikhail Mishustin's opening remarks:

Colleagues, good afternoon,

Before we begin our Government meeting, let me inform you about a decision on the housing construction sector that would be important for most our citizens. Measures to support this sector were discussed in detail at the State Council Presidium meeting on developing livable infrastructure, when the President instructed us to develop a programme to subsidise interest rates on loans for new housing projects.

This programme includes measures primarily concerning small towns with populations of up to 100,000 people, as well as rural communities. In areas where construction volumes are relatively low, additional support is needed to ensure the completion of apartment buildings scheduled for commissioning next year. This will allow developers to fulfill their obligations to people.

Under the programme, the project financing rate for such projects will be subsidised down to 12 percent. This applies to developers raising funds through equity participation agreements. For these purposes, an additional half a billion roubles will be allocated from the federal budget this year, and over 1.1 billion roubles in the next two years. Thanks to this measure, construction will continue uninterrupted, and, most importantly, people will receive their housing on time.

I would like to ask the Construction Ministry to strictly monitor the distribution of resources to the regions.

I would also like to draw attention to decisions concerning the development of medical organisations, many of which were made following our trips to the regions and direct communication with locals.

The President emphasised that the main criterion for assessing our work in this vital area is citizen satisfaction with the healthcare system.

This summer, during my trip to Omsk, we inspected a veterans hospital where major renovations were being completed and modern high-tech equipment was being installed to improve patient care.

In order to provide similar support for primary healthcare, the Government will allocate additional funds to the Omsk Region under the Long and Active Life national project. These funds will be used to purchase and install modular first-aid stations. Some facilities were damaged during floods, and new structures will be built on higher ground to prevent similar incidents in the future. It is planned that they will also be fully equipped with necessary medical devices and supplies.

The Oryol Region will also receive the funds to complete the construction of a hospital. It was discussed earlier as well during the visit to the project site. This is going to speed up commissioning of the project by the end of this year. Moreover, we will provide funds to the Republic of Karelia for building a new early cancer treatment centre under the Healthcare Infrastructure Development federal project.

It is important for the people to be able to promptly get the necessary aid closer to their place of living. I ask the specialised agencies to monitor the work progress.

Today, the Government agenda includes the issue of expanding the road network in the regions. At the Tuesday strategic session, we discussed implementation of the President's assignments to provide for the areas' connectivity and higher citizens' mobility. This systemic activity covers all types of transportation and all, even most remote, populated areas of our large country, including in the new Russian constituent entities, where over 6,000 kilometres of motor roads have been repaired. This work will be continued to help Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions reach the average Russian level by 2030, above all in the quality of life. The President has set this task.

This year, we have allocated to these areas about 20 billion rubles for bringing regional, municipal and local roads to a standard condition. We are upgrading the Novorossiya federal highway that runs along the Azov Sea coast from Rostov-on-Don to Simferopol. As the President noted, it has not only linked Crimea with the rest of the country via the land corridor, but also became part of the Azov Ring, a modern motor road around the Azov Sea.

We will provide another 10 billion roubles for its major repairs and widening to four lanes. We find it important to have the works completed with quality and on time so that more people would be able to go to Crimea via the southern route by the beginning of the next tourist season.