| Russian politicians and political scientists - about the present and future of Russian roads "When good enlightenment
Let's push more boundaries,
Over time (according to calculation
Philosophical tables
Five hundred years later) the roads, right,
Ours will change immensely:
The Russian highway is here and here,
Having connected, they will cross."
Alexander PUSHKIN.
At yesterday's government meeting, during a discussion of Russia's transport strategy until 2010, the situation with existing roads in the country and the construction of new ones was described by ministers in almost catastrophic tones. The newspaper Vremya Novostey decided to find out from politicians and political scientists why Russia will not overcome the “second trouble” and whether the great Russian poet is right in his pessimistic forecast about the future of the road sector.
“It’s not enough to build a road; it requires repair and maintenance”
Vladimir KATRENKO, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, First Deputy Chairman of the United Russia faction:
— Over the past fifteen years, the quality of roads has improved. The situation in the field of road construction and maintenance has changed dramatically.
But at the same time, the state of the roads in Russia does not bring satisfaction. If the pace at which we built roads in the mid-90s had been maintained, then such questions would not arise today.
This is a process that must develop steadily. The trouble is that we are solving the problem in spurts, although there are enough financial resources in the country, and there is also an understanding of the need to deal with this issue. It’s not enough to build a road; it also requires repair and maintenance.
Finance and transport are the life-giving blood of the economy. If you pay attention to one and not to the other, you will definitely get a blockage. Today in our country we pay enough attention to the development of the financial and credit system, the development of investment institutions, innovation programs, but in parallel, the infrastructure, our roads, our transport arteries must also develop. And this depends primarily on the position of the government, on what priorities it sets for itself.
One-time measures in solving the large-scale task of maintaining the road sector bring the same one-time results and do not bring serious ones. Russian roads need constant attention and adequate funding. You need to understand that this is a national task.
“We won’t live to see good roads in Russia”
Sergei POPOV, independent State Duma deputy, member of the Yabloko party:
— I remember an anecdote about how heads of state asked God when things would be good in their country. The Lord answered when, and the foreign leaders cried, left and said that they would not live to see that time. And when our leader asked about our country, the Lord God began to cry and left. This is my pessimistic forecast about when normal roads will appear in Russia. We, apparently, will not live to see them.
"The roads are crowded with cars"
Sergei CHAPLINSKY, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy, Transport and Communications, deputy of the Rodina faction (People's Patriotic Union):
— To the question of when normal roads will appear in Russia, I would like to answer: tomorrow. But the current situation, of course, does not inspire optimism. In order to improve it, comprehensive measures must be taken. And what the government is proposing, namely to tighten the requirements for highway construction contractors, should also certainly contribute to improvement. In addition, it is necessary to allocate funds for the construction and repair of roads. We also need to finally put things in order with freight transport. When transporting goods, we usually use shady, including criminal, schemes. The roads are crowded with cars, primarily trucks, because rail transportation requires strict accounting of cargo, while road transportation makes it possible to hide their real volumes. As a result, taxes are not paid, and the road fund does not receive enough funds, and the wear and tear of roads is enormous.
“We should not be Asians and Africans, but Europeans”
Alexey MAKARKIN, Deputy General Director of the Center for Political Technologies:
— I can tell you an anecdote that is circulating in the circles of international financiers. Two finance ministers met, one from Asia, the other from Africa. The Asian invited the African to his country residence. The African, amazed by the luxury of the residence, asked the Asian: “How did you earn all this?” The Asian took the African to the window and said: “Do you see the road? It was built with money from international financial organizations. I reduced it on one side by twenty centimeters and on the other hand by twenty centimeters. Here I have a villa.” The next time the African invited the Asian to his place. He had two country residences, significantly superior in luxury to an Asian residence. When the Asian asked the African how he achieved such prosperity, he also led the guest to the window and asked: “Do you see the road?” - “I don’t see” - “Here.” In this sense, of course, we are not Africans, but closer to Asians. In order to solve the road issue, we need to be not Africans or Asians, but Europeans. Until we have a European system of civilian control, unfortunately, we will have Asianism. Recorded by Ksenia VERETENNIKOVA |
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