Direct speech

Svetlana Zhurova , Deputy Speaker of the State Duma:

— It seems to me that at the first stage it is enough to occupy territories free from settlements in the Moscow region and build housing and offices for government structures on them. There is no point in uniting Moscow and the Moscow region. Common sense should always remain here. There are people who want to stay in the Moscow region, but they are suddenly told that they will now live in Moscow. And besides, it will be a huge subject with a high population density, and all this will occupy a decent territory. One leader cannot cope with this.

Gabriel Popov, mayor of Moscow in 1991-1992:

— The expansion of the territory of Moscow should happen smoothly and at least up to 50 km of concrete, as I once proposed to Yeltsin. At the same time, the remaining part of the Moscow region must be distributed to other regions from which they were once torn away and annexed to the Moscow region. What will remain after the annexation from the Moscow region cannot be called normal territory. Essentially, the creation of a capital district will mean the abolition of the Moscow region. And I don't think it will be a terrible event. In fact, the boundaries between these entities have long been erased; all that remains is to secure everything legally. And in this case, there is no need to build any satellite cities for officials.

Viktor Erofeev, writer:

— Moscow cannot be expanded. She can’t digest herself now, and if she gets bigger, she’ll be a monster. After all, by expanding Moscow, we get a population on the outskirts, which is much tougher in mentality than Muscovites - such Black Hundred people. I'm not saying they're bad people, they're just different. And it is unlikely that more enlightened Muscovites can be associated with the outlying population - strife may well begin. So, it is unwise to expand Moscow either from an economic or psychological point of view.

David Yakobashvili, member of the board of directors of AFK Sistema:

— Changing borders is not a panacea. Of course, it is possible to expand the territory of Moscow, in any direction, you can even unite the capital with the region, but this is unlikely to change anything. The main thing is that there is good management of a particular territory. And this requires proper logistics. The comfort of life and work efficiency depend entirely on how clearly and thoughtfully the city’s transport system operates. It is necessary to evenly distribute all business centers throughout the city so that kilometer-long traffic jams do not form in the morning and evening, when people leave work for home. And we must not forget about the construction of new roads, which are absolutely in short supply in Moscow.

Sergei Zheleznyak , Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy:

— Expanding the borders of Moscow is necessary precisely in order to solve the problem of optimizing the location of government bodies and creating an international center, and not in order to simply unite Moscow and the region. Government bodies should be moved to a separate location so that the logistics of movement between departments, parliament, and ministries is reduced to pedestrian traffic. But this must be done in such a way that it does not in any way complicate the situation in the territory where it will be created.

Elena Hanga, TV presenter:

- No need to reinvent the wheel! There is successful foreign experience - why not apply it? In the West, most institutions have long been moved outside the center of the main cities; it would be good to do the same here. However, as I understand it, for Moscow it is primarily the fight against traffic jams. But the transport problem needs to be solved not only by rebuilding the city, but also by various new ideas. For example, in Spain, to enter the center of Madrid, you need to pay a small fee, but on buses and taxis, of course, there is no fee. Or special highways in America, on which only the driver and passengers can travel. After all, everyone there has their own car, and thus the authors of the idea ensured that Americans drove together and thereby reduced the traffic flow by at least half.

Where would you expand Moscow?