Give us a new GOELRO!

On March 11, the head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, initiated a new global project for Russia - the Trans-Eurasian Development Belt (TEPR). It is proposed to spend trillions on its implementation

Vladimir Yakunin told the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences how to defeat the values ​​alien to Russia, imposed on it by the West. What are these values, democracy? No, after the Maidan, the Kremlin is least of all inclined to reckon with the right of the people to change politicians who have discredited themselves. Yakunin is outraged by something else: Europe and the United States go to great lengths to impose on Russia the value of economic development - economic growth "for the sake of increasing quantitative indicators."

There really is no use in GDP growth if it is not accompanied by an improvement in the quality of life of the population. By itself, economic growth does not necessarily entail such a result. Therefore, many economists and sociologists have been puzzling over for a decade and a half about how best to measure the “level of happiness” and whether this indicator can become a target for governments of different countries.

But Yakunin wants to oppose “alien values” not at all with satisfaction with life. He longs for large, powerful projects, a "new GOELRO": "Russia must become an integrator on the Euro-Asian continent." Yakunin sees the construction of many transport arteries throughout Russia, which will reorient the country from Western spiritual and moral goals to native ones. Academicians supported the project, including the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov.

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Vladimir Yakunin told the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences how to defeat values ​​alien to Russia

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Building road infrastructure is a normal thing. What does it have to do with values ​​and soil? Very simple. Yakunin does not know how much his idea costs and what its implementation will give: “It is difficult to talk about cost estimates, it is obvious that this is a cost in trillions - and not our rubles. But the result will have an ordinal multiplicity.” And I would venture to suggest that Yakunin is going to build transport infrastructure not where the unsatisfied demand is higher, but where it is necessary for reasons of strategic importance.

So that's why Western values ​​interfere with Yakunin! They dictate the need for a clear assessment of the necessary costs and the expected effect when planning and implementing a project. This is not accepted in modern Russian state administration. The actual costs of preparing for the Olympic Games in Sochi have increased about five times compared to the plan. The cost of other large infrastructure projects also increases many times over in the course of implementation. Effect? The Olympics ensured the growth of Vladimir Putin's rating. Other effects are less obvious.

Russian state-owned companies, unlike ordinary businesses, are interested in maximizing not profits, but investments. After all, part of the profits will go to the state budget. And on expenses, with a low level of state and public control and strong corruption, you can make very good money.