transport

The government of Yakutia on Saturday reviewed and approved the forecast for the socio-economic development of the republic for 2015–2019. It was developed in two versions: basic (provides that the further functioning of the country’s economy will take place under sanctions) and moderately optimistic, based on positive macroeconomic changes. The basic version takes into account already made investment decisions and plans, the financing of which is confirmed by regulatory and corporate documents. The moderately optimistic option involves an improvement in the situation and a significant increase in the volume of public and private investment, including through the construction of a bridge across the Lena River. “The more restrained, basic option was adopted for the formation of the state budget of the republic during the forecast period and does not mean a change in the position and plans for the construction of a bridge across the Lena River. The work did not stop and remains one of the main priorities in the work of the government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),” the statement said.

The project for crossing the Lena in Yakutsk involves the construction of a 3.1 km long bridge, approaches to it and engineering structures. The project was to be implemented by the Transport Concessions (Sakha) consortium consisting of VTB, Bamstroymekhanizatsiya, USK Most and the Stroyproekt Institute, which won the Rosavtodor competition for 38.9 billion rubles in March. However, due to limited budget funds and the need to finance the construction of transport infrastructure connecting the Russian mainland with Crimea, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation decided to postpone the construction of the bridge across the Lena. “This bridge will be there, but later. The deadlines have been shifted. There are no legal risks because of this, since the contract was not signed,” Deputy Head of the Ministry of Transport Sergei Aristov said in June. Following his September visit to Yakutia, Vladimir Putin instructed the Russian Ministry of Economy to consider the most important project for the republic to build a bridge across the Lena River, taking into account the participation of foreign investors.

Vadim Pasmurtsev

The bridge across the Lena is included in the moderately optimistic scenario for the development of Yakutia