Satisfaction of the foreign policy ambitions of the Russian leadership and a turn towards the country's domestic problems can be a source of pure joy for Russians. On Monday, more than a thousand residents of Yakutsk danced the ancient dance "Osuokhay Radosti" in the Triumph sports complex - this is how they celebrated Vladimir Putin's approval of the construction of a bridge across the Lena (the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, posted a document with the presidential resolution of November 9 "The situation is ripe for implementation" on Facebook). The celebration was not limited to dancing: the Yakutsk mayor's office organized a motor rally along the central streets and squares of the city.

The joy of the residents of Yakutia (and this is almost a million people) and the leadership of the republic can be understood: the lack of a permanent crossing over the Lena complicates communication between Yakutsk and the city airport, the Nizhny Bestyakh railway station and a large part of the republic's territory. The construction of the bridge will facilitate and reduce the cost of northern delivery, which currently largely depends on fluctuations in the depth and changes in the Lena riverbed, and will improve communication between the Magadan Region and the mainland. The project is currently estimated at 82.9 billion rubles, which is almost half as much as in 2013 (162 billion rubles).

The history of the bridge across the Lena River near Yakutsk confirms the dependence of large infrastructure projects in Russia not so much on economic turmoil as on political maneuvering. The idea of building a bridge was first discussed in the early 1980s, when it was planned to build a railway connecting Yakutsk with the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway by 1995. The project sank into oblivion with the collapse of the USSR. In 2006, Deputy Minister of Transport Alexander Misharin announced the decision to build a road-rail bridge by 2012; a project for a bridge crossing was developed, but its implementation was hampered by the crisis.

When big dreams come true

Opinions / From the editors

Finally, in 2014, when the project was ready and the money for its implementation had been allocated, Moscow decided that the remote region could wait, and for image reasons it was more important to connect Crimea with the mainland by bridge, securing the political and military triumph of its return to Russia. Now that the automobile and railway crossings across the Kerch Strait have been built, the company owned by a businessman from the president’s inner circle needs new large-scale work. It is good that it is finally planned to build, albeit with a delay, a facility that will bring real benefits and improve transport links with the remote region, says regional expert Natalya Zubarevich. The main thing is that the federal authorities do not get carried away in the near future with some new mega-project that will divert forces and resources from the long-awaited Yakut bridge.

How to return from Crimea to Yakutia