(AGENPARL) – KREMLIN mar 20 giugno 2023

The meeting was attended by Deputy
Prime Minister – Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Presidential Aide,
State Council Secretary Igor Levitin, Presidential Aide Maxim Oreshkin,
Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev, Head of the Republic of Buryatia, Chair of the State Council Commission on Transport Alexei Tsydenov, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Gleb Nikitin, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, General
Director of the State Transport Leasing Company Yevgeny Ditrikh; First Deputy
Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment
Alexander Kozlov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister
of Finance Anton Siluanov, Minister of Energy Nikolai Shulginov, Presidential
Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Central Federal District Igor Shchegolev, Governor
of the Astrakhan Region Igor Babushkin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vodokhod
Viktor Olersky, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Aeon Infrastructure
Corporation Roman Trotsenko took part in the meeting via videoconference.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today we will discuss the development of river navigation.

As you can see, our meeting is
taking place at the North River Terminal. Mr Sobyanin and his colleagues just told
me about the history of the North River Terminal, how it was renovated over several
years; the embankment, the piers and the adjacent area were all refurbished or rebuilt.
I would like to thank the Moscow Mayor and your entire team for this work.

I know that this area has become a popular recreation site for the locals, but the main thing is that the North
River Terminal has regained its status as a large transport and tourist hub,
not only for Moscow, but for Russia in general.

And, of course, Moscow’s public transport
system – we have discussed this subject many times – continues to develop at a rapid
pace: new transport routes are being launched, metro cars are upgraded along
with ground transport fleet. A single complex has been created with all types
of public transport interconnected and complementing each other. All these
positive changes are evident, and Moscow residents and, of course, tourists who
come to the capital, appreciate it.

Today regular river service is being
launched along the Moskva River. It will be connected to the general network of city transit routes, and environmentally friendly, Russian-made electric riverboats,
or river trams, will be used here. We just looked at one; everything is simple,
constructive, nicely done, and there are panoramic-view windows. I think everyone
who uses this transport will enjoy it.

This up-to-date, breakthrough approach
to the development of the public transport system is, of course, a credit to the Moscow team.

Russia has many rivers, reservoirs and canals. They play a huge role in passenger and cargo transport, hydroelectric power
generation, agriculture, ensuring the operation of the housing and utilities complex.

Improvements to the water transport
system largely influence general economic growth in the country, as well as the development of industry, tourism and other sectors in the regions. This is a significant contribution to building up our transport potential. There are many
opportunities here, and of course they should be used competently and thoughtfully.

A system-wide issue here is the maintenance
of inland waterways and the construction of new navigable hydraulic structures.
Sections that limit boat size, bottlenecks that restrict navigation and reduce
the capacity of the waterways are an acute problem.

It is important that we ensure
guaranteed depths for vessel traffic, primarily along the most popular routes.
This will make it possible to expedite the development of river navigation and to expand passenger and cargo service.

Let’s discuss how these issues are addressed.

I would also like to hear a report
on the progress of the work to construct Bagayevsky and Gorodetsky
hydroelectric complexes. They are needed to eliminate bottlenecks along the shipping routes of the Don and the Volga rivers and to increase transit navigation
on the promising North-South transport corridor.

The development of water passenger service
is another key goal. It is necessary to expand its use, not only between
regions, but also between neighbouring settlements and within cities. The experience
of Moscow and other regions where water transport is already integrated into
the intracity transit system, is very important here.

These riverboats that we looked at today,
electric river trams, can be a good alternative and addition to other modes of public transport, and it can help people cut their travel times. In some places
it will help reduce the load on motorways.

To be continued.

Fonte/Source: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71467