Fuel and energy complex is necessary: Putin named a way to provide the Far East with the necessary resources

The Far East is developing at a rapid pace: the region occupies almost half of Russia's territory and its development remains a national priority. Vladimir Putin said this on September 4 at a meeting on the development of the fuel and energy complex of the Far Eastern Federal District. The President flew to Vladivostok that day to participate in the WEF — the session with him will be held on September 5. The envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Yuri Trutnev, told Izvestia that investors are confidently investing money in the development of the region and making good profits. But there are also difficulties: in the coming years, the demand for natural gas will only grow, and there is already a shortage. What instructions Putin gave on energy development, where new infrastructure facilities were opened, and what a chill—out rink is, can be found in the Izvestia article.

What can be seen in the branch of the national center "Russia"

After four days in China, Vladimir Putin moved to Vladivostok at three o'clock in the morning on September 4, where the WEF is in full swing. This day, in contrast to the busy international agenda in Tianjin and Beijing, the president actually devoted himself entirely to domestic policy issues. The first point of the program is a visit to the Far Eastern branch of the National Center "Russia", which is located on the basis of the Vladivostok Aquarium, a landmark place for residents of the city.

The President became the first visitor to the exposition located there. She continued the success of the acclaimed exhibition of the same name in Moscow, which attracted almost 20 million guests in less than a year at VDNH. Together with Vladimir Putny, the branch was also visited by pupils of the Military Sports Training Center "Warrior". The first thing we appreciated was the interactive zone dedicated to the 155th Marine Brigade named after twice Hero of Russia Major General Mikhail Gudkov. This is the same famous heroic Marine brigade that participated in the liberation of the Kursk region from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Next is the nature of Primorsky Krai: visitors can feel like a ship's captain through augmented reality technology, dive into the underwater world of the Sea of Japan on a bathyscaphe, and even walk through the taiga, encountering the Ussuri tiger and the Far Eastern leopard. The exhibition "Unique Russian language" on interactive panels also attracts attention. The students of the center decided to test their knowledge of outdated expressions, but the president, on the contrary, was shown how to transfer youth slang into a neutral and high style.

— Neutral — "maybe it will be an easy game." The slang now is like this: "maybe it will be a chill skating rink." The neutral one is "guys, these problems are completely absurd," and "geez, these troubles are complete nonsense," and the high one is "friends, this is a complete mess," Natalia Virtuozova, the general director of the center, read out to the president, a little embarrassed.

Vladimir Putin did not miss the opportunity to communicate with the young people from the Warrior, even if not in their language: some dream of becoming submariners, others — to work with new technologies.

— This is one of the most relevant areas [now]. Of course, the whole future is connected with digitalization and artificial intelligence, so this is a very interesting area," the president noted.

The guys did not miss the opportunity and asked the president to introduce additional points for admission to all military universities for studying at military-patriotic centers. "It's a good idea. We'll think about it," he replied.

The state of the fuel and energy complex in the Far East

The central event of the day of the head of state is a meeting on the development of the Far East. In particular, we focused on the situation in the energy sector of the region.

— The rapid development of the Far East is, of course, our national priority. We must continue to increase our growth rates and strive to maximize the competitive advantages and potential of the Far Eastern Federal District. Our task here is to ensure the economic development of the region with all the necessary resources, including energy," Vladimir Putin stressed.

Among the key tasks is the sustainable gas supply to all regions of the district. The Ministry of Energy forecasts a multiple increase in demand for natural gas in the coming years, but there is already a shortage, the president noted. The Yuzhno-Kirinskoye field on the Sakhalin shelf should become one of the main sources of gas, but it is objectively expensive to build a transport infrastructure. Therefore, the president advised the authorities to pay attention to solid coal reserves and expand fuel generation. For now, it will last for 900 years.

Electricity consumption is also growing, by 28% over the past 10 years. There is no acute shortage of generating capacity yet, but the companies' fixed assets are wearing out. To do this, Putin instructed to actively develop hydroelectric power plants.

— The hydroelectric potential of the region, large-scale and large, is still being used insufficiently. At the same time, hydroelectric power plants not only provide reliable power supply to the regions, but also provide so—called complex effects for the economy and the social sphere, from water supply to flood control, which is extremely important for the Far East," the president noted.

The traditionally "strong" direction is nuclear energy. Construction of the Primorsky and Khabarovsk nuclear power plants is already planned. Smaller-scale projects are also being implemented.: These are the Yakutsk and Chukchi low-power nuclear power plants. In addition, a unique floating nuclear power plant is expected to be built, which will provide energy to the Baimsky GOK in Chukotka.

New industrial and infrastructure facilities in the Far East

The Far East has begun to bypass other regions of Russia in terms of key indicators since 2015, Yuri Trutnev, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Far Eastern Federal District, told Izvestia.

— Preferential treatment (A system for attracting investments. — Ed.) allow investors to invest money confidently and make a profit. This will not mean that the state and private business are separate, but only together. Therefore, the government invests money in our country, invests in infrastructure, and in various ways. For example, a museum and theater complex is being built here. Is it important for people? Of course, it's important," he said.

Much has already been done in the region, but more needs to be done, since the Far East is almost half (40%) of the entire country, the president noted. In recent years, iconic industrial and infrastructure facilities have been created here, which have actually changed the face of the federal district, and there are more and more of them. On the same day, via video link, the president launched the work of several more of them.

Among them is the Pacific railway with a length of 531 km between the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Khabarovsk Territory with a capacity of 50 million tons of coal per year. It will become the third major railway artery of the Far East, along with the Transsib and BAM. Khabarovsk Airport has also launched a new international terminal designed to serve up to 1 million passengers per year.

Many facilities have opened in Primorye: the site of the innovative scientific and technological center has been launched on Russian Island, which will house high-tech companies and scientific organizations working in the field of biomedicine, pharmaceuticals and digital technologies. It is expected that by 2030 the revenue of residents will exceed 1.5 billion rubles. A multimodal transport center has also been built in Primorsky Krai, which will increase the efficiency of railway, marine and automotive logistics. Objects are being opened in various fields: for example, the museum of the Ussuri taiga has appeared: it will demonstrate the diversity of nature in Primorsky Krai.

Nevertheless, there was an international agenda on this day. Vladimir Putin met with Lao Prime Minister Sonsai Siphandon. The President noted that relations between the two countries are developing in all key areas, including between law enforcement agencies. Then the Russian leader received the Prime Minister of Mongolia Gombozhavyn Zandanshatar. In Russian, he congratulated Putin on the fact that following the recent trilateral meeting of the heads of Russia, China and Mongolia, a political decision was made on the construction of a grandiose project, the Power of Siberia—2 gas pipeline.

By the way, following the results of subsequent bilateral negotiations between the Russian Federation and China, an important step was taken — the introduction of visa-free travel to China for Russian citizens. Now, in Vladivostok, at a meeting with Li Hongzhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Vladimir Putin thanked the Chinese leadership for this decision.

"It is of a non—ordinary nature, it concerns, simply without any exaggeration, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of our citizens," the president drew attention.

A broad gesture followed from the Russian side. Russia will respond in a mirror manner to the cancellation of visas to China, Putin said. The constructive dialogue with foreign politicians will continue literally the next day — all three interlocutors of the Russian president will take part in the upcoming WEF plenary session.