Work traffic: the president explained the reasons for Internet failures in major cities

Internet disruptions in Russian megacities are related to the prevention of terrorist threats — the security of citizens will always remain a priority of the country's leadership. This was stated by Vladimir Putin on April 23 at a meeting with members of the government. The authorities cannot widely inform people in advance about the forced restriction of the Internet, but it is necessary to explain the reasons for what is happening based on the results of the work, the president believes. Other topics of the meeting included legal assistance to flood-affected residents of Dagestan and providing communications in small towns. The main issue on the agenda was the development of the Arctic and the Transarctic transport Corridor, the importance of which, according to the head of state, is only growing in the face of disruptions in global transport chains.

What problems did Putin point out in Dagestan?

At the beginning of the meeting with members of the government, which took place on April 23, Vladimir Putin returned to the topic of floods in Dagestan. The emergency level in the republic has been raised from regional to federal. During the floods, more than 6 thousand residential buildings were flooded. The President has repeatedly instructed representatives of the federal government and local authorities to deal with issues of damage assessment, housing rehabilitation and assistance to people who have lost property.

Dagestan residents received full-fledged legal advice after the flood, including on the restoration of property and payments, Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko said. According to him, more than 40 points were deployed in the republic and about a thousand people used the help.

The head of the Ministry of Finance, Maksut Shadaev, said that the agency maintains plans to provide all small settlements in the country with a population of 100 to 1 thousand inhabitants with high-speed mobile Internet by 2030. However, according to him, it is often economically unprofitable for telecom operators to connect such points: the costs of building communication lines are high, and there are few users. As a result, investments do not pay off. One of the major expenses of signallers is the rental of power lines (power lines), through which Internet cables are "thrown" into settlements. According to the Minister, it has increased eightfold recently.

— We used to pay 2 thousand rubles per kilometer, now we pay 16 thousand rubles. That is, we are now paying a billion rubles a year just to rent power lines so that the cable goes to these small towns," he said, and suggested considering discounts on these services from the structures that own the transmission lines.

Maksut Shadayev also drew attention to the communication situation in the border areas, where there are interruptions in the operation of the mobile Internet, including the threat of drones. The head of the department proposed laying Internet cables in the border areas directly to specific consumers in populated areas.

Communication problems do not occur only in small settlements. During the meeting, Vladimir Putin for the first time commented on the limitations of mobile Internet in large cities, which have been periodically reported in recent months. So, on the day when the meeting was held, Muscovites and Petersburgers again complained about interruptions — some of them did not open online maps, websites and applications.

Restrictions began to be imposed from the beginning of March: residents of large cities were left without the Internet for long hours, with wi-fi points being the only source. These measures also affected businesses — people could not pay in shops or restaurants, call a taxi or take a carsharing service, or order delivery.

"Of course, if this is related to operational work to prevent terrorist attacks — and we know that, unfortunately, we sometimes miss such attacks — of course, ensuring the safety of people will always be a priority: our children, loved ones, and every Russian citizen," Vladimir Putin said.

At the same time, after removing communication restrictions, relevant structures need to inform people about the reasons for what is happening, he believes. Obviously, it makes no sense to widely inform the population in advance about the forced restriction of the Internet, because in this case, criminals will adjust their plans. The President instructed to ensure the uninterrupted operation of life-supporting services, including payment systems, in case of failures in the operation of the mobile Internet.

Why is the role of the Arctic increasing

The main topic of the meeting was the development of Russia's Arctic zone and the Transarctic Transport Corridor, a route that runs through the North Seas and connects the western and eastern parts of the country from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok via Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. Its length is approximately 8,300 nautical miles, of which about 3,000 are the Northern Sea Route.

And now the importance of the Transarctic route as the safest and most efficient trade route is becoming more and more obvious against the background of disruptions in global transport chains due to numerous conflicts, in particular in the Middle East. Russia is already strengthening the logistics contour of the Arctic, including sea and river ports, railways, highways, and airports, the president said. Plans are already being worked out to connect the Transarctic Transport Corridor with the railway network and river waterways.

Many countries are already thinking about using the Northern Sea Route as the safest and fastest way to move and transport cargo, Alexander Spiridonov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Industry and Trade, told Izvestia. According to him, China is already showing interest. In order to more actively involve logistics routes in the Arctic regions in modern geopolitical conditions, Russia needs to develop its icebreaking fleet first of all: it is important to ensure not only seasonal, but also year-round shipping of vessels. It is also important to develop the port infrastructure in the Arctic zone.

Vladimir Putin also recalled the key task of improving the standard of living in the Arctic. For this purpose, master plans of 15 support settlements have already been approved. By 2035, it provides for the renovation of the housing stock, the development of infrastructure for housing and communal services, transport, medicine, education, sports and culture. The amount of necessary financing until 2035 is 2.9 trillion rubles, said Deputy Prime Minister, presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev. The total volume of investments, including business investments, will exceed 30 trillion rubles in the next ten years. According to the envoy, the Arctic has created the most attractive conditions for investment.

The timely delivery of goods from the North is of crucial importance for the life of Northerners. This is 4 million tons worth more than 200 billion rubles. The number of containers delivered with a delay has decreased by more than 30 times in two years, said Yuri Trutnev and suggested considering the possibility of providing a single northern shipping operator with its own fleet.