Russian government will allocate 4.5 billion rubles for the development of social, transport and urban infrastructure in the Arctic, prime minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a strategic session on the development of the Arctic zone of Russia.
"In the current three-year budget, about 4.5 billion rubles are provided for these purposes," he said.
According to the head of government, dozens of kindergartens, schools, medical institutions, cultural and sports facilities have been built and repaired in the Arctic in two years, the public transport system is being actively updated and the urban environment is being improved.
Mishustin noted that the Arctic zone takes up more than a quarter of Russia's territory, with about two and a half million people living there. "It is important to continue to create comfortable, high-quality conditions for people to live there, for doing business, in order to fully unleash the economic potential in the macro-region," the prime minister said.
He added that from the point of view of climatic conditions, the Arctic is a difficult region, but its investment attractiveness is very high.
The prime minister recalled that, on behalf of the president, the government uses mechanisms to increase entrepreneurial activity in the Arctic. The necessary infrastructure is being created. In particular, the world's largest free economic zone and three territories of advanced development are successfully functioning in the Arctic zone.
In total, almost a thousand projects in the Arctic with a total volume of private investments of about 2 trillion rubles are being implemented with the support of the state, ria.ru reports.
Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished
