The Tatar lobby and the Chinese will hit the jackpot on mega construction projects. But there’s not enough money for everyone
The beneficiaries of mega-constructions worth ₽17 trillion, announced by Mikhail Mishustin, are several elite groups. A highway from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok and high-speed railways (HSR) will be built.
Tatar clan
Railways and roads are included in the “Comprehensive Trunk Infrastructure Plan”, which is supervised by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin. And the head of Tatarstan, Rustem Minnikhanov, receives colossal investments in the region.
Siberian elites
The new route will pass through Krasnoyarsk and Yekaterinburg. Federal official Mikhail Kotyukov was appointed by the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory for megaprojects. With the assistance of the security forces, he is actively purging the regional elites.
Chinese
The transnational route, 12 thousand km long, will be called “Russia” – but Chinese business will benefit most from it. Russia has turned from Europe to Asia, and logistics in the eastern direction are underdeveloped.
Iranians
Kazan will become a logistics hub for Iranian goods. Other regions where the Iranians have a traditionally strong position also benefit: Astrakhan region, North Ossetia, Dagestan.
Losers
There are not enough resources for everyone, so Moscow will save on projects in the western and central regions, the importance of which is reduced in the new configuration.
The exception will be St. Petersburg, which remains an important transport hub. Even the Tver and Smolensk regions, through which the HSR will pass, will not receive serious benefits. The role of the Voronezh region as a key logistics hub and, accordingly, the Voronezh lobby of Alexey Gordeev is decreasing.