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The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Presidential Aide Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District Alexander Gutsan, Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko, St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller. The following officials took part in the meeting via video conference: First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Presidential Aide Igor Levitin, Minister of Healthcare Mikhail Murashko, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin and Russian Railways CEO Oleg Belozerov.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues!

The Governor and I tried to hold this meeting a bit earlier but it did not work out.

Today, I suggest returning to what we wanted to discuss. Let’s review the prospects for developing the economic potential of both St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region – the entire St Petersburg metropolitan area. We will discuss this issue in close connection with our plans for upgrading and building up our social, transport and other types of infrastructure.

St Petersburg – I will say nothing new here – is an extremely important historical, cultural and business centre of the country. About 7.6 million people live in the northern capital and the Leningrad Region. This is the location of our key logistics hubs and seaports. Our largest science and technology and education centres, production and industrial facilities are all operating successfully here. I am referring to both recently opened companies and legendary enterprises with long histories and enduring traditions.

Processing makes up the bulk of St Petersburg’s industry, at approximately 10.5–10.6 percent: shipbuilding, machine-building, including heavy power engineering, defence industry enterprises. The growth of industrial production in St Petersburg in 2021 was 6.4 percent, in 2022 it was slightly lower: 6.1 percent, and in January-November last year increased to 9.6 percent. The leading industries in the Leningrad Region are petroleum products, food processing, and the chemical industry.

In general, the St Petersburg metropolitan area accounts for 8.5 percent of manufacturing in all of Russia and approximately 7.5 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product. Both numbers are impressive.

Of course, we need to continue increasing the economic capacity of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region; and, what is important, do this comprehensively, based on long-term plans for the development of the entire area given that the city and the region are closely connected. By the way, they have been closely interconnected into a single complex since Soviet times.

The key goals include strengthening priority industrial sectors such as shipbuilding and pharmaceuticals, unlocking the potential of the services sector and the creative industries, expanding foreign trade infrastructure, including by developing seaports and terminals. All of this is a key to creating up to date and well-paid jobs in order to increase the volume of high-tech products and services, create a foundation for new companies to open, which would also mean increasing stability and diversifying the region’s economy in general.

And, of course, while addressing economic issues and maintaining business activities, we have to step up our efforts in the construction of housing and social facilities, as well as create an environment that will bring the region’s rich tourism and recreational potential to a new level.

As I understand it, today we will discuss one of the initiatives in this area: the development of the Gorskaya all-season seaside resort. In fact, there are plans to create an entire resort town here to accommodate more than 1.3 million people per year. We also plan to permanently house 100,000 residents. The creation of such tourism cluster will add several thousand jobs with high, competitive salaries. I think we discussed this issue with the Government at the economic forum, and Gazprom also planned to step in.

The implementation of this and other promising projects will provide additional tax revenue to both St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. This means that new opportunities will emerge for financing social programmes and building kindergartens, schools, roads, hospitals, and clinics, among other things.

I want to emphasise in this regard that it is necessary to improve the efficiency of regional healthcare systems, including primary care, and improve medical care in general, especially for families with children, mothers, and children. As we know, this is one of the most pressing issues for citizens. You may have noticed that I recently talked about this with families from various regions during the opening of the Year of the Family in Russia.

To ensure successful development of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, it is necessary to fully employ the urban planning potential of these areas, to implement complex projects that improve the quality of life, create jobs, and boost growth in related sectors of the regional economy. These include projects on road infrastructure development and a reliable transport system for St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.

Much has been done in this area in the past few years, including the construction of the Western High-Speed Diameter toll road, the M11 Neva motorway, the bypass of Gatchina and a series of other large road facilities; the capital overhaul of roads has been launched. Other projects include the repair and reconstruction of some sections of the Sortavala and Scandinavia motorways and the ring road around St Petersburg, as well as the construction of the Ligovsky overpass and a bridge across the Svir River in Podporozhye, Leningrad Region.

We have many other, even larger challenges. Other important projects include a latitudinal motorway and a second ring road around St Petersburg. Along with the existing roads, they will provide for the creation of an efficient road network for the entire St Petersburg metropolitan area. Today we will talk about the implementation of and completion terms for these projects.

In addition, I asked you to think about and take the necessary measures to develop the Pulkovo and Levashovo airports. I would like to hear about the ongoing work for these facilities.

We will also discuss what can be done to improve transport connectivity in general, including accessibility of some major residential areas in St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, so that people will not have to spend hours trying to get to the office, school, or social facilities.

It is also necessary to continue to create railway infrastructure; this includes the north-eastern and south-western railway bypasses of St Petersburg. Naturally, this must be done with consideration for carriers’ plans and the anticipated types of cargo. It is necessary to take all this into account and continue to move forward.

We will also review other matters related to the development of the social and economic areas.

Let’s begin.

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