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New motorways, as well as sections of roads where major repairs have been completed, are opening in the Vladimir, Sverdlovsk, Moscow and Voronezh regions, as well as in the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania.

A 58-kilometre section of the M-12 Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod-Kazan motorway was opened as part of the West-East transport corridor, in the Vladimir Region. This route makes it possible to bypass several communities. A 35-km and a 20-km sections of the R-351 Yekaterinburg-Tyumen and R-242 Perm-Yekaterinburg federal roads in the Sverdlovsk Region were widened from two to four lanes.

A transport interchange was launched at the intersection of the M-8 Kholmogory motorway with the Mytishchi road network in the Moscow Region. This interchange is part of the North-South route. A 62-km section of the M-4 Don motorway has reopened in the Voronezh Region following an overhaul. The reconstruction has been completed of a 500-metre tunnel towards the Mamison all-season recreational facility in South Ossetia, too.

A domestic flights terminal was also opened at the Vladikavkaz International Airport, to handle 800,000 passengers annually.

The launch of the above-mentioned facilities increases the capacity of motorways, makes Russian regions more accessible and reduces the duration of trips.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends.

I am happy to greet you all.

Today, we are opening a number of new transport infrastructure facilities in various Russian regions. I congratulate you all from the bottom of my heart.

First of all, I would like to sincerely thank all specialists working in the road construction sector, including workers, engineers, designers and employees of numerous affiliated enterprises. Your professionalism, responsibility, persistence and teamwork helped keep up the rapid pace of work and carry out the plans for this year.

We can now review some of the 2022 performance results. This year will certainly set a record in the volume of asphalt paved on regional and local roads – about 165 million square metres. Last year was quite productive too, with around 162 million square metres of improved road surfacing. But this year has seen growth, slight, but still noticeable. It is especially important for regional and local roads.

This means that the country has received more high-quality and modern motorways, that vehicle traffic has become faster, more comfortable and safer, and that our cities and towns are more interconnected.

It is also important that we continued to develop promising international transport corridors. We need them to create convenient transportation routes, to facilitate effective logistics, and to unlock the potential of nearby territories. Today, we are taking another step towards accomplishing this large-sale objective.

We will open three new sections of the M-12 Moscow-Kazan-Yekaterinburg route, part of the West-East transport corridor. Two of them will open in the Sverdlovsk Region, and one more will open in the Vladimir Region.

In this connection, I would like to note that I have instructed the concerned officials to conduct a public vote on choosing a name for this significant motorway and for the entire West-East transport corridor that links St Petersburg with Vladivostok. I would like to ask Mr Khusnullin to report on the results of this contest.

Today, we are launching transport infrastructure facilities of the North-South corridor, including an interchange near the town of Mytishchi in the Moscow Region, as well as an upgraded section of the M-4 Don motorway in the Voronezh Region. The motorway will now facilitate high-speed traffic between Moscow and the Rostov Region and, of course, towards the Black Sea and Sea of Azov basin. Millions of holidaymakers will be able to travel more comfortably in summer.

In North Ossetia, we are opening a new domestic flights terminal at the Vladikavkaz airport, as well as a tunnel towards the Mamison recreational facility. All this will facilitate expanded tourism in southern Russia. The competitive advantages of this region will become more pronounced, and the local investment climate will also improve.

Doubtless, we must continue to create effective transport corridors. We need to boost the capacity of Russian motorways by expanding the road network, and we also have to reduce the share of congested federal and regional routes. At the same time, it is important to improve the organisation of road traffic to minimise the number of bottlenecks and congested areas.

Our key priorities include efforts to reduce the number of locations where numerous road accidents occur, as well as other accident-prone sections. I have already issued instructions on this issue, and I would like to note once again that efforts to save the lives of Russian citizens and to preserve their health directly depend on this. I am confident that we will jointly implement all road construction plans, no matter what, and that we will achieve all our goals.

In conclusion of my opening remarks, I would like to cordially thank everyone who worked to build the new facilities.

I wish you every success in the future and all the best.

Mr Khusnullin, you now have the floor, please.

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