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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Sobyanin, friends,

My heartfelt greetings to Moscow residents and all Russia on City Day, the 875^th anniversary of our capital.

We take pride in Moscow, and love this city with its majestic antiquity and its modern and dynamic pace of life, the charm of its cosy parks, lanes and streets and abundance of business and cultural events.

Our first capital with its golden domes has seamlessly brought together age-old wisdom and the energy of youth, its glorious history and the most advanced solutions of the current high-tech era.

Moscow is rightly considered to be one of the most beautiful and comfortable metropolises in the world, every year confirming its global competitive edge, including in attracting talented and energetic people and in the rising rate of economic, infrastructure and social changes. Without any doubt or exaggeration, Moscow surpasses the world’s leading centres in terms of its daring ideas and the speed of execution in a number of vitally important areas.

All of this is the result of the large-scale development programme the city has been putting into practice over the past decade.

The Mayor of Moscow has just told me about the completed projects. Together with him we saw new facilities starting operation. This leaves a wonderful impression – good job, well done! I congratulate you on achieving this pace and this quality.

The Big Circle Line is expected to be completed by the year’s end. It will become the world’s biggest metro ring. And just a few minutes ago the first large section of the Moscow High-Speed Diameter opened to traffic.

Its construction is among the most significant projects in Moscow, as it will greatly improve transport accessibility of the capital’s northern, eastern and southern districts. The entire city can be crossed within 40 minutes, as Mr Sobyanin and I have just discussed.

Very soon the Diameter will be connected with the Crimea federal motorway and the future M-12 motorway, which will connect Moscow with Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and Yekaterinburg.

Let me reiterate – I am impressed with the grandeur of Moscow’s plans, which the city is consistently implementing. Last year Moscow builders completed almost 8 million square metres of housing. I would like to draw your attention to this – both the audience and all Moscow residents – this is an all-time record in the city’s history including even the mass housing construction of the 1960s and 1970s. It is a truly impressive result, and we thank the builders very much.

Modern residential developments with schools, kindergartens, parks and offices are erected in places that used to host five-storey blocks or abandoned industrial areas. I would like to highlight this as a good example of urban planning. There were issues with internal site development: shortage of social infrastructure amidst growing residential areas, which persists in many areas now. Moscow authorities are successfully resolving this problem organically.

Space, aviation, pharmaceuticals, food and other industries are growing, which opens vast opportunities for high-tech businesses and research.

During a recent meeting with the Moscow mayor on city development, we spoke about creating innovation clusters in Moscow that will focus on microelectronics, photonics, drone construction, electric transport and other advanced fields. The National Space Centre will be erected next year. Construction of Moscow State University’s Innovation Centre and new buildings of the Bauman University is in full swing.

The revival of the famous VDNKh continues. We remember what this site was like seemingly quite recently, and now it is a treat to watch. The country’s latest achievements are shown as a continuation of previous achievements, which are displayed and revived as well. A wonderful cluster, connected to the Soviet Union’s republics, has been created there. It is a good thing that Moscow shows no greed and allocates pavilions, and tries to support and renovate them. This gives us wonderful opportunities to resume cooperation with the peoples of the republics we lived together with for ages. We have a common history, a common infrastructure and we definitely need venues to show each other’s achievements, to communicate with one another. Thanks to Moscow for that.

The Moscow Sun observation wheel, the largest in Europe, has made its first circle, as we have just witnessed. The unique, wonderful sambo and boxing centre, which we visited today, opened in Luzhniki. It is unique indeed – believe me, I know what I am talking about, at least when it comes to sambo, there are simply no analogues in the world. Thank you.

It is very important to note that modern facilities for recreation and sports are created in all districts and for all generations of Muscovites.

Moscow, a recognised development leader, generously shares its experience and best practices with the regions and renders direct aid to them in times of need. Moscow specialists are engaged in a huge effort to rebuild the Donetsk and the Lugansk people’s republics in a very difficult environment. They put their lives at risk as they repair damaged residential houses, roads and schools, and do everything to prepare Donetsk and Lugansk for the winter period.

Friends,

Today we have been joined by soldiers fighting for a peaceful life in Donbass, Muscovites who distinguished themselves during the special military operation, families of our fellow soldiers, who, I regret to say, fell in battle. They gave their lives for Russia. We have been joined by distinguished doctors and teachers who have rendered medical aid and given a start in life to many generations of Muscovites. We see men and women of science, culture and art who are known all over the country.

Thanks to you, to people like you, Moscow, the hero-city, the hard working city, has always been a leader. And now the opportunity definitely exists and we must move further.

Plans to modernise transport, education, healthcare and other fields of Moscow municipal infrastructure are complex and large-scale. A lot has been done, but there is definitely more responsible, hard work ahead. I have no doubt that Mr Sobyanin and his team can cope with all the objectives, and with the active support and assistance of federal authorities all issues will be successfully resolved. Moscow mayor elections will be held next year, in a short while. And if this pace is kept up – something I am confident about – Muscovites will show their appreciation for the work of both the Mayor and his team.

Thanks to the dedication, initiative and talent of millions of active people who live, study and work in our wonderful capital, everything will be done.

I would like to thank you for your hard work, your support, and your ability to resolve the most complicated and ambitious objectives.

Dear Muscovites, congratulations on City Day!

Thank you and good luck.