Putin to hold video conf on development of RF motorroad network

MOSCOW, August 31 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Head of Government Vladimir
Putin will hold a video conference on road construction on Wednesday.
Participants in the conference are substantively to discuss matters of
current importance concerning the maintenance and development of the
Federal motor-road network, as well as the functioning of the roadmaking
sector as a whole.
Special attention is to be devoted to the results of accomplishment of
respective assignments that were earlier given by Putin in this respect,
the government press service reports
During live stand-ups, regional interlocutors are to brief the Prime
Minister on the course of building and upgrading of such facilities as
section of the St Petersburg-Sortalava motor-road, roundabout roads near
Novosibirsk and Nalchik, a bridge over the River Vyatka near the city of
Mamadysh, as well as those listed in the programme for the development of
rural roads in Volgograd Region.
The Prime Minister is expected to contact participants in the
Vladivostok-Kaliningrad motor rally, who are currently in Chita. The motor
rally was organized under the auspices of the All-Russia Popular Front.
Participants in the motor-rally will tell the Premier how his assignments
given a year ago on the development of the Chita-Khabarovsk Federal
highway are being carried out.
Vice-Premier Sergei Ivanov, Transport Minister Igor Levitin and
Communications Minister Igor Shchyogolev, as well as representatives of
other ministries and agencies concnerned, and the chiefs of building
companies will take part in the conference.
At present, a government press service official recalled, road making,
reconstruction, maintenance and repair of Federl automobile roads of
utility type are being carried out under the Federal purpose-oriented
programme (FPOP) "The Development of the Transport System of Russia" for a
period from 2010 to 2015 (Subprogramme "Automobile Roads") within the
framework of which it is planned to bring into use 208.6 km of automobile
roads of Federal jurisdiction, as well as 6,300 metres of highway
structures before the end of 2011. An adjusted draft FPOP has been also
prepared to provide for putting into use 6,200 km of new roads or
reconstructed roads (33,110 km in one-lane terms) within a period ending
in 2019.
Apart from a Federal Road Fund, the Federal law, dated April 6, 2011,
also envisges the establishment of road funds of the constituent entities
of the Russian Federation, which will make it possible to double the
financing of the road infrastructure in the regions and increase the
amount of work on motor-roads of regional jurisdiction.
The organizers of the Vladivostok-Kaliningrad month-long motor rally,
which began on August 25, are aiming mainly on creating a system of public
control over the condition of Russian roads.
Participants in the motor rally are to ride via such large cities as
Khabarovsk, Chita, Ulan Ude, Irkutsk, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, as well as
small populated areas with a view to gainig full and objective picture of
current road problems.
Along the route, the motor rally participants are to meet with local
auhtorities and activists to discuss the most acute issues that are
uppermost in the minds of Russian motorists, such as fuel prices,
transport tax rates, Civil Responsibility Insurance, technical inspection
procedure, blood alcohol tests, etc. Notwithstanding the tight schedule of
movement, participants in the motor rally intend regularly to make entries
in their Internet diary, making detailed notes about their journey across
Russia.