Sixty Percent of Population Points in Siberia Lack Year-Round Road or Rail Connections, Russian Federation Council Says

Paul Goble

    Staunton, Apr. 22 – Sixty percent of the population points in Siberia do not have year-round road or rail connections, a situation that means “about four million people,” only 300,000 of which are in the High North are “entirely dependent on airplanes” to connect with others, according to the Russian Federation Council’s Council on Issues of Development of Siberia.

    Many may not be surprised by the figure for the High North where the lack of roads and the destruction of transport networks because of the melting of permafrost is legendary, but most observers will be shocked that Moscow is acknowledging such a high figure for Siberia as a whole because it highlights the reality that even where roads could be built they haven’t been.

    Instead of addressing this problem or even talking about the costs of building new roads, Moscow officials are talking about huge transport corridors to attract China when the Russian government does not have the funds needed to build and maintain even a minimal road or rail network, Dmitry Verkhoturov, a Siberian analyst says (sibmix.com/?doc=16320).

    No project should be proposed for either building a domestic road network or new corridors without a clear calculation of its costs to the budget, he stresses, because it is clear that roads will be constructed where there is money and won’t be where there isn’t any in the government budget. --

    In his article for the Siberian Economy portal, Verkhoturov doesn’t stress another reality that his words point to: nearly one Russian in 30 now lives in a place where he or she can go to another place only by air – and that at a time when the government is closing regional and local airports and cutting air service within the country.

    On that trend, see nakanune.ru/articles/123419/, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/06/sanctions-have-undermined-russias.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/06/sanctions-have-undermined-russias.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/12/russia-now-has-fewer-civilian-airports.html.