Vladimir Viktorovich, in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, in the Severny microdistrict, the “Far Eastern Quarter” is being built within the framework of the federal program. When will it be ready and what will this project bring to Kamchatka?
Vladimir Solodov: With the support of the Government of the Russian Federation, a number of initiatives are already being implemented to develop housing construction and increase its affordability, because this is one of the main demands of our residents.
Unfortunately, the housing stock in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and other settlements in the Kamchatka Territory is extremely outdated. Many buildings are in poor condition and have an unsightly appearance, and their repair is generally impractical. At the same time, in recent years, the pace of construction and the availability of housing have been very low.
The answer to this problem was the housing initiatives of the President and the government in the Far East. This includes preferential rental housing, support for construction projects and, of course, the flagship project “Far East Quarter”.
Its essence lies in the fact that we combine the efforts of different programs: a plot of land in the region is allocated free of charge, the infrastructure receives significant support from the Government of the Russian Federation, the federal budget and the Ministry of Eastern Development. The developer reciprocally undertakes to contain apartment prices so that they do not exceed the market average, and part of the housing is allocated to social programs.
Our “Far Eastern Quarter” is being built at the entrance to Petropavlovsk – this is the Severny microdistrict. It will be more than 100 thousand square meters, about 600 apartments. We will hand over the first houses in 2026. And a significant part of the apartments – 150 out of 600 – will be available as rental housing. This is a product for specialists in demand; one third of the rental cost is covered by the specialist himself, one third from the federal budget, and one third from the regional treasury. As a result, the family receives a comfortable, furnished and ready-to-use apartment in a new building that does not require any investment. I am sure that this project will make it possible to reduce the shortage of specialists, attract people who are so needed in Kamchatka, and retain those who are working now, expanding their opportunities to improve their living conditions.
A backup communication line was installed in Kamchatka in September. Can we now say that reliable mobile communications and stable Internet are guaranteed in the region?
Vladimir Solodov: I must say that mobile communications and high-speed Internet are already reliable. But we have only one line that goes to Kamchatka and then from us to Chukotka: two regions depend on one-time surges that may occur. This year, unfortunately, there were such cases and the reason, as a rule, is the classic human factor.
The last time they were repairing a playground in the village of Sokoch, while doing landscaping work, they hit a cable while drilling. They broke it and for several hours two regions, Kamchatka and Chukotka, were left without communication.
Of course, these are unjustified risks in today’s reality, when we rely exclusively on digital communications.
Rostelecom has already built a backup fiber-optic line. It will be operational next week. The fiber-optic cable runs in approximately the same direction, but prevents accidental damage.
Of course, we are not stopping there. The next task is to connect fiber optic communications between Sakhalin, Kamchatka and Magadan. Now the line from Sakhalin goes to Kamchatka and leaves with a branch to Magadan. It is important to build a bridge to fully ensure the reliability of communications in all remote regions of the Far East.
And I want to emphasize: we continue to expand the availability of the Internet in remote villages. This year, work was completed on bringing the Internet to our north, to the village of Ossora via Palana, Tigil and several other settlements. The plan is to reach the village of Tilichiki in the Olyutorsky district within two years, thereby covering almost the entire population of the Kamchatka Territory.
We are implementing this project with our other reliable partner for the development of digitalisation, InterKamService. By combining the capabilities of various players, investors, operators of cellular and digital communications, we are solving the main problem: ensuring the availability of communications for residents and the reliability of their operation. And also the availability of tariffs, since our principled approach is that tariffs in the North should be the same as in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Half a month ago, the south of the peninsula experienced a powerful earthquake. How reliable is Kamchatka’s social and industrial infrastructure to withstand such a disaster? How do authorities interact with scientists (volcanologists and seismologists) to minimize damage caused by earthquakes and eruptions?
Vladimir Solodov: The best answer to your question is a test of action. On August 18, we had an earthquake of magnitude 7.1, and a seismic event of up to magnitude 6 was felt in the city. Not a single building was destroyed, not a single structure suffered significant damage. And this, in fact, proves that the infrastructure is reliable.
The new facilities are being built with the expectation of seismic activity of 9-10 points. There are not even any cracks there: neither in the airport building, the construction of which is already being completed, nor in the new hospital, nor in the new houses. And the buildings from the 1980s and 1990s survived: the so-called seismic seams, the joining of individual parts of the building that ensure its flexibility, functioned properly.
The seismic tests we are currently conducting prove the reliability of the infrastructure. Seismic experts say that the regularity and average strength of the tremors is a good predictor that a large, destructive earthquake is unlikely. Although it cannot be ruled out, because we live in a super-dangerous seismic zone.
At the same time, of course, we constantly cooperate with scientists. We must give them credit: the response is fast. Unfortunately, while volcanic eruptions can be predicted fairly accurately, earthquakes cannot be predicted quickly. What is important here is the immediate response and instructions on how the population should behave. And each time we make sure that we have all the reserves available and ready for any scenario.
And then, the main line of cooperation with science is related to a more accurate study of the housing stock, clarification of microzonation maps, construction of the most probable earthquake scenarios and substantiation in the new version of national projects of a separate program for relocation of seismically unstable housing. It was adopted after the devastating earthquakes in Kamchatka in the late 2000s, but during this time the amount of funding decreased significantly. Our task now is to act proactively and ensure that seismically unstable housing and the most dangerous and seismically unstable social buildings are rebuilt or relocated.
Unfortunately, a terrible tragedy occurred five days ago: a helicopter with tourists on board crashed. What consequences could this disaster have for the transport and tourism industry in the region?
Vladimir Solodov: The death of people is always a tragedy. And once again I would like to express my deepest condolences to all the relatives of the victims. 22 people died: three crew members, two guides and 17 tourists from all over the country.
And this is an irreparable loss, although we are now trying to provide targeted support to all affected families as quickly as possible. Each of them will receive 3.3 million rubles per passenger. We are trying to do it quickly, at least to make the first payments.
We will draw conclusions after the assessments that are currently being carried out by the Interstate Aviation Committee, its employees are working at the scene of the disaster and are checking the airline itself. We need to thoroughly understand the reasons for what happened and take the most serious measures to prevent this from happening again.
They may include a programme to improve the reliability of Vityaz Aero’s own flights. It is important that rigorous measures are taken to reduce the risk of such air accidents to zero.
The second direction is the minimization of helicopter transportation in general, the transition from helicopters to airplane-type aircraft. By the way, yesterday at a meeting with the president the issue related to the construction of domestic aircraft and airplanes was discussed. We really hope that they will start arriving to us and replace the existing obsolete fleet. We are preparing runways and adapting them to expand airplane flights.
And the third is the development of land-based tourist destinations, because a helicopter, whether we like it or not, is highly dependent on weather conditions, and flights in it are risky and very expensive.
If we can implement a network of interesting and exciting land routes, this will expand the seasonality, we will be able to offer a more standard tourist product, and the tourist routes will meet the needs of all categories of tourists, from the most demanding to a fairly large group of people with limited finances.
And our tourism projects are aimed precisely at this. For example, the flagship project “Three Volcanoes” will open land access to everything that Kamchatka is rich in: volcanoes, hot springs, lakes and rivers, and the ocean coast. I will also name the “Zelenovskie Ozerki” cluster – tourist sites along our main land route Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky – Ust-Kamchatsk.
What agreements have already been signed and are planned to be signed within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum?
Vladimir Solodov: The total volume of deals amounts to more than 40 billion rubles.
Moreover, these are only the funds that are reflected in the new agreements. If we talk about the volume of projects in general, it is around 60 billion.
A number of important projects are underway for us. In particular, yesterday we signed an agreement with the Bystrinsk Mining Company for the implementation of the Kumroch mining project. It is among the 3 largest investment projects in Kamchatka. The total volume of investments in it will exceed 50 billion rubles. This is one of the first projects in the Far East that uses a federal budget investment protection mechanism, the so-called project financing factory. It allows investors to hedge against risks arising from interest rate fluctuations, the government assumes these risks and allows investors to invest with greater confidence. The project creates huge fiscal potential in the future – about 30 billion rubles during its implementation. It creates more than 3,000 jobs.
Let me emphasize that, despite the fact that the mining industry traditionally has rotating workers, the Bystrinsk Mining Company has been training personnel from local residents for two years now. On the basis of our polytechnic school, the “Professionalism” project is being implemented, through which 100 children are recruited for a sought-after profession every year. They receive a specific scholarship, a uniform, trips to the countryside during training, are guaranteed employment, a very decent salary, interesting work and good career prospects.
At the forum, we signed a document on such a landmark project. Agreements have been concluded with AFK-Sistema and GALS-Development companies. They will participate in our large real estate projects, in the construction of hotels in the city centre and in other tourist clusters. We will intensify cooperation in the field of reliable digital communications and improving the quality of taxi operations. We agreed with Yandex.Taxi on additional investments in this area.
Let us not forget about humanitarian projects. For example, we have agreed with the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug to resume the legendary Beringia dog sled race in an interregional format. In the coming years we will try to return to the 1,000-kilometer race, which was once included in the Guinness Book of Records and was held from Kamchatka to Chukotka.
