The Ministry of Construction annexes Crimea – Newspaper Kommersant No. 189 (7390) dated 10/12/2022

Crimea may change its curator in the Russian government for the third time – according to the draft government decree published by the Ministry of Economy, it will become the Ministry of Construction. Previously, the Ministry of Crimea, specially created for this purpose, was responsible for the development of the peninsula, and after its abolition in 2015, a separate department in the Ministry of Economy. It was not possible to find out the reasons for the new administrative reorganization of Kommersant yesterday – it is only known that it is being implemented on behalf of the president with a stamp “for official use.” The idea was probably dictated both by logistics in connection with the activity of the Ministry of Construction in the territories annexed to the Russian Federation, and by the “construction” content of the Crimean state program – for the Ministry of Economy, which is responsible for the strategic development of the economy, this regional specificity looked non-core.

The Ministry of Economy published on regulation.gov.ru a draft government decree aimed at bringing its acts “in line with the decision to transfer powers in the field of socio-economic development of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol” from the economic department to the Ministry of Construction. At the same time, the Ministry of Economy refers to the relevant instructions of the president, however, Kommersant was not named their details in the ministry yesterday. A source in the White House, familiar with the topic, said that Vladimir Putin’s order is classified “for official use.” The explanatory note of the Ministry of Economy does not contain any other arguments, it is only noted that the proposed decision will not affect either the efficiency of the implementation of state programs or business. The fact that the transfer of powers is being discussed after the explosion on the bridge across the Kerch Strait is apparently a coincidence – none of the officials interviewed by Kommersant yesterday confirmed the connection with one another.

Previously, the peninsula has already changed curators in the government: in 2014, he received a separate territorial ministry – the Ministry of Crimea. In 2015, it was abolished due to contradictions in the views on the development of the peninsula of federal (the ministry expected to link the “catching up” development of Crimea with economic freedoms), local and military authorities, who were counting on large-scale federal injections (see “Kommersant” dated July 16 2015). As a result, the authority to implement the regional FTP, and then the state program, went to the Ministry of Economy, but for the ministry they were more applied and accounting.

The Crimean state program was launched in February 2019 on the basis of the federal targeted program implemented since 2015, and even then it was focused on the construction and renovation of the infrastructure of the peninsula. In 2019-2023, it was supposed to spend 310 billion rubles from the federal treasury on it, of which 55% was financing of transport infrastructure. 12% of expenses were allocated for social programs (reduction of unemployment and growth of the average salary), another 10% of expenses were to be financed by the energy sector. At the same time, the current passport of the program simultaneously fixes its underfulfillment and rise in price – for example, with a federal spending plan for 2019 of 150 billion rubles. only 92 billion rubles were used, while the bar for annual spending after reducing to less than 100 billion rubles. in 2021–2022, from 2023, it was again raised to the level of 150 billion rubles.

The construction department, in turn, told Kommersant that the initiative to transfer powers to the Ministry of Construction is “focused on ensuring an integrated approach to the development of these territories,” since “large infrastructure projects are being implemented in these regions, social development of territories and housing reforms are being actively carried out. -communal services”. It should be noted that the ministry takes an active part in activities in the territories annexed to the Russian Federation – and the inclusion of Crimea in this perimeter looks predictable from the point of view of logistics, energy and resource provision.

Oleg Sapozhkov