Deputy Prime Minister Khusnullin: the construction of the M12 Moscow – Kazan highway has risen by ₽200 billion
Photo: Nikolay Gyngazov / Russian Look / Global Look Press
The construction of the M12 Moscow-Kazan highway has risen in price by 200 billion rubles compared to the originally planned amount of 623 billion rubles. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said this in an interview with Vedomosti.
As Khusnullin explained, the increase in the cost of construction by hundreds of billions of rubles is associated with an increase in the cost of metal by 30 billion rubles, as well as an increase in salaries for builders (by 46 billion rubles). In addition, the route became 15 kilometers longer due to the need to connect it with the existing M7 Volga near Kazan and go further to Yekaterinburg, and karst rocks were discovered along the route, which always increases the cost of construction, the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Khusnullin called the rise in the cost of materials as the main threat to the construction. According to him, with a further rise in prices by 15-20 percent or more, it will be necessary to reduce the already launched construction programs. “If today, due to the increase in the cost of materials, we stop running construction projects, the consequences will be very bad,” he stated. The Deputy Prime Minister also pointed to a reduction in the inflow of labor resources to the country due to the pandemic, and it will be possible to raise labor productivity while maintaining the current situation in two to three years.
Earlier it became known that the construction of the M12 Moscow – Kazan highway began to be difficult due to a shortage of manpower, as well as due to a shortage of KamAZ trucks. As they said in Avtodor, now the construction site does not have enough special equipment, which is ordered from KamAZ. Workers have become critically lacking due to the fact that during the period of quarantine restrictions in 2020, 1,900 people over the age of 60 had to be sent to remote work.
Prior to that, Marat Khusnullin said that the main course of the Moscow-Kazan highway would be launched in 2023. Additional entrances to the highway and exits from it are planned to be completed in 2024. Also, Khusnullin added, in parallel, projects are being developed to extend the road from Kazan to Yekaterinburg.
