VERNYAYA PYSHMA (Sverdlovsk region), February 16There is no decision to allocate money from the National Welfare Fund for the construction of a high-speed railway, Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev told reporters following a meeting on the development of the high-speed railway, which was chaired by President Vladimir Putin.
““Fundamental decisions have been made, but the project requires a little refinement, because it is very expensive, we need a little time to recalculate the (financial) model,” the minister told reporters.
When asked whether the financial model was approved, which involved the allocation of 580 billion rubles from the National Welfare Fund for this project, Savelyev replied: “There are nuances there, because the funds of the National Welfare Fund are allocated very tightly.”
“Therefore, we have now found a parallel solution, we will now recalculate the model again, there will be participation of both regions and banks, which have “moved” into the positive,” he added.
When asked when the deadlines for the implementation of this project will be determined and the construction of the high-speed railway will begin, Savelyev emphasized that these parameters will be made public in the near future.
«It depends on the financial model that we are now discussing. I don’t want to announce in advance, but all this will be (announced — ed.) in the near future,» Savelyev explained.
He noted that the development of high-speed rail transport in Russia will include five projects, the first of which will be the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway.