Lensky bridge

The plan to connect the two banks of the Lena River near the capital of Yakutia began in the early 1980s, when the Baikal-Amur Railway was actively built. Of the three options for the location of the bridge by 1986, we chose the one on which the structure was to be erected 38 kilometers above Yakutsk , not far from the village of Nizhny Bestyakh . In the future, this option received a justification related to the proximity of the Amur-Yakutsk railway, which connects the village of Berkakit in the Neryungri district of the republic with the Lower Bestyakh, where, in turn, the Baikal-Amur railway connects ^[9] .

In July 2013, the Federal Highway Agency announced an open tender for the right to conclude a concession agreement for the construction and operation of a highway bridge across the Lena River in the Yakutsk region ^[10] . The implementation of the project would make it possible to establish an uninterrupted supply of goods to the Far East. The competition, officially announced on July 19, envisaged the construction of an automobile bridge and road approaches to it, adjacent to the Umnas and Lena highways, with a total length of more than 21 thousand meters. According to officials, the price of the project would not have exceeded 40 billion rubles. Experts announced the project implementation period - 14 years, including design and construction - 6 years, operation - 8 years. The competitive review ended in March 2014.

The winner of the competition for the construction of a bridge across the Lena River in the Yakutsk region was a consortium led by Transport Concessions (Sakha) LLC ( VTB Bank , USK OJSC, Most, Bamstroymekhanizatsiya OJSC, and Stroyproekt Institute OJSC) ^{[11 ] [12] [13]} . But then the signing of the concession agreement with the winner of the competition did not take place in connection with the unplanned construction of the Crimean bridge. Given the priority of infrastructure projects, the Government of the Russian Federation was instructed to consider the possibility of implementing the project for the period after 2020, taking into account the financial resources of the state and private investors, as well as the importance of the bridge for the road network and the economy of the Far East ^{[14] [12]} .

The main river in the east of the country is the Lena River. There is no stable connection between Eastern and Western parts of Yakutia for 152 days (5 months a year), which means a gap in transport accessibility for 62.1% of the population of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (600.5 thousand people).

The city of Yakutsk is the only settlement in the Russian Federation that is included in the list of 100 largest and largest cities of Russia, which does not have year-round ground transport links with access to the federal road network.

In accordance with the Strategy for Spatial Development of the Russian Federation for the period until 2025, the city of Yakutsk has been identified as a promising center for economic growth.

The Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is working to include the project in the Comprehensive Plan for the modernization and expansion of the main infrastructure for the period until 2024.

The construction of a bridge across the Lena River will provide transport and logistics spatial connectivity in 18% of the territory of the Russian Federation. 83% of the population of the country's largest region will fall into the zone of year-round transport communication ^[2] .

The bridge project involves 18.3 km of roads, of which the length of the bridge is 3.1 km and access roads are 10.9 km ^[3] . The construction of the facility will give a powerful impetus to the development of existing production and the creation of new projects.

The bridge will combine the federal highways Lena and Kolyma with the Vilyui highway, which will become an important component of the Northern latitudinal economic zone of Russia. The bridge will connect East Siberia with the ports of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk by the shortest route. In addition, there will be a transport corridor from Irkutsk to Magadan ^{[4] [5] [6]} .

The commissioning of the bridge will double the volume of freight traffic only due to the implementation of large investment projects and the development of production. Moreover, the region’s GRP growth may reach 2.5-3% per year ^[7] .

With the commissioning of the Lensky bridge, mining facilities will be involved in approximately 1 trillion rubles.

• the growth of year-round transport accessibility of the population from 20.9% in 2018 to 70% in 2025, taking into account the provision of year-round travel through the Vilyuy FAD and the Kolyma FAD to 83% ^[8] ;
• 200 billion rubles of investments in non-oil projects ^[8] ;
• 13.4 billion rubles a year forecast earnings from the severance tax to the federal budget from the mining area to the gravity of the bridge, taking into account the reserves of the Northern latitudinal belt from the development of new deposits - 18.5 billion rubles per year ^[8] ;
• 3.8 - 4.1 billion rubles annually savings in the regional budget due to changes in the logistics of the "northern delivery";
• increase in freight traffic by 1.7 times, passenger traffic - by 2 times ^[8] ;
• decrease in the cost of consumer goods and services by 7-10%, reduction in the level of poverty by 1.3% p.p. ^[8]

On December 18, 2018, at a meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Federal Road Agency (Rosavtodor) ^{[2], the} head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, officially presented the Lensky Bridge project ^[9] . Within the framework of the Rosavtodor Council, two consortiums ( PowerChina International Group Ltd. and VIS Group companies ) proposed their construction concepts. After that, a report was prepared by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and, soon, the President of the Russian Federation .

In February 2019, as part of the Russian Investment Forum, the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, spoke about a possible option of toll passage through the Lena for trucks with a carrying capacity of more than 3 tons with the option of building it on a private concession initiative ^[10] .

“We raise the question that, by the end of 2024, a bridge could theoretically be built. We want to [build] the bridge on a private concession initiative with a fairly large federal grant of up to 75-80% of its construction cost. We believe that at the same time, the paid bridge can be for cars with a carrying capacity of more than 3 tons, and for the rest of the transport free of charge, ”said Aisen Nikolaev, noting that the fare for trucks will allow returning the investor’s funds ^[10] .

In March 2019, the head of the region announced in the press service that the project was gaining momentum, and there was a positive conclusion from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development that the construction of the Lensky bridge was economically very interesting and could be included in a comprehensive program to modernize the country's transport infrastructure until 2024. It was also announced a number of instructions of the leaders of the state on this project ^{[11] [12]} .

In the message, the head of Yakutia also said that the discussion is about the intention to build a bridge under the concession agreement. Under such conditions, the construction of this facility is regarded as one of the most cost-effective. It is assumed that after the appearance of the bridge, only budgetary costs for the northern delivery will decrease by 4-4.5 billion rubles. But these calculations must be checked by the RF Ministry of Finance and Vnesheconombank .

In June 2019, as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the head of the republic Yakutia Aisen Nikolaev announced the forecast for the completion of the construction of the bridge across the Lena River by 2024 ^[13] . He noted that according to estimates of the government of the republic, the cost of building the bridge will be about 60-65 billion rubles ^[14] .

On September 4, 2019, as part of the Eastern Economic Forum, the Head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, presented at the stand of the Ministry for the Development and Development of the Russian Federation an investment project for the construction of a shipyard and a bridge across the Lena River ^[15] .

On June 20, 2019, during a direct line, the President of the Russian Federation ^{[16] [17]} drew attention to the issue of building a bridge across the Lena River. Vladimir Putin noted that the project is expensive, but very significant, primarily for residents of this region. “This is a question that the government of the Russian Federation should solve together with Yakutia. This is an expensive project, the problem has always been that it has no further continuation. Transport workers always tell me: this is a dead end, and because of this, the payback is not visible at all. Nevertheless, for the city to develop, of course, this issue will need to be resolved as early as possible, ”said Vladimir Putin .

In July 2019, the head of Yakutia Aisen Nikolaev said that Vnesheconombank gave a positive conclusion about the construction of the Lensky bridge, and a response from the federal Ministry of Finance is expected in the near future. “We did a great job with Vnesheconombank, which serves as an expert for the federal government. He gave a positive conclusion. Now the output is the conclusion of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, ”said Aisen Nikolaev. However, as he noted, now there are still some obstacles from other departments: “Usually, when such large construction projects are planned, line ministries are in favor, and financial and economic ones are against. A paradoxical situation takes place across the Lensky Bridge: the financial and economic block advocates the construction of the bridge, since it sees direct benefits for the entire region. And transport workers, who find it easier to build bridges in more comfortable climatic conditions, postpone the time. ” The head of the republic expressed the hope that after the statement of the country's president Vladimir Putin during a recent direct line that the region needs the bridge in the very near future, coordination with the ministries should go much faster and the construction of the Lensky bridge will move off the ground ^[18] .

On August 15, 2019, it became known about the inclusion of the construction of a bridge across the Lena in Yakutia in the project being developed by the national development program of the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD) in 2020-2025. It will be discussed in September at the V Eastern Economic Forum (WEF) in Vladivostok ^[14] .

“The program is formed, it was the result of a year of work. A great contribution to its formation was made by the citizens themselves. The dv2025.rf website was launched, on which more than 3 thousand offers were registered from residents of Yakutia alone. The most popular of them were proposals for the development of infrastructure, social facilities, transport accessibility. In the national program, we would like to see the bridge across the Lena, the gas pipeline system providing Yakutsk, the reconstruction of the airport of the capital of the region, and the second stage of the Yakutsk state district power station-2 in the national program, ”said TASS ^[14] , Prime Minister of the Sakha Republic Vladimir Solodov .

On September 4, 2019, speaking at a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of the Russian Federation chaired by President Vladimir Putin , the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, emphasized the importance of building a bridge across the Lena River for the National Program for the Development of the Far East. “The construction of the Lensky bridge will connect the spaces of the Far East and the Arctic , dissected by a great river from Lake Baikal to the Arctic Ocean . The bridge will connect three federal and five regional roads, the Amuro-Yakutsk railway , a river port and an international airport. It will open year-round access to colossal deposits and increase transport accessibility for the population of Yakutia from 20 to 83%. A direct reduction of budgetary expenditures on the northern delivery alone will exceed 4 billion rubles annually, ”said Aisen Nikolaev ^[19] .

Comments

Sources

• The national program of the Far East has been submitted to the Government of Russia (Neopr.) . Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic (2018). Date of treatment June 17, 2019.
• site of the Russian Investment Forum (neoprene.).
• Eastern Economic Forum website: Far East development horizons (neopr.) .
• site of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (Neopr.) .
• PowerChina International Group Ltd website (neopr.) .
• website of the company "VIS" (neopr.) .
• Sakha TIMES Information Resource website: The Lensky Bridge project received a positive opinion from Vnesheconombank (August 15, 2019) (unexposed) .
• Izvestia newspaper website: They want to include the bridge across the Lena in Yakutia in the development program of the Far Eastern Federal District (August 16, 2019) (unopened) .
• website of the Political Expertise Social and Political Journal (Politexpert.net): The project of the bridge across the Lena in Yakutia will be considered at the WEF (August 18, 2019) (neopr.) .

External media files

• “We really need it”: the residents of Yakutia were left without their bridge because of the Crimean // Rain Channel
•   Yakutia: the bridge across the Lena River will improve transport accessibility of the Far East - Russia 24 Video

[[Category: Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)]