Russian Economy Humming: Mayor Sobyanin's Report to Putin

Perhaps the most demonstrative way to show the utter failure of the Outlaw US Empire's Sanctions From Hell to debilitate Russia's economy is to read this report by Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to President Putin that was delivered today. What's more is Moscow now easily outranks New York and Washington DC as a major metropolitan city which is a fact that will be extremely difficult for Neocons and Neoliberals to accept, yet it's true. Besides this report, the head of Russia's railways reported yesterday results of a similar nature that I'll link for readers to discover themselves. And now, the Sobyanin Report:

Vladimir Putin: Sergey Semyonovich, we are in constant contact, and the situation in the capital as a whole is well known. Nevertheless, bearing in mind the importance of Moscow in the life of the country, in the country's economy, of course, it is always useful to sum up some results for certain periods of time, and there is an opportunity to talk just about the results of 2022.

S. Sobyanin: Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich. With your support, Moscow has implemented a number of large-scale projects in recent years and has rightfully become one of the world's leading megacities.

The year 2022 was a certain test for us, but in the conditions of even the most severe sanctions for Moscow, this did not serve as any obstacle to the implementation of the programs that we discussed and planned. Moreover, I believe that the next few years will bring good, high dynamics and quality of the city's development, despite all the difficulties.

I would like to tell you about this on the example of a number of projects.

In particular, in the field of economy, Moscow ranked third in terms of gross product, taking into account purchasing power parity, among the world's cities. We have doubled the volume of investment in five years, the volume of manufacturing industry has increased by 40 percent even without taking into account the Moscow refinery, and with the introduction of new capacities of the Moscow refinery, the volume of manufacturing industries will double in Moscow.

We are implementing a number of interesting economic projects that will drive development in the coming years. We have already talked about unmanned aerial vehicles. In Rudnevo, at the industrial complex, we have developed a large site, today there are already 120 thousand square meters of industrial space, and in the coming years it will be three times more. And the core of this industrial complex will be just unmanned aerial vehicles, which we recently looked at at MSU, at the Vorobyovy Gory INTC. In addition, a number of federal enterprises, such as Almaz-Antey, which perform strategic tasks, are also being developed there.

Another area that is very important for the country and for the city is the development of pharmaceuticals. In Zelenograd, we are currently developing a large cluster for the production of medicines, primarily vital medical products, ranging from viruses to oncology, and two-thirds of them have never been produced in Russia. We will also increase the volume of this cluster by two-thirds in the coming years, but today the largest Russian enterprises are already developing there, we provide them with all possible assistance, conclude long-term contracts, and due to this, they feel confident and develop the production of new drugs.

The third direction in the field of economics. You gave the go-ahead to create an electric vehicle cluster in Moscow.

Despite attempts to block the production of cars in Moscow, we have resumed production of Moskvich on the basis of the former Renault production facility and plan to make our own Russian electric vehicle platform in two years and start producing our own cars with most of the components produced in Russia.

Another area that is most important for such a city and which determines, in fact, both the development of the economy and the comfort for residents is the development of transport. Over the years, with your support, we have implemented a number of projects related to the underground metro, skytrain, and roads.

In particular, a year ago, just over a year ago, you opened the Big Ring Metro Line, two-thirds of which was built. We have now fully completed it, and in the coming days, if you consider it possible, with your participation, we want to open a Large Ring Line as a whole around the circle. This will, of course, be a very serious help for the development of the metro, the liberation of other lines, ground transport, and so on. This is the largest thoroughfare in the world among all the ring metro lines.

Another project that you have actively helped us with is the so-called skytrain, the Moscow Central Diameter, which connects disparate suburban services. We have introduced two IDCs, and this year we are completing the construction and launching two more diameters – MCD-3 and MCD-4.

Vladimir Putin: It works well.

Sergei Sobyanin: Yes, excellent, just fine. They are very popular. This is, in fact, the largest infrastructure project. One of these projects is being implemented today in London, it has been implemented for twenty years, and it is considered the largest infrastructure project in Europe. We have implemented two similar projects and will launch two more this year. In autumn, both MCD – 3 and MCD-4 will be launched. One of them is just the entrance of the high-speed highway from St. Petersburg, respectively, from Zelenograd - and in the direction of Kazan. It runs directly through the entire city, through the central railway stations. And the MCD-4 will pass through all the stations of the city, with the exception of one. It is also a very complex project, very important for the city.

Another area is the construction of major trunk roads. Last year we launched the Moscow High-speed Diameter, first of all. This year, we will complete the second stage and complete the Southern Chord, which is also a big project, 40 kilometers, connect the Moscow high-speed diameter with the direction to Kazan, which is currently being built by our federal colleagues, and then the federal road goes on, connecting it. Thus, a road will run from Kazan to St. Petersburg, and there will also be a high-speed highway. Thus, we have, in fact, the fourth transport ring of chordal messages. And this will be the base, the foundation of the street road network in Moscow, the new foundation.

The most difficult huge projects, because they go mainly in overpasses, along railways, with the demolition of buildings of some ownerless and others, through engineering communications, through industrial zones and so on. Nevertheless, all this is coming to an end, and all these projects will be completed this year.

Vladimir Putin: Moscow's development is very strong, very strong.

Sergei Sobyanin: Another project that you are monitoring is housing construction. This year [2022] we introduced a little less than in the previous year: it was 7.8 million square meters, and now it is 6.8 [million square meters]. But any construction, and housing construction, has its own specific cyclicity. If we take the five-year cycle, we used to build a little more than three million square meters in Moscow, but now we have reached five, seven – 6.8 [million square meters]. In other words, if we compare it with the five-year cycle, we have started to build twice as much housing. Moreover, housing quality has changed.

But, of course, we work not only with commercial housing. You approved a housing renovation project at the time. We have already resettled 100 thousand residents – a whole city. But this is only the beginning of this huge program, and in the next three years we will relocate another 200,000 people. Ultimately, our goal is to resettle about a million people. But the program is gaining momentum. In fact, we are doubling the volume, and we are not stopping, but, on the contrary, we are trying to develop these rates.

The next project that is under your attention is the development of outpatient primary health care.

In Moscow, it would seem that the situation is good, but it is relatively, because a large number of clinics were built in the 50s, 60s, and even in the 40s and are morally outdated. That is why we are reconstructing the entire dilapidated polyclinic fund. In fact, only one skeleton remains, everything else is new, and new polyclinics are being created in this place.

This year we will complete the reconstruction of half of the entire polyclinic fund in Moscow, and there will be 200, in fact, new buildings equipped to a new, most modern standard. This, of course, will improve the quality of outpatient services for Muscovites.

Vladimir Putin: In 2022 – 77, and in 2023 – 124.

Sergei Sobyanin: Yes, in 2022 we have already reached 77, and in 2023 we will add 124 more.

Vladimir Putin: What's the upside to this?

Sergei Sobyanin: A plus, yes, and there will be only 201. In total, we have about 400 polyclinic buildings in Moscow, which is half of the total fund.

We are also working on all other buildings, providing them with good, high-quality equipment, and bringing them up to standard. It's just a huge amount of work here, because the building is dilapidated, there are practically no bricks left, the skeleton is one, everything is practically [being updated]: the roof, the layout, engineering communications, and facades. It's a very complex program, and we've been working on it for a long time.

Vladimir Putin: In fact, the renovation is very deep.

Sergei Sobyanin: In fact, yes, it is a very deep renovation. Moreover, new standards, new approaches, a new system of relations between patients and doctors, comfortable conditions for both, MFC employees who are being introduced into the patient reception system, new equipment – in general, a good project, beautiful.

And healthcare. In addition to the polyclinic level, this year we are completing a number of major projects: the Kommunarka that you were in, a number of facilities are being completed, the largest project related to oncology is the Loginov clinic, in the field of infectious diseases – infectious clinical hospital No. 1, a large children's complex and as many as six flagship emergency care centers, which are the core of the old clinic and increase its productivity by one and a half to two times.

At the same time, an artificial intelligence system is being introduced primarily for medicine. You are well aware of this topic, and you recently hosted a large forum where artificial intelligence works on the basis of big data. Moscow has created a database of systematized and structured data for two billion [data units]. This is one of the largest databases in the world, on the basis of which you can process and teach artificial intelligence for decision-making.

Currently, eight million diagnoses have already been made with the help of computer vision in various fields: starting from oncology, with vascular diseases, lung diseases, and so on. The hit rate is very high, and it is constantly increasing.

We have developed a system of medical tips for primary care doctors, and nine million diagnoses have already been made using artificial intelligence. It is clear that the doctor himself ultimately makes the diagnosis, but artificial intelligence helps him correctly structure laboratory appointments, process them, help write out a prescription, and correctly diagnose them. This is a great support for the doctor. And this, of course, is a unique system not only for Moscow, but also for the whole world.

Vladimir Putin: Of course, we need to replicate it. When we held an event there, we celebrated this project, I mean through Sberbank.

Sergei Sobyanin: We are also developing a system of outpatient solutions together with Sberbank, which is a very effective system, and, of course, it works on the basis of an electronic medical record, on a database that is structured, systematized, and marked up so that artificial intelligence can process them and already issue appropriate diagnoses.

In parallel, we are working with the Moscow Electronic School. There is also quite a large amount of data here. About two million pieces of content have already been uploaded to this school. This is a very systematic and deep project that allows us to improve the quality of school education. And today, there are about 4.5 million hits per day to this content.

You gave instructions to try to extend this experience to other regions. Together with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Digital Development, we have created a project where the Moscow Electronic School will be the basis for a Russian electronic school called My School. In order not to reinvent the wheel, we have been working on it for many years and adapt it to the requirements of the Ministry of Education.

Vladimir Putin: Does this also apply to online education, or is it helping the schools themselves?

Sergey Sobyanin: This is mainly in terms of education, it is an aid for the teacher. During the lesson, he uploads content that has everything: methodological manuals, laboratories, video labs, test papers. From the same platform, he uploads the task to the student's diary with the corresponding auxiliary material, test material, and so on. And this whole machine works as a single organism.

As I said, the Moscow Library, an electronic library, has uploaded about two million pieces of content on any topic. But it is important not only to create a huge unstructured volume, but also to systematize it for each lesson, for each topic, for each standard defined by the Ministry of Education. This is a very important, big, complex job. Together with the Ministry of Education, we have been doing this for many years, and today we already have such a good product.

We have already discussed the need to apply digital technologies in the design of buildings and structures in the country. Many foreign platforms left the country and brought down, in fact, digital design. We have created our analogs of digital platforms in a short time. Moreover, Moscow has created a digital twin of the city: this includes all ground planning – long-term, the current situation-up to the facades of houses, and three-dimensional design. And in addition to the ground, we also made the entire network of engineering communications underground, that is, we can see what is on the ground and what is under the ground. And this is not just a picture, but a tool for designing and creating new residential and industrial complexes of buildings and structures. Currently, three thousand buildings have already been created on the basis of this platform, based on digital programs, including the new Lomonosov cluster.

At one time, remember, there was a very serious problem in managing the housing stock, houses, because it is practically impossible to hold a meeting in the house, it is impossible to make [decisions] – this means that the management company does what it wants.

In order to somehow solve this problem and involve residents in the management of the house, so that they have a real opportunity, we have created an "electronic house" system, in which today residents can make all the necessary decisions from their smartphone, phone, or computer. No need for everyone to run to the entrance and vote with their hands. And this vote is reliable, because it is supported by the corresponding digital passports. All decisions can be made on this database.

Vladimir Putin: Digital democracy.

Sergei Sobyanin: Digital democracy, yes. But it is real, it provides a huge number of services, and people really feel like they own their home.

Vladimir Putin: They are involved in the decision-making process.

Sergei Sobyanin: Yes, we are involved.

You know, there were a lot of skeptical comments about video surveillance in the city, all sorts of insinuations that it's bad that someone will be followed. The video surveillance system primarily, of course, works for the security of the city. Currently, 7713 people who are on the federal wanted list have been detained in the metro and in the city, these are pure criminals who could not be found before. This system recognizes and gives a signal for police work within a few seconds.

As a result, for example, in Moscow, apartment thefts have significantly decreased, because criminals understand that when they enter the entrance, even if they are wearing a mask, the system recognizes them. Even if they are completely closed, the video camera system will still track him and solve the crime. This is an important system.

And I must assure you, Mr. President, that we will continue all these programs, this is only a part of them. The city should develop comprehensively, efficiently and dynamically.

Vladimir Putin: A lot of work has been done in each of these areas, and each of them is extremely important. I remember how a few years ago, not so long ago, there were big doubts about whether Moscow would be able to provide normal traffic, normal traffic inside the city, inside city squares. Yes, of course, with such a huge population and such a density, this is not an easy task, but in general, Moscow manages it better than in many other megacities in the world.

The health care system, education, and the urban environment as a whole are also actively developing. So, I want to thank you and your entire team for this. I hope that the work will continue at this pace and with such quality in the near future.

Sergei Sobyanin: Thank you, Mr. President. With your support.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. The main thing is that everything we agree on is practically implemented.

Sergei Sobyanin: Yes, we are not stopping, despite all the difficulties. Moreover, all this work will continue in the same dynamic.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.