Artem Verkhovtsev: “If a miracle happens tomorrow, the airport will be able to work”

Deputy Prime Minister of the Voronezh Region Artem Verkhovtsev told RBC Chernozemye about working with troubled companies, international partners,construction of the Voronezh airport and the BRT projectArtem VerkhovtsevArtem VerkhovtsevArtem VerkhovtsevArtem VerkhovtsevArtem Verkhovtsev

“From time to time you even hear that you would like to bring back covid-19 ”

- During the year, the region had to literally save many enterprises. Problematic industries include Siemens Transformers, Pirelli, Kuhn and other companies with foreign capital. What is the algorithm of work in such cases, what role does the government of the Voronezh region play in the negotiations?

- When we summed up the results of the last year, we also had to start it with the phrase that the year was not easy. From time to time you even hear that I would like covid-19 to return. But we will not adhere to this point of view - we do not need a pandemic either. In what conditions did we find ourselves this time? First of all, enterprises with foreign capital suffered, there are more than 50 of them in the region. Voronezh Transformers is one of the most favorable examples: the owner changed during the transaction, now it is owned by Inter RAO. Power and traction transformers, which are manufactured and maintained by our Voronezh enterprise, are in demand on the market due to the departure of foreign manufacturers. The owner was the company, which is actually the consumer of these products. Therefore, we see prospects for development. The transaction went smoothly, but

There are also less successful examples, such as the optical fiber manufacturer Ofs Rus, owned by the Japanese corporation Furukawa (there is also a share of the American company). There is a willingness to sell the business, but negotiations are still underway with potential buyers. I would like to attract a profile shareholder. Why is the process still ongoing? The fact is that Ofs Rus was focused on the foreign market in terms of the quality and level of its products. The cable produced by the enterprise is used quite little by operators in RUSSIA today. We have more loyal requirements for the material. While the essence of business is to produce products, working at full capacity, with the corresponding economic effect. Therefore, it is wrong to acquire a company that can produce a Mercedes, and make completely different cars on it.

When the well-known events came, by decision of the governor, a council was formed, and a register of enterprises with foreign participation was compiled. We communicated with these enterprises on a regular basis, including via video calls. This helped to clearly understand the situation - where and how we can help from the government or federal agencies. None of the enterprises is currently in a state of "not working".

- Can you clarify what exactly the council did?

— Interaction with federal authorities: at some point, a federal commission was formed to control foreign investment. In fact, she gave permission for such transactions. We accompanied the transactions together with this commission, we received the necessary decisions.

- It is known that now about 25 organizations in the region are idle. Are there industrialists among them? If so, what were the circumstances that caused them to enter idle mode? What kind of support does the government give them?

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“Our Department of Labor and Employment is monitoring the situation. I note that among them there is not a single industrial enterprise. However, industrial companies still experience difficulties - then they go to a shorter work week. For objective reasons, there are problems with logistics and components. These companies were focused either on the EXPORT of finished products, or were associated with the supply of foreign components. The short week is now introduced at Tyazhmekhpress, as 100% of their customers are located abroad.

But none of the enterprises is in a critical situation: logistics, markets are being rebuilt, they are being updated and searched. How did logistics services work before? Employees sat, and a line of suppliers lined up for them. But there has been a turnaround. Now these people are required to analyze the market as soon as possible, to obtain a conclusion on the conformity of one or another substitute - a rather large amount of work that takes time.

“Now there are not many countries cooperating with us”

— The index of industrial growth in the Voronezh region, as well as throughout Russia, is declining. What is the region doing to maintain the previously set sufficiently high level?

— Every year we maintained a high pace, above the average Russian indicators. And in 2022, at the end of 10 months, we saw a decline. If we talk about manufacturing industries, the decline was at the level of 1.3%. We see it primarily in export-oriented enterprises - for the production of ammonia, cable products in the person of the same "Ofs Rus", which had an impact on the structure of economic indicators, for the production of tires, rubber. We are talking about all products that do not find their customers now, which, I hope, is temporary, and this effect will be corrected next year.

We are implementing new projects, many executors of the state defense order. We already see a multiple increase in workload - a number of enterprises are preparing to switch to a three-shift mode of operation. While we have such forecasts, I think that it is premature to talk about an established downward trend. 

— This year you attended events designed to establish new international relations, for example, in Kyrgyzstan. How would you rate the results of this work?

- If we talk about Kyrgyzstan, then this trip was completely non-economic. We have, so to speak, a "common" hero of the Great Patriotic War, who is a national hero of the Soviet Union. His feat was accomplished on the banks of the Don, and we met on the occasion of the 100th anniversary. The idea of ​​the trip was to participate in the festive events dedicated to the anniversary. Our Kyrgyz friends are very kind to his act and honor the memory of the hero. But, since I specialize more in the real sector, in any case, I managed to see a number of enterprises. We were on the territory of the Talas region, where there were two enterprises - and one of them was idle. Now an investor has been found in the regional government, who has revived the enterprise and created jobs. I will not say,

I would rather mention the visit to the Republic of Belarus. Indeed, there are concrete results here, cooperation agreements have been signed, an appropriate action plan in the economic sphere. In autumn there was a return visit, the heads of the large industrial enterprise Amkodor came. They are interested in production capacities in Russia - today they have not yet agreed on specific solutions, but we do not give up this hope. The investor is primarily interested in the brownfield, that is, the already existing industrial site. Since their profile is machine-building, we selected such sites and sent them to our colleagues. Quite close economic ties have been built with Belarusians in many areas: Voronezh electronics, fertilizers, and a large amount of agriculture are supplied there. 

— Do you consider Turkey an industrial ally?

— Now there are not many countries cooperating with us, and Turkey is among them. We have examples when our enterprises open branches or legal entities there to carry out operations related to the logistics and delivery of components. Therefore, we use the opportunities, including this country.

“At the same time, another project is underway, the customer of which is the Federal Air Transport Agency. The cost of the project is several billion

— What problems arose during the implementation of the Voronezh airport project? Is the government monitoring this situation?

“The situation is completely stable. For certain reasons, there was a pause after a sharp increase in the central bank's rate, since the project to build a terminal for 1 million people is being carried out not only at the expense of the operating company, but also at the expense of the bank's funds. There was a pause only at the moment when the financing structure was being revised. Today we can say that the work is going on actively, the contractor is the same - the Turkish construction company Limak Marash. The third level of construction is already being completed, the planned commissioning date is December 2023, and it is not moving. We work very closely with the management company on everything related to infrastructure and communications.

At the moment, we are discussing the issue of transferring the access road to the airport from the management company to the ownership of the region or municipality. The road needs to be reconstructed, because as the capacity of the airport increases, the “entrance gates” also need to be put in order. For the airport, this work is not profile. Now we have agreed that we are studying financing not at the expense of the road fund, but at the expense of new investment projects. This federal instrument was introduced this year along with infrastructure budget loans. Now we are accepting the road, making a project for its reconstruction and applying for new investment projects (NIP). The revenue part includes tax revenues that will come from the airport and other business entities. And if this indicator exceeds the amount of funds spent, they will not need to be returned to the federal budget. Since this is a transport infrastructure facility, we will try to use this source of funding.

The construction of a new terminal on the territory of the airport is not limited. In parallel, another project is underway, the customer of which is the Federal Air Transport Agency - this is work to increase the length of the runway so that after the sky opens, the airport can receive all types of air transport. Large-scale work is connected with the renewal of perimeter fences, and airport systems, and the strengthening of transport security. The cost of the project is several billion. It is difficult to give a deadline for the completion of the reconstruction, however, if we talk about the advantages of the current situation, the work went faster after the suspension of the air harbor. Now there is technical readiness: if a miracle happens tomorrow, and the Federal Air Transport Agency decides to resume flights, then the airport will be able to work. Voronezh is the center of the Black Earth region, quite naturally,

— What will happen to the Voronezh metrobus project? In the spring, it was announced that the launch of a substitute for Moskovsky Prospekt would be expected, but is there now an understanding of when this will happen, and will it be possible to implement another immediately after this large-scale project?

— We ordered a study from the Russian Road Research Institute (FAU RosdorNII) to get an idea of ​​how the metrobus (BRT) would look like. Many different options were discussed: the metro below, the metro above, rail trams - not rail ones ... Today there is a clear, well-grounded conclusion that Voronezh needs mainline transport. And the best option was the metrobus. It is not a specific mode of transport, but a physically separate dedicated lane. While dedicated lanes are now regulated by markings, road signs and enforcement, the metrobus assumes a physically fenced off lane, which is given priority when passing through intersections.

This is connected with another project that we are running — the creation of an intelligent transport system (ITS). The idea is as follows: when the bus approaches the intersection, the green light will turn on for it. If it's exaggerated to say. As a rolling stock, dedicated lines can run both ordinary transport, which we use today to transport passengers, and any other (electric, autonomous, and so on). The project does not require a complete replacement of the park.

Will minibuses remain on the line?

- The scheme for organizing passenger services, which was also evaluated, calculated and proposed as part of this work, involves the use of all types and sizes of transport. The advantage, of course, is with buses of a large and extra-large class. What is the advantage of the metrobus - there is no need to invest heavily in infrastructure at once, that is, there is no need to dig tunnels, lay rails, quickly change the passenger train. BRT can be implemented based on available resources, in stages. There are no more subway discussions. If we talk about the timing, then we must understand that a physically allocated lane will reduce the throughput of personal vehicles on existing highways. Therefore, the project is divided into stages.

We will approach the design during the implementation of the project of the understudy of Moskovsky Prospekt, which itself is now at the design stage until the end of 2022. The city will have design estimates next year, and then we will start implementation. The section from the street will be completely duplicated. Antonov-Ovseenko to the exit to the street. Koltsovskaya. There is a lot of discussion about how correct this decision is, I will note that the understudy was laid down in the design documents of the Soviet era. Then they knew how to count: first, traffic flows and existing roads were analyzed, and then they only started construction. The load on Moskovsky Prospekt and the future understudy has been calculated for today, the efficiency has been confirmed. There should be no difficulties with the construction of an understudy, there are only a few sections being built anew - adjoining the streets. It is also planned to purchase land plots in some places in order to widen the road. Be that as it may, the city needs this transport artery.

There are two opinions on how to launch a metrobus: along the axial (for example, as it is implemented in Belgorod) or along the edge. No decisions have been made yet. Both are technically possible. An assessment is needed both from the point of view of the cost of implementation, and from the point of view of subsequent operation - the impact on the cost of maintenance, repair and cleaning work. There should be stopping points and pedestrian crossings, if done along the axial. This will objectively lead to an increase in traffic lights, since people will have to cross from the center of the road to the sidewalk.

What are your plans for 2023?

- By and large, the indicators of all areas are defined, they are clearly linked to the expenditure part of the budget, which we are now adopting. As far as industry is concerned, the main task is to maintain the pace of development. Because the numbers that we have today need to be corrected.

The full version of the interview with RBC Chernozemye within the framework of the special project "Results of the Year" can be read here.

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