As part of the Sirius International Forum "Innovations in Road Construction", a session entitled "A New Approach to Structuring and Financing Agreements for the Development of a Network of High-Speed Highways" was held. It was attended by Alexander Sokolov, Director of the Department of State Policy in the field of road economy of the Russian Ministry of Transport, Igor Koval, First Deputy Chairman of the Board for Investment Policy of Russian Highways State Company, heads of regional ministries, contracting organizations and representatives of the banking sector.
The key topic of discussion was the mechanisms for attracting extra-budgetary funding for infrastructure projects in the current macroeconomic situation.
"The Ministry of Transport pays constant attention to road infrastructure mechanisms and pays special attention to PPP projects. In 2026, the Ministry of Transport together with the State Company will update the methodology for selecting PPP projects involving federal funding - the relevant order has already been signed and registered with the Ministry of Justice," - Alexander Sokolovsky, Director of the Department of State Policy in the field of road infrastructure of the Ministry of Transport of Russia.
In recent years, the State Company has formed a model for the implementation of high-speed transport corridors using public-private partnership (PPP) mechanisms. To date, about 1.1 trillion rubles of return investments have already been attracted to the State Company's projects, and the PPP practice itself has become one of the key drivers of the development of the country's modern road infrastructure.
"Russian Highways has attracted 1.1 trillion rubles of off-budget financing during its operation, and today the company has about 20 investment agreements, including five major concessions. On June 4, a new law will come into force, which will allow the regions to co-finance our highway projects - the risks will fall on the company, and the subjects will be able to free up resources for other tasks. We are already launching the southern bypass of Tyumen and the interchange on the M-12 near Noginsk. In addition, Russian Highways State Company is becoming a single center of competence for analyzing regional highway projects, and is also preparing to participate in regional concessions and is working on the creation of an investment fund," said Igor Koval, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Russian Highways State Company for Investment Policy.
The discussion participants paid special attention to the legislative initiatives of the State Company to be implemented in 2024-2025. One of the most discussed was the initiative to grant the subjects the right to co-finance Russian Highways projects. The new mechanism will allow the regions to implement their own transportation initiatives at the federal level. At the same time, it will save them from structuring complex investment projects and servicing debt obligations. Russian Highways will assume the attraction of extra-budgetary financing, and the model of project implementation assumes regional co-financing in addition to federal and extra-budgetary funds.
Representatives of the banking community separately noted the high level of confidence of the financial market in the State Company's projects. The participants discussed the prospects for the development of long-term investment agreements, mechanisms for improving the financial stability of projects and the possibility of using new funding instruments.
The State Company emphasized that the development of a network of high-speed highways is not only an infrastructural, but also an economic task. The creation of modern transportation corridors ensures the growth of territorial connectivity, reduction of logistics costs, increase of investment attractiveness of the regions and development of domestic tourism.
