What will the Sakhalin bridge turn out for Russia
Apparently, the Sakhalin bridge to be. On the eve, President Putin gave the green light to his study, which threatens to become a new mega-project that could outstrip the Crimean bridge by several times.
Sakhalin is the only Russian region located on a large island. Island position creates mass economic difficulties, for example, the cost of a sliced loaf for Sakhalin residents can unpleasantly hit residents of other regions of the Russian Federation. It was thought to connect Sakhalin with the mainland before, three options were considered. The first is an underwater tunnel, they even began to build it under Comrade Stalin, but after his death the project was not completed and was curtailed. The second is the construction of a dam that would turn Sakhalin into a peninsula. This option is the most economically viable in terms of cost and carries the possibility of improving the climate of the island and Primorye, which we are talking about We wrote earlier. However, it seems that the most expensive third option will be chosen - a bridge.
Already now, before the start of work, it is estimated at 540 billion rubles. The Sakhalin bridge will be only 7 kilometers long, but is estimated at 252,8 billion. The remainder of the construction budget will be used to bring the railways from the Far East. Another 90 billion will be spent on “altering” and modernizing the island narrow gauge railway. The project causes a mixed reaction in society.
Optimists rejoice at the possibility of a sustainable transport connection between the island region and the mainland. Due to this, logistics costs will decrease, the cost of goods and food for Sakhalin residents will decrease. The islanders will be able to safely leave and return home, at lower cost and not depending on the vagaries of the weather. In addition, if Japan is interested, it is possible to connect Sakhalin with Hokkaido, thereby the Russian region will serve as a transit territory for the export of Japanese goods to Europe by rail.
Skeptics suggest that the budget of the Sakhalin construction site will constantly grow, eventually stepping over a trillion, to the delight of “the kings of the state order”. They rightly point to the Crimean bridge, which started from 80 billion rubles. There are no concrete agreements regarding the prospects for connecting Sakhalin with Hokkaido, the Japanese bridge will be an extremely expensive project. As an island state, the Land of the Rising Sun has historically been oriented towards sea exports, for which all infrastructure has been created and supply chains have been debugged. It is still unknown whether Tokyo will consider it appropriate to invest tens of billions of dollars in a bridge project that will connect the country with Russia and rebuild its exports, despite the fact that the Kuril issue remains unresolved between our states, and Japan is an ally of the United States. Also, Russian motorists believe that half a trillion, and most likely, a trillion rubles, would be worth investing in the construction and modernization of roads on the mainland, which would have a greater economic effect than the fabulously expensive bridge near the devil on pies, which they will see only on TV.
Raises questions of financing a mega-project. It was previously noted that Sakhalin’s income from the Production Sharing Agreement-2 valid on the island could be directed to the construction site. It is known that Sakhalin residents as a whole live at a very decent level, largely thanks to these funds. However, now the regional budget will actively participate in the construction of the bridge. The second source of funding is Russian Railways funds, as Minister of Transport Maxim Oreshkin explains:
Recall that Russian Railways OJSC is a state-owned company whose sole shareholder is the Russian Federation. Russian Railways compensates its expenses for projects of national importance from the state budget and by raising tariffs for transportation.
So, perhaps, it’s worthwhile to return to the topic of building the Sakhalin dam?
Sakhalin is the only Russian region located on a large island. Island position creates mass economic difficulties, for example, the cost of a sliced loaf for Sakhalin residents can unpleasantly hit residents of other regions of the Russian Federation. It was thought to connect Sakhalin with the mainland before, three options were considered. The first is an underwater tunnel, they even began to build it under Comrade Stalin, but after his death the project was not completed and was curtailed. The second is the construction of a dam that would turn Sakhalin into a peninsula. This option is the most economically viable in terms of cost and carries the possibility of improving the climate of the island and Primorye, which we are talking about We wrote earlier. However, it seems that the most expensive third option will be chosen - a bridge.
Already now, before the start of work, it is estimated at 540 billion rubles. The Sakhalin bridge will be only 7 kilometers long, but is estimated at 252,8 billion. The remainder of the construction budget will be used to bring the railways from the Far East. Another 90 billion will be spent on “altering” and modernizing the island narrow gauge railway. The project causes a mixed reaction in society.
Optimists rejoice at the possibility of a sustainable transport connection between the island region and the mainland. Due to this, logistics costs will decrease, the cost of goods and food for Sakhalin residents will decrease. The islanders will be able to safely leave and return home, at lower cost and not depending on the vagaries of the weather. In addition, if Japan is interested, it is possible to connect Sakhalin with Hokkaido, thereby the Russian region will serve as a transit territory for the export of Japanese goods to Europe by rail.
Skeptics suggest that the budget of the Sakhalin construction site will constantly grow, eventually stepping over a trillion, to the delight of “the kings of the state order”. They rightly point to the Crimean bridge, which started from 80 billion rubles. There are no concrete agreements regarding the prospects for connecting Sakhalin with Hokkaido, the Japanese bridge will be an extremely expensive project. As an island state, the Land of the Rising Sun has historically been oriented towards sea exports, for which all infrastructure has been created and supply chains have been debugged. It is still unknown whether Tokyo will consider it appropriate to invest tens of billions of dollars in a bridge project that will connect the country with Russia and rebuild its exports, despite the fact that the Kuril issue remains unresolved between our states, and Japan is an ally of the United States. Also, Russian motorists believe that half a trillion, and most likely, a trillion rubles, would be worth investing in the construction and modernization of roads on the mainland, which would have a greater economic effect than the fabulously expensive bridge near the devil on pies, which they will see only on TV.
Raises questions of financing a mega-project. It was previously noted that Sakhalin’s income from the Production Sharing Agreement-2 valid on the island could be directed to the construction site. It is known that Sakhalin residents as a whole live at a very decent level, largely thanks to these funds. However, now the regional budget will actively participate in the construction of the bridge. The second source of funding is Russian Railways funds, as Minister of Transport Maxim Oreshkin explains:
Theoretically, there are two sources - the budget and Russian Railways. It is obvious that the main part will be exactly from the budget of Russian Railways
Recall that Russian Railways OJSC is a state-owned company whose sole shareholder is the Russian Federation. Russian Railways compensates its expenses for projects of national importance from the state budget and by raising tariffs for transportation.
So, perhaps, it’s worthwhile to return to the topic of building the Sakhalin dam?
Information