Who will live in new Siberian cities
The idea of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu to repopulate Siberia continues to be one of the most pressing topics of recent times. About what socialeconomic and a similar urban planning program can have a military significance for our country, we in detail told previously. All this is quite feasible, financially, technically, and organizationally, and this infrastructure project can become a powerful driver for the development of Siberia and the Far East. However, one very important question remains unsolved: who, in fact, can become a “colonist” who has gone to explore distant lands?
This question is far from idle. One of the most terrible problems of our country is depopulation, despite a whole range of measures being taken to increase the birth rate, Russia still has not been able to get out of the “demographic hole”. We are getting smaller from year to year, and the socio-economic situation in the regions forces the able-bodied population to move to large cities in Central Russia, closer to Moscow and St. Petersburg, where there is more work and higher wages. According to the forecasts of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, by 2050 the population of our country may decrease to 132,7 million people. The problem is extremely serious and needs to be addressed. But how?
"Komsomolskaya" construction site
The future, as you know, belongs to young people, but in our country, unfortunately, "social elevators" do not work as well as they did under the USSR. Go try to get a higher education in a budget place or get a good high-paying job, and you can only dream of your own home, except with the help of your parents and the hated mortgage. Of course, this does not apply to a rather narrow layer of "golden kids" on expensive foreign cars, whose whole life is arranged in advance from the cradle. But what should everyone else do? The project "settlement of Siberia and the Far East" could be a way out for them.
Do you want to get a job at the "Great Construction", but you are not trained to work with pens? Let the state at its own expense provide an opportunity to quickly obtain technical specialty and will distribute to a guaranteed job. Do you want to get a higher education for free? Let the authorities open universities in new cities and provide migrants with an opportunity to unlearn on the budget. Do you want your own accommodation? Let the employer, represented by the state, provide a service apartment with the possibility of its subsequent privatization, while banks give mortgages on the most favorable terms at a reduced interest rate. Well, why not try to move to a new place on such conditions?
But this is an internal migration process, but what about immigration?
Foreign Russians
As you know, after the collapse of the USSR, about 30 million Russians remained abroad. In recent years, the authorities have begun to actively support the return of compatriots from abroad. Russians are leaving Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, the Baltic states, and now from Ukraine. The state really began to help them, but if they were offered the same conditions that we described above, this immigration flow would undoubtedly increase. It’s one thing to move, you don’t understand where, it’s another thing to move to a new city that is being built from scratch according to the mind, where one enterprise after another is being opened. As a result, moving to Siberia or the Far East will become not a link, but a unique life opportunity.
"German settlement"
As strange as it may sound at this stage, such a proposal could also be of interest to citizens of other countries that are not ethnic Russians. No, we are not talking about immigrants from Central Asia, but about quite civilized Europeans or even Americans. Don't be in a hurry to scoff. Of course, in the European Union and the United States, the overall standard of living is much higher than in Russia. This is true. But Russia has something to offer that neither Brussels nor Washington will.
Despite the undoubted benefits of Western civilization, it also has a downside, which does not suit everyone. This is the invasion of migrants from the most disadvantaged countries in North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, as well as the active imposition of policy the so-called tolerance. Not everyone, not everyone is satisfied with this, therefore, internal migration processes become noticeable, when wealthy residents of Western Europe buy real estate and move their families to countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, where the scale of the above problems is not so great.
What can Russia give them?
First, the notorious "traditional values" of the Christian sense, the ban on LGBT propaganda, and so on. Second, and perhaps more importantly, we could offer the Europeans who are ready to move to us land. Yes, land. Land is a tremendous value because its quantity is limited. For reference, in Lithuania 1 hectare costs 3,5 thousand euros, in Hungary - 4,2 thousand, in the Czech Republic - 5,5 thousand euros, in the Netherlands - 63 thousand per hectare, and in Italian Liguria - 108 thousand. The spread is large, but it is obvious that land is a valuable and valuable resource. There is a lot of empty land in Siberia and the Far East. It is possible to form a program "Siberian hectare" for foreigners wishing to move to us, work or simply live peacefully on retirement.
Imagine the following picture: the average German pensioner, tired of being close to migrants from North Africa, applies to participate in the Siberian hectare program. Within the framework of the program, in the vicinity of a new metropolis under construction in Siberia, he can receive for free use (without the right to sell) a hectare of land for individual housing construction or agricultural processing. A wealthy German can afford to build a house in the suburbs at his own discretion and live quietly among his compatriots in the conditional "German settlement". He is granted a residence permit, and a German pension in Russian realities will be enough for his eyes, since the cost of living is lower than in Germany. And no unpleasant neighbors or gay pride parades for you.
It all sounds not so unrealistic. There would be a desire.
Information