From the FT, September 1:
You can learn a lot about Russia’s struggling economy, and the Kremlin’s much-trumpeted Rbs 25.7tn ($390bn) spending plans to kick-start it, from a wander around Moscow’s Kazansky railway station. Under ornate chandeliers and grand Soviet murals depicting the triumph of labour, the small electronic departures board tells a story of under-investment, outdated infrastructure and years of unfulfilled promises. No more than eight trains run from the capital to regional city Kazan each day, taking roughly 12 hours to trundle along the 750km route. To fix that, president Vladimir Putin has promised to build a Rbs 1.7tn ($25bn) high-speed line reducing the journey to three and a half hours. It is a prominent initiative in the Russian leader’s grand scheme of “National Projects” that the Kremlin says will reinvigorate the country’s moribund economy. But those clutching suitcases on the platform have heard it all before: Mr Putin first made such a promise six years ago, and weary travellers are still waiting for work to start.......MUCH MORE
...Cash is available.
Years of hawkish budgets and a decision to balance state spending means Russia’s reserves have risen by 45 per cent since 2015 to $518bn midway through this year. But implementation is already lagging behind schedule. In the first half of this year, only 32 per cent of the promised funds for National Projects initiatives was spent, according to Russia’s Accounts Chamber, a government spending watchdog....
Wha? I did not expect to see "Cash is available"
It was last January we were reading::
Ministry hints Putin’s Arctic ambitions are not realistic
Followed in April by:
"Russia seeks Chinese support in developing Arctic shipping routes, promising long-term gas supplies in return"
It appears the stories of a cash crunch for projects in the Russian far north were accurate.
The Arctic and the Northern Sea Route are Putin's pet projects but even he doesn't have the kind of money required. The Barents Observer said in March:
«€143 billion investments needed on Northern Sea Route» .
So what's up with the half-trillion?
That's one heck of a rainy-day fund.
And blissfully ignoring the strategic threat:
Canada Makes A Move In The Arctic, Claims The North Pole: "Santa is Canadian eh"
