Published on: 2026-08-26
Source: Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Marat Khusnullin spoke at the event “Homeland is the people. Quality housing and transport infrastructure” at the National Center “Russia”
“The main capital of our country is the people. That is why we are implementing the comprehensive national project ‘Infrastructure for Life,’ where we have gathered everything a person needs: where they live, relax, work, and how they move around. We have combined programs on housing, roads, and urban environment to systematically approach the development of territories. At the same time, the key element of the national project remains housing. Last year, 108 million square meters of housing were commissioned, and including all types of real estate, almost 150 million square meters. Per capita, this figure became the highest in the country’s entire history, including the Soviet period. At the same time, 63.5 million square meters are accounted for by individual housing construction. Despite all the challenges, construction does not stand still – we have been steadily growing for six consecutive years, showing an increase of 36%. Also, the construction industry provides more than 20% of the country’s GDP,” noted Marat Khusnullin.
The Deputy Prime Minister added that the most important condition for housing affordability remains mortgages. By the President’s directive, preferential mortgage programs such as family, Far Eastern, rural mortgages, preferential mortgages in new regions, and for IT specialists have been preserved. The state compensates for the difference between market and preferential rates, which supports citizens in improving their housing conditions and allows the industry to maintain construction volumes.
Also, when creating a comfortable living environment, great attention is paid to the improvement of public spaces. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, citizens are increasingly actively participating in discussions on transforming their settlements. This year, within the framework of the All-Russian competition of the best projects for creating a comfortable urban environment, another 294 projects were recognized as winners.
An important factor influencing quality of life is transportation accessibility. Speaking about road infrastructure, the Deputy Prime Minister reported that over the past five years, 3.7 thousand kilometers of expressways have been built in the country, which allow movement without traffic lights and intersections. The development of international transport corridors continues. Their main element is the M-12 “Vostok” highway, which is part of the “Russia” route from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok. This year, the highway will be extended to Tyumen and will provide a high-speed route from Saint Petersburg to Siberia.
The construction of city bypasses continues. In addition, attention is given to regional and local roads: 58% of such roads have been brought to standard condition – this is the best indicator in the history of Russia.
The key task of the national project “Infrastructure for Life” is the development of 2,160 key settlements — from large metropolises to small localities. The goal is to improve quality of life by 30% across 16 main indicators by 2030. The program includes about 50,000 activities. As noted by the Deputy Prime Minister, among other things, it is planned to improve the street and road network by at least 30%.
Marat Khusnullin also touched upon the issue of restoring the reunited territories. Practically the entire country is involved in this work. Since 2022, 25 thousand facilities have been restored and built, and federal roads have been brought up to standard. The work continues.
The Deputy Prime Minister also spoke about the implementation of large-scale social and cultural projects. For example, in Vladivostok, Kemerovo, Kaliningrad, and Sevastopol, the construction of cultural clusters with a total area of about 600 thousand square meters continues. Several other major facilities have also been completed: in Kaliningrad, a new building of the Museum of the World Ocean “Planet Ocean” has opened; in Saint Petersburg, the restoration of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory has been completed; in Moscow, a new building of the Tretyakov Gallery on the Kadashevskaya Embankment has started operation. Moreover, the construction of world-class student campuses is underway.
In conclusion, Marat Khusnullin reminded that this year the construction sector of Russia is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
“Where there is construction, there is life. Construction is about people. Today, 13 million people are employed in construction and related industries. This is a large percentage of all citizens employed in our country’s economy. I recommend young people choose our profession. Despite all the challenges, the country will continue to be built and develop,” summarized the Deputy Prime Minister.
The event also featured speeches by Vitaliy Shmarov, head of the M-12 “Vostok” highway construction project of the Avtodor Group; Vladimir Kosoy, president of the Infrastructure Economics Center; Ilyas Gilmanov, executive director of Delko LLC; urbanist, sociologist, and founder of CM International Pyotr Kudryavtsev; volunteer and representative of the youth wing of the All-Russian People’s Front Vladimir Fray; and others.
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