News

A meeting of the Presidium (Headquarters) of the Government Commission on Regional Development was held via video conference under the leadership of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.
The session, attended by Oleg Melnichenko, focused on the progress of the new national project "Infrastructure for Life."
Khusnullin highlighted that Penza Oblast consistently ranks in the "green zone" among Russian regions for infrastructure development projects.
"The region does not have major taxpayers or special economic privileges, yet last year it achieved a housing construction rate of 0.85 square meters per person. Moreover, for the past five years, all indicators—both for multi-story and low-rise housing—have shown steady growth," Khusnullin noted.
In 2025, alongside housing construction, the region continues to develop its social, transport, and engineering infrastructure. The governor provided updates on the interim results for the year.
"As part of the national project, we have five federal initiatives with a total budget of over 6 billion rubles, including 3.8 billion in federal funding," Melnichenko reported.
Under the "Formation of a Comfortable Urban Environment" federal program, 50 public spaces across 28 municipalities in Penza Oblast will be renovated.
"Nearly all of these are key population centers. Competitive bidding processes have been launched for 42 sites, 18 of which have been completed with contracts signed. We are on track," the governor stated.
Specifically, in 2025, urban improvement projects will be carried out in four cities—Kamenka, Zarechny, Nikolsk, and Serdobsk—which won the All-Russian Contest for the Best Urban Environment Projects.
The region is also on schedule with the construction of new schools in Penza for 550 and 1,100 students, the modernization of 52 utility infrastructure facilities (including major water supply repairs in the village of Naumkino, Shemysheysky District, and the town of Mokshan), the repair of 58 kilometers of regional and intermunicipal roads, the renovation of 432 linear meters of bridge structures, and the implementation of two major capital projects—a flyover near Yerik Street, Transportnaya Street, and Gorbatov Lane in Penza, as well as a bridge over the Shuksha River in Luninsky District.
A total of 4.2 billion rubles has been allocated for modernizing regional and local road networks.
"We are now entering the stage of fund utilization, and work has already begun," Melnichenko confirmed.
Wrapping up the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Khusnullin praised the region’s progress.
"Share your experience with your colleagues, Oleg Vladimirovich—how do you manage to achieve such consistently strong results?" he concluded.