That is what the Speaker of the Federation Council of the RF Federal Assembly said during a bilateral working meeting with the acting head of the Penza Oblast Oleg Melnichenko on Wednesday, September 1, 2021.
At the beginning of the business meeting, Valentina Matviyenko noted that there was a reset in the region's development, as well as the understanding of what to do and how to fulfill the priority tasks set by the President of Russia.
"The Penza Oblast has a huge potential, which is not in demand in all fields. It is great that you have worked out a programme of economic and social development, highlighting the most pressing issues that concern the citizens", Valentina Matviyenko assessed the activities of the acting head of the region. "I know that you keep in touch with the Penza Oblast residents, using personal meetings and social media to respond to citizens' appeals. And we can say that thanks to their active participation, it was possible to adjust the region's development strategy so that to take into account new challenges and realities."
Speaking about the the region's long-lasting problems that have accumulated over many years, the head of the Senate stressed the issue of water supply as the one that that requires the participation and support of the federal centre.
"Clean water is the key thing, as well as the health of the population", she added. "And, of course, the development of infrastructure will help attract investment."
"There are positive developments in the volume of housing construction that hasn't slowed down its pace despite the COVID. The number of mortgage loans is growing, so we have a task to make housing affordable for people and to restrain price growth," Valentina Matviyenko emphasised.
The Chairman of the Federation Council also approved of the pace of the Penza Oblast industrial and agricultural production as the basis of the economy and creation of conditions to solve social problems substantively and effectively.
"After the meeting, prepare a list of problems which need the federal centre to be solved," Valentina Matviyenko addressed the acting governor.
According to her, the country will join in to provide support on actions listed in the work flow chart, which also needs to be drawn up.
Oleg Melnichenko thanked the Chairman of the Federation Council for the assistance provided in financing the construction of another school in the Sputnik microdistrict.
"The problem has not been solved for many years, despite the fact that this locality is practically part of the city and is developing dynamically," said the acting head of the region. "There are more than 40 thousand people living there, mostly young families with children. We were already planning to make the third shift or to look for a way to take the children somewhere to study. But it would be wrong – children should study where they live. And thanks to you, we got the opportunity to finance the facility from the federal budget."
"And now we are able to start building a school. I think we will have built it by 2023-2024," he added.
At the meeting, among other things, Oleg Melnichenko mentioned the need to modernise public transport in the Penza Oblast, the system of water treatment plants and the road network in municipal districts and rural territories.
"We have modernised regional roads, and quite well: we have reached the standard of 66% or more. Federal roads reconstruction is also actively underway. But for us to create a support network of municipal roads, they need to be repaired, and it's about 800 km. They stretch across about 170 settlements, where 300 or more people live and where school buses are used," Oleg Melnichenko outlined the nearest prospects.
"Besides, we need to reconstruct the road network in the very district centres and larger settlements. It requires much money, comparable to 8-9 billion rubles for 3-4 years. This is what we will have to do," he stated. "Of course, we will need additional support to increase the amount of funding allocated for road construction in the Penza Oblast."
In addition, Oleg Melnichenko pointed out the need to start using modern digital technologies, new routes and low-floor high-capacity buses powered by gas, primarily in the city of Penza.
"It is necessary to radically change the entire system of transport services in the Penza agglomeration. Now we are determining the amount of funds we will need. We hope that we will be able to cope with this task using the infrastructure loan," Oleg Melnichenko summed up.
