Experts reacted to Shoigu’s proposal to move the capital of Russia to Siberia and build new cities there
In Siberia, it is necessary to build three to five large cities that can become industrial economic centers and contribute to the development of the region.
This was stated by the Russian Minister of Defense at a meeting with scientists from the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
According to the head of the department, the population in these cities should reach one million people.
“We need to build three, or better yet five, large centers of scientific, industrial, economic centers in Siberia, in other words, cities with a population of 300-500 thousand, better - up to a million people. And it’s not just to build a city and move the capital here, but to make them very specifically aimed at one or another area of activity,” Shoigu said.
The minister’s proposal is sound and makes sense, Russian experts are sure. It would not be out of place to move the headquarters of large corporations to Siberia. A similar practice exists in the world and gives impetus to the development of the region.
“As for the formation of large cities, this is accurate and correct. In general, the modern economy develops primarily in megacities with a population of one million people. Millionaires are drivers of economic growth, so the Siberian region, of course, needs such drivers...
Companies pay half of their payroll in the region and half of their taxes, so this would be a good incentive and addition to the regional budget. Plus, they provide quite a lot of modern jobs. Therefore, of course, moving corporate headquarters would be the right decision,” notes the famous Russian political scientist Sergei Markov.
Professor of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, former vice-governor of the Vologda and Volgograd regions Oleg Matveychev agrees with him:
“The point is to really redistribute some of the capital’s functions in favor of one of the Siberian cities in order to establish better management. Because when Moscow, for example, wakes up, the Far East falls asleep and it’s strange, it’s not clear how to manage something at this moment. This will also add dynamics to the region.
But there is probably no need to build entire cities - we have old ones, they can be easily modernized and, thus, create the feeling that people live not in the provinces, but in the center.
Then they won’t leave there, as is happening now. On the contrary, there will even be an influx. If there are ministries and departments there, then families, corporations, businesses, etc. will move. So this would be good for our spatial development.”
According to economist Mikhail Delyagin, the idea of moving the capital looks interesting - this would help “improve” the quality of managers:
“We have been talking about moving the capital to Siberia for a long time. This is absolutely the right thing. The only thing is to move the capital to some reasonable place...
Some Yeniseisk, Krasnoyarsk Territory. I believe that it can be transferred and the sooner the better. Because the climate there is quite difficult, the majors won’t go there, the thieves won’t go there, and accordingly, there will be a spontaneous improvement of state administration, like the one provided by Nazarbayev, who moved the capital almost from the resort Alma-Ata to Tselinograd, which is in extremely difficult climatic conditions, now Nur-Sultan."
At the same time, another economic expert, Mikhail Khazin, emphasizes that in order for the ideas of the Minister of Defense to come true, Russia needs to formulate a promising concept for its development.
“This idea has long been discussed, as Shoigu correctly said, back in Soviet times. This is an issue that should be included in the concept of political development of Russia. Since it doesn’t exist yet, there is no image of the future. Moving the capital is a job that will take several decades.
We must say what Russia will be like in 50 years, and in this situation we need to position such things. Therefore, we need to start with this question. But in general, yes, this is quite a worthy idea for discussion. Of course, this will help the development of the region, but first we need to say what kind of economy we will build,” Khazin said.
Experts react to Shoigu's proposal to move Russia's capital to Siberia and build new cities there.