Federal Highways Totalling 50,000 Km to Be Built in Russia Over Next 8 Years

According to Igor Slyunayev, the First Deputy Minister of Transportation of Russia, federal highways totalling in length 50,000 km will be built in Russia over the next 8 years. The deputy minister also said that half of 47,000 km of existing federal highways needs total refurbishing. To correct the situation, the Ministry of Transportation is preparing a number of law drafts, including 'On Highways and Motoring', 'On the Toll Roads of the Russian Federation' and also 'On the Sources of Financing of Road Construction and Maintenance in the Russian Federation', according to which the construction of roads will be financed through either increased excise taxation of automotive fuels and lubricants or through the redistribution of revenues resulting from Added Value Tax. As to toll roads, the deputy minister said funds generated by tolls were comparable with maintenance costs