The Governor started his report with education. He said Novgorod school student Tikhon Mavrin took first place at the national academic competition on artificial intelligence. Last year, national competitions on the digital economy were won by eight residents of the region. This was due to the technical opportunities and equipment for these classes, which the region has acquired.
According to Mr Nikitin, 109 schools have been repaired in the region and 800 million rubles invested in secondary technical schools. Half of the money has come from the state, the other half – from Novgorod companies. The university is making rapid headway. In three years, the number of students in the region’s colleges and university has increased by 4,500 people or by more than 20 percent.
The region has made great progress in road upgrades. Novgorod is linked by railway lines with nine Russian cities. The Governor said that no economy, no investment appeal is possible without good roads, good transport accessibility.
Replying to the President’s question on the region’s participation in national projects, Mr Nikitin said that it has achieved good results on the majority of them. There are some delays in the construction industry, in part regarding kindergartens, but these problems will soon be resolved. The region is fulfilling all parameters of the national projects: the mortality rate is falling and general life expectancy is increasing. However, people in the region understand that a lot still needs to be done.