Oleg Nikolayev updated the President on the situation with the spread of the coronavirus in the republic, including the number of new hospital beds and payments to medical personnel. He also noted that the epidemic had revealed the existing problems in the republic’s healthcare system, namely the lack of an infectious diseases hospital and the poor condition of the cardiovascular diseases block of the republican clinical hospital. He asked the President to instruct the Healthcare Ministry to work together with the regional authorities on building an infectious diseases hospital and renovating the clinical hospital.
The Acting Head of Chuvashia added that the coronavirus has had a serious impact on the republic’s economy. The industry, the construction sector and the enterprises that ensure the vital functioning of the republic mostly continued working. But some other sectors reported a downslide, primarily trade, services and housing construction. At the same time, overall industrial output has been kept up at 98 percent compared to last year.
The agricultural sector worked even better than last year and hopes to report a record high gross output of one million tonnes.
Oleg Nikolayev noted that after he was appointed Acting Head of Chuvashia in January 2020, his administration started preparing the republic’s comprehensive development programme for the next five years. Its main goal is to coordinate the existing federal programmes, national projects and the republic’s own socioeconomic development programme, to ensure that they are implemented as effectively as possible, and consequently, to achieve the national goals and the targets of the national projects set by the President.
The coordination council responsible for stimulating investment activities and protecting business rights has held its first meeting. A number of decisions have been adopted this year to expand the list of federal forms of assistance to agriculture and producers, and the amount of purchased farming and processing equipment is growing. The interest rate on rural mortgage loans has been cut yet again to convince people to live and work in rural areas. Oleg Nikolayev added that slightly more than 40 percent of the republic’s population live in rural areas.
The Acting Head of the republic asked the President to instruct the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities to finish the shelved Shemurshinskoye water reservoir project that was created as part of the Clean Water programme in 2010–2015. The purification and pumping equipment has been installed, and some water conduits have been built, and when the facility is launched with all the water pipelines, 60,000 people in the rural area and production facilities will have a supply of high quality water. The capacities of the facility will allow water to be supplied to the neighboring regions in the Republic of Tatarstan if necessary.
Mr Nikolayev also asked the President to instruct the Ministry of Transport to begin the construction of the first stage of the third transport half-ring road that is so necessary to the republic’s capital, Cheboksary. The road was part of the general plan for the city back in the 1970s. The construction documentation will be completed shortly. The construction of the road will allow the land reserved for it to be used, including for housing construction.
Vladimir Putin pointed out that all the main economic criteria indicated that there were positive trends in the republic and most importantly, the trends were being transformed into social infrastructure: the number of doctors per 10,000 people is higher than the country’s average; the same applies to the number of schools and kindergartens. The President suggested paying attention to the level of unemployment, which is slightly higher than the country’s average.
The President emphasised the relevance of the issues raised by Oleg Nikolayev and promised to help deal with them and issue relevant instructions to various agencies and the Government in general. This relates to the infrastructure, road infrastructure, and the construction of medical facilities, as well as the condition of water bodies and hydrotechnical facilities.
In conclusion, the President wished Oleg Nikolayev success in his further work.