Alexander Brechalov began his report by describing the situation in healthcare. The region has been focusing on overcoming a shortage of medical personnel; the staffing level at hospitals has increased by 35 percent since 2017. In the past five years, 90 rural health centres have opened, two outpatient clinics have been built, as well as a clinic in Izhevsk; 349 pieces of medical equipment have been purchased, as well as 149 ambulances. A new tuberculosis hospital will be completed in 2023.
Reporting on education in the region, Alexander Brechalov spoke about the construction of kindergartens and schools, the activities of the centre for gifted children, and the implementation of the major repairs programme for local schools.
Turning to economic issues, the regional head said that in the first quarter of this year, the industrial production index was 111 percent, and manufacturing, 120 percent.
Udmurtia has 12 defence plants. Last year, the share of their civilian and dual-use products amounted to 26 percent. This year, ten major projects will be implemented with a total investment of almost 7 billion rubles, and about 1,500 new jobs will be created. Alexander Brechalov also spoke about the development of the Votkinsk plant and said that the Kupol electromechanical plant in Izhevsk rolled out almost three billion rubles’ worth of civilian products last year.
The regional industry has been successfully adapting to new challenges. Nika Petrotech has implemented a joint project with Transneft to launch domestic production of additives for oil transportation. This product used to be imported from the UK. The Izhevsk Mechanical Plant is capable of producing 3,000 cardiac pacemakers, and the Sarapul Electric Generator Plant launched the production of tram engines in May. These are all examples of import substitution projects.
According to the head of Udmurtia, the situation on the labour market is stable. With 6,000 people officially unemployed, the number of available job openings is about 17,000.
He also spoke about agriculture, noting in particular that Udmurtia was among the leaders in milk production. It is also implementing Russia’s first dairy farming genetics project.
The President noted that industrial production is growing in Udmurtia, the construction sector is growing, the share of dilapidated housing is below the national average, and unemployment is lower, too. These figures indicate strong performance, but it is also important that people actually feel these positive trends.
At the same time, Vladimir Putin pointed out a few matters that require additional effort, in particular, the debt burden of the local defence industry enterprises. This requires special attention from both the federal government and regional authorities, the President said, and where these companies can be helped out, this must be done.
On the whole, the President thanked Alexander Brechalov for his work.
The head of Udmurtia said he wanted to ask the President for support on four important issues, and that the corresponding letters had been sent. Vladimir Putin confirmed that he had seen them and had already issued the necessary instructions to the Government.
In conclusion, Alexander Brechalov said Udmurtia had far-reaching plans for the coming years, and he would like to continue working, with the support of the President. He said he was going to run in the upcoming elections for head of Udmurtia.
Vladimir Putin wished him good luck.