UST: News

Expert in the field of economics, business planning and strategic management Kirill Badulin has prepared an analytical article on the prospects of development of the Russian economy. In connection with the latter's dependence on the world prices of hydrocarbon crude there is a need of finding new growth points. They should be based on existing strengths of the country and development of the innovative component. In addition, it should foster the growth of the quality of life of all Russian population and improve its well-being, without harming the environment. SkyWay breakthrough innovative technologies and proposed transport and infrastructure complexes in their framework are best suited as a locomotive of the Russian economy.

One of the reasons of the current crisis phenomena in the Russian economy is the negative dynamics of world prices for hydrocarbon crude. The GDP and industrial production has slowed down in 2014, and show a decline in 2015. There is a growing Federal budget deficit, which is covered by the Reserve fund, formed in the period of more favourable situation on the world markets. In this case, diversification of foreign trade proceeds slowly: for 9 months of 2015, the share of hydrocarbon crude and fuel in the export of Russia made up about 75%. And it becomes especially critical during the period of falling world prices on energy products.

Considering all the above, to ensure long-term sustainable development of Russia it is necessary to find new points of economic growth instead of the oil and gas sector as soon as possible. According to the opinion of the famous Russian financier Andrey Movchan (http://www.forbes.ru/mneniya/konkurentsiya/306337-russkii-venchur-kak-prozhit-bez-gazproma) (in Russian), a possible driver of growth of the Russian economy could be the use of Russian undeveloped and uninhabitable areas for burial of the world waste and technologies for working with radioactive materials.

However, it will significantly harm the environment of the country that will affect the health and quality of life of future Russian generations. Among other alternatives A. Movchan mentions other areas for intensive growth of the Russian economy based on innovations and the use of existing national resources. Such point of growth, according to the financier, could also be a transport system that would ensure rapid and economical transportation of cargos from Europe to Asia and back through the territory of the Russian Federation. This system would also make a reasonable alternative to freight delivery by sea via the Suez Canal. According to A. Movchan's estimates, this would bring about USD 50 billion a year to the country. The only limiting factor is the huge amount of investments required to implement this concept.

As a possible solution that would allow Russia to become one of the largest transit powers, is the creation of transport and infrastructure systems based on innovative SkyWay technologies on the territory of the country. SkyWay route is by 3-5 times less costly, and in the elevated design it is by dozens of times less costly in comparison with other similar transport systems and by several times more economical in operation (for comparison, the cost of such transport system from Saint-Petersburg to Vladivostok stretching over 8 thousand kilometers will be comparable to the cost of construction of the high-speed railway line "Moscow - Kazan - Yekaterinburg" with a length of only 1.6 thousand kilometers). The payback period of this project, according to experts' estimates, will be about 3-5 years.

Construction of the SkyWay transport system in Russia would bring it the following economic advantages:

provision of prompt and economical delivery of goods from Europe to Asia and back, bypassing the Suez Canal, at a speed of from 150 to 450 km/h;

development of modern transport infrastructure and creation of new jobs;

growth of European and Asian transit cargo through the territory of Russia;

dozens of billions of dollars of revenue due to the increase in speed of cargo export and re-export;

development of remote mineral deposits (for example, Tomtor in Sakha Republic, the deposits of coal in the Tyva Republic, etc.) and supply of extracted raw materials both on the Russian market and for export.

In addition, to develop this subject, it is proposed to make the transport corridor an offshore zone providing offshore status to companies registered in it and operating outside it (and outside Russia). This idea perfectly fits into the concept of building SkyWay linear cities, which will allow not only to create new jobs but also to provide comfortable housing to the population, to unclog big cities and, as a result, to raise the quality of life of Russians. The SkyWay transport system will become the basis of the linear city. That will provide a fast and efficient delivery of cargos and passengers, will virtually abandon the need for a car and reduce to zero road accidents by elevating the transport system on the "second level".

The global transportation market has the potential of trillions of dollars. If Russia becomes the first country in the world, where the transport infrastructure systems will be built by SkyWay technology, this will allow the country to reduce dependence on price fluctuations at the global energy market, diversify foreign trade and to create a basis for technological leadership and further economic growth in the near 50-100 years. To be or not to be for SkyWay and to be or not to be for Russia - if this is not the same issue, then clearly these issues are interrelated.