In particular, among questions under consideration are a series of draft laws on toll roads, the maintenance and development of international transit airports as well as amendments that would reduce limitations to rent national property objects, identified as non-privatizable.
The infrastructure of transport needs 600 billion rubles ($1 = 29.22 rubles) annually, with budget headroom hardly ample in this case, Mr. Levitin pointed out.
"Road facilities are 100% financed from the budget and foreign loans, which lies heavily on budget commitment. In other countries there are private companies taking active part in this sphere, developing high-speed toll roads," the minister remarked.
"Partnership among state and private entities would disburden the budget, accelerate the process of putting facilities into operation, improve the quality of services offered to users," Igor Levitin believes.
Among the most promising projects to be based on such kind of partnership are projects to construct the West-East and the North-South highways, high-speed lines to West Siberia and Yakutia, form networks of transit airports and extend border control posts. "All these questions will be on the agenda of a cabinet session on October 7," Mr. Levitin said.
Sergei Generalov, heading a task group of the Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Council, spoke out at the session for going through with the law on concessions as soon as possible.
"The law is being considered in the 2nd reading. If it is not approved, we shall not manage to protect the rights of investors," Mr. Generalov said. The law on concessions would be much effective in the sphere of transport infrastructure. At the same time this must have nothing in common with the management of natural resources due to particularity of the matter," the official underlined.
