Opportunities for the implementation of large-scale road projects in the regions, mechanisms to support initiatives of the business community, new approaches to project structuring and further development vectors were discussed by the participants of the Russian Highways State Company business session "Expressways - Growth Algorithms" at SPIEF-2026.
The implementation of highway infrastructure agreements using PPP mechanisms is an effective solution for attracting debt financing to the road sector, which allows the state to retain control over implementation, while significantly reducing the burden on the budget. The repayment of debt financing is ensured at the expense of revenues from toll collection, so that the investor, having invested part of the funds for the creation of the road, returns them at the operation stage.
Vyacheslav Petushenko, Chairman of the Board of Russian Highways State Company, told the participants and guests of the event about the results achieved and further plans for the development of a network of high-speed roads with the attraction of extra-budgetary investments.
In recent years, the State Company has formed a model for the implementation of high-speed transport corridors using public-private partnership (PPP) mechanisms. The West-East corridor is a vivid example. Its creation has resulted in a number of positive effects that are extremely important for the country. Travel time from St. Petersburg to Yekaterinburg has been reduced by 19 hours. GDP growth over 20 years is expected to amount to about 6.9 trillion rubles. Already now trucking companies save about 8.5 thousand rubles when traveling from St. Petersburg to Yekaterinburg. The tourism industry in the regions has also received a powerful impetus to development," said Vyacheslav Petushenko.
The head of Russian Highways added that the PPP practice itself has become one of the key drivers of development of modern road infrastructure in the country. And the growth rate will not slow down, because just over a week ago, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed a law granting regional authorities the right to implement their transportation initiatives on the federal road network under the trust management of the Russian Highways State Company. In fact, the law allows launching projects where there is a high interest of the regions, but which are difficult to realize only at the expense of federal funding.
At the same time, the regions get an opportunity to accelerate the construction of important road and transportation facilities, which in turn will provide a number of positive effects: increased connectivity of territories, reduced logistics costs, increased investment attractiveness of the regions and the development of domestic tourism.
And due to the fact that project implementation, including the attraction of off-budget financing, will be conducted through the mechanisms and competencies of Russian Highways State Company, the subjects will not have to undertake the complex structuring of concession projects, debt service and subsequent road maintenance costs.
Dmitry Makhonin, Governor of the Perm Territory, spoke about the importance of implementing investment projects for the region. He noted that ensuring the high quality of roads is an urgent task for every constituent entity. And the use of public-private partnership tools helps to achieve this goal. And the new changes in legislation, which give regions the opportunity to participate in the development of federal highways, will make it possible to continue working on the accelerated development of the road transportation system.
Alexander Avdeev, Governor of the Vladimir region, told about the advantages that the region gets from high-speed roads:
"When we first discussed the M-12 highway project, we never imagined what kind of traffic would travel to the Vladimir region on this road. The figures speak for themselves. For example, during the May holidays, traffic on the M-12 reached 60,000 vehicles per day. And this flow will continue to grow. Business reacts to it vividly. Logistics complexes are being built, housing construction is actively developing. Tourism has received a powerful impetus. When in 2024 we celebrated the millennium of Suzdal, the flow of tourists increased by 30% at once, and we thought that further decline should follow. But this did not happen, on the contrary, the tourist flow continues to grow. And all this together creates a huge potential for further development of the region", - said Alexander Avdeev.
