Economics
Putin’s Highway Hopes Face Headwinds as Investment Push Sputters
- Moscow-St. Petersburg highway took eight years to build
- Putin’s investment plan to 2024 includes $78 billion for roads
Photographer: Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS via Getty Images
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Nikolai Kholodov has been driving his truck along the highway from St. Petersburg to Moscow for two decades. This week, he’ll finally be able to make the trip without worrying about detours, traffic jams and animals running onto the road.
More than 14 years after the project was first approved, President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday formally opened a 669-kilometer (415-mile) toll highway between Russia’s two biggest cities. Keen to show he is succeeding in a pledge to improve living standards as his popularity ratings slip, Putin traveled to St. Petersburg to open the route’s final section.