Putin orders boost in Kaliningrad transport and food supply

Within 5-6 years, Khrabrovo Airport near Kaliningrad will be expanded to handle 7 million passengers despite the region having just 1 million residents. The authorities and the airport management company will spend 13.5 billion rubles (approximately 160 million USD). Last year, the airport handled 4.3 million passengers, a record in its history, due to the influx of Russians to the Baltic coast as many countries refrain from welcoming tourists from Vladimir Putin's government.

Khrabrovo is one of the twenty largest airports in the Russian Federation in terms of passenger traffic. The terminal is owned by Novaport Holdings, which entrepreneur Roman Trotsenko owns. Recently, both the company and the owner were targeted by the latest EU sanctions due to ties with the war in Ukraine. However, Russian leaders are already assuring that the investment money will be found.

The President knows and understands all the region's problems well. He set clear goals for me. Transportation and food supply come first, Alexei Besprizvannykh told the "Komsomolskaya Pravda" newspaper.

In May, Putin summoned him to the Kremlin and entrusted him with the duties of governor of the Kaliningrad region (the predecessor was promoted to minister). The region is remote from the rest of the country. In the current geopolitical situation, it is important that residents do not feel this disconnection.

Poland and Lithuania have for months not allowed vehicles with Russian license plates onto their territories. Kaliningrad authorities decided to make travel easier this year by subsidizing airline tickets. Passengers are entitled to two discounted round-trip tickets. For the equivalent of 42-36 USD, one can fly to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Murmansk, and Arkhangelsk, among other destinations.

The promotion started on May 1, but the interest was so high that the servers crashed, and the first cheap ticket was issued only after three days, reports the regional service "New Kaliningrad".

Alexei Besprizvannykh announced that the region will need a billion rubles (five times more than planned) for ticket subsidies, and Moscow is already handling this. The discussion about cheap tickets and the airport may resemble the Polish disputes about the Central Communication Port. A blogger from the Telegram channel "Jantarnyj DLB" marked a post about the airport with a clown image. Readers criticized that it’s better to prevent 10% inflation than to squander money.

Putin's lieutenant is doubling his efforts to show what else will be handled with federal funding. Last week, he visited a rural doctor and criticized the peeling paint and falling tiles in the office. "A sad sight. I ordered the renovation process for family doctors to be expedited," he announced on his Telegram.

He reviewed the trolleybus depot, stating that the vehicles are worn out and new ones will be purchased. He visited a farming enterprise, where he announced a fight against the high prices of food products. "The culprits are electricity prices and supermarket margins," reads the post.

In his opinion, Russian tomatoes are tastier than imported ones (mainly brought from Poland). The official opened a breadcrumb factory and also announced that the car factory Avtodor (formerly brands KIA and BMW) will deliver electric cars throughout Russia.

The new acting governor probably aims to achieve a propaganda effect to improve public moods, comments Prof. Krzysztof Żęgota from the Institute of Political Science at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in an interview with WP.

In reality, the Kaliningrad region is cut off from the rest of Russia, which drastically worsens the region's economic conditions. This affects both price levels and general economic indicators, explains Prof. Żęgota. He predicts that Besprizvannykh will likely participate in the governor elections (for now, he is in an acting role) and wants to improve his chances of winning the vote.