‘Tatarstan is developing rapidly’: key points from the meeting of Putin and Minnikhanov

“There are no interethnic or religious conflicts”

Tatarstan ranks first in terms of the number of religious organisations in the country, said Vladimir Putin.

“In general, the socio-political situation is also fine. And there is trust in the esteemed president, and there is a little trust in us too. There are no interethnic or religious conflicts," said Rustam Minnikhanov. “If there is no agreement, there can be no wealth, no success.”

“Exactly, I absolutely agree. And you're good at it. Thank you very much," the Russian president replied.

“If we hadn't reduсed the OPEC production, numbers would have been higher”

Next, Rustam Minnikhanov reported on the main socio-economic indicators:

“Mr Putin, we dreamed of five trillion gross [regional] product — 5.2 trillion [in 2024]. In terms of industrial output, we have reached 5.6 trillion rubles. In principle, if we hadn't reduced the OPEC production, we would have had figures 1.5 percent higher.

According to him, GRP has increased by 3.9%, the volume of industrial products — by 5%, agriculture — by 10%. Investments in fixed assets amounted to 1.4 trillion rubles, an increase of 12%. Vladimir Putin noted that Tatarstan's non-resource exports have doubled: “It's significant.”

“We already process 24.3 million tonnes of oil, the refining depth is 99.4%-99.5%. TANECO and TAIF-NK are state-of-the-art, modernised enterprises,” said the rais of Tatarstan. “Of course, very serious work is underway on the part of SIBUR Group — these are Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez. This year, the largest Ethylene-600 complex is being launched. Six hundred thousand [tonnes] of ethylene is as much as Nizhnekamsk makes today.”

As for mechanical engineering, Minnikhanov recalled that next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the first KAMAZ production:

“KAMAZ's revenue amounted to 323 billion rubles. Most importantly, we have managed to [circumvent] the difficulties associated with components, and we have implemented many projects in Russia.”

The modernisation was carried out by the Kazan Helicopters Plant, and it also affected the Powder Factory.

“Your GRP has almost tripled in previous years,” said Vladimir Putin. “Tatarstan is an industrially developed region of the country, it is developing rapidly.”

As Rustam Minnikhanov stated, each project meets all international standards: “We comply with all the requirements of the green and circular economy. We are currently seriously working to modernise our existing production facilities, where emissions are present, and we have significantly reduced them. A very large federal programme: silt fields, sewage treatment plants. This has never happened in my life. Significant work, really significant.”

“The dream was 2 million square metres of housing. Now it's easily 3.5 million”

Last year, 166 billion rubles were invested in the construction of social, cultural, and engineering infrastructure facilities.

“This has never happened before. These are both national projects and our republican projects," said Minnikhanov.

3.4 million square metres of housing were built in the republic during the year. “In Soviet times, we had a maximum of 1.8 million square metres. We reached a million square metres of housing, the dream was 2 million. Now it's easily 3.5 million. Today there are interest and mortgage issues, we are looking for some solutions. I also head the [State Council's] Infrastructure for Life commission. We will be contacting [you], Mr Putin.”

“You remember, in 2008, on your initiative, we bought housing for the needs of the state. We really need rental housing right now. I'll raise this issue later for all projects. But the biggest programs are 700-800, we put up to a thousand apartment buildings in order every year. Two more years and we'll put everything in order. We are doing major repairs in 700-800 apartment buildings," Minnikhanov said.