President of Russia Vladimir Putin: How is it going, Mr Sobyanin?
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin: Mr President, as per tradition, I would like to report on last year’s performance: what is going on in Moscow, how the executive orders on national goals as well as state and federal programmes are implemented, how the city’s economy performed, and our plans for 2026.
We often say that the year was challenging, and 2025 was no exception. Nevertheless, we sustained positive momentum across most economic sectors and in social development, discontinued none of our programmes, and successfully carried out almost all the objectives we faced.
Regarding gross regional product, I hope that we will see growth of more than two percent this year. More broadly, if we consider the dynamics since 2019 – a strong benchmark year – we have increased regional product by 28 percent. This is a solid result, and we intend to maintain this trajectory.
Vladimir Putin: The trend is indeed excellent: consistent growth year after year.
Sergei Sobyanin: Yes, of course, there were difficult periods, such as 2020 due to the pandemic, but overall, the trend has remained positive.
What is the foundation of this trend? It rests on infrastructure development. Investment in fixed capital has produced strong results over the past six years, rising by 63 percent despite an already substantial base. Even before that, we had significantly increased them. These investments span infrastructure, construction, industry, and other sectors.
In accordance with your instructions, we continue to support the expansion of high-technology production and industry, advancing the objective of achieving technological independence for the economy.
Vladimir Putin: Have investments increased by 63 percent?
Sergei Sobyanin: Yes, over six years. It is a considerable volume.
Vladimir Putin: And by 2024, an additional four percent?
Sergei Sobyanin: Yes. The pace is more moderate than in earlier years, but even four percent growth on such a large base…
Vladimir Putin: It was 4.4 percent in 2022, four percent now – entirely normal. In 2024 it was 4.5 percent.
Sergei Sobyanin: These investments create the foundation for future development.
You and I have visited several industrial sites and saw the development of the special economic zone. Beyond this, private investors and major companies are also advancing industrial expansion. In 2010, we had roughly 10 million square metres of industrial space, much of it outdated. Today we have 13 million square metres of higher-quality facilities, and we anticipate nearly doubling this capacity by 2032.
We have a series of programmes underway, including to develop our economic zone. In addition, all developers have been eager to expand their operations and create jobs. A dedicated programme exists to this effect, while the federal law governs matters dealing with comprehensive territorial development. In fact, we are the ones telling the developers how many jobs and manufacturing sites must be created.
Essentially, these programmes are designed to revive the city’s manufacturing sector. This effort goes beyond reaching the manufacturing volumes we used to have. We are moving ahead to increase them even more. However, what matters is not manufacturing in itself. After all, developing manufacturing while keeping margins low and with low labour efficiency is not what we are after. What we need is high-technology manufacturing.
Vladimir Putin: I can see that.
Sergei Sobyanin: Our goal is to ensure that high-technology manufacturing accounts for up to 50 percent of the overall industrial output.
Vladimir Putin: You are already at 38 percent, which is quite a decent level.
I saw a list which ranks companies from the priority sectors in terms of their revenue. The radio electronics sector is at the top.
Sergei Sobyanin: Indeed, radio electronics currently tops this ranking. We are ranked second in pharmaceuticals right now, but our goal is to lead the national pharmaceuticals ranking within a four to five-year horizon. We have a solid foundation and a whole cluster of pharmaceutical companies.
If we take the example of some of the companies in these priority sectors, this year, we launched enterprises specialising in photonics, microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, and shipbuilding. Several major manufacturing facilities started working.
Vladimir Putin: There has been positive momentum in the aerospace sector.
Sergei Sobyanin: In the aerospace sector, we launched a plant for the MiG planes, a major factory to make parts for the plane’s wing. This is to say that we have high-technology manufacturing, and I am certain that it will remain vibrant and expand moving forward.
For 2026, we intend to launch several innovative enterprises. You can see the examples here. There is the Centre for Photomask Design and Manufacturing in Zelenograd. You already know about this project, probably. We also plan to open a series of pharmaceutical production sites and work in other sectors, including satellite technology.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, I do know about it. They have a very good laboratory there.
Sergei Sobyanin: There is also a microelectronics laboratory, the first of its kind in the country. It may be modest in size, which does nothing to reduce its importance.
At the latest State Council meeting, you set the task of providing human resources for high-priority economic sectors. You and I visited a flagship centre providing secondary professional education and colleges. We stablished four such centres, and there are plans to build seven more colleges in various districts across Moscow.
Instead of utilitarian colleges, we decided to build facilities that would make the city look more beautiful and should not be inferior to universities in terms of cutting-edge technologies. You have said correctly that demand for highly skilled workers considerably exceeds that for university graduates.
For this, we should, of course, create different conditions. The concept already lists examples of such colleges which are currently being designed and built. They include a college in Kommunarka, near the Kommunarka Hospital. The federal-level Stankin Moscow State Technological University will be built nearby. Stankin and the college will form a powerful cluster …
Vladimir Putin: An education cluster, this is great.
Sergei Sobyanin: We continue to implement a project linked with the relocation of tenants from old buildings to brand-new blocks of flats, in the context of a people-friendly, comfortable and safe environment and the national project.
Vladimir Putin: Will it be located near Filevsky Park?
Sergei Sobyanin: Yes. This year, we are set to relocate 250,000 people, a quarter of a million, under this renovation programme. We are building over two million square metres of housing. Our company, the Renovation Fund, addresses this issue, and it leads the way in terms of nationwide housing construction. This is not just commercial housing, it accommodates tenants from rundown and dilapidated housing, and this is very important. Later, we will start building three and 3.5 million square metres of housing.
You approved objectives, we set at that time. These volumes are tremendous, but it will otherwise be impossible to implement the programme. In the past, we built individual facilities, and we are now establishing entire residential areas and districts. Many districts are rebuilt by 80 percent because they consist of Khrushchev-era quick tenements which are now becoming ramshackle.
To expedite construction, you set the task of boosting labour productivity and that of the construction sector. This year, we opened a high-capacity plant for large-unit housing construction.
Vladimir Putin: Prefabricated housing.
Sergei Sobyanin: Yes, prefabricated housing. Yet, this is the first plant in the world to build such prefabricated housing. One such block with an area of 90 square metres is a ready-made flat.
Vladimir Putin: It took five months to complete the building.
Sergei Sobyanin: It took six and a half months to build it, and the assembly process lasted just 100 days. The number of workers has dwindled several times over; even fewer people work on the site. People mostly work at the plant. It took us many years to complete this unique production facility. Construction deadlines have changed completely, and other companies will also master these deadlines and technologies.
As for infrastructure, Mr President, we briefed you on the development of the Central Transport Hub. It connects not only Moscow and the Moscow Region but also surrounding regions, serving roughly 30 million people in total. There were talks to ensure efficient transport connections with regional centres such as Yaroslavl, Tula, Tver, Smolensk, and others. The design phase was completed last year, and this year, together with Russian Railways, we will begin the reconstruction itself.
At the same time, we have launched the modernisation of rolling stock. The first new trains have already entered service on the Yaroslavl line, and as the renovation of the lines progresses, we will procure trains for other routes, allowing us to implement the programme in two stages, as previously reported.
I should also report that this year we completed the full renewal of rolling stock on the Moscow Central Diameters. When we inaugurated the First Diameter together, only about half of the fleet was new. We have since replaced the remainder, and the process is now fully complete. In terms of the pace of renewal, one could say it sets a global benchmark.
Vladimir Putin: The fastest renewal rates in the world.
Sergei Sobyanin: Of course, it could have been done more gradually. But the previous rolling stock was simply outdated. It might still have been operational, but visually it was no longer attractive.
Vladimir Putin: We want it to be visually appealing.
Sergei Sobyanin: Both visually appealing and comfortable.
Vladimir Putin: And welcoming.
Sergei Sobyanin: Indeed. Moreover, each new train offers up to 20 percent greater passenger capacity compared with the older models.
Vladimir Putin: It is more advanced.
Sergei Sobyanin: Much more advanced, and more efficient. You can see the public feedback in the numbers: passenger flow has grown from under one million to more than two million passengers. Roughly one to one and a half million of these passengers previously travelled by bus or private cars. Had they continued doing so, the pressure on road infrastructure would have been overwhelming.
We are also continuing metro expansion. Together, we opened the first section of the Troitskaya Line. Construction is now actively underway on several lines: Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye, the second phase of Troitskaya, and Biryulevskaya Line. We have also decided to begin designing and building another line towards Skolkovo. Overall, we are working intensively to fully implement the programme we discussed in previous years.
When you answered transport-related questions about Moscow during the Direct Line, you said that apart from metro construction, we must continue expanding our road infrastructure too. I would like to report that we are still building about 100 kilometres of roads every year. Moreover, these are more than just ordinary roadways. Most of them are complex engineering structures.
Over these years, we have built as much as 77 percent of all bridges, tunnels, and overpasses which existed in Moscow before that. This expansive effort substantially improved transport connectivity.
Vehicle emissions halved over the past years. We used to rely on projections showing that the environment would deteriorate as the city expands and grows. But what we are seeing is quite the opposite. First, the number of cars in the streets is not growing, while the cars have become much better. There are electric vehicles, cars with electric powertrains, hybrids, and the fuel has changed too, the engines are different as well. In addition to this, public transit has almost completed its transition to electric propulsion.
The overall ecological situation is not getting worse. On the contrary, it is improving, which is important. By the way, if we move to the next question which deals with life expectancy, Moscow has reached its long-standing target level.
Vladimir Putin: Do you mean over 80 years?
Sergei Sobyanin: Life expectancy of 80 years means that Moscow tops the national ranking. Of course, this is not the North Caucasus…
Vladimir Putin: Among other things, this is due to your efforts in healthcare.
Sergei Sobyanin: We believe that the environment and healthcare have played a role. Of course, before we even start talking about healthcare, you tasked us with having more people exercise and engage in sports activities.
You are well informed about elite sports, and the fact that athletes from Moscow have been competing on Olympic teams. But apart from that, the number of people taking part in mass sports events has increased manyfold, and the number of outdoor sports facilities has increases severalfold too.
Vladimir Putin: It almost doubled since 2022. Moscow is expected to double this indicator next year.
Sergei Sobyanin: There was also a substantial increase in the number of participants in these events.
Vladimir Putin: This is great.
Sergei Sobyanin: Let me show you some examples of the events we have: cycling events, marathons, hiking and other mass events, including swimming and nautical events, festivals at major sports centres and facilities. Hundreds of thousands of people take part in these events. To tell you the truth, this has been quite impressive.
We are empowering people to take up sports, and encouraging them to exercise by closing roads to car traffic and celebrating sports. Our goal is to create a special atmosphere, which of course inspires people to exercise.
And you are absolutely right in mentioning investments in healthcare. As I have already reported to you, we have completed the renovation of our outpatient facilities this year and have now moved on to a full modernisation of our inpatient clinics. We are about halfway through this process, though substantial work still remains.
In general, our inpatient facilities have been transformed into advanced, digitally equipped complexes. We have completely eliminated paper documentation, with everything handled electronically now. In addition, the number of high-tech medical facilities has grown drastically. For instance, a decade ago surgeons predominantly performed abdominal surgeries, while today 80 percent of those are laparoscopies. As a result, the average length of hospital stays following such surgeries has been reduced fivefold due to minimally invasive techniques, faster recovery, and related factors. This represents a fundamentally new level of medical care.
Vladimir Putin: The number of robotic surgeries has increased fourfold.
Sergei Sobyanin: You also set the objective of cooperating with the regions to share our capabilities with them. In terms of AI-based diagnostic services, we have already expanded to 74 regions nationwide. The chart shows how many Moscow residents use these services and how many of the said services are used by patients in the regions. Basically, there are nearly four times as many regional patients compared to patients in Moscow, since all regions are connected to the system. We provide these services free of charge, with people receiving diagnostic results promptly across 60 different services. This has proven to be a highly effective approach.
As I have previously reported, we have developed projects and are now constructing major medical facilities. Some of them have already been completed, while others are currently in the design or construction phases. This year, we will open Hospital No. 62, an oncology centre. The work has started to construct a new complex at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine, Hospital No. 52, a new children’s hospital, and several other facilities. We are making every effort to make these clinics truly cutting-edge healthcare centres, looking visually impressive and contributing to the city’s appearance.
Vladimir Putin: That is exactly how they look – I am confident they will be like this.
Sergei Sobyanin: And they will certainly be technologically advanced.
Mr President, you also set the task of developing creative industries. We always regarded creative industries as something intangible or unclear. However, today they already account for 11 percent of Moscow’s economy, including information technology, cinema, video, media, and related fields. This represents a substantial economic sector.
You instructed us to rebuild the Gorky Film Studio – essentially, to fully reconstruct and modernise the old facility. This work has been completed, resulting in 56,000 square metres of new space. I believe the premises are already being filled with tenants and will be fully operational within a month. As a result, the country will have a brand-new, yet historically rooted studio – a “new old” Gorky Film Studio bearing a renowned name.
Vladimir Putin: And it will house ten filming pavilions. This is impressive.
Sergei Sobyanin: So, we carried out your instruction in a very short timeframe.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
Sergei Sobyanin: The creative industries operate at the intersection of design, interior architecture, film, and related fields. Alongside city-level events, we actively cooperate with the BRICS countries. Moscow has hosted several BRICS forums, which in part contributed to a notable increase in tourist inflows from these nations.
We are on track to surpass last year’s record: preliminary figures indicate that we received around 26 million tourists. A considerable share came from Arab countries, China, India, and others.
Thus, areas that may seem unrelated at first glance generate a synergistic effect and, taken together, make a meaningful contribution to the overall economy.
Vladimir Putin: If Moscow were not impressive, people would not come here.
Sergei Sobyanin: Indeed. This reflects urban improvements, major events, advances in information technology, service quality, and more.
At the same time, we have not neglected cooperation with our sister cities. We continue our work with Donetsk and Lugansk, assisting with renovation, construction, and modernisation of public utilities. In Donetsk, for example, we are actively involved in upgrading water supply systems, repairing infrastructure, and reducing water losses. A number of facilities are being built and restored.
Allow me to mention several examples. The youth centre in Donetsk has become a high-quality facility. In Lugansk, a secondary school has been renovated according to our standards, and it is an excellent project, too.
Vladimir Putin: Good. That is important. People should feel that Russia is by their side and that they are part of Russia.
Sergei Sobyanin: A new overpass has been constructed in Lugansk. In Donetsk, Gulliver Park has been developed in a previously abandoned area and is now extremely popular with residents.
Vladimir Putin: The changes are visible.
Sergei Sobyanin: In Lugansk, Fighters of the Revolution Square – a historic site – has been renovated and is widely visited. In Donetsk, the Ministry of Emergencies building has been rebuilt. In Lugansk, a multidisciplinary hospital has been fully renovated, and a clinic in Donetsk has been renovated. There are many other examples as well.
At your instruction, we are continuing this work actively.
Vladimir Putin: Calling it “renovations” understates the scale.
Sergei Sobyanin: In fact, these are entirely new facilities.
Vladimir Putin: Please, convey my gratitude to the people of Moscow, and I thank you and your team for this support of the regions. Thank you very much.
Sergei Sobyanin: Thank you, Mr President.
Vladimir Putin: I would like to congratulate you on the past year’s results. They are more than good – they are impressive. Moscow is developing at a strong pace. I have said this many times, and it bears repeating: we are proud of Moscow and wish you and your team continued success.
Sergei Sobyanin: Thank you very much. With your support.