Sergey Aksyonov, Head of the Republic of Crimea, Reported on The Work of the Council of Ministers in 2020

The voluminous report, which the Head of Crimea read to the assembled parliamentarians for more than an hour, could not fit all the problems, solutions found and achievements that the Republic managed to make in a difficult year associated with the pandemic.

It is worth noting, despite the fact that the pandemic dealt a serious blow to the Crimean economy (the transport industry, tourism, trade, small and medium-sized businesses were most affected), nevertheless, the regional economy showed sufficient resistance to new challenges. One of the key macro indicators is the level of industrial production. At the end of the past year, this figure was 99.8% of the 2019 level. For comparison: the average for the Russian Federation is 97.7%. That is, we actually managed to avoid a decline in industrial production.

At the same time, the volume of shipped goods of own production for the year increased by 14.5% and amounted to about 170 billion rubles. Export operations with non-CIS countries, primarily with India and China, have grown almost sixfold. As Sergei Aksyonov noted, this is about the so-called “international isolation” of Crimea, which Russia's enemies like to shout about at all crossroads.

The pandemic has created not only new challenges but also new opportunities. A striking example of this is the resort industry. Despite the late start of the holiday season, more than 6 million 300 thousand tourists were vacationing in Crimea last year. And the scope of the season has been significantly expanded. The number of tourists in September increased by 40% compared to the same period in 2019, in October - by more than a third, in November - by 10%. The average occupancy of accommodation facilities in July-August was more than 80%, for a number of properties - more than 95%. Tax revenues to the budget from the tourism industry exceeded 3.8 billion rubles. This is 2.5% more than in 2019.

Our region is the only one both among the constituent entities of the Southern Federal District and among all the constituent entities of the Russian Federation - at the end of the year it turned out to be in positive territory in terms of income from the industry, - noted the head of the Republic of Crimea, - including the New Year holidays. Monitoring of accommodation facilities for compliance with the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor continues on an ongoing basis.

The past year was also remembered by the Crimeans for a number of positive events that had a wide public response. Our President opened traffic on the Tavrida highway, started the movement of freight trains, completed the repair of the business card of the Crimea - the Swallow's Nest palace, at the end of the year the Semashko multidisciplinary republican medical center with a capacity of 744 beds began operations.

Dozens of new infrastructure, education, healthcare, and social facilities were built. For example, 6,172 places were created for preschool children (for comparison, at the end of 2019, 3,933 places were created). This became possible thanks to the construction of 6 preschool institutions, the acquisition of 20 modular kindergartens, 5 major overhauls and the re-profiling of age groups. 3 new schools were opened: in Sudak, Evpatoria, Simferopol district. The total number of pupils is 2,725. All students in grades 1-4 (and this is more than 96 thousand people) are provided with hot meals at the expense of the Federal and Republican budgets.

All of the above testifies to the sufficient stability of the republic's economy in the wake of new challenges. This is largely the result of government support. Only for social support of families with children in connection with coronavirus infection, more than 583 million rubles were allocated from the budget of the Republic. More than 34,000 children of the age 16-18 old received payments of 10,000 rubles. Payments of 3,000 rubles to single mothers were made for more than 38,000. 5,600 families received payments to one of the parents of a disabled child in the amount of 5,000 rubles. More than 12,000 families received a payment for each child to one of the parents recognized as unemployed, if the allowance is assigned in the minimum amount. The amount of this payment was 3,000 rubles. 90,000 recipients of federal social supplements to pensions received lump-sum payments totaling more than 180 million rubles.

The pandemic challenge that Crimea faced in 2020 was superimposed on the effects of the worst in decades drought. However, Crimea was able to make significant progress in terms of ensuring water security. The launch of new water intakes, as well as a set of measures in the field of water supply, which have been taken over the past years, have mitigated the consequences of the water crisis and, ultimately, stabilized the situation.

The agricultural sector of the republic continued to develop. So, over the past year, the area of ​​grain, leguminous and fodder crops have been increased and a good reserve has been made for this year's harvest. The gross harvest of fruits and berries exceeded 123 thousand tons, which is almost 5% more than last year. The gross harvest of grapes has increased, exceeding the mark of 100 thousand tons. The area for laying perennial plantings has been significantly increased by more than 60%. The increase for the year amounted to more than 2,800 hectares, of which more than 2 thousand hectares of fruit and berry and more than 800 - vineyards.

Agricultural organizations, peasant and farm enterprises, individual entrepreneurs increased the number of cattle by 7.6%, and the number of sheep and goats by 10%. And the volume of commercial aquaculture grown amounted to about 5 thousand tons, which is almost a third more than the level of 2019.

Special attention is paid from year to year to the housing sector. Last year 112 families improved their living conditions by participating in standard housing construction activities. Thanks to the implementation of the state program "Development of Housing Construction on The Territory of the Republic of Crimea", a 108-apartment residential building was put into operation in Simferopol. To date, more than a thousand people have been included in the list of citizens wishing to purchase standard housing and having the right to do so. The implementation of the state program "Provision of Affordable and Comfortable Housing and Utilities For The Citizens of the Russian Federation" made it possible for the year to improve the living conditions of 88 families belonging to privileged categories. And as part of the implementation of resettlement programs from emergency housing stock, 30 families received keys to new apartments in the village of Gvardeisky, Simferopol District and Bakhchisarai.

At the same time, the formation of the modern urban environment continues. Within the framework of the regional project, 75 public and 94 courtyard areas were landscaped last year; 150 sports and 48 children's playgrounds; 750 stop pavilions (250 of them with Smart City elements). 393 units of municipal equipment were purchased.

Republic of Crimea was among the winners of the All-Russian competition for the best projects for creating a comfortable urban environment in small towns and historical settlements.

Abridged translation from the Source: Crimean Gazette, May 21, 2021

https://gazetacrimea.ru/news/ot-planov-k-itogam/

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