Decisive priority in the development of the transportation infrastructure within the framework of the project for enlarging the area of the city of Moscow will be given to public transportation, said Deputy Mayor Andrei Sharonov at the conference “Greater Moscow – Greater Paris: Modern agglomeration and public-private partnerships,” organized by the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce (CCIFR). The conference, which was held on June 25 and featured representatives of the government of Moscow, as well as major French and Russian companies and leading international experts, concentrated on discussing the experience in the development and implementation of investment programs for the Grand Paris project and the prospects of the Greater Moscow initiative.

“For obvious reasons, we cannot develop the entire road infrastructure of the city up to the level that would withstand the increasing number of cars,” said Andrei Sharonov. “Moscow was designed for an entirely different number of vehicles, and now it is physically impossible to rebuild it. Therefore, it is important to give priority to public transportation and the underground,” he continued.

He also stressed the need to build transfer stations and parking lots on the outskirts of the city, for commuters from the suburbs, who would leave their cars outside of the city center and switch to public transportation. Of equal importance, Mr. Sharonov believes is the need to increase monetary costs for those motorists who still decide to continue using private transportation. Such measures would entail increasing parking fees in the center of the city and increasing the penalties for improperly parked cars.

The road traffic situation now worries all megacities in the world, with each major metro area trying to solve its own problems. At the conference, the French representatives shared their experiences on alleviating congestion on the road. In particular, Michel Morel, Director of Vinci Park, said that Moscow does not have enough underground parking, which now saves Paris from traffic jams. Vincent Prengo, head of the Franco-Russian Center for Energy Efficiency in Moscow proposed to develop alternative transportation. He cited the example of the Paris electric car rental system, the Autolib. The program aims to improve the environmental and the traffic situation in the city, and to encourage people to give up ownership of cars in favor of a leased vehicle.

A separate topic of discussion was the use of financial mechanisms in various infrastructure sectors of the metropolis, as well as the possibility of using models of public-private partnership. Plans for private sector participation in the development of the Moscow public transportation system were conceived by the first deputy head of the Department of Transportation and Development of Road Infrastructure of Moscow Evgeny Mikhailov. He said that the involvement of investors will change the concept of public transportation services in the city. “It will create a route from point A to point B at a certain rate of speed. And on this route there will be a competition in which anyone can take part,” said Yevgeny Mikhailov. Still, according to him, only a certain percentage of the transportation network can be in private hands, the rest will remain under the control of the city. Even those few elements of the transportation system that will be under private ownership will help significantly reduce the costs of the transportation network.

“The PPP form is a complex form and it is generally not used where there is a state budget. Even in Moscow, with its huge budget, it is possible that the money for all the problems would not be enough. Therefore, the need to attract money for useful purposes and to ease budgetary strains is very real,” Sharonov concluded.

French business representatives reaffirmed their commitment to invest in projects in Moscow. In particular, the Vice President of SVP Finance Alstom Transport Vojour Martin in his report mentioned that his company is planning to be involved in the construction of new tram lines in the Greater Moscow. “I’m hoping that we will take part in the competition and implement this project. Cooperation with Russian partners is an excellent prospect for our company,” said Martin Vojour.

This conference has shown the importance of integrating all existing and potential stakeholders in a single platform. “If we want to develop the country’s PPPs, we need to attract foreigners to learn from their experience and, more importantly, to change their view of Russia,” Russian officials noted during the conference. “The Frenchmen arrived in Moscow today and saw the experience of the Russian people, and now we understand for ourselves that we can work and we can develop,” said General Director of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce Paul Shinsky. The conference delegates also talked about the problems that foreign investors encounter on their way to Russia. Martin Vojour expressed some doubt as to the long-term projects. “The state does not provide guarantees for such long-term projects, such as the construction of a new tram line with a thirty-year right of operation. This gap in the PPP rules, must be eliminated,” he said.

The experts stressed the need for proper control of the distribution of projects that includes the effective interaction between the government and the private sector in the early stages. Also, they believe, a self-regulating business community needs to be established in Russia. In Europe, there are strong commercial organizations that take part of the obligations of the state, for example, the selection of participants for a particular project. But the main problem is that the authorities sometimes do not realize that the PPP project is a business project.

Summing up the results of the conference, the organizers concluded that the creation of a modern competitive world-class metropolis is not an easy task. As part of the Greater Moscow project, Russia needs the support of international partners, particularly in the application of models of public-private partnership.