State Council of Tatarstan hears a report by Alexey Pesoshin on achievements of the government

“The issue of migrants is multifaceted”

The need for a new approach to personnel policy in conditions of personnel shortage was stated at the meeting of the State Council by Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Alexey Pesoshin, reporting to deputies on the results of the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers for 2023.

“At large enterprises alone, the need for qualified personnel is 11 thousand people," he stressed.

At the end of the report, State Council deputy Eduard Sharafiev asked how, in light of the personnel shortage, it is planned to build a policy towards migrants in the republic:

“You did not provide figures — inflow, outflow… And you understand that this issue is very acute now!”

“About a third of all foreigners who are currently present in the republic have received work patents," Pesoshin said in response. “The issue of migrants is multifaceted. Just last week, a meeting was held… And so far there are more questions than answers. Here, there is adaptation, learning the Russian language, and the issues of anti-terrorist protection… But we need to understand that we will have to solve this issue, because now we cannot solve the personnel issue without migrants.”

Unemployment has increased among pre-retirees, the disabled and young people

The prime minister stated that on January 1, 2024 there were 48.7 thousand vacancies in the republic, according to employers. The most in-demand professions and specialties are a cutter, a locksmith, a car driver, a cleaner of territories and industrial, office premises, engineers of various specialties, installers, educators and kitchen workers. The structure of unemployment has changed over the past year: the proportion of citizens who can be classified as socially unprotected or poorly protected has increased. The share of unemployed people of pre-retirement age increased from 18.39% to 24.69%, the share of disabled people ‒ from 6.06% to 7.92%, the share of parents raising minor children ‒ from 35.24% to 35.07%, the share of citizens looking for work for the first time — from 3.94% to 1.51%, the share of youth aged 16-29 years ‒ from 11.66% to 8.48 %.

The number of unemployed who quit voluntarily also increased — from 71.48% to 75.62% and the number of unemployed living in rural areas — from 27.27% to 29.32%. And the share of citizens seeking to resume their work increased from 7.34% to 8.15%. Unemployment has also increased among the most educated part of the population — the share of unemployed with higher and secondary education has increased from 78.18% to 78.27%.

But the share of women in the unemployment structure decreased, but only slightly — from 68.49% to 68.44%. At the same time, the duration of the unemployment period among women turned out to be higher than the average duration in the republic — 4.48 months, as well as for disabled people (4.96 months).

“The issue of tram line has been postponed”

The head of the government of the republic spoke about the achievements — that 388.5 million passengers were transported by passenger transport enterprises in 2023 (by 18 million more than in 2022), that Tatarstan took part in a project to upgrade public transport using special treasury loans, purchasing 119 buses for 12 municipalities of the republic with this money, and that the trolleybus fleet of electric transport enterprises of the Republic of Tatarstan was replenished with 30 new trolleybuses (Metroelectrotrans MUE purchased 25 new low-floor trolleybuses MAZ-303T20 under leasing agreements, and the executive committee of Almetyevsk signed a contract for the supply of 5 new trolleybuses).

After listening to this, deputy Nikolai Atlasov asked about the prospects of construction in Naberezhnye Chelny — in the residential area of Zamelekesye. And he asked whether a programme for the construction of new tram lines would be developed in the republic.

“The question [about the construction of a new tram line] has been repeatedly raised by the mayor of Naberezhnye Chelny," the prime minister approached the answer from afar to soften the bitter “pill”. “We are currently working on this issue…So far, we have limited ourselves to increasing the transport network by purchasing new buses. The issue of the tram line has not been resolved yet, it has been postponed.

Give the poor villager a loan!

The criticism of the government from the mouth of Takhir Khadeev sounded very painful:

“My question is about the fate of the upcoming harvest. In the district assigned to me, in Anznakaevo, none of the medium and small enterprises could get a loan on preferential terms. This is after the previous year, when they sold grain at cost and below!”

He recalled that equipment is getting more expensive, spare parts have gone up in price by two hundred and more percent, and agricultural enterprises are forced to apply for commercial loans at unaffordable interest rates.

“In 2010, when there was such a situation, our agricultural producers came out more prepared…"

“Let's prepare a certificate, let's see if there were objective and subjective reasons for that," Pesoshin suggested to sort it out.

Construction on pause

Deputy Ruzilya Timergaleeva reminded Tatarstan Prime Minister Alexei Pesoshin about the “suspended” construction project in Kazan of the incinerator plant at the session of the State Council of Tatarstan. She asked to explain how things were going at the facility, which caused noisy protests among residents of the republic.

“Not the way we would like and not the way facilities are usually built in the Republic of Tatarstan," the prime minister replied in a streamlined phrase and explained that the investor had problems with suppliers of equipment for the plant.

He said that currently the amount of work performed is about 24% of the total cost of the project and added that the investor was negotiating the purchase of equipment with Chinese suppliers.

“The construction is currently on pause," Pesoshin said. “But the investor is optimistic, he calls the date [of construction] the end of 2025.”

“It is necessary to nationalise housing and communal services”

The head of the Communist Party faction, Khafiz Mirgalimov, preceded the criticism by praising the government of the republic for its achievements, and then began to list the sore points in its policy:

“The report did not compare what trends emerged in 2023 compared to 2022, there was no criticism of which ministry worked how…

He recalled the growing inflation and the fact that the cost of living in Tatarstan turned out to be twice lower than the most modest minimum consumer basket:

“The subsistence minimum is set at 13,135 rubles per inhabitant at the cost of a minimum consumer basket of 22,493 rubles!.. I would like to see a person who eats for 13,135 rubles, buys medicines, pays for utilities.”

He also reminded about last year's huge harvest of bread, against which bread did not fall in price, but continued to rise in price. And about milk, which has “a purchase price of 30 rubles, but they sell it for 60 rubles," and about the quality of products that the population does not buy at affordable prices:

“Sausage of 39 varieties 37 turned out to be adulterated, even cats don't eat it, but we have to eat!”

The head of the Tatarstan communists criticized the measures that are being taken in the republic to increase the birth rate, reasonably noting that the main thing in the issue of the birth of children is the availability of affordable housing:

“A studio apartment already cost almost 10 million!” and he reminded that the housing issue should be resolved not through unaffordable mortgage loans, but through the construction of social housing that could be rented to young families.

Mirgalimov also reminded about the need to solve the problem of the quality of housing and communal services and the poor work of management companies:

“Look at how management companies work — the main thing for them is making a profit, not the quality of services! The increase in prices for utilities amounted to 10-15%, but the quality has not improved… We are united in one thing: it is necessary to nationalise housing and communal services, create municipal unitary enterprises…

In conclusion, mentioning that in the republic and especially in Kazan, the construction of multi-storey residential neighbourhoods continues without providing them with social infrastructure, as in Solnechniy Gorod, and that with a relatively prosperous picture with an average salary in the republic, a kindergarten teacher receives less than half the salary of a cashier in Pyaterochka, he also touched upon a shortage in polyclinics doctors:

“We are conducting the medical screening — it's good… But then for three or four months, the patients who were identified cannot get to the specialised doctors!”