The struggle to finance a highway project meant to connect Russia with western China has intensified as work proceeds on the M-12 Moscow-Kazan corridor. Auditors with the Accounts Chamber, cited by RBC, report a sharp rise in costs and a funding gap that threatens the project schedule. The latest figures show expenditures climbing by roughly 50 percent, reaching about 911.67 billion rubles, while actual cash inputs lag behind what is needed to stay on track.
The M-12 highway is a central piece of the Euro-West China (EZK) federal initiative, and its spending has expanded to roughly one and a half times the original budget. The project passport originally set costs at 622.8 billion rubles, but early analyses warned the price could climb by as much as 300 billion rubles more. The widening gap between the passport and current estimates has prompted discussions about updating the passport to reflect the present financial reality, according to Valery Bogomolov, who leads the joint venture involved in the project.
Officials from Avtodor, the state corporation charged with road infrastructure management, indicate that the projected cash limit for the project could be trimmed to 901.5 billion rubles. This potential reduction stems from savings found under the line item for “Reserve funds for unforeseen work and costs.” Still, experts caution that geological conditions along certain stretches of the route could push costs higher as construction advances. Investigations have identified underground sinkholes, or karsts, ranging from two to three meters in depth and up to twenty meters in diameter in areas of the Nizhny Novgorod region and in Tatarstan, complicating earthworks and stabilization measures.
Background discussions previously reported in January by the business daily Kommersant indicated that the government had drawn up a road action plan for 2023–2027. The plan included funding adjustments across several construction projects, with some deadlines deferred. For the M-12 corridor, the estimate was raised by around 100 billion rubles, bringing the total close to 901 billion rubles. These adjustments highlight the broader financing pressures facing major highway programs and the ongoing need to align project budgets with real-world construction conditions. Stakeholders can see how project passports, budget allocations, and actual ground conditions must be continually reconciled to keep large-scale infrastructure programs on track (Accounts Chamber report). [Accounts Chamber]”