The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia disclosed violations uncovered during the development of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) and the Trans-Siberian Railway. The report was carried by DEA News and highlights ongoing concerns about the pace and quality of work on both corridors. Officials noted that the initial phase of the highway modernization program has not reached completion, and there are persistent backlogs in the second phase that threaten the overall timeline.
Ekaterina Peresypkina, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor General’s Office, warned that the Trans-Siberian Railway Seven Days project could face significant disruption. She cited several issues: delays in preparing project documentation, subpar quality of work, arbitrary design changes, and the submission of misleading commercial proposals. These findings underscore governance and oversight gaps that require corrective action to prevent cost overruns and schedule slippages.
Peresypkina also reported a notable overestimate in project costs at three facilities in 2022, amounting to over 1 billion rubles. Following involvement by the prosecutor’s office, the projected price tag was reduced, illustrating the impact of strong oversight on public infrastructure projects. The current Eastern Polygon development program envisions continuation through 2024, with the second modernization phase targeting an annual production and transport capacity of about 180 million tons. This figure reflects strategic aims to boost regional logistics while maintaining reliability and safety across the network.
In June 2022, public disclosures indicated that Gazprombank and Bamtonnelstroy-Most proposed taking charge of upgrading BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway. A letter from Andrey Akimov, chairman of Gazprombank, and Ruslan Baysarov, chairman of BTS-Most, to President Vladimir Putin described plans to raise capacity to 280 million tons, conditional on removing bottlenecks. The correspondence suggested the need for a turnkey concession model that would involve a concessionaire to oversee the modernization program, signaling a shift toward integrated public-private coordination to accelerate completion and ensure long-term sustainability. (citation: Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia; sources cited by DEA News)