Russia allocates $6.9bn to build Kerch bridge

The federal target program for development of the Russian Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol envisages around 247 billion rubles ($6.9 billion) to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait, Minister for Crimean Affairs Oleg Savelyev said at a Russian government meeting on Thursday.
“The federal target program envisions 416.5 billion rubles ($11.6 billion) to develop transport infrastructure, including a bridge. Almost 247 billion rubles are envisaged for bridge construction,” he said.
July 9, it was reported that a total of 736 billion rubles ($21.7 billion) would be allocated from Russia’s budget in line with the federal targeted program “The social and economic development of the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol until 2020”.
“This is six-seven times more than Ukraine gave us until 2020. This will be a guarantee of successful development for the Republic of Crimea, this is a budget of development, aimed to develop infrastructure, the systems of education, healthcare, transport,” Crimea’s acting head Sergey Aksyonov said.
The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February.
Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11. They held a referendum on March 16, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18.
Work to integrate the Crimean Peninsula into Russia’s economic, financial, credit, legal, state power, military conscription and infrastructure systems is actively underway now that Crimea has become part of Russia.
In the Soviet Union, Crimea used to be part of Russia until 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the USSR’s Communist Party, transferred it to Ukraine's jurisdiction as a gift.