OREANDA-NEWS In the first quarter of this year, budget financing for the construction and modernization of the main infrastructure has sharply decreased. Compared to the same period in 2022, there is a 2.4-fold drop. Kommersant writes about this with reference to the Sherpa Group study.

In total, contractors on state—owned buildings (railway infrastructure, the Europe- Western China highway, Northern Sea Route facilities funded under the national project "Comprehensive Plan for Modernization and Expansion of Trunk Infrastructure") received 33.2 billion rubles. This is 20.7 percent of the expenses pledged in 2023.

A year ago, these funds supported the industry during the economic and financial crisis, when the construction of commercial facilities slowed down. The builders of roads and railways even managed to increase revenue by 20-25 percent. In general, in 2022, the government allocated 35 percent more funds for such projects than in 2021.

Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline-Analytics, noted that unprecedented budget expenditures were observed in the first quarter, and against this background, the dynamics of money allocated to builders looks unfavorable. In his opinion, as a result, contractors face additional risks. Huseyin Pliev, CEO of Smart Engineers Group of Companies, added that companies risk facing cash gaps, which will increase the construction time.

Oleg Malakhov, a member of the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya, recalled that any delay in payments is fraught with a decrease in the income of contractors, especially against the background of the current instability of prices for building materials. The problem is aggravated by Western sanctions, because alternative suppliers have not been found for some types of raw materials and equipment, and logistics has not stabilized.