Dear comrades,
We have not met for a long time — the last meeting was on 30 May 2011. I can say self-critically that our Union was not then working efficiently or promptly enough. Last time the agenda dealt with our organisational structure. We agreed to reformat the membership of the Union of Transport Workers and Entrepreneurs and to create, on the basis of the old union, a new one: the Transport Union of the North-West. At last year’s meeting we approved the tasks and the founding principles of the Union, and these became the basis of the new charter. That charter was filed with the Ministry of Justice in October 2011.
In March 2012 we received the charter of the Transport Union of the North-West as approved by the Ministry. All its provisions can be read on our site. We have created a site and a charter, and every prospective member must clearly see the benefit of belonging. That is our chief aim: we want to be of use to transport professionals. The Union is a civic organisation, and so we are able to address any authority, whatever the rank of the official.
I believe we should draw on the good experience of the Soviet period, when this city had a single transport hub in which we all worked together. Conditions are quite different now — different forms of ownership — and yet we can still unite, find common goals and plan common action. Unfortunately, the situation in Petersburg today is that transport has been left with practically no coordination. There is no deputy governor responsible for transport. Most importantly, the committees and agencies have no coordinated, clear transport policy. Circumstances have forced the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Saint Petersburg to create its own transport department; the chambers of commerce of the city and the region and the North-West Association now have similar bodies.
I believe that without transport there is no life: no industry, no development of the city, no construction. We must therefore do everything so that our new Transport Union takes its proper place. Some of that work has already been done.
First, we held a regional conference at the University of Water Communications. The proposals made there were sent to the Transport Union of Russia and to the city and regional governments. Second, the Union took part in organising the Fourth International Forum on Transport Security in Russia, and in April 2012 became a founder of the Fifth.
Also in April, the Union took part in reviewing and discussing the programme for the development of the transport system of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, prepared and presented by the coordinating council of the Ministry of Transport.
We have also dealt with day-to-day matters. In October 2011 we submitted to the governor of Saint Petersburg, Georgy Poltavchenko, an analytical note on the Federal Customs Service’s plan to relocate points of customs control. We took an active part in the difficult situation that arose after the New Year, when lorries stood at the border for days on end. We sent formal letters to the governors of Petersburg and the Leningrad Region and to Nikolai Vinichenko, the presidential envoy to the North-Western Federal District. Energetic measures followed, and within two days the situation was back to normal. But we did not stop there: we sent the same letter to the Transport Union of Russia and to Vladimir Putin, because our task is to prevent such situations at the border from recurring. The Union will keep this question under constant attention, and we shall set up a department to monitor the situation at the border with the customs and border services.
The Union takes an active part in solving transport problems and helps the new city government to develop transport infrastructure. At our request the Giprostroymost institute drew up, free of charge, technical proposals for an alternative to the Orlovsky tunnel and an alternative to the Novoadmiralteysky bridge, and these were placed on the governor’s desk. Among the innovative proposals is an interesting scheme under which the Aptekarskaya embankment would cease to be a dead end.
I should like to dwell on the Novoadmiralteysky bridge in particular. The Union intervened actively, proposing an alternative: a tunnel from Vasilyevsky Island to the left bank of the Neva. If you recall, back in 1986 we built the tunnel to Kanonersky Island. Yes, there were problems with it, but in twenty-five years the engineering has moved on. A tunnel has now been built under the Bosphorus. Why should we not consider such a scheme?
The question of the Western High-Speed Diameter over the maritime section is now very acute. A bridge fifty-two metres high is planned there. If we build a bridge of that height over the Sea Canal, the sailing ships Kruzenshtern and Sedov will no longer be able to enter our city. In what sense, then, are we a maritime capital? The Union has taken a very firm position here, and we propose considering not only a bridge but another option as well.
Together with Gazprom we have created a training centre for emergency drivers. It will be based at the Motor Transport and Electromechanical College and will train drivers of vehicles with flashing beacons: the gas emergency service, possibly the water utility, and ambulances. Besides practical driving, the course will include psychological and psychophysical preparation.
We intend to involve the office of the presidential envoy to the North-Western Federal District in the Union’s work and to open a dialogue with our regional branches. I think our experience and our capabilities will help in resolving many regional questions.
I believe every precondition exists for the Transport Union to work actively. We have the support of the city and the regional government. Together, with the active involvement of transport professionals, we shall tackle the development of the transport hub in the interests of residents and of the workforces. There is no other hub as remarkable as the one here in the North-West, and there will not be. I wish us all great success; we are beginning a large piece of work.