National Project, State Program, and Federal Project are distinct tools for the socio-economic development of the state. They differ in the allocated resources, priorities, and the scale of implementation.
National Project
A National Project is a key instrument for achieving national goals. These projects are comprehensive programs of national significance that require substantial state financial investments. They represent large-scale plans within the framework of strategic development. According to the President of Russia, the country has not previously worked with tools of such magnitude—there were state programs, but this is different.
Since 2019, the government has been implementing 14 National Projects across three main directions:
- Human capital
- Comfortable living environment
- Economic growth
Each program has its own curator in the cabinet of ministers. The National Projects are considered a logical successor to the unsuccessful priority national projects introduced in the second half of the 2000s and active until the beginning of the 2010s.
Human Capital
This direction encompasses several projects:
- Demography: Affects the lives of almost all citizens, supporting families with children, developing longevity, employment, and a healthy lifestyle. Initiatives include assistance to families during childbirth, support for the elderly, sports as a way of life, public health, employment assistance, etc.
- Healthcare: Involves building hospitals and clinics, equipping them with modern equipment. It addresses the integration of online services for medical professionals and patients, opening medical points in villages and remote regions, and specific initiatives like fighting cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
- Culture: Advocates for ensuring access to cultural benefits and participation in the creation of cultural values among the population of major cities and remote regions.
- Education: Involves equipping schools with modern technology, opening interest clubs to develop children’s talents, establishing workshops in technical schools, and enhancing the competitive advantages of domestic universities.
Comfortable Living Environment
This category includes projects in the following areas:
- Safe Roads: Involves laying new asphalt, maintaining road markings, organizing lighting, and systems for automatic traffic control. Together with measures to strengthen responsibility for traffic rules, the goal is to make the country’s roads more comfortable.
- Housing and Urban Environment: Develops mortgage programs and stimulates the pace of construction. People are resettled from old houses using state resources. Urban and historical settlements are landscaped.
- Ecology: Encompasses measures to protect the environment, initiatives for waste disposal and recycling, combating landfills, measures to preserve forests, and the improvement of ecological tourism and education.
Economic Growth
This direction includes:
- Tourism: Aims to improve the travel system within the country, making it accessible and safe. Tourists receive decent services, and organizers of recreation areas receive state support.
- Science: Aims to restore the prestige of the scientist’s profession. It involves the development of laboratories and research activities, with plans to bring Russia into the top 5 countries in developments in priority areas.
- SMEs and Support for Individual Entrepreneurs: Promotes business development at different stages, from start-ups to expansion or export activities, offering administrative assistance.
- Digitization: Involves the introduction of digital technologies into the economy and other industries, providing support to businesses, strengthening national security, and improving people’s lives through digital solutions.
- Labor Productivity: Aims to achieve an annual growth of 5% for SMEs in non-commodity sectors of the economy.
- International Cooperation: Assists domestic companies in entering international markets.
- Comprehensive Modernization of Main Infrastructure: Aims to connect territories and regions, improving mobility across the country.
State Program
A State Program is a document that outlines the strategic development plan and provides a clear description of comprehensive activities. All these activities are linked by levels of scale, implementation timelines, performers, resources, and tools of state policy. All of this ensures the implementation of the main government functions while achieving the priorities and goals of the overall social and economic development policy of the country.
State Programs are more purposeful and structured when compared to national projects. However, they include the goals of the latter and reflect their activities in their structure. Moreover, they incorporate not only national projects but also federal projects. This was established through the corresponding government resolution.
At present, Russia is implementing over 40 state programs. More than 80 government authorities are involved in the process. The programs encompass around 2,000 indicators, with up to 70% of the federal budget allocated to achieve them. Current information about the implementation procedures of the Russian State Programs can be obtained on the State Programs of the Russian Federation portal.
State institutions act as executors, co-executors, and customers. For example, Rosstandart is involved in several state programs:
- “Development of Industry and Increase of Its Competitiveness”
- Objective: To establish a stable and structural industry in Russia capable of independently and effectively developing within the global economic and technological environment. It involves simplifying and implementing industrial solutions to increase labor productivity and create innovative products. The responsible executor of the program is the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. Rosstandart is a co-executor responsible for Subprogram 8, “Development of the Technical Regulation and Standardization System.”
- “Maintenance, Development, and Use of GLONASS Systems for 2012-2020”
- Initiated to expand the implementation of Russian satellite navigation technologies through the GLONASS system in the interest of consumers. The customer for the program’s implementation is the State Corporation “Roscosmos.”
- “Ensuring Accessible and Comfortable Housing and Utilities for the Citizens of the Russian Federation”
- Aim: To create a market for affordable housing of low-cost, meeting all standards and requirements. The program also addresses the implementation of state obligations to provide citizens with housing according to legislation. The Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation is the customer of the initiative.
These are just some of the programs; others include:
- Development of Armaments;
- Healthcare Development;
- Education Development;
- Environmental Protection;
- Development of the Transportation System;
- Agricultural Development;
- Facilitation of Population Employment;
- Development of Foreign Economic Activity, etc.
Federal and Regional Projects
A Federal Project is a document that ensures the achievement of results significant for the government and society. It involves the implementation of tasks of the national project and the achievement of indicators, as well as additional indicators decided by the Council, other committees, and curators.
A Federal Project is less extensive when compared to a national one. They can be adopted within the framework of state programs or national projects. Among the federal projects, examples include:
- Port Development Project
- Aims to increase the capacity of Russia’s largest water basins’ ports. The project includes infrastructure construction and reconstruction, equipment updates, and icebreaker fleet renewal.
- Development of the Northern Sea Route
- Envisages an increase in cargo traffic along this route. It includes initiatives for building liquefied natural gas terminals and similar infrastructure objects.
- Russia – An Attractive Country for Study and Work
- Aims to develop migration inflow, increase interest in the national language and education system, provide accessibility of state services for migrants, and improve the country’s perception globally as a state with a convenient education and employment system. Implemented through various directions.
These are just some of the federal projects. There are a significant number of them, helping to implement various programs and initiatives of government institutions.
In addition to federal projects, there are also regional projects – plans for development ensuring the achievement of federal project indicators, which are part of the legislation with powers of the subject of the Russian Federation, as well as issues of local importance for municipal entities on the territory of the Russian Federation.
