REUTERS
Crimeans were eagerly waiting for the commissioning of the bridge, but it did not solve any economic problem on the Russian-annexed peninsula.
The Kremlin has spent more than $6 billion on the construction of the Kerch Strait bridge and a road to it; however, after its opening the prices on the peninsula have grown, the number of tourists visiting it has remained almost unchanged, while the region's economy continues to decline.
Alexandra Yefimenko, a journalist of the Russian edition Grani.ru, who has recently visited Crimea, says Crimeans were eagerly waiting for the commissioning of the bridge. The construction of the facility, which was promised to residents of the occupied peninsula by Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to be a solution to all their problems, the Novoye Vremya weekly reported.
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"Yefimenko says prices of food are high and there are fewer tourists on the peninsula. Banks are not working as they should. There are no hypermarket chains, etc. Before, Moscow and local Crimean 'officials' explained all these challenges by the lack of convenient logistics with Russia. The Kremlin presented the bridge across the Kerch Strait that would link the peninsula with mainland Russia as a magic pill that can solve all the problems at once. Crimeans believed in this. The construction of the bridge took much time, and only in the middle of May this year, it was put into operation. Putin participated in the launch in person when he was driving inside an orange Kamaz truck across the bridge. Two months have passed. What's next? Yefimenko has the answer: 'Nothing, which means absolutely nothing.' And this despite the fact that the bridge has been a highlight topic on TV for four years," the publication wrote.
"They were waiting for the bridge with impatience. But now there is silence. Even [the so-called] Crimean authorities began to say: 'The bridge will not solve the problems. Moreover, it is so expensive. It is also necessary to refund its costs somehow. So nothing will become cheaper," said Yevgenia, a resident of the city of Sevastopol.
Now the facility operates in a limited mode: two car lanes in each direction. The construction of railway tracks will be completed next year. And then, the bridge will reach its maximum traffic capacity, Russia's authorities promise.
Initially it was planned to spend RUB 24 billion on the bridge, but during the construction, its budged soared by 10 times, to RUB 250 billion. The lion's share of the funds goes to Russians, mainly to the main contractor of the bridge construction, billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, who is a close friend of Putin.