Idea of Transcaucasian HSR indicates Kadyrov's growing ambitions

Ramzan Kadyrov's proposal to build the Transcaucasian High-Speed Railway (HSR) indicates his attempt to reach a new level of financial relations with Moscow. Earlier, the head of Chechnya did not claim to build at such a scale, The Bell reports.

On June 15, Kadyrov asked President Vladimir Putin to include a new Transcaucasian High-Speed Railway (HSR) into the strategy of spatial development. According to the "Kommersant", the cost to build it may make 1.2 trillion roubles.

This estimated sum of the project proposed by Kadyrov is "two orders of magnitude greater than any previous projects for federal money in Chechnya." The decision to be made on the project will show how highly the head of Chechnya is valued in the Kremlin, The Bell notes.

The Bell compares the estimated cost of the HSR, intended to link Grozny with Moscow, with the total amount of annual subsidies to the budget of Chechnya (27 billion roubles in 2018).

In February, the political analysts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", noted that Kadyrov again demanded an increase in federal subsidies.

Natalia Zubarevich, an economist, stated in her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" that the Chechen authorities' demands to increase subsidies from the federal budget with reference to the population growth have no real grounds.