As he marks 15 years at Russia’s helm, President Vladimir Putin continues to expand the reach of his empire, spending billions on ice breakers and roads to link conquered territory to the motherland.
Vocativ scoured data from the Kremlin’s official public online “Portal of Purchases” to analyze the tenders the government made since June of 2012, and found several striking projects Putin had greenlit.
Among the most expensive ones were the road and bridge project connecting Crimea to Russia’s mainland and investment in nuclear-powered icebreakers.
Earlier this year Putin signed a $4 billion contract to build infrastructure connecting the peninsula of Crimea, which he annexed from Ukraine in March of 2013, to Russia’s mainland. Stroigazmontazh (SGM) was named contractor to build the bridge that is supposed to span the Kerch Strait and be finished in December of 2018. Half of SGM is owned by Arkady Rotenberg, Putin’s long-time crony and judo fighting partner.
The cost of this one contract is nearly as much as the Kremlin’s most expensive aviation and nuclear purchases combined since June of 2012. It propels the Kremlin’s road-related purchases to one-third of all the top 50 most expensive purchases, as the chart below shows.
The Kremlin also invested dramatically in nuclear icebreakers—$2.4 billion total since June of 2012, according to the purchases made visible online at the Portal of Purchases. A nuclear-powered icebreaker is a ship that can break through waters covered with thick ice, and the only country currently constructing them is Russia.
They are needed for shipping along the Northern Sea Route in the northern frozen waters near Siberia. Russia is currently constructing at least 14 icebreakers and is planning several more.
SEE ALSO: Russia and the US are racing to modernize their nuclear forces
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: 11 Facts That Show How Different Russia Is From The Rest Of The World