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Meeting with Acting Governor of the Rostov Region Yury Slyusar

August 18, 2025, The Kremlin, Moscow

Yury Slyusar presented a performance report to the President to sum up the nine months he has spent on the job as Rostov Region’s Acting Governor by saying that the region operated as a hub for Russia’s south. It serves as a gateway for supplying the special military operation and development projects in Novorossiya. In addition, it serves as a major administrative, logistics, cultural, educational and industrial centre within this macro region. The regional economy is quite diversified. Its strong points historically include manufacturing and agriculture, while trade, the consumer market and the services sector have all been gathering positive momentum.

Turning to agriculture, the Acting Governor said that the region reported record-high output in 2021, 2022 and 2023, followed by a 20 percent decline in 2024. In 2025, agricultural production is expected to decrease by 30 percent. This can be attributed to several coinciding causes, including unfavourable climate factors, a late-spring freeze, drought, and water deficits. Taken together, they left about 1 million hectares of crops damaged or even destroyed. Mr Slyusar went on to note that it would be hard for the region to get through this year without help from the federal government. In particular, he asked for an extension under preferential loans for farmers.

The President agreed that there were objective factors at play, and then drew the Acting Governor’s attention to desertification, the need to make good use of heavy machinery and the shrinkage of windbreak areas.

Yury Slyusar also talked about processing agricultural products, including corn, sunflower seeds, and wheat. There are three plants under construction now for making amino acids, enzymes and other additives, which used to be imported from abroad. But now the Rostov Region will step in to make them. This year, a flaxseed oil plant is expected to open in the region. It will become the world’s largest facility of its kind. This way, Russia’s will control about 30 percent of the global market for this product.

The agenda also covered social matters, primarily healthcare, housing and utilities. The region opened a high-technology children’s surgery centre, an infectious disease hospital and cardiovascular centres. Yury Slyusar said that staffing healthcare institutions was the main challenge, especially for remote rural areas. The local government found a stop-gap solution by launching a mobile diagnostics unit, the so-called Health Train, which carries specialists to remote territories and can accommodate about 400 patients per day.

In the manufacturing sector, the leading producers have been increasing their output, including Rostvertol helicopter plant, and the Taganrog Aviation Plant. In 2025, it is expected to receive the freshly designed PD-8 engines for the Be-200 amphibious planes. The order book for these aircraft is full. Until now, a ban on supplying the engines made by Motor Sich, a Ukrainian manufacturer, undermined the construction of these planes, but now the company is testing the Russian-made PD-8 engine on the Be-200s. The Rostov Region is among Russia’s leading regions in terms of UAV manufacturing, including dual-use models. Yury Slyusar noted that the special military operation contributed to having more UAV production sites in the region.

When asked by the President about efforts to support special military operation participants, Yury Slyusar said that helping them and their families was an utmost priority for the region. The Rostov Region offers 75 regional and municipal support initiatives including benefits, medical and legal assistance, employment opportunities, helping people with housing, child assistance, and social adaptation services for veterans.

The Acting Governor said that building the Rostov Transport Ring as per the Presidential instructions was another priority. It will be 110 kilometres long, and 102 of them have been built. This road will attract cargoes and passenger traffic, enabling them to bypass Rostov-on-Don, whose streets cannot handle the six thousand trucks driving through the city every day. Yury Slyusar asked the President to assist the region in completing this costly undertaking. Vladimir Putin suggested examining the relevant documents.

August 18, 2025, The Kremlin, Moscow