Master the leap: the authorities are preparing to restart the economy of Donbass and Novorossiya

The economy of Donbass and Novorossiya needs a powerful restart, as the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions have huge industrial, agricultural and logistical opportunities. Vladimir Putin stated this on June 30 at a meeting on the socio-economic development of the regions. Currently, the volume of investments already exceeds 257 billion rubles, and investors from other countries are also interested in working in these regions, said Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin. According to experts, business in Donbass and Novorossiya is developing rapidly: at the end of 2022, there were only 19 thousand small and medium—sized businesses, and now there are more than 121 thousand. But social issues remain relevant, namely housing and water supply. What facilities have opened in Donbass and Novorossiya and how Putin advised athletes to pump the press — in the Izvestia article.

What are the results of the integration of the regions of Donbass and Novorossiya

On June 30, Vladimir Putin gathered in the Kremlin representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as heads of financial and business structures, to check the hours for the restoration of Donbass and Novorossiya. Today, virtually the entire federal center and indeed the entire country are working on this task.: One way or another, 41 federal agencies, 26 state-owned companies and 82 regional bosses are involved in supporting the subjects. In addition, the parliament adopted more than 200 laws and amendments for the integration of Donbass and Novorossiya into the Russian Federation.

— It is important that, despite all the known difficulties — and there are enough of them, of course, including in the field of security, the difficult situation — despite all this, much has already been done. Thus, full—fledged integration of the regions into the all-Russian economic, educational, social and legal space is actively underway," the president noted.

By 2030, the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions should reach the average Russian level in all major indicators, and most importantly, in terms of people's quality of life. To do this, the authorities will have to rebuild or reconstruct educational, cultural, healthcare, and sports facilities, ensure the development of roads, housing, and utilities, and create new jobs with decent salaries. "Rhythmic, systematic work is currently underway in all areas," the president said.

So far, since 2022, almost 23 thousand different facilities have been restored and built: residential buildings, schools, hospitals, polyclinics, municipal and electric grid infrastructure. More than 5.4 thousand km of highways were also repaired, including sections of the Novorossiya highway. This road connects Crimea with the whole country and serves as part of the Azov Ring route, a modern highway around the Sea of Azov.

"This highway will give a good impetus to the development of Crimea, Sevastopol, Krasnodar Territory, Donetsk People's Republic, Rostov, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions, additionally connect all these regions, and integrate them more closely into the country's transport network," the head of state noted.

Housing provision remains the most important priority for citizens: the President called for more active formation of a land bank and creation of attractive operating modes for developers in order to increase the volume of housing construction.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who participated in the meeting, more than 6.5 thousand apartment buildings with a total area of over 20 million square meters have already been restored since 2022: first of all, these are damaged housing. On the ground, they confirm the need for further, more active work in this direction. For residents of the DPR, for example, the housing and communal services sector is particularly relevant, and problems with water supply also persist in the republic, Natalia Nikonorova, a senator from the DPR, told Izvestia. Bureaucratic problems also remain unresolved.

— Currently, the issue of extending the transition period is relevant for the republic: for example, it concerns licensing of certain types of activities, issues of admission to the civil service, and so on. Issues related to military personnel have not yet been resolved either — for example, the organization of the work of the Military Medical Commission (military medical commission) on the territory of the DPR and obtaining the status of a combat disabled person, there is a need, in our opinion, to adjust some of the norms of the relevant decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, - said Natalia Nikonorova.

What is the potential for investment in Donbass

Special attention was paid at the meeting to support the economy. We are talking about industry and agriculture, financial and banking infrastructure, as well as entrepreneurship. A whole range of measures is already working in this direction: for example, subsidy and preferential lending programs, as well as a free economic zone regime. Vladimir Putin once again noted the enormous potential of the new regions and instructed them to ensure their "powerful restart and economic development." The country has all the resources and opportunities for this, he stressed.

— The industrial, agricultural, logistical, and economic opportunities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions are very large and huge. They made a significant contribution to the development of our entire country both in the pre-revolutionary period and in Soviet times. Brilliant scientific and professional schools were formed here, and highly qualified specialists worked," the head of state said.

However, there are already results in this area: the volume of the loan portfolio of banks in the regions of Donbass and Novorossiya has reached 145 billion rubles, and over the past six months it has grown 1.5 times, said Marat Khusnullin.

— Along with Promsvyazbank (since April — PSB. — Ed.), which has been working with us since the first day, such large banks as Sberbank and VTB have started [working]. 600 bank branches have been opened, 4.1 thousand ATMs have been installed, and almost 5 million bank cards have been issued," he said.

There are also successes in the field of investments. Thus, the number of participants in the free economic zone in the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions has increased to 365, and the volume of announced investments exceeds 257 billion rubles, Marat Khusnullin said. He noted that investors, including foreign ones, are showing great interest in working in new regions of Russia — there are already applications from them.

Donbass and Novorossiya really have enormous investment potential: they have a favorable geographical and logistical position, they are rich in natural resources and fertile lands, Natalia Poluyanova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Small and medium-sized enterprises, explained to Izvestia. Business in Donbass and Novorossiya is developing very rapidly, especially among small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. At the end of 2022, there were 19 thousand of them, and as of May 2025, their number exceeded 121 thousand, the deputy noted.

— Almost half of the SMEs in the four new regions are in the Donetsk People's Republic, which is more than 56.2 thousand entrepreneurs. More than half of the total population of Donbass and Novorossiya lives in the region, so the high concentration of business there is quite logical. If we talk about the distribution density of entrepreneurs in the regions, then the Zaporizhia region is the leader here with an indicator of 39 SMEs per 1 thousand people of the population. On average in Russia, this indicator is 45 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants. That is, the figures are approaching the Russian average," Natalia Poluyanova said.

New facilities opened in Donbas and Novorossiya

The restoration of social and cultural facilities in the regions was also touched upon. So, about 300 healthcare facilities have already been built, more than 1,700 educational facilities, including universities, schools, kindergartens, as well as about 500 cultural and sports facilities. On the same day, the work of five more was launched: several schools and sports complexes were opened at a video conference.

Traditionally, Vladimir Putin contacted the students of each of them to find out directly about the results of the work. The sports school of Pervomaisk participated in the teleconference from the LPR. Now they have an updated 25 m long swimming pool and the opportunity for full—fledged preparation for interregional and All-Russian sports competitions. There, children will also be able to do weightlifting, gymnastics, volleyball and football. Another facility from the LPR is the Severodonetsk Specialized School No. 17. Since September 1, 2024, education has resumed there — first full-time and part—time, and since last April - fully full-time. The school will also have a new sports class and an in-depth foreign language course.

In the Zaporozhye region, in the city of Melitopol, a chess school started operating after repairs. It will be used to develop four sports: chess, checkers, computer sports and table tennis. At the meeting, it became known that this school is of great personal importance to the head of the region, Evgeny Balitsky: he studied chess there himself at the age of 13, and under the guidance of the same teacher who contacted him on the opening day.

— Of course, I have a special reverent attitude towards this school, because in 1982 I was the first student of this chess school. And it was Tatiana Grigorievna, the coach present, a well-deserved person, very famous in the city, who gave me my first chess rank. And for me, the renovation of this school and the fact that it has taken on a new life is a huge inner impression, as it is for all Melitopol residents, for those thousands of athletes who passed through it, the chess school and through the classrooms, and Tatiana Grigorievna. I thank her for her hard work. During those difficult times in the 90s, she didn't leave her workplace, she stayed with the kids," he said.

Another sports and recreation complex (FOK) was opened in the Kherson region on the territory of the Novoalekseevskaya school No.2 Genichesky district. It is designed for physical education classes, competitions of various levels in basketball, football and athletics. Since classes had already started there, football players' training sessions were visible in the frame right during the report of the director of the new school. This attracted the attention of the head of state.

— I looked, are you guys training behind your back? I see what they're doing, pumping their abs. It would be better to put your hands behind your head, and not just get up. You can tell them there, please," the president advised.

Another facility that started working after the renovation was the Zapadny Stadium in Mariupol, Donetsk. It includes a football field with artificial turf, playgrounds for volleyball, basketball and streetball. And now the stadium can accommodate up to 1.5 thousand people.