The retreat of the pandemic, the “era of the Sapsan” and the growing taxes

Petersburg, the number of beds for patients with a new coronavirus infection in hospitals has decreased by 600 beds. According to the press service of the city health committee, the number of beds in the Lenexpo temporary hospital has been reduced by 200 and the number of beds in the War Veterans Hospital has been reduced by 400. As RBC Petersburg was specified in the press service of the committee, the reduction in the number of beds for patients with COVID-19 is associated "with a decrease in hospitalizations and an increase in free beds."

"Era of Sapsan" forever: who and why needs high-speed rail Moscow-Petersburg

The Russian government continues to discuss a project to build a high-speed railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, which should reduce travel time between the two cities to 2.5 hours. After information appeared in the media about a possible rejection of the project, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin denied this information. According to him, the construction of the high-speed line will be carried out in stages. RBC Petersburg asked experts what significance the project has for the transport system of St. Petersburg, why the president asked to pay attention to freight traffic between the two cities, and what could be the consequences of a possible refusal to build high-speed lines.

The court ruled on the claim of the defenders of the Okhtinsky Cape

The class action lawsuit of St. Petersburg city defenders, insisting on the inclusion of the "Defensive ditches and the foundation of the Landskrona fortress tower" on the Okhtinsky Cape in the list of cultural heritage sites, was partially satisfied by the Kuibyshev Court of St. Petersburg. This was reported in the joint press service of the courts of St. Petersburg. Opponents of the development believe that such a result of the court session actually means the inclusion of Landskrona in the list of identified cultural heritage sites. However, KGIOP intends to appeal this decision.

Petersburg increase property taxes

The city parliament passed in the second reading a bill that changes the city's laws on taxes and fees. 15 amendments were submitted to the draft, received from Smolny, which increased taxes for owners of commercial premises, parking lots and garages. But the proposals from the opposition deputies did not pass. It was only partially possible to reduce the burden on entrepreneurs affected by the pandemic.

For the resettlement of communal apartments in St. Petersburg allocated a "record amount"

For the resettlement of communal apartments in the draft budget of St. Petersburg for 2022-2024. a record amount of funds. For three years, the city will spend 9.6 billion rubles for these purposes. However, even this amount is not enough to solve the problem, opposition representatives in the city parliament believe. During the second reading of the city budget, Boris Vishnevsky, a deputy from Yabloko, estimated the period of resettlement of communal apartments in St. Petersburg at 40 years. Earlier, a Smolny official voiced an even more pessimistic forecast.