I disagree with the conclusions and recommendations that the expert is favoring. Russia DOES NOT NEED US or Canada style road network. These are the vestiges of the car/cheep gas economy. If you add to this the vastness of the territory, and the extremes in temperatures, the future Russia needs to aim for should be vastly different from the experience of US. US has three time zones, compared to Russia'a eleven. US is, therefore, not a good comparison. To say that Canada is experiencing similar problems with the climate is definitely not true. The temperature extremes in Russia call for entirely different solutions. The emplasis on trains is the future, as well as the more developed river transport. To improve both, current stations and ports need to be upgraded --- but that would not represent such a major outlay. In short, Russia needs to focus on the road development only, and only, where there is a high return to the investment, including the needs of the huge potential for the development of tourism. However, Russia needs to move decidely into the future, and leap into a new generation small/large scale urban development in its economic centers of the future. Without a new decidedly non-european architecture, Russia cannot conquer its vast spaces and make them desirable destinations for young and educated. Livability in spite of climate challenge will be the answer to Russia'a problems. Any attempt to copy european-style urban design will be a failure. The cost of maintenance and the sheer limitations on socializing, working and playing in climate-challenged areas will make such project unsustainable. Therefore, before worrying about fixing the roads, a preliminary plans are needed that would identify future development, and then --- only then, define transportation needs: rail, ships or roads.

The professor is right. Russia needs plans for good roads between big cities. Without roads economic development will be third world. Trains are not the only answer. River transport is less important. People do not travel by boat today!! Only tourists.

It is safe now. Russia can build some good roads, like they have in cold Sweden. The threat of another invasion from Western Europe is over. If Russia would sell some gold, it could fund the linking of the major cities with a good divided highway system. You don't have to build an 80,000 kilometer system like the USA. Come on, even Cuba has a German type divided highway linking some cities! Tourists from the West might become a flood if they could drive all over the place. But the rich ones would spend a lot of money. They might buy a lot of summer vacation homes. Google "Ghost Rider Uppsala Run," for a good tour of the Swedish Highway system north of the capital city of Stockholm to Uppsala, home of a famous university. It is a nice video ride.