Putin Inspects MMK Upgrade and Opens M-12 Highway Stretch in Ural Visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a one-day working visit to Magnitogorsk in the Chelyabinsk region on 16 July, touring the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (MMK), the country’s largest steel works, ahead of Russia’s Metallurgist Day on 20 July. Putin inspected the plant’s recently commissioned coke battery No. 12, which can produce up to 2.5 million tonnes of coke annually and is part of a 90 billion-ruble programme to modernise MMK and cut emissions. He was accompanied by Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov, regional governor Alexey Texler, MMK chairman Viktor Rashnikov and chief executive Pavel Shilyaev. Speaking with workers, the president highlighted government support for domestic car purchases and family welfare programmes, and said 2.6 billion rubles have been set aside to complete upgrades at Magnitogorsk’s airport after delays by contractors. From the plant, Putin also inaugurated via video link the 275-kilometre Dyurtyuli–Achit segment of the M-12 “Vostok” expressway, a key section that will eventually link St. Petersburg and Moscow with Yekaterinburg and, in the longer term, connect to routes leading toward Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and North Korea. The trip concluded with a stop at the new “Prityazhenie” park in Magnitogorsk.