Putin to hold video conference on road construction

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will on Wednesday hold a video conference on road construction, the government reported. Russia lacks effective control over road construction and repair. Funds allocated for road maintenance are often misappropriated. Highways are repaired frequently, and despite separate attempts to exercise public control over all stages of road work, the quality of the roadbed in many parts of the country remains extremely poor. Reports on the construction and maintenance of roads in the country's northwest, in Siberia, the North Caucasus, in Tatarstan and the Far East will be presented to Putin. By the end of 2011, a total of 209 km (130 miles) of new or repaired roads is to be commissioned in Russia in line with a federal target program. Over 6,000 km (3,730 miles) of roads is to be commissioned by 2019.