(Eagle News Service) — Only a month after the opening of the Simferepol Airport which was Crimea’s infrastructure showcase, the peninsula, once again, takes the global center stage as Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin unveiled the megabridge that connects the Crimean city of Kerch with the Krasdonar region in southern Russia.
Called the Crimean Bridge, it is longer than the Vasco da Gama Bridge in Lisbon, making it not only the longest bridge in Russia but also in Europe, spanning a strait between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.
Construction of the bridge which started in 2015 was six months ahead of schedule. While the Simferopol Airport was constructed in 22 months, the Crimean Bridge was finished in 27 months.
Before the launch of the megatructure, the main connection of Crimea with Russia was through a ferry over the Kerch strait that takes hours or days of waiting at the port. With the bridge, travel from the mainland to Crimea has been reduced to 20 minutes.
After what seemed to be a briefing in a monitoring center that showed him the outline of the structure, Putin led the historic drive over of the bridge on a giant orange Kamaz.
As Putin traversed the bridge with the builders of the construction project in a convoy of orange and white Kamaz trucks, he was informed of the design elements of the bridge structure that was built to the tune of 228 billion rubles ($3.69 billion).
As the president alighted from the Kamaz truck, the hosts of the opening ceremony announced “this is a great day that future generations will remember forever. People will write books about you – the builders of this bridge and they are already making films about this bridge. This is such an important event about our country.”
Historic day
Addressing the crowd from a circular stage, Putin said, “this is truly a historic day.”
“Historic day because from different historic periods, even in the time of tsars, people have dreamt of building this bridge. It was revisited in the 1940s and 1950s and eventually it was through your labor that this miracle finally came through,” Putin declared.
He congratulated people who have put “national interests above their own personal and corporate interests,” in the building of the bridge.
He also cited that 10,000 to 15,000 people have been working on the project from various companies. “The whole country was involved in this wonderful result, “ he said.
Putin also mentioned that Crimea and Sevastopol will be “closer to one another” and it will lead to “further economic development.”
The opening of the bridge is also believed to be a symbolic victory for Putin after Crimea’s annexation of Russia which was supported by its residents through a referendum.
Yalta Forum
True to Putin’s commitment in his message at the 4th Yalta International Economic Forum held in Crimea “to stir the interest of our foreign partners and lead to the launch of new projects in high-tech industries, culture, the environment, tourism and construction,” he reiterated the building of other infrastructure projects including new roads, airports and seaports.
“We will be successful because we have talented and wonderful people,” Putin said.
According to him, Crimea is a Russian region that is “dynamically growing and open for business in every possible sphere.
