MOSCOW, 29 September. /TASS/. VEB.RF has completed the assessment of two first projects in Russia’s national infrastructure project assessment system (IRIIS). The pilot group of projects is to be formed by the end of 2021 to bring the system into operation, according to VEB.RF’s Deputy Chairperson and Member of the Management Board Svetlana Yachevskaya.

IRIIS is under development by VEB.RF, the National PPP Development Center (part of the VEB.RF Group) and AECOM with support from the Russian Ministry of Finance and is designed to assist with the introduction of the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment. IRIIS is to help Russian and foreign investors to assess risks and opportunities in Russian-based projects.

“We expect projects totalling at least 1.5 trillion roubles in different industries will go through IRIIS in the next five years. We can see it’s important for regional and municipal authorities to have quality assessment tools and criteria to decide on support for really feasible project proposals with minimal risks. At the very start of a project, IRIIS makes it possible to set up the project management model correctly and effectively and give due consideration to all possible factors: economic, social and environmental,” Svetlana Yachevskaya said.

IRIIS has attracted the interest of both project initiators and regional authorities. The key aspects of the methodology are Economy and Governance, Quality of Life, Environment and Climate, she added.

The first IRIIS-verified project is the construction of the Ufa East Exit on the M-5 Ural federal highway. This is a 25-year concession in the Republic of Bashkortostan with investments totalling about 40 billion roubles. A syndicate of VEB.RF and VTB is financing the project through the Project Financing Factory. Another pilot project is carried out by Russian Railways to build a railway to the Kaluga special economic zone in the Kaluga Region, according to VEB.RF.