TASS-FACTBOX. March 18, 2024 will be the tenth anniversary of Crimea’s reunification with Russia. The agreement on the admission of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was signed on March 18, 2014. TASS has prepared a report about how the Crimean Peninsula has changed over the past decade.
Socioeconomic standing
According to Russian statistics, the gross regional product of the Republic of Crimea soared by a factor of 3.5 from 189.4 bln rubles ($2.1 bln) in 2014 to 655.9 bln rubles ($7.1 bln) in 2022. The gross regional product of Sevastopol skyrocketed by 7.6 times from 30.2 bln rubles ($328.8 mln) to 229.7 bln rubles ($2.5 bln) over the same period.
Fixed capital investments surged in Crimea by 8.1 times in 2014-2022 from 26.5 bln rubles ($288.2 mln) to 214.1 bln rubles ($2.3 bln). The increase was over 21-fold in Sevastopol from 3.4 bln rubles ($37.1 mln) to 72.2 bln rubles ($788.3 mln). The population in Crimea ticked up by 0.7% from 1.9 mln as of January 1, 2015 to 1.91 mln as of January 1, 2024. The population of Sevastopol moved up in the reporting period by 40.9% from 399,000 to 562,000.
Crimean Bridge
Rail and bus traffic to Crimea was halted after the reunification with Russia on the initiative of Ukraine. The Kerch ferry lane became the main transport corridor linking the peninsula to the mainland part of the country.
The Crimean Bridge that connected the Kerch Peninsula in Crimea with the Taman Peninsula in the Krasnodar Region was the longest in Russia and in Europe, spanning 19 km. Motor traffic was opened on the bridge in May 2018 and rail traffic started in October of the same year.
Taurida Highway
Motor traffic started in August 2020 along the Taurida highway connecting the cities of Kerch, Feodosiya, Belogorsk, Simferopol, Bakhchysarai and Sevastopol. The four-lane road became one of the main thoroughfares in Crimea.
The 250.7-km road bypasses large settlements and is fitted with pedestrian overpasses, viaducts and two-level junctions. The throughput capacity of the highway is over 40,000 vehicles a day.
Simferopol Airport
Passenger traffic at the Simferopol Airport surged after reunification because the main overland route to Russia was blocked. The new terminal hosted its first passengers in April 2018. It can service up to 3,700 passengers per hour.
Energy
The energy bridge to Crimea was built in 2015-2016. It is a system of several facilities connecting the peninsula’s power system to the Unified Energy System of Russia. With its commissioning, the power capacity in Crimea with internal generation included totaled over 1,270 MW.
Free economic zone
The free economic zone has been functioning in Crimea and Sevastopol since January 1, 2015. The zone has special conditions for doing business, including preferential taxation, a free customs zone, and so on. About 1,200 participants are now registered in it.
Tourism
More than 70 hotels were built and about 600 renovated in the peninsula since 2014. Over 60 mln people visited the Crimean Peninsula over the past decade, with the record of almost 9.5 mln people set in 2021.