PPP in Transport 2025-2026: Takeoff or Landing? Key Trends and Insights from You & Partners Managing Partner Evgenia Zusman

28.11.2025

At the XIII Eurasian International Forum «Airport Development – 2025», Evgenia Zusman, Managing Partner of You & Partners, participated in the Plenary Session titled «Future Airport Infrastructure: State Priorities and Mechanisms for Supporting Airport Development». During the session, Evgenia commented on the advisability of introducing an infrastructure levy and discussed the impact of budgetary constraints on subsidized regions regarding the implementation of airport projects.

Furthermore, Evgenia Zusman delivered a presentation outlining key PPP trends for 2025-2026. She also invited forum participants to share their views on which transport sectors are poised for the most active development in the coming years through PPP mechanisms.

In her address, Evgenia Zusman highlighted six critical trends that demand the attention of all market participants:

Increased Scrutiny from Regulatory Authorities. Evgenia cited data on leading regions in litigation concerning «comfort letters» (Zabaikalsky Krai — 44%) and emphasized the need for a more rigorous approach to confirming project financing.

VEB.RF's Efficiency Assessment as a Key Filter. Starting in 2025, a negative conclusion from VEB.RF for projects exceeding 3 billion rubles effectively blocks them in subsidized regions, fundamentally altering the approach to initiating such deals.

Budgetary Constraints for Subsidized Regions and Municipalities. Evgenia noted that these restrictions call into question the feasibility of projects in two-thirds of Russian regions and presented a TOP-10 list of financially stable regions, including Moscow, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and St. Petersburg.

Several other equally important trends were also highlighted. More details can be found in the presentation.

It is crucial that these trends do not adversely impact the development of PPP projects, including those in the transport sector. Russian PPP legislation is now quite mature. The main imperative is to avoid causing harm.

We extend our gratitude to the organizers of the XIII Eurasian International Forum «Airport Development – 2025» for facilitating this dialogue and to all participants for the constructive discussion. Such exchanges enable us to jointly identify optimal pathways for implementing promising projects under the new conditions.

 

You & Partners Press Service

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