Infrastructure budget loans: issues of improving control mechanisms

Infrastructure budget loans are the most capital-intensive financial instrument of the federal project “Infrastructure Menu”, implemented by the Government of the Russian Federation since 2021. The article provides an up-to-date description of the use of this financial instrument. Using materials from control activities of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, information from the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Construction of Russia and the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, unresolved issues in the area of control over the use of infrastructure budget loans were identified. The problematic issues of reliability and reliability of the assessment of long-term socio-economic effectors from the use of infrastructure budget loans, as well as assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of relevant funds, have been studied. In the context of the adopted strategic decisions to extend the validity of the financial instrument until 2030 and to allocate additional federal budget funds for its further implementation, the lack of a systematic approach to monitoring the use of infrastructure budget loans was revealed. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that it is necessary to improve existing control mechanisms over the use of infrastructure budget loans. The author has proposed a number of recommendations, the implementation of which should ensure increased transparency, accountability and efficiency in the use of infrastructure budget loans.