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A total of 26.5 billion rubles ($1.07 billion) will be allotted into improving Primorye’s transport infrastructure as part of a federal program to develop the Far Eastern and Zabaikalye territories, a press statement from the regional administration said Monday.

Under the program, which is named ‘Economic and Social development of the Russian Far East and Zabaikalye to 2013’, 21.5 billion rubles will go towards building new roads in the region.

According to Primorye Vice-Governor Pavel Popov, the project will also involve modernizing key infrastructure elements, primarily increasing the carrying capacity of the region’s major roads and advancing their safety and comfort.

The program involves financing the construction and renovation of such vital transport corridors as those linking the towns of Ussurisk to Khasan, Vladivostok to Nakhodka and the port of Vostochny, and Terney and Rudnaya Pristan.

An additional 13 billion rubles ($526.3 million) is being allocated to construct a bridge over Vladivostok’s Zolotoy Rog bay, a long-discussed and anticipate project aimed to link the city’s downtown with its remote districts. The finances will come from a subprogram for the development of Vladivostok as a center for international cooperation in the Pacific Rim.

Meanwhile, the construction of another bridge – linking Vladivostok and Russky Island – is to begin next spring, according to an announcement at recent public hearings dedicated to the project, the regional administration’s statement reported.

The 3150-meter (10,335-foot) long and 70-meter (230-foot) high suspension bridge over the Bosfor Vostochny Strait will be constructed to prepare for the 2012 APEC summit to be hosted by the city.

The project will receive a sum of almost 14 billion rubles ($566.8 million) and is expected to be fully implemented within three years’ time, the statement said.