Kirov Region is losing people: Kolotova and Nikulin proposed measures to retain the population.

      At the press conference "Demography. Why are people leaving the Kirov region?" they presented their vision of the problem and proposals for its solution.

      As of January 1, 2025, the population of the Kirov region was 1 million 120.4 thousand people. According to the 2020 census, there were about 1 million 154 thousand residents. Over five years, the region lost about 34 thousand people.

      At the same time, the region is aging: almost 29% of the population are people over working age. Birth rates are declining: if more than 10.5 thousand children were born in 2020, the figure for 2025 is less than 8 thousand.

      — This is not an abstract number. These are empty apartments, closed schools, and villages that are gradually disappearing from the map, — noted Ekaterina Kolotova.

      According to her, where enterprises, investments, and jobs appear, people can be retained. Where opportunities decrease, the population leaves. Among the reasons for the outflow, Kolotova mentioned the high cost of housing, high utility payments, limited job choices, problems with roads and transport, lack of infrastructure, and leisure activities.

      Alexander Nikulin pointed out the decrease in the number of young workers. According to the data he provided, the number of working residents in the region under 40 years old has decreased by 5,685 people.

      — The most energetic, the most educated, those who are supposed to build factories and roads, are packing their bags and leaving for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan. They are not traitors. They are just looking for places where there are jobs, high salaries, and prospects for their future children, — said Nikulin.

      What will make young people stay

      One of Nikulin's main tasks is to create conditions under which it will be beneficial for young specialists to stay in the Kirov region. Among his proposals are targeted education in universities and colleges with subsequent employment in the region, interest-free mortgages for young specialists in rural areas, and the creation of modern high-tech jobs.

      Separate measures are proposed for families. Nikulin advocated for exempting large families from personal income tax, free clubs and sections for the third and subsequent children, and the ability to use maternity capital for the down payment on housing immediately after the birth of a child.

      According to the candidates, it is impossible to fix demographics with just one payment: a person simultaneously needs work, a decent income, housing, healthcare, education, and a normal living environment.

      Priority — for our own

      A separate topic was labor migration. Ekaterina Kolotova emphasized that before attracting workers from outside, the region must do everything possible to retain its own workforce.

      — The priority is only our youth. Those who study in our colleges and universities, who are still hesitating — to leave or to stay. They should be the main personnel reserve of the region, — she stated.

      The party's position on labor migration was formulated by Kolotova as the rule of three "P": "Priority. Order. Arrived — worked — said goodbye." According to her, jobs and social guarantees should primarily be received by local residents and Russian citizens, while foreign workers should be attracted for specific economic needs and for a limited time.

      Nikulin also proposed an economic mechanism: an employer wishing to hire a foreign worker must first prove that there is no suitable local specialist for the job and pay an increased tax to the regional fund for supporting birth rates.

      According to Kolotova and Nikulin, the task of regional policy is not to replace departing residents but to create conditions under which young people will want to stay in Vyatka, work here, start families, and raise children.