Government. The railway, when completed, will provide the forested areas in this district with cheap transport to the White Sea ports, and thus make the export of timber possible from these regions. It will also open up further possibilities of mining development on the east of the Urals, and thus give additional impetus to the development of this region of the province of Perm.
(3) Central Siberia and its Communications.—The Siberian railway crosses the south of the Yenisei Government, the most central province of Siberia, by way of the towns of Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk and Kansk. It is by far the most important means of communication between Central Siberia and Europe. Navigation on the Yenisei River provides communication between Krasnoyarsk on the railway, the Minusinsk steppes on the south, and the Yeniseisk region in the north. At present no schemes for branch railways have been projected in Central Siberia, for public attention must be absorbed by the development of Western Siberia for some time to come. Moreover, the great distance of the Yenisei Government from Europe must cause its growth to be much slower than that of Western Siberia.
In addition to the railway, however, there is the Obi-Yenisei Canal, connecting the two rivers of those names, and running from a point north of Yeniseisk to the Ket River, a tributary of the Obi. This water route only effects communication between the northern part of the Yenisei Government and the Tomsk Government, and is not of much importance in the economic development of Central Siberia, for it leads to no point where there is direct communication with Europe.
