OREANDA-NEWS. January 19, 2010. A workshop-conference on working out comprehensive innovative plans to develop mono cities of the Russian Federation was held in the city of Yekaterinburg.

The workshop-conference discussed Vnesheconombank’s basic principles and approaches associated with the Bank’s participation in projects implemented in mono cities of the Russian Federation.

The workshop’s participants also dealt with the Russian Federation’s requirements for addressing mono cities’ problems, instruments for reforming and diversifying the economy of mono-profile and old industrial cities, approaches to working out and implementing measures for maintaining employment, programs to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Russian mono cities, programs of the Foundation for Reforming Hosing and Communal Services and the Federal Fund for Promoting Housing Construction. Moreover, they also discussed draft plans for the comprehensive development of mono cities on the basis of the Sverdlov and Chelyabinsk regions’ experience.

The speakers at the workshop-conference were Head of the Working Group on Modernizing Mono Cities under the Governmental Commission on Economic Development and Integration, Vnesheconombank Deputy Chairman Irina Makieva, Sverdlovsk Region Governor Alexandr Misharin, Russian Regional Development Deputy Minister Yury Osintsev, Russian Industry and Trade Deputy Minister Stanislav Naumov, Russian Health and Social Development Deputy Minister Maxim Topilin, representatives of the Federal Center for Project Financing, experts. In attendance of the conference were heads of mono-profile populated areas’ municipalities, department heads of line ministries from the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Udmurt Republic, the Perm region, the Kirov, Kurgan, Sverdlov and Chelyabinsk regions. In her report at the conference Irina Makieva said that “20 billion rubles from the federal budget were scheduled to be allocated to support mono cities in 2010. Out of these funds 10 billion rubles are to be allocated as budgetary credits by the Russian Finance Ministry and another 10 billion rubles are expected to be contributed to Vnesheconombank’s charter capital and in the future Vnesheconombank will be able to extend these funds to mono cities for them to implement investment projects included in the innovative development plans”.

As part of the conference its participants made working trips to such mono cities as Asbest, Nizhny Tagil, Kamensk-Uralsky (the Sverdlov region) and Karabash (the Chelyabinsk region) and a regular meeting of the Working Group was also held.

The Working Group’s meeting held in Nizhny Tagil discussed at great length the city’s development plan, the Working Group’s members made their remarks and proposals concerning the plan’s sections and certain measures.

The workshop-conference on working out comprehensive innovative plans to develop mono cities in the city of Yekaterinburg was the second visiting conference on this theme organized with the assistance of Vnesheconombank. In December 2009, Vnesheconombank jointly with the Working Group on Modernizing Mono Cities under the Governmental Commission on Enhancing the Russian Economy’s Sustainable Development held a workshop-conference with administrators of mono-profile populated areas of the Khabarovsk region and the Primorsky Territory in the city of Khabarovsk.