OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2011. The economic and investment potential of the Kursk region has been presented at the Congress Center of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (RF CCI). RF CCI President Sergey Katyrin greeted the audience. He welcomed the regional delegation led by Governor Alexander Mikhailov, as well as representatives of federal and regional legislative and executive authorities, local and foreign companies and investment funds, associations of businessmen and chambers of commerce and industry. Representatives of embassies and trade missions of Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Serbia, Italy, China, Spain and some other countries also attended the presentation, Sergey Katyrin stressed.

Presentations of constituents of the Russian Federation on the Chamber’s floor proved their necessity: they enable regions to establish contacts with investors and business partners, while the latter learn about the economic potential and investment options of a region, a territory and a republic, Sergey Katyrin said.

The Kursk region creates conditions for investors, Sergey Katyrin noted. The Expert rating agency ranked the region 16th amongst 83 constituents of the Russian Federation by such an important indicator as investment risks. Companies from Germany, Italy, Hungary, the United States, Vietnam and other countries invest in the economy of the Kursk region. There are grounds to believe that this list will broaden thanks to the joint work within the framework of the recently signed agreement on the assistance to the promotion of investments and innovations between the RF CCI, the administration of the Kursk region and the Kursk CCI. The RF CCI will continue to promote larger investments in Russian regions, including the Kursk region. The sections of the national congress, “Russian Economic Modernization: Development Priorities”, the Chamber will hold at the World Trade Center Moscow on October 18-19 will focus on this issue amongst others.

Kursk Governor Alexander Mikhailov noted in his speech that the region, the same as the whole country, had survived and recovered from the crisis and started to gain momentum. The industrial production index of the first eight months of 2011 amounted to 103.6%, while the agricultural production index reached 120.5%. Further growth of the regional economic is forecasted in 2012.

Fostering of the investment appeal of the region is a key goal of the regional administration. The majority of local industrial assets were built in the 1960s-1980s, and their resources have been exhausted, however, production modernization gave the second life to the leading plants and they started working successfully again. Naturally, the region is very much interested in modern productions based on advanced and innovative technologies. We are prepared to hold a partner dialog with scrupulous investors and to share some risks in the fulfillment of projects, the governor stressed. The region has laid down the legislative foundation for investments and provided various forms of state support.

This support is not declarative; investors really enjoy it, the governor emphasized. For instance, regional agricultural producers receive subsidies from the regional and federal budgets; the subsidies stood at 4.7 billion rubles in the past three years, including almost 1.5 billion rubles from the regional budget. In 2008-2010 19 million ruble subsidies were granted in compensation for the interest on loans received by industrial enterprises for development. The regional targeted program, “Promotion of Investments in the Economy of the Kursk Region in 2011-2015”, was approved.

First Deputy Governor – Regional Prime Minister Alexander Zubarev dwelt on the subject further. He presented the regional economy. The region is 30,000 square kilometers in size and has the population of 1.125 million. The Kursk region is an industrial and agrarian region with a vast industrial, labor and scientific potential, rich resources and a developed infrastructure. The region has 14 industrial branches, which accumulate up to 70% of the regional fixed industrial assets and employ over a third of people engaged in the material production sphere. The region has developed electric power, mining, machine building, metal processing, chemical, food and processing industries and some other sectors.

The industrial production index stood at 107.5% in 2010, Alexander Zubarev said. The Gross Regional Product (GRP) of the Kursk region amounted to 161.5 billion rubles in 2009. The biggest contribution to the Kursk GRP was made by the main types of economic activities: production and distribution of electric power, gas and water, processing industries, agriculture, wholesale and retail trade. The world’s largest iron ore deposit – the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly – which supplies raw materials to Russian and foreign steelworks is located in the region. The Mikhailovsky Ore Dressing Plant develops the iron ore field. The agrarian sector with its Black Earth soils plays an important role. Foreign trade of the Kursk region grew by 1.6 times in 2010. The regional administration is constantly working on the provision of a comfortable environment for business, Alexander Zubarev said. Fifty countries outside of the former Soviet Union and all the CIS states are leading foreign trade partners of the region. The region’s trade reached USD 1.3 billion last year. At present the Kursk region is ready to offer prospective investors projects worth of more than 200 billion rubles, he said. Some of the projects were portrayed at the presentation.

Head of the Zheleznogorsk city administration in the Kursk region Viktor Solntsev told the audience about the project, “Comprehensive Development of the Zheleznogorsk Mono-City”. He said it was planned to create two industrial parks, which would lessen the dependence of the city economy on the Mikhailovsky Ore Dressing Plant.

In turn, Mikhailovsky Ore Dressing Plant Managing Director Sergey Kretov called attention of prospective investors to two projects, “Iron Ore Deposit Development and New Technologies of Iron Ore Production” and “Construction of Technological Unit and Infrastructure of Indurating Machine No3”. 

Kursk Agro Holding Deputy General Director for Production Lyudmila Razumova described prospects of the project “Construction of Vertically Integrated Poultry Factory with Annual Output of 120,000 tonnes of Live Chicken.” The project will create 3,000 new jobs.

Mosneftegazstroykomplekt General Director Oleg Tyurpenko informed investors about the project “Construction of Sugar Plant in Dmitriyevsky District”. Vagonmash General Director Alexander Andreyev invited investors to a water cleaning project and the project “Building of Construction Materials Plant.”

Metallosnab General Director Alexander Samarin said that the region was planning to build a logistics center with a customs office and other specialized services on the total area of 63,000 square meters. The project will upgrade the regional infrastructure and bolster small business.

Vessolink General Director Oleg Badera presented the IT project “Intellectual City”, while Energiaprominvest President Nikolai Kuznetsov dwelt on the project of the construction of greenhouses. Promising investment projects were also presented by Russky Dom Group General Director Oleg Kananykhin and Kursk Promteplitsa General Director Yuri Belikov.

AK&M Information Agency General Director Zoya Larkina invited investors to the Kursk Central Russia Economic Forum and the international universal wholesale and retail fair, “Kursk Korenskaya Fair 2012” due in June 2012.