Governor Andrey Chibis held the first meeting of the Investment Committee of the Murmansk region. Representatives of the regional government, business, and resource-supplying organizations discussed the implementation of the investment standard, existing support measures, implemented and ongoing projects, and the solution of complex issues.
The head of the Murmansk Region recalled that on behalf of President Vladimir Putin this year, together with the federal government, a Regional investment standard was developed and successfully confirmed. The Institute of investment Officers has become a part of it, and now the investment committee will meet regularly.
"The mechanism of investment authorities was launched by us even before the introduction of the investment standard, and now this successful practice will be implemented in all territories of the Russian Federation. The task of the investment committee will be to simplify business conditions," the head of the region stressed.
The Governor stressed that the region pays great attention to creating a favorable investment climate, economic development is a key task.
"This is directly related to how the Arctic is changing for people. These are new jobs, additional income directed to the social sphere, the involvement of businesses in additional social obligations in order to increase the comfort of life in the Far North. As a result of this work, GRP per capita has grown 2.5 times over the past 4 years, the growth rate of investments in fixed assets amounted to 116% – this is the second fastest in the NWFD. Over 4 years, investors have invested almost 900 billion rubles in the development of the region," the governor listed.
Among the significant investment projects implemented in the region, the governor called the development of the Murmansk transport hub.
"It was in the frozen stage, but with the support of President Vladimir Putin and the Government, funding was received, a new railway on the western shore of the Kola Bay, a new port is in the final stage of construction. This will increase cargo transshipment through the port of Murmansk by 2 times by 2027 – up to 110 million tons per year," the governor noted.
Another important project for the region is gasification. "The issue has been thoroughly considered by the President, all detailed decisions have been made. Now we are moving into the stage of practical implementation. And this will have a radically positive impact on the economy of the region: Novatek has already announced the implementation of the unique Murmansk LNG project," Andrei Chibis stressed.
In addition, the head of the region recalled that there are two preferential regimes for entrepreneurs in the Murmansk region: the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and the TOP "Capital of the Arctic".
"Now we have 219 residents with a total investment volume of about 386 billion rubles. The Murmansk Region is the leader in the number of residents," commented Andrey Chibis. They have already created almost 4.5 thousand jobs, in the future there will be 11 thousand.
"We continue to work on the implementation of the municipal investment standard. This mechanism is aimed at building comfortable and transparent conditions for business, equal rights to carry out investment activities, and will also improve investor interaction with authorities, resource–supplying and authorized organizations," said Svetlana Panfilova, Minister of Arctic Development and Economy of the Murmansk Region.
During the meeting, successful practices of implementing the mechanism of investment commissioners were reviewed on the example of the Kola district, where the majority of residents of the TOP "Capital of the Arctic" and 42 residents of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are located. Among them are a number of farming and tourism projects, for example, a fishing village has been created in Teriberka, a fish store of the company "Murman Seafood" has been opened, 5 grocery stores are being built, including in sparsely populated areas. An important element of the work was the financial support of entrepreneurs, for example, within the framework of the "Governor's Start" program. There are 1,453 small and medium–sized businesses operating in the Kola district, since 2019 the number of individual entrepreneurs has increased by 2 times - there are already 907 of them.
"No matter what sphere the project concerns, we provide its support at all stages of implementation. As an investment officer of the administration of the Kola district, I personally monitor the movement of each initiative, we work with business in a constant dialogue, so there is a natural result," Alexander Likholat stressed and thanked Governor Andrei Chibis and colleagues from the government for their support.
During the meeting, Oleg Mikhailov, Executive Director of Kovdorsky GOK JSC, presented the investment project "Development of the Kovdorsky Mining and Processing Plant", implemented as part of the provision of an investment tax deduction for income tax - a new mechanism introduced in the region in 2022.
"Within the framework of the project, it is planned to provide conditions for the continuation of the development of the Kovdorskoye field to the absolute level of minus 620 meters, which will extend the period of effective operation of the plant," Oleg Mikhailov said.
"Thanks to our well-coordinated work, an agreement for more than 100 billion rubles has been signed for the modernization of production and the continuation of the development of the Kovdorskoye field on deeper horizons. A quarter of the specified amount has already been invested. And these investments will extend the work of the plant at least until 2047. Let me remind you that without them, the work of the enterprise could have been completed in 4 years," Andrei Chibis stressed.
The head of the region recalled that all investments are new jobs. "It is fundamentally important that young people understand what opportunities we have, have reliable information about where to study and what areas are in demand. Almost all large companies are engaged in career guidance projects together with our Ministry of Education. And we are already seeing an increase in the able–bodied population," Andrei Chibis stressed.
In addition, a number of complex issues were considered during the meeting, including technological connection to power supply networks as part of the implementation of investment projects. One of the issues was resolved right at the meeting – it is the connection to the electricity of the investor "Russian Salmon".
/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region /