On February 5, 2025, the VIII educational module of the School of Investment Commissioners of the Murmansk Region was launched in Murmansk, at the Regional Management Center. The training was attended by investment officers, representatives of municipal investment teams, employees of the Ministry of Arctic Development and Economics and the Murmansk Region Development Corporation. Svetlana Panfilova, Deputy Governor and Minister of Arctic Development and Economy of the Murmansk Region, greeted the participants of the training.
In March, the Institute of Investment Officers of the Murmansk Region will celebrate its fourth anniversary. It was introduced at the initiative of Governor Andrey Chibis in order to develop a favorable investment climate in the Murmansk Region, and during this time it has fully proved its effectiveness. Every year, investment agents help solve about half a thousand problems of entrepreneurs. The result of this daily work is new launched and successfully operating projects.
The Murmansk Region is one of the first regions to introduce this institute, and is constantly improving the principles of the work of investment agents. In this regard, in 2025, the standards of work of investment agents are being updated in the direction of client-centricity, Svetlana Panfilova said.
"The main principle of the work of investment agents with entrepreneurs is customer–centricity. Just as an entrepreneur polls his clients every time after providing a service to see if they liked everything, in the same way, investment representatives need to receive feedback from entrepreneurs about what other support measures are needed, what promising niches they see for business development in the municipality," said the Deputy Governor, Minister of Arctic Development and Economy. Svetlana Panfilova, Murmansk Region.
As part of the School of Investment Officers, municipal teams improve their investor relations skills, learn to identify the strengths of territories and promising investment niches. The topic of the new educational module is attracting investors and developing investment proposals.
"The main purpose of the training within the framework of the School of Investment Commissioners is to work out the initiatives necessary for the development and improvement of the quality of life in municipalities. As a result, municipal investment teams must learn how to independently develop proposals for investors in accordance with the strategic plan "To live in the North," said Artem Kuksa, General Director of the Murmansk Region Development Corporation.
Dmitry Bogdanov, curator of the training center of the National Association of Investment and Development Agencies (NAAIR), Vice-President of the RSPP Business School, became a guest teacher at the School of Investment Commissioners.
"In the competition for investors in modern realities, it is especially important to work with internal entrepreneurs. In the case of municipalities, these are entrepreneurs who already work in the territories and want to expand their business. The municipal investment standard, adopted at the federal level in 2023, assumes that entrepreneurs will be worked with by investment agents who better understand the situation on earth. Therefore, today we are working together on how to make municipalities more attractive for investment, reduce barriers to doing business and identify possible mistakes when supporting investment projects. But most importantly, we will make several investment proposals from each municipality so that people can leave with practical results that can be used at meetings with entrepreneurs," Dmitry Bogdanov said.
Investment commissioners are heads and deputy heads of administrations of municipalities of the Murmansk region, whose task is to help solve the problems of entrepreneurs in the implementation of investment projects on the ground without unnecessary barriers.
/Murmansk Region Development Corporation/