«Alabuga» goes to the north-west: Novgorod site will open in 2021

The western vector promises good chances of attracting residents, but the size of future sites - 10 hectares - is incomparably small.

The special economic zone "Alabuga" rushed to the border north-western territories, creating local oases with local authorities with tax preferences for residents. The general director of the SEZ "Alabuga" Timur Shagivaleev and the governor of the Novgorod region, Andrey Nikitin, signed a partnership agreement on the eve of the creation of a special economic zone of industrial type right next to the Leningrad region and with subsequent access to the Baltic. As Realnoe Vremya was informed in the regional administration, the application for the creation of the Novgorodskaya SEZ is under consideration by the RF Ministry of Economic Development, and the zone itself will operate under the management of Novgorodskaya Management Company, but with the participation of Alabuga Management Company. Prior to that, "Alabuga" was eyeing the opening of a branch in the Bryansk region with access to Belarus and Poland.

"Alabuga" is preparing the Novgorod SEZ to enter next year

Russian regions again “fired up” the idea of creating special economic zones with preferential taxation on their territories, but they approach their opening more carefully and thoughtfully. On the eve, the authorities of the Novgorod region invited the management company of the SEZ "Alabuga" as a strategic partner to establish such a territory of growth, having concluded a cooperation agreement. Moreover, the Novgorod region became the first region with which "Alabuga" formalized partnership relations. The signing itself took place at the residence of the Governor of the Novgorod Region, and the document was signed by the head of the region, Andrei Nikitin, who previously headed the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, and the head of the Alabuga SEZ Management Company Timur Shagivaleev.

They intend to create a special economic zone of industrial-production type in the Novgorod region on the territory of the Savinsky rural settlement of the Novgorod region, the signatories said. Its area is more than 10 hectares (in comparison with the SEZ "Alabuga" it is 4 times less, - editor's note). Investment in infrastructure is estimated at 5.6 billion rubles. According to the press service of the Novgorod region, the partners expect to create the Novgorodskaya SEZ in the first quarter of 2021, and the zone itself will be managed by Novgorodskaya Management Company, but with the participation of the Alabuga Management Company top management. The application is already pending at the RF Ministry of Economic Development.

“The Novgorodskaya SEZ may be formed as early as the first quarter of 2021,” the press service of the regional government said.

"Novgorodskaya" is being formed as an industrial-production zone on the model of the SEZ "Alabuga". Its main areas will be microelectronics, pharmaceuticals and glass industry. There are no such residents in the SEZ "Alabuga", with the exception of the Turkish holding "Shishedzham", which produces sheet glass for automobiles.

“The Agency for Development of the Novgorod Region and the Novgorodskaya management company together with the Alabuga management company will be looking for residents,” the regional press service said in response to Realnoe Vremya's request.

The signed cooperation agreement will allow:

- to establish partnerships in the development of foreign economic and interregional activities;

- to increase the level of investment attractiveness of the region in domestic and foreign business circles;

- to stimulate the export of the region;

- to attract new technologies;

- to increase the number of potential residents of the established SEZ PPT "Novgorodskaya".

Nikitin's second attempt

The Novgorod region is making a second attempt to create a special zone on its territory. The first time the application was sent to the Ministry of Economic Development at the end of 2019. The governor of the region, Andrei Nikitin, explained that the SEZ could be created in the Novgorod region by the summer of 2021. It included Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod and Chudovsky districts within its borders. “At least three large external investors are waiting for its appearance and are carrying out preparatory work,” he noted.

The day before, his press service reported that "the application, adjusted in accordance with the requirements, was re-sent for consideration to the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia in June this year." In turn, the SEZ "Alabuga" reported that it responded to "the appeal of the governor of the Novgorod region to Rustam Nurgalievich Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan, with a question about support in the creation of the SEZ." For all residents of the special economic zone, the income tax rate in the first 5 years will be only 2%, for the next 5 years - 5%, and then - 14.5%. For property, land and transport taxes, the rate will be zero.

Thus, a new economic zone will emerge close to the Leningrad Region, from where there is an outlet for export operations through the seaports of the Baltic, noted the executive director of the National Association of Investment and Development Agencies Rafael Khusyainshin:

- I think that in the Novgorod region, most likely, there will be no emphasis on large investors. Most likely, the stake will be placed on manufacturers of equipment and materials. The Novgorod Region is attractive for its sales markets. Next to it is the Leningrad Region, St. Petersburg. Its geographical location makes it possible to import manufactured products to Moscow and the Moscow region. This is why the localization of the SEZ is beneficial. It doesn't matter what to produce here. There may also be auto components for car factories in the Leningrad region, - he reasons.

"Localization" of SEZ on the north-western borders

Earlier, "Alabuga" was eyeing the opening of a branch in the Bryansk region, which will provide future residents with direct access to Belarus and Poland. At the end of August, Artur Ayupov, Deputy Director General of the SEZ for State Programs, was on a study visit to Bryansk. The SEZ was allocated the territory around the bankrupt Novozybkovsky machine-building plant (part of the bankrupt Railtransholding), which produced tank cars for bulk cargo.

- The Bryansk region could create such a zone on its own. Moreover, the issue was worked out with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development, but in this case the procedure would have dragged on for one and a half to two years. The Alabuga branch can be created very quickly. Bogomaz and Minnikhanov agreed on this, the media of the Bryansk region reported.

Where and when the heads of the two regions agreed was unclear, since the press service of the President of Tatarstan did not publish any releases about these meetings. Sources claim that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin asked for help with this project during his stay in Kazan. According to rumors, the application has not yet been submitted, and the territory of the branch is 5-10 hectares.

Bryansk and Novgorod regions are in relative proximity: the first is on the "first" border line closer to Belarus, and the second is deeper, but with an orientation towards the Leningrad region. Proceeding from this, market participants concluded that the SEZ "Alabuga" rushed to the north-western borders, which are logistically convenient for exporting products. Market participants believe that Alabuga Management Company can be selected as a commercial agent to find and attract residents to the Novgorod SEZ.

- A huge number of foreign investors pass through their filter, with whom they held a lot of negotiations. The residents were not always satisfied with the remoteness from international sales markets. Now it will be easy to make them an alternative proposal, offering to place production right at the borders, - believes one of the market players.

In his opinion, the territory of the future sites is incomparably smaller, which means that it does not always make sense to keep the directorate and it is better to give these zones to support the management of "Alabuga".

Pandemic may delay the process of attracting residents

The expansion of "Alabuga" is connected with the occupancy of the existing territory and the ban on the creation of a second zone in Tatarstan. “Yes, the Tatarstan zone is full. And it is clear that the second special economic zone in Tatarstan can no longer be built. In this sense, this is a very good management move, "said Rafael Khusyanshin, executive director of the National Association of Investment and Development Agencies. It would be logical for the site to be occupied by the top management, which has already led to the success of its site of the SEZ "Alabuga".

- I believe that there is an effective tool for attracting investors in the form of SEZ "Alabuga", not all special economic zones show such efficiency and not all of them have such a positive history with investors. We see that many special economic zones are ineffective and not filled. Apparently, in order not to produce ineffective economic zones, they decided to take the best practice and implement it in other regions. In my opinion, this is the correct story. Especially when the management and the SEZ team came to such success and now is engaged in scaling and consulting other regions. If there is such a successful practice, why not use it? In this regard, Tatarstan is great! This will allow to win not only the territory on which the new SEZ will be created, but also Tatarstan itself, which, in addition to products, will allow selling intellectual property to other regions and attracting new investors through cooperative ties with residents of the SEZ site in the Novgorod region, - said the source.

But the second wave of the coronavirus crisis is approaching, and the head of the AID RT Taliya Minullina said that she expects a decrease in the inflow of investments into the regional economy. Therefore, Rafael Khusyinshin warned: “It is not difficult to be legally registered. There are no restrictions on the choice of territory. The question is - how quickly will the site be filled with residents? But here it is necessary to see if there is a request for this territory from investors from Tatarstan, so that he would conduct some kind of road show and present a future zone for new investments. As practice shows, this will take 2-3 years. But now the filling by investors may be delayed due to restrictions on the entry of foreign specialists. Now there is no opportunity to come to the adjustment of equipment and the opening of production, and everything will depend on how long the restrictions will last. Here it will be necessary to look at the development of the pandemic, ”he concluded.

Source: https://realnoevremya.ru/