Sviyazhsk multimodal complex to have Turkish foreign management?
Foreign residents of Sviyazhsk will be liberated from external control
As it became known to Realnoe Vremya, the Turkish management company GOSB (Gebze Organize Sanayi Bölgesi), under control of which the entire built infrastructure of Sviyazhsk multimodal complex will be transferred, will be given the green light in the form of assigning the status of ''foreign management company of SEZ in Russia''. The exceptional status can be assigned by the special federal law, the draft of which provides the transfer of authority to dispose of land plots and engineering infrastructure to the foreign developer for autonomous functioning of the zone. Meanwhile, the ministry of economic development of Russia has not officially received the draft law on the status of foreign management companies of SEZ. Therefore, the federal ministry refrains from comments on who will act with the legislative initiative on ''registration'' of GOSB.
Sviazhsk logocentre will be given to Tatarstan
New details of the mechanism to revive unoccupied Sviyazhsk multimodal complex was revealed by Minister of Economy of Tatarstan Artyom Zdunov at a recent meeting of the committee on economy and investments of the State Council of Tatarstan. Presenting to MPs the economic effect of the functioning of various tax enclaves, the head of the economy ministry was glad to share the latest news on the progress of multilateral negotiations to revive the failed logistics hub for transshipment of cargos.
Having reminded that ''huge federal funds'' have been invested in the construction of the complex, the minister with satisfaction announced that ''the basic objects are being transferred on the books of the republic.'' It is expected that by 1 January, the entire infrastructure, it is the rail and road terminals with warehouses and container sites, the river port with water and automobile terminal, warehouses, platforms for containers and general cargo, will become the property of the republic. The complex is able to process 10 million tonnes of construction cargo and 2,5 million containers. Thus, FTI ''Rostransmodernizatsiya'' (Federal Treasury Institution ''Directorate of the state customer for realization of the Federal target program ''Modernization of transport system of Russia'') will complete the transfer of the logocentre worth more than 20 billion rubles in the ownership of the republic, after which the authorities will be able to begin creating the third in Tatarstan special economic zone (SEZ).
In the hands of GOSB
As it is known, the Turkish management company Gebze (GOSB) has long expressed the desire to become intendant of this SEZ. One of the largest Turkish industrial zones in the province of Gebze with the volume of attracted investments at $1,35 billion is under its auspices. Today 156 companies from various industries whose exports exceed $1 billion are registered here. At KazanSummit 2017 held in May, the leadership of Tatarstan and the managing company of the SEZ Gebze sealed the agreement by signing the cooperation agreement, in which they specified that the SEZ will take control of the Sviyazhsk multimodal center.
''We have an idea that we want to realize through this agreement: Gebze should take control of the Sviyazhsk interregional multimodal logistics centre,'' told the reporters President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. ''You know that Turkish investors work here, we want to create a zone where everything will be clear for them. Of course, it will be designed not only for Turkish investors,'' the head of the republic made a reservation, retaining the intrigue of who else, along with the Turks, may enter Sviyazhsk. By the time, it had been signed the memorandum, and four Turkish banks began to prepare special financial products for future residents.
With own charter
Speaking before MPs, the minister of economy not only confirmed the taken course on partnership with GOSB but also pointed how they want to protect the path to the Volga region valley of goods. ''We are agreeing at the federal level so that the term ''foreign management company in the special zone'' appeared,'' Zdunov revealed the veil of secrecy of the bill designed to protect the interests of GOSB in Russia. ''Our residents are forced to work with energy suppliers and separately to obtain permission (on the transfer of land from one category to another, and commissioning the built plant), which complicates the entry to the site. But abroad the work is organized differently: the management company provides these services in package, so that the resident could be engaged only in production.''
In fact, the Russian management companies informally help the residents to commission their objects and to connect to networks, and sometimes residents just hire the Russian contractors ''for interaction with Russian regulatory agencies''. Of course, it is inconvenient and costly. Therefore, GOSB insisted that it was given broad powers to ensure the functioning of the infrastructure of the SEZ as it entails several residents. Chairman of the board of Gebze Vakhit Yildyrym has recently stated that the location for our investments in Kazan was selected, all the preparatory work have been done for this. The only thing left is the laws. According to him, in order the industrial park in Tatarstan began to operate in full, it is necessary to adopt a law that would protect the manufacturer.
As reported by Artyom Zdunov, the Tatarstan government held talks with Oreshkin (the head of the Russian ministry of economic development). ''I personally talked — such law will be introduced. We will have a ''pilot''. Thank God, the infrastructure have been finished,'' he reported. As explained in Tatarstan ministry of economy, this draft bill reproduces the provisions of the federal law ''On the innovative center Skolkovo, which management company have received autonomy in disposal of the area. Under the same scheme, the foreign management company of the SEZ gets the right to prepare itself the documents that are applied instead of the act on transfer of lands or land plots within such lands from one category to another, the general plan of settlement, rules of land use and site development, conducts expert review of project documentation of objects and results of engineering surveys performed for preparation of such design documentation, as well as introduces the objects in operation. It is assumed that the land will be transferred to foreign management company to rent. It is expected that in this form the prepared draft bill will be brought in the State Duma.
''The mayor does not develop the draft law on the status of foreign management companies and has no information on elaboration of such document by any other authority,'' said press secretary of the minister Elena Lashkina. At the same time, the department admits that ''the regional government at its level is considering such question, but we have not received proposals and draft bills on this topic in accordance with the established procedure.''
However, Rustam Minnikhanov at the discussion of the Strategy 2030 declared that he would once again discussed this question with Kozak.
Make note that they should not hinder the work of Bekhetle
Tatarstan deputies were little worried about how Gebze would dispose of the land, they were more worried about whether the operator would bring foreign residents who would ''dismount'' local producers.
The owner of Bekhetle retail chain Muslima Latypova asked if they would be imposed restrictions on types of activities. ''What if they will make chack-chack (Tatarstan's national sweet in Russia – editor's note)?'' she joked.
Artyom Zdunov reassured, ''We're not going to have in the republic those businesses that fill our markets. We should bring those businesses, which products we import to the republic. You should remember, we have already raised the question of the plant of bricks: whether it is worth to increase production, which will not have markets and will break our producers.'' ''Write down in the draft bill that they should not hinder the work of Bekhetle,'' joked one of the deputies.