Best for business: Tatarstan tops regional investment climate rating, second only to Moscow
Tatarstan has regained its leading position, which it was holding for three consecutive years until 2018
Tatarstan has climbed from the third to second position in the national ranking of 2019 by investment climate. Thus, the Republic of Tatarstan is ahead of all Russian regions in this indicator, not counting Moscow, which is the first. The third — Tyumen Oblast. Read about how the republic has managed to regain the leadership in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
“High assessment”
Tatarstan once again has found itself among the leaders of the national rating on the investment climate in the regions — only Moscow is ahead of the republic. The data were presented on 7 June at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the session of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. Tatarstan had headed the ASI rating for three years in a row until last year it went down to the third position, and now the region has regained its leadership.
Over the year, the republic has developed and begun the introduction of new practices and tools for the development of entrepreneurship. Some of them were noted by the president of the Republic of Tatarstan in his speech at the session of ASI devoted to the presentation of the results of the national rating. As the head of one of the leading regions, Rustam Minnikhanov speaks at it every year. The president noted the project on interaction between entrepreneurship and supervisory bodies “Proven business”, created in cooperation with the prosecutor's office of Tatarstan, the complex for promotion of small businesses — the exchange platform of the State Order Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan, the single window of financial institutions “My Business”.
Meanwhile, the top ten leaders of the rating this year are as follows: Moscow is the first for the first time, the second — Tatarstan, the third — Tyumen Oblast, the fourth — Kaluga, the fifth — St. Petersburg, then — Tula Oblast, Moscow Oblast, Belgorod Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Ulyanovsk Oblast.
Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, speaking at the ASI session, noted that a comfortable urban environment comes to the fore in creating favourable conditions for business: “Business follows people, and people go where they feel comfortable. If earlier we believed that this is secondary to business, now we are sure — this is the most important thing.” Speaking about the leadership of the capital of the country, he modestly noted: “It is impossible to do something become the first, it is a huge mechanism!”
“We look at the leaders for each position and set the task that we were not worse,” Rustam Mnnikhanov also commented on the results of the rating and congratulated Sobyanin. “We have more than 90,000 applications from businesses for 1,5 years. We are working with them. The entrepreneur should find a market. To do this, we have an exchange platform where we conduct seminars: where and how business can go. Finally, access to finance is important: we have a ‘single window.”
Separately, the president of Tatarstan noted the importance of training of personnel — representatives of working professions, reminding that there are 31 resource centres in Tatarstan.
The president of Tatarstan thanked the ASI and the expert community for constant interaction with the republic and the positive assessment of the work to improve the investment attractiveness of the region.
In conclusion, Minnikhanov invited all those present in Kazan to WorldSkills international championship in August.
Let us remind, a year ago, the rating was headed by Tyumen Oblast, rising by as much as five positions, the former head of which Vladimir Yakushev was appointed by the federal minister for construction and housing. Moscow then moved from third to the second position, and Tatarstan for the first time since 2015 had given way to the leader, round out the top three winners.
“It was difficult to get into the top 20 this year”
Bashkortostan has returned in the top-20 ranking of ASI, occupying the 16th position. The organizers highlighted a high competition between the regions during the assessment of the investment climate this year:
“It was difficult to get into the top 20 this year. We have a new ranking leader. One new region got in the top ten. We found that the regions that today have been outside the top-20, in 2018 would be in the top 10 best,” Director General of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Svetlana Chupsheva said at the session.
According to her, there is a strict correlation between the rating results and the volume of investments in a particular region. For example, in the regions included in the top ten the volume of investments exceeded the average Russian indicators by 10%.
The investments in the top 10 exceeded the Russian average by 10%. The greatest dynamics was shown by Yakutia, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Bashkortostan, Crimea.
Moderator Andrey Sharonov, the president of the Moscow school of management Skolkovo, praised Tatarstan, saying that it is the most stable region in the ranking:
“The most successful in Tatarstan is the effectiveness of organizational mechanisms to support businesses and business security,” he said.
“We set the task that we were not worse”
The national rating of the investment climate in the regions has been prepared for the sixth time. Vladimir Putin instructed the ASI to rank the subjects of the country by this indicator back in 2013. In the first year of work, the agency's experts analyzed the situation on investment attractiveness in 21 regions, now the rating covers all 85. The main goal is to assess the efforts of local authorities to create favourable conditions for businesses in the region. The investment climate in the regions is studied in four areas: Regulatory Environment», Institutions for Businesses, Infrastructure and Resources, and Small Business Support.
“Tatarstan has become the best among Russian regions in terms of the investment climate. This high assessment is an indicator of our systematic work in all priority areas of business development. The results of this work demonstrate positive dynamics in all key areas: in the work to ensure the best conditions for our entrepreneurs, investors, all business entities of the republic. We will strive not only to maintain a high level of investment attractiveness of the republic but also to share best practices with other regions,” said Minister of Economy Farid Abdulganiev.
Anatoly Artamonov, Governor of Kaluga Oblast, noted that in his region the authorities have begun to work more with businesses, created the House of Entrepreneurs, “one of the most pompous buildings so that the businessman understood that he is respected. This agency [ASI] helps everyone. Secondly, we have mastered the site of the CCI, we systematically work with entrepreneurs.”
Dmitry Azarov, the head of Samara Oblast, which has become one of the leaders in terms of growth in the ranking, explained the success of the region: “The reasons for growth? Two years ago, we were the 85th. 24th this year. We have made the correction work. Updated investment advice. We paid special attention to the regulators. Last year, the growth of extra-budgetary investments amounted to 5,9%. Moody's has upgraded its rating from stable to investment one.”