‘Like a dog in the manger’: Nurlat in search for new owner to develop clay

Nine small oil companies and 14 billion rubles of investment

Nurlat District is one of the largest in the south of Tatarstan whose economy is almost entirely tied to oil production and oilfield services. About 2.5-3 million tons are produced here annually, or about 7-8% of the national level. Hence the record gross territorial product: according to the results of 2024, it amounted to 94.6 billion rubles, said the head of the Nurlat district Damir Ishkineev. A division of Tatneft and nine small oil companies are engaged in production in the district, including Tatnefteprom, Predpriyatie Kara Altyn, RITEK, Karbon-Oil, and more than 20 oilfield services companies. Perhaps, Nurlat is a real Mecca for them.

But the growth itself turned out to be modest — by 1.3% compared to the 2023 level, which is due to Russia's voluntary commitments to curb oil production. As a result, Nurlat shipped products worth 49.4 billion rubles last year, and the volume of investments in fixed assets amounted to 14 billion rubles.

The oil companies have not yet shown any particular investment activity, as was evident from the presentation at the Municipal Hour at TIDA At least, they did not talk about new applications from small oil companies for the development of the city's infrastructure. Maybe this is a harbinger of the “oil curse”?

However, Damir Ishkineyev, himself a former general director of the small oil company MAKoil, believes that oil companies are quite generously replenishing the treasury with large deductions for personal income tax. According to him, the average salary has increased by 16% over the year, which means that there is more income to meet the social needs of the district's residents.

“They can make a big concession”: what oil companies are selling

Nurlat's investment plans are related to the sale of real estate belonging to business owners. As Damir Ishkineyev reported, eight properties with a declared value of 600 million rubles are up for auction. Thus, Tatneft is selling Luchezarny health resort where employees of Nurlatneft were treated.

“The company has co-optimized, now they have a recreation centre and a large sanatorium in another location. And here there is a building, a swimming pool, treatment rooms left, although the equipment has already been removed. But this is a very popular property in the city,” Ishkineyev said.

The starting price is 36 million rubles. “But they can make a big concession," he assured them.

Three more large real estate properties are a hotel and restaurant complex with an area of 1.2 thousand square meters, a central market of 1,500 square metres, a restaurant complex with an area ... m and the House of Life of 1,200 sq. m. — is being sold by a sole owner. His name was not given. But the owner only keeps the restaurant open, and has frozen the 77-bed hotel.

“This hotel is very necessary, it worked for many years, and now it is idle due to the lack of time of the owner,” Ishkineyev lamented.

The owner is asking 87 million rubles for the complex. “The price for Nurlat may be a bit high, but the city really needs this facility,” the head said.

Another large owner of real estate in Nurlat has put up for sale the building of the former Nurlat asphalt concrete plant and the building of a brick factory in the village of Karaulnaya Gora, which is next to the quarry of brick clay. The owner is asking 50 million rubles for each facility. The reason for the exodus of two large owners of real estate remains unclear. “Neither for ourselves nor for the people”: how to revive a bentonite clay deposit

“Like a dog in the manger: if they can't do it themselves, they won't let others do it,” this is how they described the Orenburg owner of three bentonite clay deposits located in Nurlat.

The authorities began searching for a new owner to develop them with the subsequent construction of an expanded clay plant.

“Three bentonite clay deposits were explored in the district in the 1940s-60s: Verkhne-Nurlatskoye, Tarn-Varskoye and Berezovskoye. In the 1970s-80s, the Tarn-Varskoye deposit was intensively developed. Bentonite clay was used to prepare drilling fluids and anhydrous molding mixtures for precision casting, in the production of varnishes, paints, plastics, for the purification of drinking and waste water, and it also serves as the basis for expanded clay gravel,” head of the district has estimated the value of clay.

However, at present, no mining is carried out at any of the deposits. Although in the Soviet years, the construction of an expanded clay plant was planned. “Are the owners planning to transfer or sell the license?” asked head of the Investment Development Agency, Taliya Minullina. In response, the head shrugged. Formally, the owner makes payments for using the license, and it will not be possible to simply revoke it. Apparently, this is a long-term story.

From drilling equipment to snow melting stations

The main investment project of 2025 turned out to be the construction of a welding shop in the structure of the oilfield services company Promservis, which has been operating on the market since 2003. In Nurlat, it opened a division for the manufacture of equipment for routine and major repairs of wells, drilling. The main customers are Surgutneftegaz, Tatneft, TAGRAS.

“This year, they plan to build a welding shop with an area of 2,700 square metres. Investments — 100 million rubles,” said company representative Yevgeny Krasavin.

With a design bureau in its composition, the company is entering other niches. As an experiment, they built a snow-melting unit.

“Testing is currently underway in Surgut, we leased it out, if it goes well, we will launch production,” said Krasavin.

In addition, the owner has a plan to create a private industrial park. “If we make an industrial park together, it will be great, there is a lot of land,” the head rejoiced. So far, there is no municipal industrial park in the region, but there is a private one — Nurlatsky Krai.

“Milk prices are good now”

Agriculture is another important industry. The volume of gross agricultural output by the end of 2024 amounted to 4.1 billion rubles. Today, 47 farms and more than 12,000 private farmsteads operate successfully in the district, and processing cooperatives operate. Thus, the cooperative Vostok collects and processes milk, produces dairy products, including brine cheeses. It processes 10 tonnes of milk per day. The cooperative Zagotprom is engaged in meat processing in the district, which produces more than 15 types of sausages and halal semi-finished meat products.

The Tyurnyasevsky Dairy Plant purchased and installed a set of equipment for the production of mozzarella and cheese packaging. The production capacity is 50 tons per month, the cheese is sold to chain catering enterprises. Luxdray launched a sunflower processing plant with a capacity of 75 tonnes of raw materials per day. The volume of investments amounted to more than 200 million rubles. The elevator Agroport-Halal is increasing its volumes. In 2024, a new grain warehouse for 30 thousand tons of grain was built, the investment volume is 70 million rubles.

In conclusion, the head of the district asked to develop a revised general plan for the district. “It is very necessary, since an entrepreneur comes and asks for land here, and I cannot refuse. It must be drawn up and adopted at the session,” he addressed head of the Institute for Spatial Development of Territories of the Republic of Tatarstan Oleg Grigoriev. He promised to prepare it by 2026.