Tatarstan signs 4 important agreements at Sochi 2009

Tatarstan within the Sochi 2009 international investment forum signed 4 agreements with Russian regions and foreign firms. Tatarstan Economy Minister Marat Safiullin told about the results of the Tatarstan delegation’s work at the forum at a briefing at the Cabinet of Ministers.

On September 18, an agreement on trade-economic, science-technology, social and cultural cooperation between Tatarstan and the Volgograd region was signed. The signing persons were Prime Minister of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Volgograd Region Governor Nikolai Maksyuta.

The Volgograd region is one of the industrialised regions of Russia, with a balanced economy. “The economies of these territories and of Tatarstan are complementary. In the fields of transport machine building, rubbers, tyres, agricultural equipment there is a great interest for our companies in terms of entering the market and increasing sales of their products,” Marat Safiullin said.

The Volgograd region’s main industries are machine building and metalworking, fuel and oil processing, chemical and petrochemical, as well as ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. The region has a well-established construction material industry, as well as textile, woodworking and food industries. The Volgograd region is Russia’s monopolist on 11 types of industrially-manufactured products, including some types of tyres, sulfur dioxide, polyurethane thread and gas pipes.

Previously, cooperation with the region was based on the intergovernmental agreement from 1995. In 2008, trade between Tatarstan and the Volgograd region totalled over 5 billion roubles. The region has over the recent years consumed Tatarstan-made products, including trucks, synthetic rubber, steel pipes, auto tyres and agricultural equipment. The signed agreement should facilitate expansion of bilateral cooperation in the fields of industry, agroindustry, education, science, culture, social security, environmental protection, physical training, sports and tourism. “We do hope that after signing the agreement, trade and mutual investment will noticeably increase,” enhanced the minister.

The Tatarstan government signed an agreement with the Russian Regional Development Ministry on budget allocations from the Russian Investment Fund, to implement the regional investment project Kamskie Polyany Industrial Park. The paper was subscribed by Tatarstan Prime Minister Roustam Minnikhanov and Russian Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin.

To operate to capacity, the park requires a well-established infrastructure, to be built with budget allocations. The Russian Investment Fund is expected to invest about 500 million roubles.

The project should resolve the unemployment problem through creating a network of high-technology polymer processing facilities. “Some expenses within the project will be funded as early as in the third quarter of this year. In October, new production facilities will be launched. They include facilities manufacturing wrap film, as well as polymer materials for the agriculture and auto industries. There is presently a great demand for them and over 70 percent is imported into Russia. Owing to the new production plants in Kamskie Polyany, about 2.5 thousand people will be employed, about 500 people at the first stage,” said Marat Safiullin. The facilities located in the future industrial park will process Nizhnekamsk-made plastics: polystyrene, polypropylene and later polyethylene.

The main expected result of the Kamskie Polyany investment project is improvement of the general living standard, average wages, a decrease in unemployment, creation of new jobs, and an increase in tax payments to budgets of all levels. The total provisional investment is 1.7 billion roubles, of which 50 percent is funding provided by the anchor investor, JSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim, 20 percent by the Republic of Tatarstan’s budget and 30 percent by the Russian Investment Fund.

On September 18, a memorandum of cooperation in the field of science and education between Tatarstan and the Moscow's Skolkovo School of Management was signed. The focus of the agreement is establishing long-term partnership and implementing a set of joint measures in the field of science and education, enhancing the level of education and proficiency of managers at economic entities, as well as of federal and municipal authority officers in Tatarstan. The agreement was signed by the Tatarstan Prime Minister Roustam Minnikhanov and the Skolkovo School of Management rector Andrey Volkov. The agreement is a framework one, imposing no financial or legal obligations on the parties. An in-detail plan for joint work will be elaborated in the short term. To select the most effective teaching methods, a joint task force including people representing the Tatarstan government, scientific and business communities will be set up. Pursuant to the agreement, Tatarstan will render support in establishing a government institution inside Tatarstan, a Kazan School of Management.