Ingushetia presented itself in the State Duma

By VK

The solemn opening of an exhibition of objects and products of the artistic craft of Ingush masters took place in the State Duma. In the framework of the exhibition, the republic's president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, presented a report on the socio-economic development of Ingushetia. Deputy chairman of the State Duma Andrey Vorobyov, who greeted Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, expressed his hope that due to his ability to surround himself with strong and talented people, every citizen of the republic would feel happy and confident, to have a job, opportunities and future. “You can be sure that we, for our part, are ready to help, to assist and resolve a number of difficult issues to the extent of the abilities of our faction,” he said.

Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the President of the Republic of Ingushetia, said that the Republic, founded on the basis of three agricultural regions during the period of Checheno-Ingushetia, is now properly presented as a subject of the Russian Federation. “It has all the power branches and all the infrastructure. At the same time, a great number of unsolved problems should be taken into account. But they are not unsolvable problems, they are solvable and we will solve them together. Today we are exhibiting here different aspects of the life of our republic, the widest selection possible that can be presented at such an exhibition, from different spheres and starting from Ingushetia in the ancient period to contemporary Ingushetia.”

Speaking about the socio-economic state of affairs, on June 4 the republic will celebrate its twentieth anniversary. ‘This is a significant period in the development of the republic, it is time to sum up the results. The time will certainly define the strategic landmarks for the future development of our subject. Ingushetia started its development as an independent subject of the Russian Federation in 1992 on the basis of three agricultural regions of the former Checheno-Ingushetia. The socio-economic situation in the republic, just like in other subjects, including the Chechen republic, was characterized byextremely low industrial potential. As we remember, everything that used to be there had already collapsed by that time. 

‘There was low potential of the socio-engineering infrastructure and a high unemployment rate. In that difficult situation only the comprehensive support of the federal center allowed the republic to get through the difficult period of establishment. A commercially propitious environment was created, construction of the capital city of Magas was initiated, the central federal program for the socio-economic development of the republic of Ingushetia was launched, as well as many other programs which allowed us today to build on the foundation of that period a powerful, good republic. As a result, now the Republic of Ingushetia is a rightful subject of the Russian Federation with a developed governmental structure oriented towards solving economic and social problems. It is too early to talk about the accomplishment of all planned objectives, but we have managed to stop the gradual decline and initiate a movement forward. I would like to brief you on the results of the socio-economic development of the republic in the past years.

‘Analysis of indicators of the socio-economic development of Ingushetia from 2009 to 2011 show a steady development of this subject of the Russian Federation. There is GDP growth, the production of industrial and agricultural products has increased and the income of the population has grown. Our main achievement  is a decrease in the number of unemployed by 16%, based on the data from 2009.

‘Revenues have doubled, and as a result the volume of grant-in-aid was decreased by 6.8 %. This is perhaps the main percent of the decrease of grant-in-aid, since we understand that we can earn and feed ourselves on our own. In 2011 the republic has occupied the leading position among the subjects of the NCFD based on the growth rate of the index of industrial development, the growth of real incomes of the population, the growth of salaries and the control of inflation. I will tell you that in order just to control these spheres, all the power structures of the republic of Ingushetia were doing colossal work every hour. According to the unified index of socio-economic situation calculated by the Ministry of Regions of Russia, the republic of Ingushetia among the subjects of Russia in 2011 appeared to be among the first twenty and took 12th place. In 2011 the highest level of industrial development was reached for a period of three years. 

‘The index of industrial production as compared to 2010 increased by 20.5%. Based on this figure, the republic occupied first place among the republics of the NCFD and is one of the leaders among the subjects of the Russian Federation. Also, the year 2011 was marked by the largest volume of export of goods, with a total value which increased by 12.3 % as compared to 2010 and amounted to 2.5 billion rubles. In the last year the republic demonstrated growth in all the spheres of economic activity. Today, together with the Rosneft company, the republic is conducting complex measures to restore the oil and gas complex of Ingushetia. As a result, in 2011 the production of oil grew 17.6%, while the return of duties in this field grew by 5.5 times. Remembering the past years, our fellow countrymen all remember it, we were subsidising the budget-forming fields in the economy of the republic and today we are making money and only in 2011, thanks to the market reorganization from the Ingush oil and gas industry, the budget of the republic received taxes worth more than 500 million rubles. This is a great indicator. In addition to that, many social projects are being implemented thanks to Rosneft. Only this year we have planned for 2013 projects worth 1.5 billion rubles.

‘Aiming at the re-orientation of the economy and the issue of products with high added value, we are paying a lot of attention to the development of manufacturing. Ingushetia is quickly developing the production of construction materials, the food industry and the oil industry. We have reached the level of 65 thousand tons in the oil industry and in the near future, until 2014 we are planning to reach the level of 120 thousand tons of oil production. This is a great indicator. I would like to note that we have managed to stabilize processes involved in agricultural production. In 2011 the volume of agricultural production increased 1.3 times compared with the previous year and amounted to 4.1 billion rubles. In 2011 and beginning of 2012 we have changed 100% of the agricultural equipment thanks to the Ministry of Regional Development and the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia which met our needs, and we are very grateful to them. Today all the agricultural equipment in the republic is 100% new. This is a great indicator. Today one of the questions which we posed to the chairman of the State Duma, on the basis of the Profile Cabinet of the State Duma, was to conduct a field meeting in the republic and help us in the further modernization of the agricultural sector. In the last three years the economy of the republic received about 17.4 million rubles of state investments. For the complex solution of socio-economic problems in the republic since 2010 has been realized the republican objective program of the socio-economic development of the republic of Ingushetia up until 2016. As a result of two years of the program's realization, one of the projects has been fully realized.

Another project is expected to be commissioned in the first half of 2012. In 2011 we have initiated two investment projects involving state guarantees as well as budgetary provisions of the State Fund of the Russian Federation worth more than 11.4 billion rubles. They were directed at creating revolutionary effective construction materials, development of the industrial-manufacturing cluster. Moreover, the republic has adopted a legal basis providing guarantees to investors. We have adopted all the possible laws and documents. Certainly, there has been economic activity of the agency on the attraction of investments to the republic of Ingushetia. We are studying the experience of other regions in order to develop this direction. 

‘The small business sector has been and remains one of the main directions of development of the republic, since it allows to solve the main problems of the republic at relatively low cost and decrease the level of unemployment. According to our calculations, and my Economic Council works in this direction very well, if in Stavropol every fourth or sixth citizen is a businessman, then in the republic of Ingushetia only every fortieth or fiftieth citizen is a businessman, unfortunately. The task put forward by the Ministry of Economy... 

‘We have launched the program of development of small and medium-sized business and we are conducting complex support in this direction. Already today we can see the fruits of this work. As a result of the three years of realization of this program 1,300 subjects of the small and medium-sized business sectors have received support. These days, for the Day of the Republic, we are opening a second business incubator in the city of Karbulak, which will allow entrepreneurs to have a better attitude towards their projects for which they will apply for grants. In order to provide access for small and medium-sized businesses to financial resources, a mechanism of micro-financing has been launched, as well as the  quarantine foundation of the republic of Ingushetia, which is actively working. An important step in the development of the infrastructure for the support of small and medium-sized businesses in the republic of Ingushetia was the establishment of business incubators last year in Ingushetia, which will start working already this week. As a result of the measures taken, we observe a positive dynamic in the developmental indicators in this direction. Revenues of small businesses in the past year increased 6% compared to the previous year by and the volume of tax payments by more than 1.5 times. 

‘The prospects for the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the republic is very tightly connected with the development of the tourist cluster in the republic. About 90% of the tourist cluster will be related to small and medium-sized businesses, in the field of the agricultural complex and industrial production, in all the fields. Certainly, we have to be more attentive to the residents of the Dzheykharsky region, where we are composing separate lists for the development of family hotel businesses, as well as various other directions. In 2011, by decision of the government of Russia, the Sunzhensky and Dzheykharsky regions of Ingushetia became part of the tourist cluster of the North Caucasus. This gift was given to us at the end of the year and we are very grateful to the government of the Russian Federation for this good gift. Active work is going on. I will conduct an inspection today. The objective number one for this year is to launch a ski resort on the basis of the medical resort "Armkhi". But that is not the objective per se. But this is objective number one - to attract the necessary amount of people there. We are planning to build large resort centers of international class in Ingushetia like "Armkhi" and we are capable of doing it. There will be programs, funds will be allocated to us, I am convinced, for the infrastructure. 

‘The investors are our fellow countrymen, present in this room, who in the last years, which is a great delight to me, have started to play a bigger role. More national investors with money working on the territory of their own subject started to appear. This is very good. And altogether we will develop this direction. It is a large and very important project of our republic, the realization of which will allow the republic to attract Russian as well as international investment to the region, will facilitate the diversification of the economy, provide more jobs to the population of the republic and will allow the creation of a great number of jobs”.