By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Orel Region governor Vadim Potomsky presented the industrial and investment potential of the subject in the French Embassy. The authorities of the region are sure that the regime of sanctions won’t prevent development of bilateral relations. “The French government is determined to overcome the current crisis and the difficulties associated with Ukraine and with some decline in economic activity in Russia. France is the third partner of Russia, and Russia is also the third partner of France outside the EU. It is essential that Russia continues to improve the business climate,” Jean-Maurice Ripert, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Russia, said.
It is expected that 2016 will be declared the year of tourism and cross-cultural heritage in France and Russia, in which the Orel region will be involved as a major partner. It should be noted that this is not the first experience of cooperation between France and the Orel region. Back in the early 1990s an agreement was signed with the French region of Champagne-Ardenne. Today in the Orel Region a number of companies with foreign capital operate, such as Sanofi, the milk concern Danone and others.
“As the governor, I will make every effort so the business representatives of France will feel very comfortable here. What we have done for today is already quite a lot, we lowered taxes on property, taxes on profits. I believe that we are competitive in the Russian Federation, in order to attract foreign investors, particularly from France,” Vadim Potomsky, governor of Orel, says.
The Orel region today, despite its small size, shows very strong potential. Mikhail Babkin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Orel region, the head of the Financial and Economic Development, states that “by the end of 2014 the region's GDP totaled 176 billion rubles, which is slightly less than 3 billion euros, taking into account the changed value of the euro against the ruble. On the territory of the Orel region it is made of 20% of the total pumping equipment produced in Russia, which is operated in the nuclear and oil industries. These products are exported to 60 countries. 19% of utility vehicles, garbage trucks, machines for cleaning of city streets. More than 1,000 utility vehicles are produced annually in the region. 16% of the refrigeration and commercial equipment produced in Russia. Every year more than 100 thousand units such products. The main customers are companies producing soft drinks and beer as Coca-Cola and Heineken.”
However, the leader of the subject is the agroindustrial complex. Thanks to the record harvest in 2014 the Orel region entered the top ten regions of the country. Foreign companies feel confident in the region and plan to expand their presence. Kirill Kuznetsov, Director of government relations at the Sanofi company, says: “We were the first foreign company in the pharmaceutical market of Russia to decided to be localized in Russia. Our choice fell on the Orel region due to the fact that in the Orel region some experience was already accumulated and high-quality development and production of insulin, which we purchased and upgraded. I want to stress the incredible speed with which we managed to do that. in 2012 we made a decision to expand production and launch production of cancer drugs that the French company, given the specificity of our experience was quite brave, to make this operational step. We knew that we always get the support”.
Previously, the terms offered by the regional authorities interested the German companies as well. The governor assured that the sanctions regime will not be a hindrance to development of bilateral relations.
