Four North Caucasus cities in list of best

Pavel Martynov. Exclusively to VK

The business magazine “Business Secret” complied a rating of the top-100 cities of Russia. 164 Russian municipal areas participated in the contest, except for Moscow and St.-Petersburg. The initiators estimated the employment rate, number of doctors, kindergartens, registered crimes; transport work, road quality, communication services; the housing rate, and the welfare index and financial effectiveness index. The leaders of the list are Khimki, Krasnodar, and Kaliningrad. Among the North Caucasus cities only Stavropol (10th place), Pyatigorsk (38th place), Cherkessk (61st place), and Nalchik (91st place) got into the list.

Measures on attracting investments to the region, which are taken by the federal authorities, should improve effectiveness of work of the local authorities and living standards in the North Caucasus. The main sphere of investment is tourism. At the moment seven special economic tourist clusters have been established in the North Caucasus Federal District. The company Resorts of the North Caucasus was founded for managing the clusters. Its budget is 12 billion rubles. The whole capital of the company for realization of the project is 60 billion rubles. The federal authorities made special amendments into the law to simplify the migration regime for foreign citizens working at resorts’ construction.

However, simplification of migration rules has been one of the most difficult problems. The presidential envoy in the NCFD, Alexander Khloponin, says that “today we are working directly with investors who define the level, criteria of specialists and terms of their stay in Russia. Our materials and proposals have been prepared according to the law. But to be honest I don’t see any progress in solution the problem.”

Meanwhile, today the initiative of replacement of premium exemption for the loan subsidized interest rate. Moreover, it is said about special state guarantees of loans for investment projects in the NCFD – up to 70% of the loan sum. At the same time, the practice of granting such guarantees shows that it needs improvement. Khloponin wants the practice of guarantees will be spread for all kinds of investment projects, including projects implemented in the special economic areas by residents of these areas. Today the guarantees do not cover such investment projects.

Nevertheless, both Russian and foreign investors are gradually being involved into the North Caucasus tourist cluster. Resorts of the North Caucasus signed contracts with investors from France, Korea, and Singapore for $3.3 billion and with Russian investors for 77 billion rubles.

At the moment RNC together with French experts prepare a detailed business-plan of the tourist cluster project. As the result a certain series of investment projects will be presented. It is planned to define facilities for major investors and for representatives of minor and medium business. “It is very important, as we should understand the level of this or that facility,” Khloponin thinks.

One of the main problems is still providing transport access to the North Caucasus resorts. The international airport Mineralnye Vody has been reconstructed. It enabled to attract major Russian air-companies Aeroflot, S-7, UTair, and Transaero. As the result ticket prices fell by 50-60%, while the passenger flow increased by 20%. The target program of transport system development presupposes reconstruction of federal roads and modernization of airports of the North Caucasus.

However, the main problem is still security of resorts – and investors won’t come to the North Caucasus without it. The united center of monitoring for providing security at facilities of the tourist cluster is being established in Pyatigorsk.