The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Caucasus Investment Forum in Grozny.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Mikhail Mishustin holds a meeting with members of the Government Commission on the Socioeconomic Development of the North Caucasus Federal District
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin holds a meeting with members of the Government Commission on the Socioeconomic Development of the North Caucasus Federal District
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
We have toured the exhibition of the Caucasus Investment Forum just now. It is the first time that the forum is being held at this scale. I would like to express gratitude to everyone who contributed to its preparation, primarily Ramzan Kadyrov, Yury Chaika and Alexander Novak, as well as the heads of all Caucasian regions that are taking part in this investment forum.
The President has signed an executive order on holding this forum every year. I have no doubt whatsoever that it will offer a good platform for presenting the macro-region’s possibilities and coordinating effective solutions for making full use of the Caucasus’ potential. It is notable that our young people are being involved in this project. Special sessions and roundtable and other discussions have been prepared for young professionals.
During our tour of the exhibition, the heads of the North Caucasus regions briefed us on many useful initiatives aimed at strengthening their economies, creating new jobs, attracting investment, and increasing the real incomes of those who live in the Caucasus. Most importantly, we talked about the new goals our President outlined in his May executive order.
And now we have met with members of the government commission to hold an in-depth discussion of the situation in the federal district as a whole, is development outlook and the tasks we must attain to create comfortable conditions for the 10 million people living in the North Caucasus.
The construction of schools, kindergartens, hospitals, outpatient clinics, culture and sports facilities, roads and utility systems is ongoing, first of all within the relevant comprehensive state programme that was launched more than two years ago. Over that period, more than 800 such facilities have been built here.
Development plans have been approved for individual territories, for example, North Ossetia, Derbent and the Kavkazskiye Mineralnye Vody resort area. Thanks to them, modern social, transport and utility infrastructure has become more accessible, and its construction is not finished yet. Over 9.5 billion roubles will be allocated for this purpose from the federal budget next year.
We are also helping modernise housing and utility systems. We have launched a pilot project in Dagestan, Ingushetia and North Ossetia in order to balance the work of regional operators.
At the same time, our main task is to unlock the economic potential of North Caucasus territories, to create economic growth points in each of them and to provide favourable conditions for attracting investment, launching their own production facilities and creating jobs.
We already have positive results. The industry, especially its processing sector, is performing well. The same concerns agriculture, including, fruit, vegetable, grain and leguminous crops harvests.
All this became possible due to well-coordinated actions of federal and regional authorities, development institutions and by implementing measures, stipulated by the strategy and the state programme for developing the North Caucasus, as well as sectoral and infrastructure mechanisms.
The so-called breakthrough investment projects also play a significant role here. We focused on their implementation three years ago, seeing them as a driving force of economic growth. In all, there are 35 such projects in high-priority spheres, including the industry, the agrarian sector, the housing and utility sector, transport and tourism. According to the Analytical Centre, in the first quarter of 2024, they earned virtually 330 billion roubles’ worth of extra-budgetary funding for the federal district and created about 20,500 jobs there. We have to find jobs for over 87,000 specialists by late 2030.
Alexander Novak will report on these initiatives in more detail.
Today, we will also hear a report by Maxim Reshetnikov on support measures for entrepreneurs and the overall situation in economic sectors.
The tourism industry ranks among the most promising sectors, and it opens up additional economic development opportunities for the North Caucasus, including by generating a multiplier effect in adjacent spheres.
We are active in developing tourist cluster projects. Over the recent three years the flow of holidaymakers to such resorts as Veduchi, Elbrus and Arkhyz has exceeded four million people. And today, when region leaders, developers and investors demonstrated these projects, my inner pride, frankly speaking, woke up, because these ideas were nothing more than just plans three years ago, and now they are being implemented.
The President has instructed us to increase the number of travels inside the country up to 140,000,000 a year within six years. I believe that Caucasian regions, which have always been famous for their hospitality, will make a solid contribution to solving such task. Everybody knows, there are unique, most beautiful sites and very hospitable people there. And, of course, our people like visiting them.
However, so far there are no comfortable accommodation facilities everywhere. We need to improve the level of service. Businesses are actively involved in the work, investing substantial resources. And the Government offers a wide range of instruments of support to our entrepreneurs.
Twenty-three hotel construction and a multifunctional complex projects, including a mountain skiing infrastructure will receive them under a preferential lending programme for this area. Two of them have already been put into operation. Subsidies have also been allocated for the construction of modular hotels. Ninety rooms in them are completed. We will continue such aid, and we will discuss relevant proposals for expanding it.
The development of tourism also requires a modern transport system. During his address, the President noted that it is important to increase the mobility of citizens by air and to increase the intensity of air traffic by 50 percent over six years.
A new airport terminal has already been built in Vladikavkaz. The air hubs of Uytash, Grozny, Minvody and Stavropol are being reconstructed. On the presidential instructions, an agreement on airport construction by way of concession in the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic was signed on the sidelines of the Caucasian Investment Forum. All this will help increase the number of passengers and make flights comfortable. I ask heads of the regions and federal officials to closely monitor the deadlines. Everything that we have planned must be executed.
It is also necessary to consider measures to ensure the resorts’ connectivity and improve transportation for tourists and locals. We have talked about this almost at all stands. We will also discuss this in detail at the commission meeting.
In view of the geostrategic location of the North Caucasus, we must establish reliable supply chains. The region’s products are delivered throughout Russia and abroad.
The potential is enormous. To fully unlock it, we have to involve the Caucasian constituent entities in the development of the North – South international corridor more actively. Two border crossing points on the border with Azerbaijan have been fully upgraded. The expansion of the R-217 Kavkaz motorway and the construction of bypasses for Gudermes and Grozny are underway. Funding is also provided for bypasses of Derbent, Makhachkala, and Khasavyurt. All this will serve to increase the supply of Russian goods to new promising markets.
Colleagues,
A great number of projects are being implemented in the North Caucasus Federal District, and even more have been scheduled. They can only be executed by well-trained specialists. Those with secondary vocational education are especially in demand. During previous meetings, we discussed measures that will help provide the economy of the macro-region with necessary specialists.
As a result, equipment in 180 colleges in the North Caucasus was updated, five advanced training centres and 12 Professionalism clusters have been created. Of course, this has yielded results. The level of graduates’ employment has increased, but is still lower that the Russian average. Therefore, additional solutions will be required. Today we will discuss proposals on this.
Let us get down to work.
I would like to once again thank Ramzan Kadyrov on behalf of everyone who worked today to make our forum and exhibition so active. Thank you for your hospitality.
Alexander Novak is the first to present his report. Please, you have the floor.
Alexander Novak: Mr Mishustin,
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude for your focus on the development of the North Caucasus Federal District. This region is truly unique, boasting a favourable climate, a strategic geolocation, and rich cultural traditions. Despite occupying less than 1 percent of Russia's total territory, it is home to approximately 7 percent of the population.
The North Caucasus is experiencing active development due to the coordinated efforts of the federal government, regional authorities, and the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District.
Mr Mishustin, today the heads of the North Caucasus regions have provided detailed reports on their achievements during the tour of the Caucasus Investment Forum exhibition. Allow me to briefly highlight the key indicators of the socio-economic development dynamics of the North Caucasus Federal District and summarise the outcomes of the first day of the forum.
Over the past three years, significant efforts have been made to enhance the economic potential of the North Caucasus. In response to your directives, three years ago, the regions of the North Caucasus, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Development, drafted and received your endorsement for economic development models for the regions. These models determined the development trajectory for the regions, clearly outlining goals, indicators, key issues to be addressed, and breakthrough locomotive projects, which serve as drivers for the growth of regional economies.
Based on the results of the first quarter of this year, the North Caucasus Federal District ranked second among all federal districts in terms of achieving economic development goals and project progress.
There is positive momentum in 35 breakthrough projects, showcasing the district's accomplishments. As you noted, Mikhail Vladimirovich, by the first quarter of 2024, the actual volume of attracted private investment had reached approximately 330 billion roubles. The implementation of these breakthrough projects has resulted in the production of 91 billion roubles worth of goods and services. The investment climate and interest from investors in the region have significantly improved. Last year, five regions of the North Caucasus Federal District improved their rankings in the national investment attractiveness index. Notably, one region, the Chechen Republic, ranked seventh, placing it in the top 15.
The activity of credit institutions has surged, following your instructions. Over the past three years, the volume of loans issued by banks for investment purposes has increased by 1.6 times.
Lending to small and medium-sized businesses for investment purposes has doubled. This upgrowth of economic activity has also led to a significant rise in tax revenues for the budgets of the North Caucasus Federal District regions. By the end of 2023, tax revenues had grown by 41 percent compared to 2020.
More to be posted soon…