Two more companies apply for residency in SEZ “Alabuga”

On September 29, at a meeting of the Supervisory Council of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) held by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov at Tatarstan Government House, the Council approved projects of two companies, willing to become new residents of the SEZ.

Opening the meeting, Tatarstan President said that currently there are 42 registered residents of the SEZ, with 71 billion of 109 billion roubles of announced investments having been invested. That resulted in 4,500 new jobs and turnover amounted to 107 billion roubles.

According to Minnihanov, this year four or five new production facilities will be launched in the SEZ. Along with that, the SEZ is developing its social infrastructure.

During the meeting, the Council reviewed two new projects and two projects requiring changes to the previously signed agreements.

The Russian company "Solar Systems", owned by the Amur Sirius (China), plans to build a plant for the production of polysilicon solar cells in the SEZ "Alabuga”. Panels made using this relatively new technology outperform the previous ones. The polysilicon price dropping significantly in the recent years makes it possible to arrange the mass production of solar cells based on this technology.

The Solar Systems plans to build solar power plants in a number of Russian regions, where measures of the state support are provided according to the federal law. These measures require the localization of equipment production in Russia up to 70 per cent and also set tough sanctions for the failure to meet the deadline of putting power plants into operation.

In this regard, the Solar Systems needs to build a plant for the production of solar cells in Russia as soon as possible. The company would like to launch its production in the SEZ "Alabuga" in July 2016. The annual production output will be 330,000 units with an installed power of 100 MW. The amount of investments in the creation of the new company will make 5.67 billion roubles, with 5 billion of which being the company’s equity. The annual tax revenues will amount to 430 million roubles.

Tatarstan President and members of the Supervisory Council approved the proposed project.

The second new project reviewed at the meeting envisages the construction of a plant for the production of polymer packaging and polymer automotive components. The Mir Upakovki (World of Packaging), which already has its main factory in St. Petersburg, processing about 1,000 tonnes of raw materials per month, and a factory in Krasnoyarsk for 130 tonnes of raw materials per month, is the investor.

The company would like to produce not only polymer packaging, but also automotive components made of polymers in the SEZ “Alabuga”. In the next 10 years, the company plans to increase the processing of polymers in the SEZ “Alabuga” from 250 to 2,000 tonnes per month, with the total cost of the project making 4 billion roubles.

As it was noted during the presentation of the project, the World of Packaging is closely cooperating with the Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez, who supply two thirds of the raw materials to the Mir Upakovki. The Council approved this project as well.

The Alabuga Motors Company, which became a resident of the SEZ in March 2014, initially planned to produce special equipment for motor vehicles. The  Council considered a request of the company to supplement the agreement with a permission to assemble Chinese cars. According to representatives of the company, this will allow Alabuga Motors to diversify its business and reduce risks. The company is ready to start SKD assembly of cars of several brands, including Dongfeng, in January 2015 and proceed to the welding and painting of bodies in two years. The request was approved by the Council of the SEZ.

Finally, the East Bolt Yelabuga, the supplier of bakery products for McDonald's, requested allocating a new, larger plot of land in the SEZ due to some changes in the project. The plant, which is scheduled to be launched in July 2016, will produce 115 million hamburger buns per year, the investments will amount to 752 million roubles. The company intends to buy main raw materials, flour, sugar and butter, in Tatarstan.

The Supervisory Council upheld the decision to allocate another plot of land. "We are setting up a very good cluster for McDonald's in Alabuga,” Rustam Minnikhanov stated.