Rustam Minnikhanov: Special Economic Zones need support from federal authorities

On September 30, in the afternoon,  at the International Investment Forum in Sochi, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in the panel discussion “Resetting Russia's Special Economic Zones” which singled out Tatarstan as one the regions which proved in practice that special economic zones are beneficial for the economy.  

Tatarstan President told participants of the panel discussion about mechanisms used at the regional level to launch and operate two special economic zones, located in the republic.

Regions have been given authorities to manage special economic zones and for investors these changes would mean easier approval procedures and shorter period to receive a resident status, Minnikhanov said.

At the same time, according to him, for further effective development special economic zones need support from federal authorities. First of all, this concerns the following areas: changes to the federal law to permit the production of excisable goods by SEZ residents, namely products of deep processing of heavy oil residues, as well as compensation expenses for creation of SEZ infrastructure from the federal budget, in a similar way as compensation of expenses to establish industrial parks.