| Residents of special economic zones will not pay to the regions Yesterday a solemn ceremony of signing agreements on the creation of special economic zones (SEZ) took place. “We are participating in the legal birth of the zones,” said Economic Development Minister German Gref, shaking hands in turn with the six heads of regions that won the competition. The head of the Federal Agency for SEZ Management, Yuri Zhdanov, put it much more colorfully. “All the oligarchs are eager to get into the zone,” he said, describing the attractiveness of the new mechanism. They are torn, apparently, for a reason. As it turned out yesterday, in addition to all the benefits prescribed in the law, benefits from the regions and additional federal funding will be added. Moreover, Mr. Zhdanov promised to fight for the abolition of all taxes for residents of the zone.
The regions pledged to pass a law within a month that would exempt SEZ participants from all local taxes. “This is more than Russian legislation provided for. And this proposal came from the regions themselves,” Mr. Gref rejoiced. Thus, during the first five years, companies operating in the SEZ will not pay land and transport taxes, land tax and income tax in the part that goes to the local budget (4%). The Agency for Zones invites the regions to step up their efforts and extend this period to ten years. “It will take at least a year and a half to create the infrastructure, so the grace period is not that long,” explained Mr. Zhdanov.
Funding, as it became known, was distributed as follows. Zones in Moscow (Zelenograd) and St. Petersburg will be financed on a parity basis. The Tatar and Lipetsk zones will receive 49% of federal funds and 51% of regional ones. The zone in Dubna near Moscow will receive 70% of funds from the federal budget, 17.7 from the regional budget and 12.3 from the local budget. However, according to Mr. Zhdanov, Dubna will definitely receive more, since it is necessary to build a bridge there. The Tomsk zone will receive 74% from the federal budget, 22% from the regional budget and 4% from the local budget. But for those who do not spend the money on time, federal funding is promised to be cut off and these funds will be distributed among more active comrades.
However, there is funding, but there is still no clarity on the question of who will develop it. Already in April-May, the lazy may lose funding, although no one is managing the zones yet. Yuri Zhdanov promised that within ten days a mechanism for selecting management companies would be adopted. The issue of the composition of supervisory boards has been resolved in principle. It will include from 12 to 17 people, one each from the regional branches of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, five each from investors, the rest from the ranks of regional and federal officials. The supervisory board will be headed by a high-status figure in the region. For example, the head of government.
Additional complications are created by the fact that although formally there can be only one zone in a region, in reality there are two of them in St. Petersburg and Dubna. That is, two sites in different places are allocated for one zone. “We won’t be able to raise that much at once,” admitted Mr. Zhdanov, “so first we will develop one site and only then another.”
In addition, this year an additional competition will be held for the creation of industrial production zones. Applications will be accepted from everyone, although officials honestly admit that priority will be given to the regions of the Far East and the Southern Federal District. In addition, although amendments to the law have not yet been adopted, a competition for tourist and recreational zones is already planned for this year. “There will be no more than five,” explained Mr. Zhdanov. It turns out that all more or less well-known Russian resorts have a chance to receive this status. With amendments for port zones, the situation is more complicated. They have not yet been agreed upon with the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Finance. “But the main thing is that we found an understanding with the relevant ministry - the Ministry of Transport. So within two to three months we hope to prepare a bill for submission to the Duma,” Mr. Zhdanov concluded. Vera SITNINA |
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