: Financial engine of the capital

Meeting of the President of the Russian Federation with members of the advisory council to create an international financial center in Russia press service of the President of the Russian Federation

The new leadership of Moscow intends to rely on the city’s development strategy, but there is a parameter that is laid down in this strategy before its development is the task of building a high -rating international financial center. That is, the new international site, which would be drawn to investors from all over the world, and for a start - from the countries neighboring with Russia (in fact, this platform already exists, but its weight is still significantly behind the desired). The task is extremely ambitious, therefore competent managers were abandoned on it - the former head of the presidential administration Alexander Voloshin was entrusted to oversee the creation of the MFC.

As this task is linked to those that will be set in the city strategies, it has become the topic of the next seminar “Polit.ru” and the RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation from the Cycle of Discussions on the main problems of the city development strategy, which is developed by the NISE and international experts.

The placement of the MFC is more or less clear. According to most experts, if we talk about Russia, it is possible only in Moscow. “There can be no decentralization in the field of financial markets. Liquidity concentrates in one place - it is so convenient. And everything is dancing from the infrastructure, ”said the President of the MMEVB Ruben Aganbegyan. In his opinion, the emergence of a financial center is possible today only in Moscow. For Moscow, this is a serious challenge and resource at the same time. Undoubtedly, the MFC is a federal, and not just a city project. However, it can give a lot to Moscow. “He will become the“ ax ”from which the porridge will nevertheless“ be cooked ”,” Andrei Sharonov, Deputy Mayor of the capital on Economic Policy, figuratively describes the prospects of the city. “Actors of the creation of the MFC are not only city authorities, but also federal authorities, business and even international organizations,” said Vladimir Klimanov, head of the Department of State Regulation of the Institute of State Policy and Applied Humanitarian Studies of the Russian Academy of National Economy and President, is convinced.

According to the associate professor of the Department of the Stock Market and the Investment Market of the Higher School of Economics Andrei Stolyarov, it is the federal incision that is the main one for the MFC. In particular, the federal authorities must provide the necessary legislative infrastructure to attract investors.

The prospects for the emergence of a powerful financial center in Moscow are quite positive. “The economy of Russia is in the first ten world economies. Such an economy can have a powerful financial market, ”says Ruben Aganbegyan. A similar opinion is shared by the Honorary Professor of the NIU-SWE, the ex-head of the IMF representative office in Moscow, Martin Gilman. For him, one of the important reasons is the position of Russia as one of the leading world -cers-creditors.

However, for the emergence of the International Financial Center in Moscow, it may well be in Moscow and there can be no longer enough in Russia, there is clearly not enough. It is required, say, bringing opportunities for doing business in Russia to a significantly better level. It will take more than one year. According to Alexander Voloshin, the creation of a normal investment climate in Russia will take a whole generation for some indicators. “The generation of police officers, judges should be replaced by respect for private property,” he believes.

For the appearance of investors and foreign specialists and much more. According to Ruben Aganbegyan, a clear strategy for the development of education, IT and other key areas is required.

“The city should be suitable for life. It will be suitable for life - it will be suitable for the MFC, ”says Alexander Voloshin. The city can be convenient for life in different ways, says Aganbegyan. For example, it can be convenient for life in Russian or English. Today, Moscow is extremely inconvenient for an English -speaking resident. There are not even elementary bilingual signs, not to mention bilingual policemen, waiters, pharmacists and so on. “The city in which the financial center is created should be bilingual, no matter how it may not seem patriotic,” Aganbegyan is sure.

“The financial center is a kind of type of mathematical center. And with this we still have everything. Many Western companies are already transferring part of their units to Moscow, ”said Ksenia Yudaeva, director of the Macroeconomic Research Center. So, Deutshe Bank transferred part of his IT unit to Moscow. The main thing, Yudaeva believes, not to perceive the financial center as a development project, for which it is necessary to build a certain number of large buildings.

However, despite a huge number of unresolved problems, experts are confident in the importance of creating a financial center in Moscow. He will give the city a new appearance and new sources of income. “You can’t expect that three quarters of large Russian corporations will be located and pay taxes in Moscow forever. Gradually, they will begin to be dispersed, ”says Alexander Voloshin. In these conditions, according to the general ideas of experts, the creation of the MFC if it should not be the main priority for Moscow and its government, it is clearly one of the ten or even five priority tasks. Tasks that will help determine the spheres of specialization of the city, become the engine of many changes that are useful for residents.