On April 17, a round table was held at the DBS (Digital Business Space), within which British entrepreneurs were presented with investment opportunities of the Russian capital. The event was attended by representatives of the Moscow City Government, the City Investment Management Agency, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and British business. The meeting was moderated by Mr. Suren Vardanian, the Vice-President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Today, Moscow is one of the largest economies in the world. Its capital accounts for about 14% of the total Russian volume of investments in fixed assets - in 2018 their volume amounted to 2.43 trillion rubles. Over the past 8 years, fixed capital investments have more than doubled in comparable prices. The interest of foreign investors in Moscow remains high: as of October 1, 2018, the volume of accumulated foreign direct investment (FDI) was almost $238 billion.
"The UK is one of the countries which is vigorously pursuing investing in the economy of Moscow: the volume of accumulated FDI from the United Kingdom is $2.1 billion. In order to support new investment projects in industry, including foreign investors, the Moscow City Government provides benefits in terms of profit tax, property tax, land tax and rent. This ensures the reduction of the regional tax burden to 25%. To date, 91 companies receive tax support measures from the city", - noted the Deputy Head of the Department of Investment and Industrial Policy, Mr. Emil Petrosyan.
Entrepreneurs can implement their investment projects in the Special Economic Zone, the "Technopolis "Moscow" (SEZ). The capital provides investors with 10 years of benefits in terms of taxes on profits, property and land. The overall reduction of the regional tax burden may reach 47%.
"For the SEZ residents, the free customs zone administrative measures apply: goods and equipment imported into the special territory are exempt from customs taxes and duties. In the SEZ, investors have the opportunity to create the so-called greenfield projects - production from scratch on empty land plots, to which the entire engineering infrastructure is connected.
“In addition, entrepreneurs can rent premises on the already equipped areas, including industrial ones,” - said the director of the City Investment Management Agency, Mr. Leonid Kostroma. “According to forecasts, by 2025, the volume of investments to the city and from investors in the SEZ on the territory of Moscow should reach about 40 billion rubles, and the number of jobs to increase to 12 thousand.”
During the round table, British businessmen learned that, among other things, it is possible to localize a foreign enterprise in Moscow by means of an offset contract. It implies a long-term public procurement of goods with counter-investment obligations of the supplier. At the moment, the city has concluded two offset contracts for the establishment of pharmaceutical production facilities. Purchases have been made of medicines for the treatment and prevention of cancer, cardiac and endocrine diseases. The total volume of investments will amount to 8.8 billion rubles, supplies - 32.4 billion rubles. Both contracts are signed for 10 years. Potential areas for the conclusion of offset contracts in Moscow are vehicles, equipment for housing, communal services, building materials, IT-equipment, medical products and food.
Also, for localization of production for the implementation of large-scale investment projects, businesses can get land for rent without bidding. To date, the Moscow Urban Planning and Land Commission has approved the allocation of 30 plots to investors. Possible area of capital construction of projects is more than 500 thousand square meters.
In preparing the article the materials of THE STATE BUDGET INSTITUTION OF THE CITY OF MOSCOW "CITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY” were used