Progress in the implementation of the Strategy-2030 was discussed in the Cabinet of Ministers of the RT

(KZN.RU, October 16). The strategic session on the implementation of the Strategy of social and economic development of Tatarstan until 2030 was held today at the Government House of the RT.

Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the RT, Alexey Pesoshin, the prime minister of the RT, Asgat Safarov, the head of the Presidential Administration of the RT, Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, deputy chairmen of the State Council of the RT, experts, heads of the republican ministries and departments took part in its work.

Artem Zdunov, the minister of Economy of the RT, delivered the main report on the implementation of the Tatarstan Strategy-2030. “The Strategy-2030 has an ambitious task to increase the GRP by 1.8 times. Despite the increasing nature of the sanctions regime, the economy of the republic ensures the fulfillment of the planned values according to the basic version of the Strategy-2030. Thus, the accumulated growth rate of GRP was 105.4%, according to estimates”, said the minister.

Artem Zdunov noted that the main drivers of economic development are oil and gas chemistry, engineering, and energy. The head of the Ministry of Economy of the RT reminded about the existing infrastructure for business in the form of SEZ, PSEDA, industrial sites, etc. According to him, 63 municipal industrial sites are functioning today. It is planned to increase their number to 100 by 2020.

At the same time, the contribution of agriculture and food industry to the economy of the republic, according to him, is 11%. The level of profitability in the current year exceeds the national average and is fixed at 13.5%.

Speaking about health care, Artem Zdunov noted that life expectancy in Tatarstan exceeded 73.5 years for the first time, and in general, 173 health facilities were built for the period of the strategy implementation. As for the program for the improvement of public spaces, 189 objects have been built and repaired. Currently, the work is carried out at 73 more sites.

According to the minister of Economy of the RT, more than 408 km of roads were built and reconstructed during the strategy period, 76 settlements of the republic are connected by roads with asphalt concrete.

Despite the positive dynamics in many indicators, there are areas of activity, which requires decisions to change the situation. This, in particular, concerns the Kamsky Innovative Territorial Production Cluster (Innokam).

Having heard the report, Rustam Minnikhanov shared his vision of the situation. The President noted the importance of developing youth potential. As an example, he mentioned the educational center “Sirius” in Sochi. “We collect either creative people or business people, but they put them together. Such elements should be used. We need to work closely with the “Sirius”. I will control this”, said the President of the RT. At the same time, he made a proposal to attract not only students but also schoolchildren to the next architectural biennale.

The President spoke about the issue of expanding the powers of the management companies of the SEZ. “We need to improve the efficiency of our sites and zones”, he said. “One of such forms is the cooperation with our Turkish and Chinese colleagues. I spoke with Dmitry Kozak (The deputy prime minister of the RF – ed.) about empowering management companies that could not only manage but attract their partners from abroad”.

According to Rustam Minnikhanov, the “Program 1119” (the Russian Government decree “On the selection of subjects of the Federation entitled to receive subsidies for the creation of industrial parks and industrial parks”) requires more detailed consideration.

The President of the RT proposed to register this issue in the federal development strategy. “This topic should be written more specifically not only in our but also in the federal strategy. Because there is a huge potential. Nothing will happen by itself unless we support these business projects in an infrastructural and some form. They are difficult, especially machine-building, agro-industrial, and petrochemical complex, which require large investments. The economy will change if we include them in this program. It should be in the federal program. There will be a new opportunity to create new modern production facilities”, he said.

Rustam Minnikhanov considers the topic of tax preferences for residents of Innopolis no less important. “This is an important part because the payroll fund is a major part of the costs in the IT industry. Therefore, this subject should be dealt with in a substantive manner”, Rustam Minnikhanov addressed the leadership of the Ministry of Communications of the RT.

According to Rustam Minnikhanov, the banking sector as a whole is stabilizing but the issue of access to capital remains problematic. “We see that access to finance is limited”, he noted. “Today the cost of money is very high, and the procedure for obtaining funds is quite complicated. Therefore, we must somehow prescribe this in the federal strategy. Profitability of the energy sector or engineering industry is 7-8%, can they do something about modernization? That is why some mechanisms of access to capital are needed”.

The strategy of social and economic development of the RT until 2030 was adopted in 2015. In October last year, Alexey Kudrin, the chairman of the Council of the Center for Strategic Research, took part in the discussion of the document, reports the press service of the President of the RT.