I. Metshin: “Large-scale events provide not only the development of urban infrastructure, but also growth in the economy”

(KZN.RU, December 3, Ksenia Shvetsova). For 9 months from the beginning of the year, the industrial production index in Kazan increased by 6.4% compared to last year and amounted to 106.4%. In addition, retail trade turnover increased by 7.4% and managed to attract more investments into the city budget by 2.6%. Artur Valiakhmetov, the chairman of the Committee for Economic Development, reported on the main results of the socio-economic development of the city today at the Business Monday.

The leading place in the economy of the city belongs to industrial production. The industrial production index in Kazan was 106.4%. At the same time, the growth rates of industrial production in the republic and in Russia are more restrained, said A. Valiakhmetov. He added that in the republic this figure reached 101.9%, and 103%in the whole country.

Large and medium-sized enterprises of the city shipped own-produced goods, completed work and rendered services worth 220 billion rubles, which is 7.5% higher than last year. Manufacturers of food products, machinery, and equipment, paper products, metal products, as well as network companies showed a noticeable increase in production. “These are the results of work of such enterprises as BKK, the second bakery plant, “Vakuummash”, “Compressor” Plant, KMPO, “Elecon”, and KMIZ”, said the speaker. He marked that the high productivity was shown by those enterprises that last year carried out the modernization of fixed assets due to the replacement of equipment and the release of new products.

However, there are enterprises that showed a decrease in production. But despite the fact that the industrial production index of these enterprises does not reach the level of last year so far, they continue to develop dynamically. “The helicopter plant this year completed the modernization of the electroplating industry, signed contracts for the production of 20 Ansat helicopters for the Association of Disaster Medicine of the People’s Republic of China. The signing of this contract marks the full-fledged entry of Ansat into the international market”, said the speaker. He added that contracts have already been signed for the delivery of 104 Ansat to the national air ambulance service.

Another achievement of the plant is that the first sample of the Mi-38T helicopter took off. It was made to the order of the Ministry of Defense of the RF. “Production and supply of all machines are scheduled for 2019-2020. Therefore, in the short term, we expect to get significant growth in this sector of the economy”, explained the speaker.

The industrial production growth of 6.4% is a good result for Kazan, says Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of the city. “I am glad that our enterprises are increasing industrial volumes, including through modernization. This is very important for us, as it provides new jobs, guarantees prosperity and well-being of Kazan citizens both today and tomorrow”, said I. Metshin.

Since the beginning of the year, 106.4 billion rubles of investments in fixed assets have been attracted to the city’s economy, which is 2.6% more than last year. At the same time, a significant share of investments is concentrated in construction and operations with the property. The cumulative share of investments in these areas was 98%, reported A. Valiakhmetov.

Kazan is in second place in the rating of million-plus cities in terms of investment in fixed assets for large and medium-sized enterprises, Only Yekaterinburg has overtaken the capital of Tatarstan.

The volume of work performed by the “Construction” activity by large and medium-sized enterprises amounted to 19.3 billion rubles, which is 5.8% lower than last year’s level. The speaker noted that a significant part of the volumes, as in previous years, falls on housing. In total, 529 thousand square meters of housing was commissioned. This is 1.5% higher than last year. “These are 8110 new well-equipped apartments, and 413 individual residential houses”, said the speaker.

According to the rating assessment of the socio-economic situation among the major cities of Russia, Kazan is consistently in the top three in terms of the activity “Construction” in general.

The consumer market has a positive trend in the growth rate of retail trade and catering. In addition, according to the speaker, Kazan continues to be attractive for major players in the retail and logistics services market. In the first 9 months, the retail trade turnover was fixed at 385.4 billion rubles. The increase was 7.4%. In the catering sector, turnover increased by 9.3% in general.

“A significant impact on the increase in turnover had this year's World Cup. In the days of the championship, Kazan took over 300 thousand tourists”, said the speaker and added that the volume of paid services for 9 months increased by 3%.

The small and medium business occupies one-third of the economy of Kazan. It employs a third of the total working population of the city. According to the speaker, in the first half of 2018, more than 80 thousand small and medium businesses operated in Kazan, and more than 176 thousand people are employed in small enterprises. The turnover of small enterprises grew by 32% compared to last year and amounted to 313 billion rubles.

The small and medium businesses account for one-third of the taxes received by the city. Thus, on October 1, tax payments to the city budget, excluding personal income tax, amounted to 1 billion 873 million rubles, which is 13.5% higher than the corresponding level of last year.

The Mayor of Kazan agreed that the world championship last summer in the capital of Tatarstan had a significant impact on the city’s economy. “Growth in the turnover of small and medium businesses by one third is, of course, an echo of the World Cup. It answers the question "why do we need large-scale events". This is not only a legacy of urban infrastructure, but also a growth in the economy”, said Ilsur Metshin. “It is important to have a balanced, diversified economy. All markets are important for us: both retail and construction. We hope that small and medium businesses will continue to grow”.

At the same time, the Mayor noted the importance of holding meetings with entrepreneurs and discussing existing problems. For example, he reminded that quite recently an extended Council for Entrepreneurship was held in Kazan. Among other things, the banking sector and the limited resources for SMEs were discussed there. According to the head of the city, each such conversation reveals a lot of questions that are often subsequently resolved. “There is federal legislation, internal regulatory documents that do not allow receiving support as soon as we would like. But in general, any such conversation, any dialogue is the key to the movement and to the successes that we are seeing today against the background of other regions”, said I. Metshin. He instructed to hold meetings and conversations with representatives of small and medium businesses on a regular basis. “Business breakfasts, trips, meetings, and you need to separate them into different industries. I know that it is practiced even now, but I recommend to conduct it more often”, concluded the Mayor.