A lot of shoulder straps and little electricity – Newspaper Kommersant No. 147 (7348) of 08/15/2022

After record levels of investment in 2021, the government expects them to fail in early 2023. In order to maintain the pace of investment, the authorities intend to speed up the implementation of the investment standard, thereby ensuring uniform conditions for conducting investment activities in the Russian Federation. At the same time, the regions were promised tougher control over the quality of the implementation of the standard. In the opinion of the regions, the attraction of capital investments is hindered by power structures and resource-supplying organizations – it is proposed to involve them in the work to restart the investment cycle.

In 2021, the volume of investments in fixed assets in the Russian Federation was estimated at 20.4 trillion rubles. after 16 trillion and 17.8 trillion rubles. in 2019–2020, the regions largely overcame the consequences of the pandemic, Vladislav Onishchenko, head of the Center for Strategic Research, reported at the interregional forum on the implementation of the investment standard in the Moscow Region. Due to the start of the military operation and the imposition of large-scale sanctions, the White House expects a failure in investments at the beginning of 2023 – even if it is possible to replace foreign suppliers as part of investment projects, they will need to be adjusted. “The decline in consumer demand has bottomed out and will begin to recover from the beginning of next year. As for investments, the situation is reversed,” said First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov at the plenary session of the forum.

To maintain the pace of investment in the economy, the White House has already deployed systemic support for investment activity – in particular, it is preparing to restart the SZPK, regulatory changes in the construction industry, the launch of preferential industrial mortgages and the creation of special regimes in industrial clusters. Stimulation of capital investments in the regions mainly comes down to the creation of uniform conditions for conducting investment activities – the basic rules for communication between local authorities and potential investors. In 2021, 12 pilot regions began to implement the standard, in 2022 – another 30, in 2023, the rest of the regions should begin work in an accelerated mode, the government expects.

The choice of an administrative instrument is due to the fact that the highest growth rates of investments fall on developed regions with functioning institutions to support investors. According to the Center for Strategic Research, almost 70% of all investments in fixed assets are accounted for by 20 leading regions, half – by just nine regions. From the point of view of the structure of investments, the largest share falls on the own funds of investors (57%), while as the regions lag behind, the share of budget financing of investment projects increases (the share of federal funding is higher in the lagging behind). At the same time, in the new logic of investment support, the center abandoned the widespread distribution of money – the regions need to introduce an investment standard in order to receive subsidies for investment tax deductions. According to the Deputy Minister of Economy Murat Kerefov, last year the government allocated more than 855 million rubles. as a subsidy to 19 regions, this year the volume has been preliminary increased by three and a half times – up to 3.2 billion rubles.

Additional benefits were not offered to investors as part of the discussion – the forum became a platform for communication between the center and the regions. Although no problems were identified at the stage of implementing the standard, in response to financial incentives, the regions may approach the introduction of new rules formally, the government fears. The effective work of local officials will be evidenced by the dynamics of investment in the region, as well as the ability to resolve disputes with investors on the ground, without bringing it to the government level. Governors, however, note limited powers – delays in working with investors often occur due to difficulties on the side of resource supply organizations (RSO), as well as the activity of law enforcement agencies. To solve the problem, it was proposed, for example, to introduce performance indicators in terms of investments for law enforcement agencies, as well as to involve the leadership of the RSO in specialized working groups at the center level.

Diana Galieva