Vladimir Putin signs decree on Togliatti Special Economic Zone development.
The process to create the Togliatti Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which was designed to provide jobs to former AvtoVAZ's employees, has finally made its way through the bureaucratic labyrinth. About 14 billion roubles are expected to be allocated from the federal and the regional budget to create the Togliatti SEZ.
Yesterday the Governor of the Samara Region, Vladimir Artyakov, announced that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a decree to create a special economic zone in Togliatti. The Government Executive Office confirmed that the SEZ project passed through the entire process culminating in Vladimir Putin's signature.
The government recognized the need to create the SEZ after AvtoVAZ launched a large-scale downsizing plan. AvtoVAZ employment was scaled back from over 100,000 employees in the summer of 2009 to 72,000. During the winter, the company acquired 660 hectares of land. A number of investors were interested in the Togliatti SEZ. A joint venture between Pirelli and Russian Technologies is willing to invest some 11 billion roubles in a tyre production facility and is the largest investor. Another eight companies signed agreements of intent to establish truck, seat assembly, chassis module and wheel production. About 41 billion roubles are expected to be invested. Over 30 companies have expressed interest in establishing production facilities at the Togliatti SEZ.
"This is good news, and the creation of the zone will definitely expedite development here. Of course, it will take time to get from the decision-making to the actual results," said CEO of TPV-Rus, Vladimir Adamov. He added that his company planned to produce no fewer than 300,000 seat assemblies annually to be used by AvtoVAZ. "The development of this zone is a huge incentive in promoting working relationships with our partners," added a representative from Russian Technologies.
According to previous statements issued by the Togliatti Industrial Technology Park, the Togliatti SEZ will be no different than other Russian industrial parks: "resident benefits are stipulated in Article 116 of the law On Special Economic Zones." During the first five years the residents will not have to pay any transport tax, land tax or property tax. Profit taxes will be reduced from 20% to 16%.
The creation of the Togliatti SEZ will be financed by both federal and regional budgets. The Ministry of Economic Development proposed an allocation of some 7.19 billion roubles by 2013, with 831 million roubles planned for this year. The Samara Region's portion is expected to total 6.4 billion roubles. According to the business plan, the Togliatti SEZ will provide over 20,000 jobs.
Evgeniya Sergienko