southern federal okrug: a unique potential for growth and development

SOUTHERN FEDERAL OKRUG:A UNIQUE POTENTIALFOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

to the East, the Caspian Sea and Kazakhstan. The strategic position of the SFO between two seas means the area has very favorable soil and climate conditions. The seas also provide strategic transport points to Eurasia’s biggest markets.

The SFO is comprised of 13 regions:

8 national Republics: the Republic of Adygeya, the Chechen Republic, the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria Repub-lic, the Republic of Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania;

5 regions with a prevailing share of Rus-sian population: Astrakhan Oblast; Krasn-odar Krai; Rostov Oblast; Stavropol Krai; Volgograd Oblast (see Table 1).

WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENTBREAKDOWN?

First, there is a regional government with its administrative center at Rostov-on-Don. This is headed by a Presidential Envoy (a position introduced by President Putin in 2000) who is appointed directly by the President of the Rus-sian Federation. However, all of the SFO re-gions enjoy a fair amount of self-autonomy with elected legislatures and city officials.

REGIONS IN THE SOUTHERN FEDERAL OKRUG

WHAT IS A FEDERAL OKRUG?

A Federal Okrug (округ) is a subdivision of the country based on a system of Presidential oversight. Russia is subdivided into 7 Federal Okrugs, including the Central Okrug where Moscow is located. For comparison, equiva-lent concepts in the United States would be “New England”; in France - “Midi-Pyrenees” or “Rhine-Alpes”; in Japan - “Tohoku (North-east) region” or “Chuo (central) region.” An Oblast (область) is the highest sub-national, formal, administrative level of governance. Big territories on the border of Russia have traditionally been called Krais (край). Like an Oblast, a Republic (республика) is the high-est sub-national, formal, administrative level of governance but it has a large proportion of eth-nic population. Together with the federal cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Oblasts, Krais, and Republics are referred to as subjects of the Federation, or generically as regions (ex-cept for cities). There are 88 such subjects in total.

WHAT IS THE SOUTHERN FEDERAL OKRUG?

The Southern Federal Okrug (SFO) is located just south of the Central Okrug and includes areas better known as the Northern Caucasus and part of the Volga region. The SFO cov-ers an area of 589,200 km2 (366,100 square miles) or 3.5% of the total territory of the Rus-sian Federation. The SFO is bordered to the south by Georgia and Azerbaijan. To the West lie the Black Sea, Ukraine and the Sea of Azov;

1 SFO – A UNIQUE POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

REASONS TO INVEST IN THE SFO

Dynamic Development

There are positive economic trends in almost all of the SFO regions. The growth of certain macroeconomic indicators in the SFO substan-tially surpasses the average growth throughout the Russian Federation. Certain regions per-

form as good as or even better than Russia as a whole. For example, the 4 regions (Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, Volgograd Oblast, Rostov Oblast) that make up over three quarters of the total GRP (Gross Regional Product) in the SFO, have basic macroeconomic indicators (unemployment rate, wages, GRP per capita) relatively close to the national average. Moreo-ver, their GRP has increased in line with the national average rate since 1998 (about 30%).

Fast Facts

Administrative center:Rostov-on-Don (pop. 1,012,300 in 2003)

Presidential Envoy:Dimitry Kozak (appointed September 2004)

Total area: 589.2 km2 (366.1 sq. miles) 3,5% of the Russian Federation

Total population: 22.8 million15,8% of the Russian Federation

Urban Population: 57.5%

Number of regional governance systems: 13

Number of municipalities:1,171, including 135 towns

SFO – A UNIQUE POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 2

In the less prosperous regions, the GRP level has only increased since 1998. In some re-gions, the growth rate was much higher than the national average: 56% growth in Kab-ardino-Balkaria Republic and in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania since 1998.

Favorable Demographic Situation

The population of the Okrug is 22.8 million (15.8% of the population of the Russian Fed-eration). In fact, the SFO is the second most densely populated Okrug. The demographic situation in the SFO is favorable when com-pared to the national averages. The rate of population decrease in the SFO is four times lower than the average rate in Russia (0,1% annually).

Thus, the SFO vast labor force can be con-sidered as one of the components of its rich resource base. 10 million people are economi-cally active. The fertility rate in the Okrug is significantly higher than the country’s average (11.8 and 10.4 per 1000 persons accordingly, as of 2004). Given the high educational poten-tial, this implies an abundant and well-qualified labor force for potential investment projects.

The share of rural population in the SFO is the highest in Russia among the Federal Okrugs (42.5%). This implies good investment oppor-tunities for the development of particular sec-tors such as agriculture, food processing and tourism.


Developed Transportation System

The SFO transportation system is well-devel-oped. The entire Okrug is located at the cross-roads of several important rail, sea, pipeline and aviation routes.

Motor Transport The road network is three times more devel-oped than the national average and has a total length of 31,300 kilometers.

Connecting 8 out of the 13 regions within the SFO, and with a length of 1,118 km, the “Cau-casus” federal highway is the district’s main motorway. The “Don” federal highway con-nects the SFO with central Russia.

Rail TransportThe railway network is one of the most devel-oped in Russia and the SFO comes second

only after the Central Okrug in terms of the density of railways.

11 of the 13 SFO regions are interconnected by the 6,357.5 km North-Caucasian Railroad (Volgograd and Astrakhan oblasts’ railroad net-work belongs to Privolzhsky Railroad – another railroad system, mainly located in Privolzhskyi Federal Okrug). The North-Caucasian Rail-road includes 401 stations, 281 of which are equipped with cargo-handling equipment. The railroad links not only all the main cities and seaports within the SFO but also custom termi-nals in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine.

Sea transportThe sea transport system of the SFO consists of 2 Caspian and 8 Black Sea seaports, includ-ing Novorossiysk, Russia’s largest freight flow seaport, and Tuapse, the 3rd largest.During the last 10 years, the volume of exports leaving Russia through the Novorossiysk sea-

port has increased 4-fold (exceeding the his-torical maximum in 1988-1989) and now more than 40% of the total cargo exported from Russia by sea (including oil and oil derivatives, cement, metals, grain) is exported via seaports located in the SFO.

There are also seaports in the SFO specializing in passenger traffic such as Sochi, Anapa, and Gelendzhik.

Air transportBeing a popular tourist resort, many SFO re-gions have well-equipped international airports ready for frequent passenger traffic.

There are approximately 20 airports in the SFO, 9 of which (Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Makhachka-la, Mineralniye Vody, Nalchik, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Stavropol and Vladikavkaz) have federal status, i.e. airports that are considered cru-cial for the national transportation system and


national security. There exist 62 such airports across Russia.

Low Economic Costs

Low-cost oriented businesses may find the SFO attractive because of its relatively low prices. The overall cost of living is substantially lower here than the national average. For example, the prices of consumer goods and services in the SFO are about 10% lower than the national average; moreover, residential real estate prices are approximately 25% lower. Estimated subsistence wages in 2003 for 13 regions of the SFO were all (with the exception of the Chechen Republic) lower than the national av-erage, ranging from 95% of the national aver-age (Republic of Ingushetia) to 72% (Republic of North Ossetia-Alania).

Large building materials enterprises situated in Krasnodar Krai provide nearby regions with their relatively cheap construction costs.

Exceptional Conditions For The Develop-ment Of Certain Industries

Agriculture

The climate and soil of the SFO is by far the most favorable for agricultural activities in Rus-sia. Arable lands make up three-quarters of the SFO’s total territory (compared to an average ratio of a little more than one third). Grain crop capacity in the SFO is almost 20% higher than the national average.

It is expected that agricultural enterprises of the SFO are the most prosperous in Russia. According to official statistics, the share of un-profitable enterprises is 41% while the national average is 49%. The indicator of profitability (9.2) is by far the highest in Russia (the na-tional average is 3.3). Since 1998, the agricul-tural output has grown in the SFO by 40% while the growth at national level amounted only to 24%.

Tourism

The Black Sea coast is traditionally the most popular summer resort for domestic tourists. There are also many famous salubrious mineral springs and ski resorts located in the SFO.

Tourism in the SFO is also a growing industry. Since 1995, the number of specialized accom-modation establishments (sanatoriums, tourist centers etc.) has increased by 32% and the SFO’s share of total accommodation estab-lishments in Russia has increased from 17% in 1995 to 29% in 2003. At the same time, the number of clients served in the SFO has grown by 40% since 1995, which makes up 30% of the total industry in Russia (22% in 1995)

Finally, it is worth noting that the city of Sochi was recently nominated by the Russian gov-ernment as a candidate city for the Winter Ol-ympics in 2014.

Number of specialized accommodation establishments

Number of clients served in specialized accommodation establishments (thousands)


THE SFO’S ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

The SFO has a diversified structure of economic activities. The SFO is less industrialized (20.2% share compared to an average of 30.7%) than Russia as a whole, yet within its total GRP, it has higher shares of agriculture (15.4% ver-sus 6%) and transport (11.2% versus 7.8%). The share of construction is also relatively high (10.4% against 8.4%). SFO industries produce a wide range of goods and services, some of which are unique to the Okrug.

Agriculture - The SFO is probably Russia’s most favorable area for agricultural activity. In fact, the SFO has Russia’s highest agricultural growth rate. The share of population employed in agriculture is about 20% (out of total em-ployment), while the national average share is 11%.

Grain crops are the most prevalent agricultural products of the SFO. 56.6% of the Okrug’s sown area is used for grains. In 2000-2003, the

average share of SFO’s grain output (20,870 thousand tons) equaled 27.4% of Russia’s to-tal, second only to Privolzhsky Federal Okrug. Krasnodar Krai’s output of grain is by far the highest at the inter-regional level. Wheat pro-duced in the SFO is considered a high-quality product across Russia and is one of the main SFO exports.

The SFO also successfully produces agricultur-al products unique to the Okrug. For example, about 58% of Russian sunflower seeds and

almost 100% of Russia’s grapes come from here.

Given that milk and wool productivity of cat-tle is above average, cattle-breeding activity is also common in the SFO. 57% of Russian sheep and goat livestock are bred here while 65% of Russian wool is produced in the SFO.

Industrial Production - Even though the SFO is less industrialized than other regions of the Russian Federation, a 44% growth rate since

Industrial Production 20%

Agriculture 15%Construction 10%

Transportation 11%

Communication 3%

Trade 16% Other 25%

Structure of GRP by activities


1999 (compared to 30% average national growth) indicates that the region has high po-tential in industrial production.

The structure of the SFO’s industrial output is characterized by lower proportions in the fuel industry, machinery and metallurgy and a higher share in the food industry.

Food Industry - As the SFO is located in an ag-ricultural area, it is no surprise that the food in-dustry is one of the most prevalent industries. The SFO is the biggest producer of wine and vegetable oil and the second biggest producer of granulated sugar. At the inter-regional level, Krasnodar Krai represents the largest meat producer, the second largest of bread and the third largest dairy producer.

A number of food goods, for example caviar and “ESSENTUKI” mineral water, are not pro-duced anywhere else in Russia.

Machinery - The SFO’s machinery industry specializes in the production of special-pur-pose equipment mostly for agricultural needs,

e.g. combine harvesters. Enterprises located in the SFO are the largest manufacturers of agricultural equipment in the C.I.S. For example, Volgograd Oblast is Rus-sia’s second biggest producer of tractors.

Mining industries - The SFO is the most impor-tant Okrug in Russia for mineral water extrac-tion; the second biggest for tungsten mining (41% of Russia’s total), and the third largest for drinking water extraction and cement-mak-ing materials (15%). Other notable reserves of mineral resources in the SFO include coal (3.5% of Russia’s total reserves), copper (3%), zinc (2%), gold (2%), silver (2%), lead (2%), iodine, bromine, and silica sand.

Construction and Building Materials - Produc-tion The SFO has a number of extensive en-terprises producing a considerable volume of building materials.

Cement works in Novorossiysk make Kras-nodar Krai the 4th largest cement producer (2.8 millions tons per year) and 5th largest ferroconcrete items producer in Russia, while Volgograd Oblast is the 7th most important

Other 14%

Food Industry 26%

Fuel Industry 11%

Electric Power 17%

Machinery 15%

Metallurgy 9%

Chemical Industry 8%

Industrial output by activities


for cement production. Krasnodar Krai is also Russia’s second most significant brick-pro-ducing region.

Since 2000, the output of these enterprises has grown substantially. The output of cement in the SFO has increased by 39% and the out-put of ferroconcrete items has grown by 29% in the period 2000-2003. The national average growth rates were 26.5% and 15% accord-ingly.

At the same time, the total structural volume of buildings constructed annually has increased by 18%.

Oil and Gas - Even though the SFO is not one of the key oil and gas extracting regions of Rus-sia, it does have fairly extensive deposits of oil and gas and has a high potential in this field.

The main oil and gas deposits are located on the Caspian shelf in Astrakhan Oblast. Even though the development of sites in Astrakhan started only recently, the Oblast is now the 11th most significant region in Russia in terms of oil production (more than 4 million tons in 2003; 1.4 million tons in 1995). Furthermore, it is the third greatest natural gas-producing region (11,408 million cubic meters in 2003; 4,074 million cubic meters in 1995).

Astrakhan Oblast’s enterprises produce 70% of Russian and 12% of the world’s sulfur.

STANDARD OF LIVING

Climate - Two thirds of the Russian population lives in areas with an average temperature in January of minus 10° Celsius. The duration of the ‘central heating season’ ranges from 90 days a year in the city of Sochi to 365 days in the areas along the Arctic coastline.

The “Evaluative map showing the favorabil-ity of natural conditions to human settlement” has been developed by experts and is based on 30 natural indicators. It demonstrates that while the greater part of Russia’s lands are un-favorable or scarcely favorable to human set-tlement, almost 100% of the SFO’s territory, with its mild temperature regime (- 9°c – 0°c in January; 20°c – 25°c in July) and ample rain-fall, is located in “favorable” and “most favora-ble” zones.

Environment - Even though there are some ecological concerns in certain areas of the SFO (such as the Caspian Sea coastline), the gen-eral level of environmental pollution is relatively low.

Being the least industrialized Okrug, the SFO presents emission and toxic waste pollution levels (per capita) substantially lower than the national average.

At the same time, existing problems are not left unnoticed. In 2000, 40% of Russia’s fed-eral budgetary expenditure on the protection and reproduction of important fish species was dedicated to the SFO. A large number of NGOs are engaged in ecological protection.


Health Care - Taking into account that the SFO is the least urbanized Federal Okrug, it is no surprise that it is a little less well-equipped with medical services than other Okrugs.

Nevertheless, the indicator of hospitals’ out-patient capacity (200 patients per shift per 10,000 residents) is not far below the national average (248 patients). The number of physi-cians per 10,000 residents is 42.7 (compared to the national average of 48). The SFO also possesses numerous sanatorium-and-spa institutions, which attract not only local resi-dents, but also patients from all over Russia.

Education - The SFO has an impressive system of educational establishments. This includes 5,901 infant schools, attended by 40% of

children of the respective age. General edu-cational establishments for children aged 6-17 graduate more than 300,000 pupils annually (336,000 in 2003). About 85% of the population aged 5-14 is enrolled in the Okrug’s education system (the average percentage nationwide is 84.6%). There were 301 primary educational establishments in 2003, attended by 342,000 students. The number of students in special-ized secondary educational establishments per 10,000 residents is 150 (compared to the na-tional average of 174).

The SFO’s educational system includes 152 institutes of higher education. Among them are many nationally-acclaimed establishments, including Rostov State University (ranked Rus-sia’s 8th best University by the Ministry of Education in 2004), Kabardino-Balkaria State University, Stavropol State University (ranked as the 2nd best Agricultural University); Kuban State University (ranked as the 3rd best Ag-ricultural University) and the Volgograd State Medical Academy (ranked as the 8th best Medical Institute). The number of students attending higher educational institutes per 10,000 residents equals 369 (compared to the national average of 448).

Cash Income - The SFO’s indicators of both av-erage cash income per capita (63% of the na-tional average) and average nominal accrued wages per capita (67% of the national average) are the lowest in Russia. For the period 2001-2003, however, the average nominal accrued wages in the Okrug have grown by 55% while average cash income has increased by 42%; this is more than the average growth nation-

wide for the same period (40%).

Composite Indexes - A number of composite indexes have been estimated by independent institutions at inter-regional level to assess the standard of living in different regions.

The index of “Innovativeness” has been de-vised by the Independent Institute of Social Policy, based on methodology developed by The World Economic Forum for its “Innovation Capacity” index. The key indicators for this in-dex are:

• share of urbanized population; • number of students per 10000 residents; • share of residents employed in scientific activity; • GRP in services production activity per capita; • GRP in scientific activity per capita.


CURRENT INVESTMENT IN THE SFO

The existing amount of investments is relatively low in the SFO. It makes up only 9% of Rus-sia’s total; the amount of fixed investment per capita is the lowest in Russia (the indicator of investment per GRP unit, however, is above national average – 0.222 against 0.189).

Nevertheless, over the last 5 years the dynam-ics of investment in the SFO were promising. Despite recent setbacks, between 1998 and 2004, fixed capital investment in the SFO grew by more than 84%; this is substantially higher than the national average growth of 74% dur-ing the same period. Another notable fact is that the SFO has one of the highest shares of investment in the private sector (56.6% compared to the national aver-age 42.6%).

Foreign investment amounted to US$688.7 million in 2004, or 1.7% of Russia’s total.

The breakdown by activities of SFO investment correlates with its industrial structure. The share of investment in mining and quarrying is substantially lower than the national aver-age, while the investment allocations in agri-cultural activities are higher. However, by far the biggest percentage of SFO investment is in transport, storage, and communication. This includes gas pipeline construction, production of grain depositories and elevators as well as seaport developments.

Fixed capital investment growth (1998=100%)

SFO fixed capital investment breakupby patterns of ownership

Foreign fixed capital investment in the SFO(million US dollars)

SFO fixed capital investment breakup by activities


SFO’S MAIN FDIs

A number of international corporations have successfully established branches in the SFO. One of these is “Kuban Gypsum KNAUF” – the highest quality gypsum-producing industrial complex in Psebai (Krasnodar Krai). This is now one of the industry’s leaders in Russia due to investments by the Knauf Group, a leading global producer of building materials.

The world’s biggest food and beverage com-pany, Nestle, has recently launched, at a cost of US$120 million, the “Nestle Kuban” cof-fee-producing factory in Timoshevsk (Krasn-odar Krai). The construction of the factory was 100% financed by the company’s direct in-vestments. In addition, the wholesaler ‘METRO Cash & Carry’ has opened stores in Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.

Recently, investment plans have been elabo-rated to convert Krasnaya Poliana ski resort into a destination suitable for European clients. The billion-dollar make-over at Krasnaya Po-liana will quadruple the number of trails and import the latest in high-tech infrastructure.

On September 15 2004, Bonduelle Company opened its first production line in Russia, the Bonduelle-Kuban, located in Novotitarovskaya Cossack village (stanitsa) in Krasnodar Krai. The planned production volume will reach 120 million tins per year by 2008 and will substitute the total Bonduelle import to Russia. By that time, the investment volume will reach 40 mil-lion euros.


Bonduelle has worked out a successful mecha-nism for ensuring the high quality of its prod-ucts, which differs from the company’s normal procedure in other countries, characterized by direct purchasing of raw materials from local farmers. In Russia, Bonduelle controls all stag-es of the production process including agricul-ture growth. To guarantee high quality cans, necessary for the development of production, Bonduelle utilizes the services of another in-ternational investor in the region, American Crown Cork, which also produces cans for a Nestle milk factory nearby.

The company’s officials noted the strong sup-port and involvement of the Krasnodar Krai ad-ministration in the course of the project.

THE SOUTHERN OKRUG’S COMMITMENT TO HELP INVESTORS

The Federal and regional governments of the SFO are committed to attracting and retaining investments. They take a proactive approach by investing highly in areas such as security, infrastructure and education. They also believe in creating a positive business climate by re-ducing bureaucracy and creating tax incentives for investors and businesses. In 2005, the SFO Administration established an investment pro-motion agency, the Agency for Investment and Development of the Southern Federal Okrug, to promote investment and serve potential in-vestors. A similar agency has been created in Rostov-on-Don on the initiative of the Rostov Oblast Administration – the Rostov’s Agency for Investment Development. The SFO Admin-istration encourages the creation of investment promotion agencies in every SFO region, and such agencies will be created in 2006.

Investment risks and measures to miti-gate them

The SFO authorities recognize that the SFO’s investment climate still needs improvement in certain areas and undertake serious measures to eliminate the corresponding investment risks.

Social and ethnic tensions. The Russian Gov-ernment is pursuing a determined policy to make the Northern Caucasian republics safer, thus reducing the investment risks.

The indicator of criminality (registered crime cases per 100,000 of population) has de-creased by more than 20% during the period 2000 - 2003. In general, the SFO’ criminality rate is lower that the national average (1,305 and 1,756 per 100,000 of population respec-tively).

A program for the social and economic inte-gration of young people has been recently de-veloped by the federal government and will be launched in 2006.

Unemployment. The SFO has the highest un-employment rate in Russia and a high share of informal production. This creates certain insti-tutional difficulties for investment activity, but at the same time signifies high entrepreneur potential of the region.

The SFO authorities believe that in order to achieve more intense social and economic regional development, the following require-ments must be met: augmentation of direct investment activity; growth of employment; increase of domestic production and rapid service sector development.

Administrative barriers. In order to eliminate excessive administrative barriers, optimized support systems for investors (including the implementation of a “One-Stop Shop” principle that aims to significantly simplify the project-agreement procedure) have been developed by the SFO authorities.

In addition, the program “Public management”,

“In less than one year, French group Bonduelle has trans-formed an almost abandoned former kolkhoz into a modern agriculture enterprise, thanks to the fertility of the land in the region of Krasnodar and modern technologies.” – Le Monde, 25 September 2004


which supports further administrative reform and budgeting improvement, was launched in cooperation with EU, USAID, DFID and SIDA.

As a result, the trust of investors to the region is growing. In 2004, the Standars &Poor’s has issued the B+/ Positive credit rating to the Krasnodar Krai. The Rostov Oblast was rated A+/ Positive by the Russian expert consortium, Expert RA- AK&M.

Financial incentives

Regarding the incentives, the SFO regions could offer a potential investor the following in-centives, depending on the project priorities:

• Tax concession and exemption during the investment project period (in the amounts equal to the transfers to the regional budget: property, income and land taxes); • State guarantees for credits and loans; • Subsidies to the enterprises for the ex-penses connected with the interest payments on the loans and credits taken by the enter-prise; • Co-funding with the help of specially or-ganized joint-stock investment funds (such as the Krasnodar Fund for Direct Investment,

established in 2005) or direct funding from regional budgets for the projects with the sta-tus of “special importance” (for example, As-trakhan Administration has developed criteria for selecting projects to be financed from the Budget of Development);• Funding of educational programs for local personnel within new investment projects.

“South of Russia”

In 2001, the Federal Targeted Program “South of Russia” was initiated by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development in coordination with the SFO Executive Authorities. The program was launched with the intention of creating fa-vorable socio-economic conditions for sustain-able development and boosting income levels in southern Russia. The program also aimed to target the high unemployment rate and so-cial tensions that exist in some of the southern Okrugs.

Set to conclude in 2006, the “South of Russia” program has made marked improvements in specific areas of the SFO economy. Developers have been working diligently on the improve-ment and protection of sea resources in the

Azov, Black, and Caspian Seas. Development of the tourism industry was also planned for the coastal regions. Oil and pipeline expansion was another goal of the program. As a whole, the project expanded the “hydro-economy” of the south of Russia by utilizing bodies of water surrounding the area to boost sustainable de-velopment.

Since 2001, “South of Russia” has invested 109,240 million rubles (US$3,770 million) in total for improvement projects. Completed ventures include gas pipeline construction, the building of a sanitary inspection center, crea-tion of an inter-regional leasing center, as well as research and development on sturgeon pro-tection and reproduction.

The program is planned to be extended through the years 2007 - 2011. The aim of the new program will be to reduce infrastructural constraints to business development and pro-mote “points of growth” in industry.


Agency for Investment and Development of the Southern Federal OkrugTel. +7 495 956 3957/ 58Fax: +7 495 956 [email protected]

SFO regions

Republic of Adygeya:www.adygheya.ru(Russian version only)

Government of the Republic of Dagestan:www.diap.ru(Russian version only)

Republic of Ingushetia:www.ingushetia.ru(Russian version only)

Kabardino-Balkaria Republic:www.nalnet.ru(Russian version only)

Republic of Kalmykia:www.kalm.ru/en/

Karachay-Cherkessia Republic:www.kchr.info(Russian version only)

Parliament of the Republicof North Ossetia-Alania:alania.osetia.ru (Russian version only)

LINKS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Chechen Republic:www.chechnya.gov.ru (Russian version only)

Department of Economic Developmentof Krasnodar Krai:economy.kubangov.ru/en

Stavropol Krai:www.stavinvest.ru

Astrakhan Oblast: www.astrobl.ru(Russian version only)

Volgograd Oblast:www.volganet.ru(Russian version only)

Rostov Oblastwww.donland.ru/english

Rostov’ Agency for Investment Development:www.ipa-don.ru tel. +7 (863) 291 3064fax: +7 (863) 291 3065

State Agencies

Ministry for Economic Development and Tradeof the Russian Federation:www.economy.gov.ru

Federal State Statistic Serviceof the Russian Federation:www.gks.ru

“South of Russia” Federal-Targeted Program:www.programs-gov.ru(Russian version only)

Investment Advisory Agencies

Foreign Investment Advisory Council (FIAC):www.fiac.ru

National Agency for Direct Investment (NADI):www.napi.ru

Council for Trade and Economic Cooperation(Russia-USA):www.ctec.ru

Investment Opportunities in Russia:www.ivr.ru/english/

News Agencies

Interfax – South:www.interfax.ru

RIA news – Southug.rian.ru(Russian version only)

South Business:www.southbiz.ru(Russian version only)


The World Bank Russia Country Office contributed to editing, design and publishing of this brochure.

2006 © Southern Russia Investment and Development Agencey

This information brochure was prepared by the Southern Russia Investment and Development Agency.

Contact Information:Tel. +7 495 956 3957/ 58Fax: +7 495 956 [email protected]

southern federal okrug: a unique potential for growth and development

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