Komi Governor talked forestry with Putin
The regional revenues of the Komi Repblic are likely to return to pre-crisis figures by the end of the year, head of the republic Vyacheslav Gayzer told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this week. An upswing in the regional forestry sector is a key reason for the good trend, he said.
In a meeting with Prime Minister Putin on Monday this week regional leader Gaizer underlined that the regional state of affairs are developing positively. Regional revenues are likely to return to pre-crisis levels by the end of the year, he said a press release from the regional administration reads. A key reason for the good trend in the republic is growth in the production of coal (up 20 percent year-on-year) as well as in the forestry processing industry. What hinders the regional economy from taking off is the powerful oil industry, which so far this year produced three percent less than in the same period last year.
Premier Putin during his visit to the republic this week paid special attention to the regional forestry sector. He underlined that a prime task for the state is to open possibilities for all interested investors. According to the government leader, the business interest in the sector is now growing steadily. Over the last few years, twelve new major projects have been started with investments amounting to 34 billion RUB. 4000 new jobs have been created.
That growing interest comes as the government is taking measures to develop the sector, Putin highlighted. He said that new legislation adopted in 2006 opens up for more transparent and stable rules of the game for investors and that development barriers are being removed. Among the new measures is the introduction of 49 years lease of forest land with possible prolongation, better conditions and 50 percent lower lease price for companies investing more than 300 million RUB, as well as the introduction of higher export tariffs on round timber.
Regarding the latter measure, Putin underlined that “with this [measure], the business has got a clear message: the ones who work in the Russian forest, have to develop processing”, a government press release reads.
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Also in the Komi Republic new forestry projects are under development. According to regional leader Gayzer, two of seven regional priority projects have been developed, one on production of pulp and paper and one on housing construction. He admitted however that another planned project on pulp production will not be developed and that two more projects are delayed.
