Rustam Minnikhanov: ‘It’s good that shopping malls close, women will at least save money there’

Favourites of high world prices

A July meeting of the Board of Directors of Tatneftekhiminvest-holding JSC started with a summary of the performance of the gas and petrochemical complex of Tatarstan that provided the treasury of the republic with more than half of incomes. So total income tax in Tatarstan is 114,6 billion rubles, of which nearly 67 billion rubles came from oil and petrochemical companies of the republic.

Director General of Tatneftekhiminvest-holding JSC Rafinat Yarullin delivered a report on the activity of enterprises of the gas and petrochemical complex. According to him, during the first six months of 2022, the enterprises of the gas and petrochemical complex ramped up the production by 3,6%, while payments to the republic’s budget rose by 70% at once. An incredible rise in prices in world markets provided Tatarstan exporters a huge money inflow.

“Prices for oil products continued growing in world markets in the second quarter. Prices for petrochemicals reached the peak in March-April 2022, after that they started to fall to the level of late 2021,” he noted.

Amid favourable world prices, producers increased oil output and the production of goods based on it. Tyre producers that easily expanded the production are also at an advantage. Nevertheless, the season of high world prices is starting to go down, and exporters forecast a decrease in revenue in the third quarter of the year. Rafinat Yarullin says that the enterprises of the complex do an active job by replacing foreign feedstock from unfriendly countries with Russian analogues or supplies from friendly countries.

“In these conditions, the purchase of products of the Karpov Chemical Plant, KVART, Kazan Synthetic Rubber Plant has increased,” he noted.

Fesco Kazan Shuttle

Big hopes of exporters’ business readjustment are linked with the expansion of outlets eastwards. The oldest Russian transport and logistic operator Fesco becomes one of the strategic partners of Tatarstan in this area. Sales and Business Development Director of Fesco Integrated Transport Alexey Kravchenko offered to sign a memorandum of understanding between Tatarstan and the company, then open new routes So in October Fesco proposes to open container shipments en route Asia — Vladivostok — Kazan, which envisage cargo export to Southeast Asian countries. In December, it wants to launch a regular container service from Turkey to Novorossiysk.

The geography of routes of Fesco covers the entire territory of Eurasia in all export and import areas, while Far Eastern ports are the central transfer point, said Alexey Kravchenko. According to him, amid unprecedented sanctions, exports from Tatarstan through Far Eastern ports rose sevenfold in the second quarter, and this tendency is growing. Moreover, the palletisation rate of Tatarstan freight compared to other Russian regions “leaves room for improvement,” he noted.

To expand export supplies Fesco offered to launch a project to organise regular service between the port of Vladivostok and Kazan. It was called Fesco Kazan Shuttle. The project is planned to launch in October 2022. Two runs a month are scheduled. Transit time on the road from Shanghai to Kazan is 21 days. In the future, it is planned to launch one regular run a week.

Also, Fesco actively works on land borderline routes between China and Russia. So China’s JAC Motors knocked down sets opened on the route from Hefei to Naberezhnye Chelny. The trip takes 18 days. There is an export route from the Zakamsky area to the port of Istanbul and Shanghai, moreover, the transportation cost is the same.

“Tatarstan has an advantageous location,” Kravchenko noted.

In reply to the offer to agree on a cooperation road map an sign a memo, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov claimed:

“A memorandum is just a piece of paper, let’s create a task force,” he disagreed a bit. “Of course, we will sign a memorandum but we’d better create a task force, which will be promising. We are a republic that makes products for 4 trillion [rubles]. And we have two railways — Kuybyshev and Gorky, also, there is a water route with the Sviyazhsk Multimodal Complex. There are big plans for working with Iran, we need to work very seriously, so let’s get ready,” he urged the audience.

The Fesco team was invited for an evening meeting in the Tatarstan Ministry of Industry and Trade to immediately do specific tasks.

How to save schools from fake bomb alerts

Minnikhanov asked a representative of Group-IB to perform another “elementary” task — to protect schools from fake bomb alerts.

“Our schools are attacked when bomb alerts are sent, can we do something with it? Directors of educational institutions are responsible, and it is impossible to tell them not to evacuate, they have a personal responsibility. What to do? Can there be found a solution that will protect schools from fake alerts?” he asked Group-IB’s Operational Director Yaroslav Kargalev.

He says the plotter can be found, but crime itself doesn’t have boundaries.

“According to our data, these calls are made from abroad, from unfriendly countries,” he explained.

“If they were made here, we would already have caught them. So okay, I am ready for this order,” the president insisted. “The ministry of digitalisation is here, help us find a solution, or some filters need to be installed, I don’t know what else. Then I will praise you myself, the coolest guys. It is an elementary task. It is good that shopping malls close — women will at least save money there, but I feel pity for children. A kid came to school, but the kid is... It feels like it is a fake, but there is no guarantee. The rifle fires once a year,” Minnikhanov reflected.

But the representative of the Innopolis resident couldn’t immediately find a solution to Minnikhanov’s “school” task. Instead, the operational director again started advertising claiming that as a resident of the Special Economic Zone he was ready to provide unique products and services for businesses. There will be held a meeting of the Security Council with industrial enterprises about cybersecurity on 28 July.