Taliya Minullina: ‘Ostriches have already appeared, we are waiting for investors’

New lease of life with Foat Komarov

How to attract an investor to the economy if the municipality was not “gifted” with federal tax concessions of the priority development area and the special economic zone or regional preferences and did not “inherit” an industrial billionaire giant? The agricultural Alekseyevsk District has none, but its local authorities have found a way to boost the municipality’s economy even without these trump cards.

“Literally, it’s a new lease of life for Alekseyevsk District. In November, the Alekseyevsk-Almetyevsk highway, which is part of Europe-Western China international transport corridor, will be put into operation, the head of the Investment Development Agency Taliya Minullina began with an optimistic note when opening the traditional Municipal Hour briefing. “And the road is always bread!”

It is the toll highway Alekseyevsk-Almetyevsk that was completed by a company of Foat Komarov’s SMP-Neftegaz. Its length is 145 km, it runs mostly through the territory of this district. Avtostrada is the concessionaire that built the highway under a concession with the federal authorities. The cost of the project is 108 billion rubles, said the company’s CEO Alexander Komlev.

The highway has been under construction since 2007. Its opening will provide a link between the M-7 and M-5 highways and traffic in the direction of Kazakhstan along the Europe-Western China international transport corridor. According to head of the Alekseyevsk District Sergey Demidov, it will be possible to transship cargo for export and import here.

In other words, if someone's first life in terms of investment began relatively early, then the rise in the Alekseevsky district is expected in 2025-2027. As Sergey Demidov stated, the district is going to enter the top 10 in the rating of socio-economic development of territories. Now it ranks 13^th. The gross territorial product is 14.2 billion rubles (+110%), the industrial production index is 107%, and investments in fixed assets are 699.2 million rubles, the head of the municipality said.

The district is developing entirely due to internal resources, remaining a “reserve” for external investment. Although the district has everything you could want to attract investors — access to the M-7 and M-5 highways, cheap land and buildings, access to water, industrial parks and even a farm for raising exotic birds. Either Russian entrepreneurs do not know about the opportunities or the district itself does not advertise them much. “The ostriches have already appeared, we are waiting for investors,” joked Taliya Minullina calling for being opener. It is known that the municipal authorities are working intensively to transform the district’s economy, but up-to-date information cannot be found in the public domain, they noted at the meeting.

Concessionaire's cashback

However, the companies of Foat Komarov's SMP-Neftegaz did not stop at the toll road but reinvested capital in the construction of a cargo river port in Alekseyevsky District. The completion date is 2030.

“Due to the need to deliver inert materials, a decision was made to build a cargo river port on the territory of Alekseyevsky District. It will occupy an area of ​​194 hectares, the cargo turnover by 2030 will be 5 million tonnes,” the head of the district said specifying that Avtostrada will be the investor.

Director of the company Alexander Komlev added that the cargo port is necessary for the transshipment of construction cargo delivered to the republic from other regions by water.

According to him, they have one transshipment site on the Kama River, not far from Arkharovka, but its throughput capacity is limited. The cargo port on the water itself will appear near the isthmus of the M-7 and M-5 highways. The capacity of 5 million tonnes comes from the needs of the construction complex of the republic. Transportation by river will reduce the cost of delivery, the authors of the project explain. Currently, work is underway to design an artificial land plot on the Kama River, as well as preparatory work for the design of a river cargo port. In the near future, the company will begin construction of an access road and laying a water approach, its path is about 5 km. Investments will amount to about 500 million rubles.

Waterway on pause

The general director of Avtostrada complained that dredging work has slowed down. “Only one organisation can do these works, it is the Volga Basin ddministration [it has a fleet of dredgers], but, unfortunately, for the second year in a row, no equipment for this type of work has been provided at our request. And other companies cannot perform this work,” he said. According to him, this is the only problem the company has encountered, and appeals to the Russian Ministry of Transport did not help.

Grain hub by Krasny Vostok

The agricultural profile of Alekseyevsk District is also changing. According to Demidov, this March, Samat Gatin’s Agro-Leader company launched a plant for the production of sunflower oil. 150 tonnes of sunflower are processed per day, 110 million rubles have been invested in the project. The main supplies come from Volgograd, contracts have been signed for the supply of finished products to China via Moscow.

The first stage of a grain terminal with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes has started operating in Sakony village. Since last June, grain exports by water to Iran and Saudi Arabia have been established; this year, 70,000 tonnes have been shipped. Krasny Vostok-Agro plans to build its own elevator with a one-time storage capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year on a neighbouring site. It will replace the elevator in the Kazan River Port. The investment volume is 450 million rubles. “In the next two years, a powerful water-grain hub will be formed on this site; the construction of floating filling stations for all types of barges and dry cargo ships is at the approval stage,” Demidov said.

Residents from Laishevo have found the best place for themselves at Alekseyevsk industrial park. Thus, Timerline-Prof is moving its production here. In total, agreements have been concluded with 11 residents. The benefit is that land rent costs only 100 thousand rubles per month. However, the residents will have to build the premises themselves, which is holding back the filling of the park. The Tatarstan Investment Development Agency and the Ministry of Industry and Tradeare looking for ways to obtain state support to finance construction projects. One can also buy empty livestock farms here — the price tag starts from a million. If you bring in cattle, the investor will not have a headache with finding forage. A forage centre with a capacity of 800 tonnes per day was launched earlier this year.

Hotel near Bilyarsk

Where else are they inviting businesses? The head of the district is looking for an investor to build a large hotel near Bilyarsk nature reserve. The first modern hotel complex is being built by Kamainvest 90 km from the reserve zone, but it does not cover the tourist flow. With a population of 25,000 people, the district was visited by 26,000 tourists last year. They come for a day, since there is nowhere to stay. The governor of the district is confident that investments in a 100-room hotel will pay off. “And how can this be fixed on paper?” Taliya Minullina asked incredulously. “Observations show,” Demidov answered her.

“Your coat of arms depicts a fallen tree, a spruce, is that a symbol of the development of the forestry complex? And the deer, is that in the reserve?” the meeting participants were interested in the meaning of the symbols of the district. “In the Bilyarsk area, there was just abatis when Ivan the Terrible annexed the Kazan Khanate. The felled tree symbolises this abatis. And the coat of arms depicts an elk, which is striving forward, but with an eye on experience,” answered Sergey Demidov. At the end, he gave the guests a handmade blanket depicting the views of the district.