- Статьи
- Economy
- Conditions of care: the free economic zone regime has been expanded in the border region
Conditions of care: the free economic zone regime has been expanded in the border region
The government will help investors to implement projects in certain territories of Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions. Previously, the free economic zone extended to actually operating and affected enterprises in the border areas. Now those who develop new projects in the manufacturing industry, agriculture, logistics, computer technology and software development will be able to use the mode. How this will affect the economic situation in the border region is described in the Izvestia article.
Distribution of benefits
The Ministry of Energy is expanding business support measures in the border areas of the Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions. Entrepreneurs planning to implement new investment projects will be able to take advantage of the preferential treatment of the free economic zone (FEZ). The FEZ mechanism provides access to tax and administrative benefits, which is especially important for small and medium-sized businesses, the agency's press service told Izvestia.
"It is important that the regime now applies not only to affected enterprises, but also to new initiatives in such areas as manufacturing, agriculture, logistics and IT. This will allow not only to restore the economy, but also to diversify its structure, create jobs and new growth points," the ministry said.
The adopted support mechanism is a consistent step in the implementation of the policy of restoring the industrial potential of the border regions, the Ministry of Economy noted. All the measures taken create comfortable business conditions, combining economic preferences with infrastructural support for the development of territories.
The implementation of an integrated approach to the socio-economic development of territories, according to representatives of the department, will stabilize the economic situation in the border region and will allow stimulating and developing new economic spheres by supporting entrepreneurial activity and creating new points of economic growth. Investment attractiveness is a systemic task, and we are implementing an integrated approach based on strategic decisions of the government.
"The main effect that we expect is the stabilization of the economic situation in the border region, a decrease in population outflow, an increase in business activity and the formation of a sustainable economy based on non—resource industries," the ministry added.
There are different types of SEZs: technical and innovation, production, port and tourist and recreational, associate professor of the Economics Faculty of RUDN University Sergey Zainullin reminded Izvestia. In the border regions, the development of tourism is still premature due to the existing dangers, but the development of industry is quite possible.
Entry thresholds
The expansion of the free economic zone opens up new prospects for SMEs in the border regions, Alexander Isaevich, General Director of the SME Corporation, told Izvestia. First of all, this is access to a whole range of benefits and preferences in priority areas. A differentiated approach is applied to the entry thresholds into the FEZ: for large businesses it is 30 million rubles, for SMEs — 3 million rubles, for IT projects - 1 million rubles.
— By becoming residents of the FEZ, businesses receive a reduction or exemption from certain taxes, preferential insurance premium rates and other preferences. Thanks to the influx of entrepreneurs, investments will be made in key industries, new jobs will be created, infrastructure will be developed, and new modern production facilities, including innovative ones, will appear.
According to him, special conditions are being created in the border regions to support small and medium-sized businesses. Thus, the SME Corporation has allocated support to enterprises in these regions of the Russian Federation in a separate area. Special limits of "umbrella" guarantees have been allocated for them. For entrepreneurs of the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions, the total volume of loans supported by the Corporation will amount to at least 6 billion rubles this year. Moreover, in all special limits from the SME Corporation, there are no restrictions on the industries in which SME borrowers work.
— A special preferential program has also been developed and is being implemented to support small and medium-sized businesses in the three border regions. Up to 30 million rubles can be received at a rate not higher than the key rate for the first year. In this program, borrowers can use our umbrella guarantees to obtain a loan," emphasized Alexander Isaevich. — Plus, small businesses in the manufacturing and light industries have access to preferential leasing from the SME Corporation at rates of 6% for Russian equipment and 8% for foreign equipment.
The situation on the ground
Investment is currently declining in the Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions, while the Kursk Region is among the top 10 regions of Russia with the most negative investment dynamics, said Vladislav Bukharsky, Associate Director for Regional and Sovereign Ratings at Expert RA. In the first quarter of 2025, in comparable prices, the volume of investments decreased by 3.2% in the Bryansk Region, by 9.6% in the Belgorod Region, and by 17% in the Kursk Region compared to the same period in 2024.
Against this background, in his opinion, the introduction of preferences for investors in this territory is quite justified, especially for key sectors of the regional economy, which include the manufacturing industry (in 2023, the share of this industry in GRP in the Bryansk region was 22.0%, in Belgorod — 17.8%, in Kursk — 17.7%) and agriculture (in 2023, the share of this industry in GRP in the Bryansk region was 16.7%, in the Belgorod region -14.8%, in the Kursk region -15.1%).
— In processing, production in the first five months of 2025 fell only in the Kursk region, with positive dynamics in the Belgorod and Bryansk regions, in agriculture, negative dynamics in the first quarter was observed in all three regions, but a decrease in agriculture was observed in half of the country's regions. It can be expected that the introduction of preferences of the free economic zone may improve the inflow of investments into these regions, but we will see their result in economic activity only in the medium term," said Vladislav Bukharsky.
Additionally, investments in these regions can be attracted by expanding the list of industries with privileges within the free economic zone, the expert believes. It should also include programs to increase labor mobility, which include relocation support.
The next option to attract investment to the regions may be a government order that will stimulate production, Sergei Zainullin believes. But this is a more expensive way for the budget than providing tax incentives and investments in infrastructure in special economic zones.
The adopted innovation is a logical step, but such benefits are unlikely to work in isolation, if only because there are many territories with a SEZ regime in the country and their number is growing, Evgeny Kutsenko, director of the Russian Cluster Observatory Center at the Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia.
— Most likely, these legislative changes are groundwork for the future, when the risks of property loss decrease and investors begin to look at the "mathematics" of projects. By the way, the Belgorod Region has traditionally held high positions in the national investment climate rating. I hope that these positions will be returned in the near future," he said.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
