Posted: Российская Газета
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev under the SPIEF held a meeting with the Russian business representatives. Key questions were the realization of joint projects and investment climate of two countries. First deputy prime minister of Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov had to answer loaded question: will the jury of neighbors become more attractive for Russian business.
A substantial part of Russian and Kazakh collaboration today is developing under the common Eurasian economic space and the Eurasian Economic Union. In his opening speech, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin reminded that Nazarbayev has more than 20 years ago, expressed the idea of such a union, which is currently successfully developing.
– In Kazakhstan, there are currently about six thousand companies with Russian capital – has confirmed President of Kazakhstan. – The total portfolio of investments is estimated at 25 billion dollars, taking into account the energy sector, in the sphere of small and medium-sized businesses it is 7-8 billion dollars.
Nazarbayev pointed that the main task of development of Kazakhstan is the industrialization of the country's economy, which since the USSR has "one-sided" raw-material orientation. Therefore, for the priority sectors – chemical, petrochemical, food processing, metal – there are set serious preferences. These benefits include not only exemption from some taxes for a long time, but also a refund of up to 30 percent of capital costs after start of production. Under the priority projects also allowed to employ foreign workers without quotas and restrictions, and for small and medium-sized the state subsidizes the interest rate on loans up to a fixed level of seven percent – "whatever it is in the country".
Such conditions seem to be very attractive to business. Russian entrepreneurs confirmed this directly, describing their investment projects that are implemented or planned for implementation. Thus, the company "Technonikol" – manufacturer of roofing, waterproofing and thermal insulation materials – intends to build in Kazakhstan mineral wool manufacturing plant with production capacity of 90 tons per year and an investment volume of 3.2 billion rubles. A "European Bearing Corporation", which is the plant for the production of railway bearings have been working for a long time in the Stepnogorsk, announced the possibility of creating an innovation cluster.
– Now we are preparing the plant construction project with American company and we will produce high-technology bearings abroad, – told the Head of "EBC" Aleksandr Moskalenko. – One more company from USA is ready to build a plant of components’ production for innovative wagons. Return of 30 % is one more reason for investor coming to Kazakhstan.
Russian company "EFKO" entered production of fats and margarines to neighbors, which meets international standards and is ready to make Kazakhstan from importer to exporter of such a product.
Only an amount of oilseeds’ fee cause concern, which makes profitable the export of raw materials, not the finished product, "gives" workplaces to the side and added value. General Director of "EFKO" Evgeniy Lyashenko during the meeting asked Nazarbayev "to consider a mechanism of processors protection in the country".
Head of Kazakhstan also knew about joint projects of oil and precious metals’ mining, production of mineral fertilizers, and the participants of the meeting asked the question - will the business climate in Kazakhstan be more attractive for Russian entrepreneurs than those in their own country.
– We feel the competition, watch all political initiatives and want that business conditions in Russia were not worse but much better, – assured Igor Shuvalov.
In his turn, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said that the unity of the EEU opens up great opportunities for joint projects and permanent dialogue between business and government is the key to effective cooperation between the two countries.
– In some spheres we are ahead in terms of new tools (of business development – "Rossiyskaya Gazeta"), somewhere Kazakh colleagues move faster, – he noted, – we exchange experience. And in the development of new technological trends we need to involve universities, scientists of two countries to develop a more efficient engineering.
In the future, according to Manturov, to the implementation of joint projects there will be need to involve the BRICS and other countries of EEU, it is useful for business. However, it is necessary to provide legislative mechanisms for the union market, to protect against counterfeit and falsified products.
"RG" note
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2015 the volume of direct Russian investments in Kazakhstan amounted to about $ 9 billion, Kazakhstan for the same period invested in the Russian economy nearly three billion dollars.
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