At the start of the meeting the President asked the Governor how the loan extended by the BRICS Bank for the restoration of historical settlements would be used. Mr Voskresensky said that the programme to fully restore the infrastructure of the historical settlements is being carried out by the Russian Federation Government in cooperation with theBRICS New Development Bank (NDB). The loan exceeds 2 billion rubles. Recently, the Ministry of Culture’s interdepartmental commission decided to include into the programme two cities of the Ivanovo Region – Shuya and Kineshma. It will take several years to implement the programme that will be funded by the NDB loan. It provides for the restoration of the historical image of these two ancient Russian cities.
As for the general situation, the Governor reported that much has been done for the Ivanovo Region’s transport system connecting it with a number of economic centres. It only takes 3.40 hours to get to Moscow by a high-speed train. There are daily flights to St Petersburg and the road to Nizhny Novgorod is being repaired.
As a result, large corporations, including Sogaz, INTER RAO and Rosseti have already created over 2,000 jobs there and transferred a number of departments from Moscow to Ivanovo. There is an agreement with Technodinamika holding to create a parachute cluster in Ivanovo at the Polet Plant, the leading producer of parachute equipment.
The growth of the industrial production index amounted to 2.4 percent. One of the region’s biggest companies – Avtokran – is back at work. This year it has increased its revenues by 73 percent. It is working steadily and is about to export its products.
The Governor also spoke to the President about the repair work and the upgrading of roads, investment in agriculture, and the creation of two priority development areas with a view to attracting investment, primarily in the field of textiles and medical equipment. Special attention is paid to the entire chain of flax cultivation, from flax growing to processing factories and end products.
In addition to this, the Governor told the President about the measures being taken to support small and medium-sized businesses. Capital investment in this sector grew by 17.9 percent over a period of six months. In the national investment climate ranking, the Ivanovo Region is first in terms of supporting small businesses.