Goods and Services Market
Investment Policy

In 2001 the important priority of activity of the Government of the RK was realization of actions of the program on realization of the state investment policy.

One of the major measures in this sphere at presence of favorable legislative base already created in 2000 in the investment sphere was promotion on the investment markets of the information on Karelia as the territory involving the investments in concrete branches and projects.

In these purposes in the past year selection of the prioritiest projects has been carried out, the Catalogue of investment projects and offers of 2001 submitted at the international conference on investments in the Northwest region of the Russian Federation, which were taking place in February, 2001, in Saint Petersburg, is generated and issued. For two days of conference more than 100 participants have become interested in the projects of the republic. It testifies that Karelia becomes more and more attractive for the investors. So, in recalculation of investments per capita the republic in 2001 is on the 3 place in the Northwest Federal District. On this parameter Karelia has outstripped such safe subjects of the Russian Federation as Bashkiria, St.Peterburg, the Belgorod, Tyumen, Nizhniy Novgorod, and Samara regions. The volume of investments per capita in the republic exceeds the average Russian level by 1.5 times. It is possible to tell with confidence that trust of investors to Karelia as to the object of investments grows.

In the past year in order to match the Russian legislation the basic investment laws "About investment activity in the RK" and "About the Budget of development of the RK" were updated. According to authoritative magazine "The Expert" Karelia in 2001 has the 11 place among subjects of the Russian Federation in the rating on the minimal risks in the legislation. The measures undertaken by the Government in 2001 promoted growth of volumes of investments in the real sector of economy. The volume of investments in the last year on the full circle of the enterprises is estimated in the sum of almost 11 billion roubles with the growth by 1.47 times compared to 2000.

Significant growth of inflow of investments in the past year was carried out in pulp-and-paper and woodworking industries, in ending of construction of the railway Ledmozero-Kochkoma, and in the mining complex.

The last year active work on the Fund of Development and Reconstruction of the RK was continued as regarding maintenance of return of means under the credits given till 1997, and effective utilization of available resources of Fund.

In 2001 above 25 million roubles from the means of the FD&R was assigned for granting of budgetary credits that has allowed to provide modernization of the equipment of the printing house named after Anokhin to get the comfortable buses successfully working on the routes both inside Karelia, and to Saint Petersburg, to commission the water-sports Centre, and to support the enterprises of the food-processing industry. Close interaction with federal authorities in 2001 has allowed to achieve realization in the republic of 36 federal target programs ( 27 in the previous year) with the volume of the centralized sources of financing on development Karelia at the rate of 318.9 million roubles, or by 34.5% more than in 2000. Due to these means construction and reconstruction of the Byelomor-Baltic Channel, buildings of national theatre and of the museum of fine arts, educational-laboratory building of PetrSU and other objects proceeds.

In the federal address investment program for the current year, for the purpose of development of the republic it has been stipulated 161.8 million roubles, or by 80.3% more than the last year. The republican investment program was successfully realized within the past year.

The important place in the work with investment resources was granted to the control of performance of orders of the voters arrived during the elections of 1998. On financing of actions for orders of voters due to all sources only in 2001 it has been allotted 440 million roubles or 54.7% of the volume of the means directed for realization of the orders for the last three years.

The Government of the RK still observes much more problems in the investment sphere to be solved necessarily. This includes assistance to creation of institutes of investment infrastructure, formation of conditions for attraction of the banking capital in the investment processes, decrease of administrative barriers on the way of business initiating and development, and creation of modern technologies.

The foreign investments received by the Republic of Karelia in 2001 have exceeded 40 million US dollars that is almost twice as many than the level of 2000 and is the highest parameter for all the previous years.

The greatest investments have been received at the enterprises "Karelian seafoods" (Byelomorsk), "Pegas International" (the settlement of Shuiskaya), "Ilyinsky timber mill", "Karhakos" (Kostomuksha), "Norfruz Eest" (Petrozavodsk).

As a whole, the share of foreign investments in the capital investments of the enterprises of the republic achieves 12%, and 60% of the enterprises of wood and pulp and paper industry.

Investment potentials