Russia

Special Economic Zones of the Russian Federation Seminar
The Russia Midlands Business Club is pleased to be hosting a seminar on the Special Economic Zones of the Russian Federation on Wednesday 25 May and I would like to invite you to join us to discover the business and investment opportunities that are available to UK companies in these areas.

Special economic zones (SEZs) were created in 2005 with the aim of attracting investment into the regions of Russia and are areas eligible for special business regulations. Russia currently has 24 SEZs throughout the country which are categorised into four types – industrial & development zones; technological implementation zones; tourist & recreational zones and port zones.

Our guest speakers from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Open Joint Stock Company SEZ will introduce you to the special economic zones and will provide you with:

• An update on the Russian investment climate
• Key strategic considerations for the SEZ project
• The benefits of operating in a SEZ
• An insight into the SEZs of Dubna and Togliatti, including their key industry clusters and advantages
• Details of how to become a SEZ resident investor

Kindly sponsored by the Open Joint Stock Company SEZ, the event will be taking place at the Hilton East Midlands Airport and will commence with registration and refreshments at 9.30 am. The presentations will begin at 10.00 am and the morning will draw to a close with a networking buffet lunch at midday.

Economic Overview
Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. Nonetheless, the rapid privatization process, including a much criticized "loans-for-shares" scheme that turned over major state-owned firms to politically-connected "oligarchs", has left equity ownership highly concentrated.

The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference. Russian industry is primarily split between globally-competitive commodity producers - in 2009 Russia was the world's largest exporter of natural gas, the second largest exporter of oil, and the third largest exporter of steel and primary aluminum - and other less competitive heavy industries that remain dependent on the Russian domestic market. This reliance on commodity exports makes Russia vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the highly volatile swings in global commodity prices.

The government since 2007 has embarked on an ambitious program to reduce this dependency and build up the country's high technology sectors, but with few results so far. A revival of Russian agriculture in recent years has led to Russia shifting from being a net grain importer to a net grain exporter. The economy had averaged 7% growth since the 1998 Russian financial crisis, resulting in a doubling of real disposable incomes and the emergence of a middle class. The Russian economy, however, was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up.

The Central Bank of Russia spent one-third of its $600 billion international reserves, the world's third largest, in late 2008 to slow the devaluation of the ruble. The government also devoted $200 billion in a rescue plan to increase liquidity in the banking sector and aid Russian firms unable to roll over large foreign debts coming due. The economic decline appears to have bottomed out in mid-2009 and by the second half of the year there were signs that the economy was growing, albeit slowly. Long-term challenges include a shrinking workforce, a high level of corruption, and poor infrastructure in need of large capital investment.

	Ready to do business in Central Europe?
	Register now for access to our full range of support services