On December 9-10, the XV International Forum “The Arctic: Present and Future” was held in St. Petersburg.
Every year a large delegation from the Krasnoyarsk Territory takes part in the forum, in which representatives of Norilsk are always present. This time, from the northern city, representatives of local governments, the Norilsk Nickel company, the Norilsk Development Agency, the Our Norilsk Endowment Fund, the Tower OKC, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participated in the work of the expert platforms.
Chairman of the Norilsk City Council Alexander Pestryakov took part in the work of three forum platforms: as a moderator of the session “In the center of events: how SMEs are shaping the service economy of the Arctic”, as well as a speaker at the sessions “Centers of gravity: socio-economic development of Arctic municipalities” and “Polar intelligence: AI as a driver of development”.
During the session, where Alexander Pestryakov acted as a moderator, issues of interaction between government and business in the context of regional economic development were discussed. Representatives of SMEs shared their positive experience in implementing projects that had a beneficial impact on the socio-economic sphere.
At the same time, there are certain difficulties and problems in a number of areas of public-private partnership. In particular, we are talking about the so-called “reform of the simplified tax system (STS)” in the context of the decision to reduce the income limit from 60 million rubles to 10 million rubles.
“Unfortunately, tax policy does not classify regions. And what may not greatly affect the activities of SMEs, for example, in the Krasnodar Territory, will inevitably create serious difficulties for the business community of the Arctic territories. This, in turn, will inevitably reduce the investment attractiveness of the Russian Arctic. Therefore, today at the level of federal departments the possibility of gradually reducing the income limit for applying the simplified tax system is being widely discussed,” noted Alexander Pestryakov.
This issue was the subject of discussion the day before at a meeting of the State Council on the Northern Sea Route and the Arctic. Experts cited statistical data: tax reform regarding the simplified tax system will affect 50% of Arctic entrepreneurs, since the income threshold in the northern territories is reached faster due to the high cost of goods and services, complex logistics and serious utility costs. A sixfold reduction in limits will ultimately lead to higher prices for residents of the Arctic.
The final resolution of the forum will include the following proposal: with a gradual reduction in income limits for applying the simplified tax system, legislate for Arctic entrepreneurs a limit twice as high as for other territories of the Russian Federation.
During expert discussions at many forum platforms, various issues and problems in the work on the development of the Arctic were discussed. One of the main tasks today is to ensure the growth of the territories’ labor capital. It is no secret that attracting workers to the north is a task of national importance.
Therefore, the attractiveness of Arctic cities is increased through large-scale infrastructure projects, the implementation of which is carried out with significant financial support from large businesses. In Norilsk, this is, of course, the Norilsk Nickel company, which throughout its 90-year history has been a guarantor of stability in all urban areas – from housing and communal services to youth policy.
The comprehensive plan for the socio-economic development of Norilsk until 2035 in the current difficult geopolitical and economic conditions is a unique project, a huge contribution to increasing the investment attractiveness of the city and an example of the responsible attitude of large businesses towards the territories where they operate. The Norilsk experience has been actively implemented for several years in many territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including in the area of changes in the regional and federal legislative framework.
And Norilsk Nickel continues to develop public-private partnerships in the territories where it operates: on the sidelines of the forum, the Company’s Vice President for Federal and Regional Programs Andrei Grachev, the head of the Federal Agency for National Affairs Igor Barinov and the President of the All-Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation Alexander Novyukhov signed a new cooperation agreement providing for various aspects of the development of local communities.
“Those issues that are raised at large discussion platforms, those documents that are signed publicly, are the guideline and foundation for further work for authorities at all levels. The long-term partnership between Norilsk and Norilsk Nickel may even cause a certain envy of other territories. And, of course, representatives of big business in our country, seeing such positive experience, such attention from the state to responsible entrepreneurship, are trying to meet these high standards and make an increasing contribution to the development of “their” cities,” Alexander Pestryakov, speaker of the Norilsk parliament, summed up his participation in the XV forum “The Arctic: Present and Future.”
