Far East Ministry discusses legal package on Arctic preferences with regions
© RIA Novosti. Evgeniy Odinokov

Far East Ministry discusses legal package on Arctic preferences with regions

The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic has launched a series of consultations between the authorities of the Arctic regions and the business community to anticipate the enactment of a federal legal package offering state support for entrepreneurship in the Russian Arctic.

Deputy Minister Alexander Krutikov chaired the first meeting, held online, with representatives of regional governments from the Arctic zone.

"I would like to thank the regions. Almost all of them said they were ready to offer additional preferences under the simplified tax system for businesses in the Arctic. This will help small and medium-sized businesses a great deal. At this stage, it is essential that this information reaches as many business owners as possible. The regional heads and their deputies are proactively engaged with the business community. I am asking you to use every opportunity to share this benefit with businesses," Mr. Krutikov said during the online conference.

He went on to emphasize that the laws that have been adopted include preferences not only for major investment projects, but also for small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, preferences related to profit tax and social insurance premiums for projects outside the upstream sector.

Mr. Krutikov proposed holding webinars for local businesses and business associations in the participating regions.

"We have one month to schedule these events. The ministry is ready to hold webinars for entrepreneurs in each of the nine regions," he noted.

The Deputy Minister also laid out the procedures businesses will have to follow when applying for Arctic zone resident status.

"Let me remind you that prospective residents will have to submit just a few documents, including the application, incorporation documents and a business plan. We will soon approve the application form; it will be available online and can be filled out automatically. Business owners will have to fill out the required squares, and the application is ready."

Alexander Pavlov, head of the Arctic Department within the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, presented a special investors section at arctic-russia.ru.

"The Investor section will offer detailed information on how to benefit from support measures and step-by-step instructions for filing out an application with examples of each document required in the process. The corresponding regulations will be uploaded to the website as soon as they are adopted. I am asking you to draw the attention of business owners to this platform and the information it presents," Mr. Pavlov pointed out.

The representatives from the Arctic regions said they were ready to work under the "Arctic package" as soon as it comes into force. In particular, all nine regions have already designated organisations that will take on the role of management companies, and also determined timelines for drafting and adopting regional and municipal regulations on local tax preferences.