Andrey Chibis: the volume of investments in the Murmansk region has grown by more than 9 percent 
The volume of investments in the Murmansk region has grown by more than 9 percent … Governor Andrei Chibis announced this at a meeting of the regional government.
“This year, in terms of investment activity, we continue to outstrip the average Russian values. The volume of investments increased by 9.4 percent and amounted to 82.5 billion rubles. This is the money that has been invested in the economy of the Murmansk region, in those investment projects that we have today. I would like to note that the growth in the country as a whole amounted to 7.3 percent, “the head of the region said.
According to the governor, the volume of construction work in the region also increased by 34 percent, which is almost six times higher than on average in Russia.
In addition, the governor noted that the Murmansk region is a border region with a high export potential. It was he who made it possible to increase the volume of non-resource non-energy exports to 4.1 billion US dollars (the region's share in Russian exports is 2.5 percent). According to this parameter, the Kola Polar Region is in second place in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and in eighth place in Russia. According to the governor, this is the merit of the Murmansk industrial exporting enterprises and the fishing complex of the region.
“The Murmansk Region remains the leader in terms of the number of residents of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. One more resident was added yesterday, and now there are already 93 of them. The total declared volume of investments from them is 123.7 billion rubles. Of these, 8.7 billion rubles have already been actually invested, which is 2.5 billion rubles more than it was planned. This is almost half of all investments made in the Arctic zone of Russia. And we have already implemented five projects under this preferential regime, “he said.
Including positive dynamics is observed for residents of the ASEZ “Capital of the Arctic”. The declared volume of investments from nine residents amounted to almost 104 billion rubles. In fact, at present, 78.5 billion rubles have been invested (8 billion more than according to the plan). And tax revenues to the budget have already exceeded 2 billion rubles.
“Thanks to the support of the federal government, we managed to achieve that we receive taxes not only from the finished infrastructure and ready-made facilities, but also from those contractors who work on our territory,” said Andrey Chibis. “In total, in the ASEZ and AZRF, the region is now ahead of the plan by 10.5 billion rubles.” This figure is higher than that of all regions of this program combined. According to Andrey Chibis, its popularity in the Murmansk region breaks all records and forecasts.
The number of people employed in medium and small businesses in the first half of this year increased by 2.8 thousand people compared to last year. The number of self-employed has doubled – up to 11 thousand. Thanks to 51 grants issued under the Governor's startup program, 2,140 jobs have been created.
“And this year we see a trend towards a decrease in the number of people leaving the region by 2.3 percent. And this is the main goal of our plan “In the North – Live!” – to reduce the outflow of the population from the Murmansk region and, conversely, to provide additional conditions for people to come to the Kola Polar region, “the governor summed up.