Investment Climate, Strategy, and Regional Administrative Efficiency

Here are some of the views of several participants in the conference held in October 2003 in Moscow, Russia’s Regions: from Survival to Prosperity. New approaches to improving investment climate and increasing economic growth.

Vladimir Blank, Deputy Executive Chair at PSB (Industry and Construction Bank) and former Vice-Governor of Pskov Province:

- The main limiting factor to regional development is the efficiency of administrative teams and company owners. It is ridiculous that people at the helm ask whether the region really needs a strategy. This only happens because local administrations don’t really understand what they are administering. For this reason, many “strategies” merely preserve the ratios and relationships that already exist in the region.

Artur Sazonov, Vice-Governor of Yaroslavl Province:

- Yaroslavl Province is a great example of a region struggling to survive without natural resources. The provincial administration and local companies developed a group of effective managers during the era of post-Soviet reform. This is how we managed to maintain production potential. The function of regional authorities is to remove via legislation all barriers in investors’ way and to simplify bureaucratic procedures. Yaroslavl Province strategically supports strong and profitable companies, not weak ones.

Dmitry Grishankov, General Director of Expert RA Rating Agency:

- Doubling the GDP to a significant extent will not rely solely on Moscow, but will involve every region in Russia. Yaroslavl Province gives us an excellent example of successful development. The provincial administration spent several years working strategically. The financial indicators of local companies have improved, real incomes have increased, and the region has balanced its budget. These changes have allowed Yaroslavl Province to achieve an A-level credit rating with a very positive outlook from Expert RA-AKM.