SEZ TECHNOPOLIS MOSCOW WON SIX NOMINATIONS OF THE WORLD RATING OF FREE ECONOMIC ZONES
The judging panel for the prestigious Global Free Zones of the Year award, established by the world's
leading magazine on foreign direct investment, fDi Magazine,
had high praise for Technopolis Moscow's application. As a result, the Russian
free economic zone won six bespoke awards in the following categories: Cluster
Development, Development of Public-Private Partnership, Real-Estate
Flexibility, Red Tape Reduction, and Workforce Amenities, including a new
category in 2020—Covid-19 Support.
The Global
Free Zones of the Year rating is the only international SEZ rating that is
globally recognized and that has been published on a regular basis since 2014.
In 2020, 100 applications from all over the world
were submitted for participation in the rating. The activities carried out by
each SEZ were reviewed across 80 categories.
"SEZ
Technopolis Moscow took part in the Global Free Zones of the Year rating of
special economic zones around the world for the first time and demonstrated the
best result achieved by a Russian SEZ in the entire history of the award. The
experts had high praise for the possibilities offered by SEZ Technopolis
Moscow, including the localization of production capacities under offset
contracts, amounting to a total of USD 150 million. The efforts taken by SEZ Technopolis
Moscow aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting residents who
had to quickly repurpose their production facilities were noted separately in
the rating, in a new category for 2020. For example, during the period of
temporary restrictions, SEZ Technopolis Moscow reduced the rent for 100
manufacturers and allowed companies to save about RUB 50 million in three
months, from April to July,” said Vladimir
Efimov, Vice-Mayor
of Moscow for Economic policy and Land-property affairs
SEZ Technopolis Moscow includes five
sites (Technopolis Moscow in Pechatniki, Alabushevo, Mikron, Angstrem, MIET)
with a total area of over 200 hectares. The Special Economic Zone of Moscow has
both greenfield and brownfield territories. To date, 180 Russian and
international high-tech companies are located on the grounds of the Moscow SEZ.
The judging panel of the Global Free Zones of the Year award had high
praise for the flexible conditions offered to the SEZ residents, its overall
investment attractiveness, and the opportunities available for expanding
production facilities. The infrastructure opportunities provided by the
Moscow technopolis were noted separately, as well as the sites area and their
improvement and the educational cooperation carried out with leading
universities in Russia and abroad.
“All
corporate residents of the Moscow SEZ, regardless of the beneficiary country,
receive equal tax benefits, duty-free import allowances, reduced long-term
lease rates, flexible policy regarding the leased area, developed
infrastructure and transport accessibility to major customers and large
warehouses. These factors contribute not only to attracting new investors but
also to the expansion of existing production facilities," said Alexander Prokhorov, Head of the Department
for Investment and Industrial policy of Moscow.
According to Gennady
Degtev, CEO of SEZ Technopolis Moscow, the rating also mentioned the
infrastructure opportunities provided by SEZ Moscow Technopolis, as well as the
sites area and their improvement and the educational cooperation carried out with
leading universities in Russia and abroad.
“Winning in six categories at once is
the best result seen for a Russian SEZ in this rating since 2014, when the
rating became annual. Previously, the best result among Russian special
economic zones was a victory in five categories—Alabuga in 2015 and Lipetsk in
2019," he noted.
SEZ
Technopolis Moscow owes its success to the systematic measures carried out by
the Moscow Government aimed at improving the investment climate and efficiency
of the city's business infrastructure. Preferences from the city authorities
given to residents of a special economic zone can help them to save
significantly on taxes and other mandatory payments. It includes a zero tax
rate on fixed assets, reduced income tax, and duty-free imports. In addition,
for residents of the Moscow SEZ, the amount of land redemption is one percent
of its cadastral value.
"In 2020, Moscow took high positions in other ratings published by
fDi Intelligence. In the European Cities of the Future rating of the most
attractive cities in terms of investment, Moscow came in the top five with
regard to Human Capital and Conditions for Doing Business, and in the top 10
cities in terms of Economic Potential and Cost Efficiency among major European
cities. Moscow is also one of the twenty most promising cities in Europe in
terms of investments in technology, innovation, and startups—the Russian
capital came in 18th place in the Tech Cities of the Future rating, out of a
total of 76," noted Kirill Purtov, the Minister of the Moscow
Government and Head of the Department for Economic Policy and Development.