St. Petersburg (Sputnik) — The Leningrad Region has one of the lowest investment risk levels in the country, according to a national investment attractiveness rating, the regional government press service reported.
"According to the Russian regions investment attractiveness rating from the Ekspert RA rating agency, the Leningrad Region has improved its positions, taking fourth place in terms of investment risk," the report said.
The high level of the region's infrastructure development is also noted among the major components of its investment potential.
This year, the regional authorities made a number of decisions to improve the investment climate, including introducing project management procedures.
"We are pinning hopes on establishing a project office and a viable project management system in the region to ensure an investor-friendly climate," Dmitry Yalov, deputy prime minister and chairman of the regional committee for economic and investment activity, said.
The state-controlled Lenoblinnovatsii company, an industrial and innovative infrastructure developer, is the region's pilot project office. The company is implementing a number of projects, including the Northwestern Nanotechnology Center in Gatchina, and the Pikalyovo and Tosno industrial parks. Earlier this year, the company became one of Russia's top three state-run project management firms in the Project Olympus nationwide competition conducted by the Russian government's Analysis Center.
The Leningrad Region continues working to improve the investment climate on a municipal level. The municipal investment standard developed in the region has been adopted in three districts and is now being introduced in eight of 18 districts.
The Leningrad Region established special headquarters to lower administrative barriers and improve the investment climate in September 2014. Its activity is directly related to the Strategic Initiatives Agency's National Entrepreneurial Initiative to Improve Russia's Investment Climate.
The Leningrad Region began to implement the national initiative by introducing two pilot roadmaps — to improve the accessibility of energy infrastructure and streamline the legal regulation of urban development and improve the business climate in the construction sector. The regional government has set the following targets: 140 days for issuing construction permits in the region by 2017 and 80 days for connection to electricity grids.
