Investment development strategies are to be developed by the district executive committees of the Vitebsk region
This was discussed at a meeting of the regional executive committee, during which the work of regional authorities on attracting investment resources was analyzed. As noted by the head of the region, Nikolai Sherstnev, this issue is of paramount importance today and directly affects the situation in a particular industry or sphere of life.
Both republican authorities, the regional executive committee, and management bodies in the districts are jointly addressing the task of finding investors. Therefore, a failure in any link of this chain, a disruption of communication along the vertical of power, negatively affects the overall result.
This point was addressed to the heads of districts present in the hall, as well as a large group of representatives from republican ministries and departments, led by the Chairman of the State Control Committee, Leonid Anfimov, and the head of the Standing Commission on Regional Policy and Local Self-Government of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Popkov.
Taking the opportunity, Nikolai Sherstnev drew the attention of the guests from the capital to the quality of coordination between the center and the region, which does not satisfy the regional leadership.
– Unfortunately, today we are not heard in the government, including when making decisions that should correspond to the interests of the Vitebsk region, – stated the head of the region. He cited the situation with republican industrial enterprises located in the region as an example.
Against the backdrop of increased investment activity by public utilities and private companies, the volume of funds attracted by entities subordinate to the center is decreasing. The largest reduction in investments is noted in organizations of the Ministry of Energy and Belneftekhim concern, which account for 60% of the investment volume by republican enterprises. Given this trend, the regional executive committee has initiated the transfer of a group of enterprises with the most difficult situations from republican to communal ownership. This will allow for resolving production issues and employee problems locally. Nevertheless, this initiative has been stalled for 1.5 years. The de facto dual power for such organizations bodes no good.
However, the main part of the discussion concerned the analysis of internal investment shortcomings and the formulation of proposals for their correction.
As reported by Oleg Matskevich, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, no district has yet fully resolved the issues of organizing activities for investor search, developing business plans for projects in the commercial and social spheres, including for inclusion in state investment programs, and presenting proposals at the international level to attract external partners.
Since 2009, a working group on investor relations has been operating under the regional executive committee; a list of key investment projects is formed annually; a database of unused property for involvement in circulation is maintained; and data on land plots for potential investors is available. At the same time, only the district executive committee knows best how and under what conditions a project can be quickly and effectively implemented in its territory, while ensuring compliance with environmental and sanitary standards, and offering the potential partner the most qualified design and construction organizations.
– Before inviting an investor, you need to work through the project yourself with all services and departments, – reminded Oleg Matskevich. – Then it will be possible to avoid situations that lead to the termination of investment agreements or exceeding implementation deadlines.
For now, such examples are noted everywhere. In addition, today in nine districts not a single project is being implemented under investment agreements, and in another six, they are overdue by 1.5-2 years. Of course, in many cases, investors themselves were not ready to bring their own ideas to life, and sometimes they simply wanted to stake out a promising land plot. In other words, local authorities need to look for more serious partners. There are also questions about the quality of proposals, including the content of investment-oriented materials posted on the websites of city and district executive committees.
Sergey Antonov, "Vitebskiye Vesti".