FDI in Tatarstan Increases By 580% in 2012

 The Republic of Tatarstan attracted at least $577 million of Foreign Direct Investment in 2012, according to preliminary figures, a 580% increase over the $99.5 million of FDI attracted in 2011.

This spike bring the total amount of accumulated FDI into Tatarstan to $1.3 billion, and makes Tatarstan’s FDI per capita figure for 2012 equal $151.

Totaling 1.4 trillion rubles ($47 billion), Tatarstan’s Gross Regional Product in 2012 was 5.5% higher than in 2011. 

According to Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Chief Executive Linar Yakupov, these results are an encouraging sign that the republic is on the right track.

“The FDI figure of $577 million for 2012, nearly six times the figure in 2012, is testament to the lengths our republic has taken to improve its investment climate, but we still have a lot of work ahead,” he said. “TIDA’s goal for 2013 is to bring in $1 billion of FDI and I think this goal is achievable, given the groundwork we have laid over the past year.” 

Tatarstan’s commendable FDI figures were foreshadowed in the end of last year in a series of strong showings in investment climate ratings conducted by international and Russian organizations.

In December, Russian independent rating agency Expert RA ranked all of Russia’s 83 regions based on investment potential and risk. Tatarstan was one of only five regions awarded the highest rating of 1A (maximum potential, minimal risk), along with the City of Moscow, the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, and Krasnodarsky Krai. 

Just one month earlier, in November, Russia’s Social Opinion Research Laboratory issued a report naming President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov the most business-friendly of all of Russia’s regional heads. In September, the Russo-German Chamber of Commerce’s biannual investment climate report named Tatarstan the most attractive region for investment in Russia.

FDI plays an important role in Tatarstan’s 2011-2015 Socio-Economic Development Plan. According to the plan, the republic’s FDI per capita should total $1,500 by the end of 2015. 

Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Press Service