(AGENPARL) – MOSCOW mar 18 aprile 2023

Replying to the President’s question, Mr Vedernikov spoke about the situation in the free economic
zone, which was established in the region several years ago. The Titan-Polimer
(Titanium Polymer) Plant is the main facility there. The launch of its second stage
will make it possible to organise a broad range of production lines – from
medical spare parts to tire cords. This is an attractive option considering all
the benefits offered by a special economic zone and zero costs for logistics.
This will become the core that is envisaged in the individual programme of socio-economic development for those ten regions with the smallest
budgets. The region spends about 900
million rubles every year to create comfortable conditions for investors.

The Governor
reported to the President that last year the tourist flow to the Pskov Region
grew by 40 percent. The main points of growth are Pskov, Pushkinskiye Gory, Pechory, and Izborsk. He recalled that this year the Pskov-Pechory Monastery turns 550 years
old and invited the President to attend the anniversary celebration, which will
include many events.

Speaking about
the socio-economic situation, the Governor noted that the past year was not easy
for the entire country and the Pskov
region was no exception. And it also faced its own challenges due to its geopolitical
position. Primarily this is linked with two NATO-member neighbours bordering
our region. Their actions disrupted logistics chains, creating a threat to the cargo
shipment sector. Our neighbours in the Baltic countries attempted
unsuccessfully to stage a humanitarian crisis on our border. Their customs and border services unilaterally ruptured all communications with their Russian
counterparts, which led to long lines of trucks. On some days, some 600–700 trucks
were backed up.

There was another
serious challenge – the European Union unilaterally discontinued all cross-border
cooperation programmes. The region lost about 300 million rubles as a result. Now
we are working with the Ministry of Economic Development to provide regional
and federal funds for the implementation of these programmes.

Together
with the Government of Russia, we promptly took the necessary decisions to counter
these unusual challenges in order to preserve jobs in the cargo-shipping sector
and help a number of large businesses find new markets for their products.

To be
continued.

Fonte/Source: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70945