The head of the DPR supported the draft laws on the creation of a free economic zone in new regions
On April 19, the State Duma unanimously adopted in the first reading a bill on the creation of a free economic zone in four new regions of Russia. Deputies called tax breaks and tariff incentives for businesses that will be ready to bring their capital to the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions unprecedented. And the very situation in which a new economic paradise for investors is emerging is unique. Moreover, neither the Cabinet of Ministers nor the Duma members want to wait for the guns to fall silent. The new law may come into force this year.
Denis Pushilin on the podium.
According to the forecasts of the Duma members, the influx of capital will give impetus to construction, the creation of new jobs, the development of agriculture and — perhaps this is the main thing for today — the restoration of everything that was destroyed due to hostilities. The Ministry of Construction will primarily supervise the work on creating a free economic zone.
The free economic zone (FEZ) should be created on January 1, 2024 and last at least until the end of 2050. The main thing in the bill is tax incentives for investors. This is an exemption from paying the federal part of income tax for 10 years. In addition, investors will be exempted from paying land tax for three years. Insurance premium rates will also be lowered to 7.6% instead of the usual 30%.
The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, came to the State Duma to support the initiative. He said that we need to act faster:
“We need to attract investments as soon as possible and in a high-risk mode so that Donbass returns to its natural state, when it provides for itself and helps other regions. This is the normal state. Now, when all of Russia is helping Donbass, we are sincerely grateful for this, but for the residents of Donbass, this is an unnatural state. I would like it to end as quickly as possible,” Pushilin said from the podium.
The head of the DPR agreed: yes, the risks are increased. Therefore, approaches must be non-standard. Moreover, the story with the SEZ is unlikely to burn out on the patriotism of investors alone.
Still, investors are about money and about guarantees. Therefore, here I would ask you to take into account for the second reading such moments, perhaps non-standard, but which will definitely be attractive to investors. For example, this is the tax treaty regime. These are long-term agreements for 10-15 years, which include a single fixed tax with an amount verified from all sides. For an investor, this is a guarantee against tax audits. And for us, this is a guaranteed income to the budget for a long-term period,” Denis Pushilin suggested.
The deputies were so inspired by Pushilin’s speech that they suggested shifting the start date of the SEZ to the left so as not to waste time.
Stop living in calendar years. We will adopt it in a month in the second and third readings, and let all these benefits start working here and now, without waiting for January 1, 2024,» said LDPR deputy Stanislav Naumov. He also proposed a zero-rate mining tax. This is the only way to earn metallurgy and coal mining in Donbass. Investments are not only a “green field”, but also a major overhaul. These investments must be taken into account, because this is the only way jobs are created here and now, Naumov said.
Denis Kravchenko from United Russia emphasized that preferential treatment for investors has already proved to be the best. For example, in five years Crimea managed to attract 157 billion rubles of investments and increase regional GDP by more than 60%. A package of three bills for new regions is generally an unprecedented thing in terms of the scale of benefits for investors.
The bill did not encounter any particular obstacles. Maximum — a slight note of distrust from the deputy Alexei Kurinny. He doubted that the developers of the amendments had well calculated the materiel in terms of the loss of income of extra-budgetary funds due to reduced tariffs for residents of the future special economic zone. distrustful colleague, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes Gleb Khor. And he added: “Let's hope that we can manage it.”
Judging by the results of the vote, the rest of the deputies are sure of the same. The Duma members adopted all three bills unanimously in the first reading.