MOSCOW, June 22Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing tax breaks to be introduced for participants in the free economic zone (FEZ), which will be created in certain territories in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, from July 1, 2024. The document was posted on the website of the official publication of legal acts.
It is included in a package with another legislative initiative — on the extension of the preferential regime of SEZs to certain territories of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation adjacent to the territories of Ukraine and (or) the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Specific regions are not specified — they will be determined by the government. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin explained that we are talking about the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions. 
The law makes related changes to the Tax Code. In particular, they zero out the federal part of the income tax rate for investors in these territories for 10 years. And regions will be able to set the rate of income tax credited to their budgets in the range from 0 to 13.5%. Organizations are also exempt from property tax for 10 years (from the moment it is registered) and from land tax for three years (from the moment ownership of the land arises).
In addition, a single reduced rate of insurance premiums is established for organizations and individual entrepreneurs (7.6% with a base rate of 30%). Participants in this SEZ are also provided with a zero excise tax on liquid steel, exemption from the mineral extraction tax on coal and iron ore, the application of a free customs zone procedure and accelerated depreciation of fixed assets.
The press service of the Ministry of Economic Development previously explained that when developing this preferential mechanism, the experience of the Far East was taken as a basis: not the entire region will receive preferences, but specific locations that will be approved by the government. The SEZ regime will support three categories of investors — enterprises affected by shelling; production that needs to be transferred to safer locations; as well as businesses for which benefits will be an incentive to start a new project.
Preferences will allow residents of the FEZ not only to restore, but also to build new production facilities, said the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Nadezhda Shkolkina. At the same time, funds aimed at restoring enterprises destroyed as a result of shelling will also be considered investments. Thus, according to the deputy, it is planned to restore about 300 enterprises and attract more than 80 billion rubles of investment over 5 years.