About Nijhniy Novgorod Region

Administrative center — City of Nizhny Novgorod,

Nizhny Novgorod Region is a constituent region of the Russian Federation, located in the center of European Russia. It is one of the largest regions of Central Russia.

Area – 76,900 km²

Population– 3,340,700 people

Population Density – 43.44 people per km²

Share of urban population – 78.9%

Part of Privolzhsky Federal District.

Nizhny Novgorod Region is one of the most economically-advanced regions of the Russian Federation. It is a major industrial region with a high share of processing-industry enterprises. The high level of R&D activities pursued by local enterprises and the area’s strong educational system help make the region a national leader in terms of innovation potential. Open government policies help support local businesses; the area’s favorable geographical location and well-developed infrastructure promotes the region’s active integration into the wider system of international economic relations. The region maintains foreign trade with 115 countries, and actively attracts Russian and foreign investors.

Nizhny Novgorod Region is an attractive region for investments. The region is home to unique clusters of petrochemical, metallurgical and food industries. Automotive companies have also been traditionally strong. Most of the region’s cash flow is not derived from mining operations, with most regional investors tending to pursue processing industries.

Regional investment legislation has been recognized as some of the best in the country, with red tape and administrative barriers having been reduced to a minimum. The Governor oversees the work of the Investment Council, and a single-window system is in place. State support measures for investors have been enacted into law, making Nizhny Novgorod 

Region a near special economic zone in terms of doing business.

Nizhny Novgorod Region produces a total of some 2% of Russian GDP and 3% of all industrial products, accounting for almost 2.5% of all federal tax revenue. Small businesses make a significant contribution to the local economy. The region is among the top ten Russian regions in terms of small-business development, which employs over a quarter of the economically-active population.

The Regional Development Strategy through 2020 presupposes two main thrusts for developing the regional economy. The first goal is to upgrade and improve the efficiency of existing enterprises, and the second goal is to attract investors who are ready to implement competitive projects in the region.

Nizhny Novgorod is one of the most attractive Russian regions in terms of logistics: a total of some 43 million people live within a radius of 500 km, and their purchasing power is 40% higher than the Russian average. Eighty-four million people live within a radius of one thousand kilometers of Nizhny Novgorod proper, representing more than one half of the country’s entire population. Therefore, by virtue of its very location, Nizhny Novgorod Region is a natural center for the distribution of consumer goods.

The region has historically served as a major transportation hub. The region has over 12,000 km of highways, with traffic density twice the Russian average. The region also boasts 1,300 km of railroad tracks, with a density of general-access railroads three times higher than the national Russian average. The region also enjoys a warehouse terminal and a passenger port, a total of 900 km of internal waterways, and an international airport.

Nizhny Novgorod has long-standing technological traditions. The Region is home to many Russian automotive, aircraft and shipbuilding companies, equipment engineering plants, nuclear physics enterprises, defense industry plants and other high-tech economic sectors.

The region’s research and development sector is represented by 94 R&D enterprises. Ten of these organizations represent federal ministries, 23 R&D institutions represent various sectors of the economy, 25 institutions provide design and development, technological and prospecting services; 16 are industrial enterprises, 7 are universities, and 8 are R&D institutes under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.

Nizhny Novgorod is one of the country’s leading educational centers, boasting 17 state institutions of higher learning (5 universities, 6 academies, and 6 institutes), and 18 branches of Nizhny Novgorod universities, out-of-town universities and 20 private institutions of higher learning.

Nizhny Novgorod is one of the most attractive Russian regions for doing business. The region boasts the best investment legislation in the country. The region takes a novel approach to working with investors, with red tape and administrative barriers having been reduced to a minimum. A single-window system is in place for investment project documentation. The Investment Council, under the auspices of the Governor, considers all investment projects presented in the region.

Investors pursuing investments in the regional economy enjoy tax preferences. For the duration of the project recoupment period, they may be exempted from tax payments for a period of up to five years, in some cases, up to seven years. Investors can get up to a 25% discount on their regional income tax.

Top development priorities and investment policy guidelines have been defined in the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Development Strategy through 2020. Priority has been given to projects that create a large number (more than 100) of high-salary jobs and presuppose future higher payments to the consolidated regional budget (around ten million rubles).

The first priority group includes automotive industry enterprises, scientific and educational institutions, and new economic sectors – IT companies, radio electronics and equipment engineering, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

The second priority group includes ferrous metallurgy, the fuel industry, aviation, the chemical and petrochemical industry, the glass industry, and tourism.

The third priority group includes construction-material plants, the medical industry, the timber industry, the pulp-and-paper industry, light industry, shipbuilding and agriculture.

A total of 56 projects with a total financing amount of roughly RUB 200 bln received top-priority status by the end of last year. They encompass large-scale projects by various Nizhny Novgorod-based enterprises that plan to modernize their production facilities.

Several business incubators opened in Nizhny Novgorod Region in 2009, including projects in Tonshaevo, Vyksa and Dzerzhinsk. The projects were financed by federal and regional budgets. Phase two of the Nizhny Novgorod Innovation Business Incubator is also in the works. Currently underway is a project involving a business incubator and industrial-park infrastructure in the village of Satis, Diveevo District. The total amount of budgetary funding for the project will amount to RUB 510 million. In particular, RUB 405 million will be contributed by the regional budget, with another RUB 105 million added by the federal budget. Additional investments will be attracted through public-private partnership.

Another top-priority area is the development of regional transportation logistics. Nizhny Novgorod is the only millionaire city that does not have a ring road; all commercial vehicles passing through Nizhny Novgorod go through the downtown area. Meanwhile, Nizhny Novgorod boasts a very favorable geographical location at the intersection of two international transportation corridors. To this end, several ambitious logistics centers will soon be built in Nizhny Novgorod Region.

The largest, Strigino Industrial Logistics Park, will be located near Nizhny Novgorod International Airport. Project investments will total roughly RUB 54 bln. A total of 2 mln square meters of modern warehouse facilities will be built, and cargo turnover will amount to up to 10 mln tons a year.

Another project on the horizon is Borskaya Poyma (GlobeTown), which was presented at the MIPIM-2007 International Exhibition of Commercial Real Estate inCannes. The business center project will incorporate a business complex with elite-class high-rise buildings, hotels, offices, athletic facilities and trade and recreation centers. The Borskaya Poyma project will span an area of 3,000 hectares. Some 20 mln square meters of housing and related infrastructure will be built to accommodate some 400,000 people.

GlobeTown is truly poised to become a third-millennium city. The development project will incorporate a high-speed railroad, a new international airport, northern and southern freeway sections as part of the federal highways surrounding Nizhny Novgorod, and three logistical centers.