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Krasnodar

Krasnodar city (1990 est. pop. 626,000), capital of Krasnodar Territory, South-East European Russia, on the Kuban River. A river port and railroad junction, it has petroleum refineries and machinery, metalworking, textile, chemical, and food-processing plants. Founded in 1794 by Zaporozhe (Black Sea) Cossacks upon orders from Catherine II, it was organized as their administrative center and called Ekaterinodar (Yekaterinodar). It served as a military center protecting Russia's Caucasian frontier. After 1918 it was the capital of the Kuban-Black Sea Soviet Republic and was renamed in 1920.

Krasnodar is a capital of one of those regions the prosperity of which is the basis for stability in the country as a whole.

It is a large industrial, agrarian and cultural centre of the Russian Federation with the population amounting to 780 thousand people. Being a centre of the health-resort & tourist region Krasnodar City receives about a million guests annually.

The city occupies an advantageous economic & geographic position in the South of Russia utilizing the transport highways connecting the Center of the country and overseas states with the southern sea ports of Russia - Novorossiisk, Tuapse, Eisk, Temruk, Sochi. An international airport is located at the territory of the city of Krasnodar; four directions of railways have intersections in the city. The federal motor car highway 'DON' passes through the city as well.

Direct flights from the city of Krasnodar to the large cities of Europe and Asia - Vienna, Frankfurt-am-Main, Istanbul, Trabzon, Larnaka, Ras-El-Heim - enable establishment of contacts of Russian entrepreneurs with potential foreign partners.

The following are the main industries that form the economic image of the city of Krasnodar: food industry, machine-building industry, light industry, metal working industry, furniture-making industry, electronic & instrument making industry. On the whole, 30% of production potential of the Kuban Region is concentrated in the city.

Mild climate and rich natural resources promote intensive development of agriculture and cattle breeding, agricultural product processing industry. 30 local agricultural ventures and 1250 farms produce agricultural products. Agricultural lands occupy 42.5 thousand hectares.

Nowadays, Krasnodar has powerful capacity for training high skilled personnel that resulted in formation of a considerable scientific and cadre potential. Krasnodar is widely known as the center of agrarian developments not only at a Russian, but also at the World's level.

11 banks and 26 branch offices of other regional commercial banks, 39 insurance companies, 9 professional participators of the Securities market, leasing companies, the Kuban Chamber of Auditors uniting 80 audit firms, the Kuban Non-state Pension Fund, representatives of the Russian Insurance Inspection and the Rostov regional branch office of the Federal Committee for Securities Market are located on the territory of the city and involved in the business activities.

Foreign economic relations of the city are diversified and actively developing. At present, we support effective business relations with enterprises and organizations of the USA, Turkey, Ukraine, Germany, Byelorussia, Sweden, Greece, Italy, France, Israel, Austria, and Cyprus.

Alongside with Moscow, Moscow Region and Tatarstan, the Krasnodar Krai as per its investment potential, is included into the ten of the leading regions of the Russian Federation according to the rating data of the 'Expert RA' Rating Agency.

Creation of advantageous investment climate is one of the basic trends of the Krasnodar City administration activity. The business activity of the local self-government bodies in the sphere of coordination of investment activity is based on the Russian Federation and Krasnodar Krai laws for establishment of relations in the sphere of investment activity, as well as on the norm-setting legal acts of the Krasnodar city administration and the City Duma.

The city administration has worked out a project of a long-term Concept of economic activity aiming at development of foreign economic activity. The Krasnodar City administration declares a policy of 'open doors' for the ventures with foreign capital and expresses its readiness to participate in realization of the investment projects.

Under the support of the Krasnodar City administration, the Non-commercial partnership 'The Board for Assistance to Foreign Companies and Ventures with Foreign Capital and Investors' was founded aiming at helping to establish economically favorable conditions for the business activities of the ventures with foreign investments. This organization can unite foreign firms and foreign investors conducting business activities in the City, both as independent companies and as participants within the frame of joint ventures; for joint work with the city power bodies, for perfection of information flows between them, for expansion of spheres of involvement of investment capitals and 'know-how' technologies into the City economy.

One of the basic principles of work of the Krasnodar City administration is a 'pilot' escorting, by a certain clerk, of the investment project from the beginning to the end, thus considerably decreasing the time for concordance of establishment and registration of joint ventures in the territory of the city.

The following are the priority trends of the investment activity having been emphasized by the City administration: industry, agriculture, construction, transport, communications, information & communication, ecology, tourism, medical equipment, high technologies, business devoted to culture, mass information media.

Simulation of investment activity of ventures and organizations in the territory of the city is effectuated in the following forms:

- rendering of taxation privileges within the limits of the powers of the local self-government bodies;

- rendering of taxation investment credit;

- rendering of taxation credit;

- debtors delay and installment plan for payment of taxes and fees in the City budget;

- rendering of budget guarantees from the City administration;

- rendering of privileged budget credits;

- implementation of debt restructuring in the budget;

- rendering of other non-financial privileges: orders, assistance in establishment of the business infrastructure, acquiring of objects of non-residential funds and plots of land as municipal property for leasing or as property ;

- rendering assistance to investors in promotion of projects at a federal or at regional level;

- participation of the City administration in implementation of the most considerable and effective projects
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