November 26, 2014. Three Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises were granted the status of a ‘priority investment project participant’, with over 35.2bn RUR allocated to them altogether. Three more companies applied for the status as well, with expected 8.4bn RUR in terms of investment. The applications are expected to be processed before the end of the year, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies Department reports.

According to the Investment & Development Minister Alexei Orlov, Sverdlovsk Region might introduce a special investment tax loan as soon as 2015; the loan is, in fact, a way of putting the payment off until a project breaks even.

Orlov believes government guarantees could serve as one more way of attracting investment and promoting public-private partnerships. The guarantees will be backed up by the guarantee fund that was set up as part of the SME development program. The fund will have amounted to some 720m RUR by the end of 2014.