The Regions Sustainable Development Award

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picture on top: Infra-konkurs.ru - The Regions Sustainable Development Award

The project was launched in 2011 by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on the creation of an instrument that would allow small and medium-sized businesses to gain access to relatively cheap long-term money. Several banks were chosen, the start was made by Sberbank (a state-owned Russian banking and financial services company).

A product was created called The Regions Sustainable Development Award. What is it? This is a tool that allows you to prepare a package of documents for banks in order to receive financing on preferential terms with state support from these banks. Our organisation, our committee helps in the formation of a package of documents required for investment money, attracts partners, helps in obtaining federal and regional support, including various kinds of subsidies and other instruments which facilitates the financing.

Interview with Yuri Alekseevich Fedorov,
Ex-Regional Representative of the Organising Committee of the Annual “The Regions Sustainable Development Award” in the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region | General Director of Ltd “Sphere of Sustainable Development”.

What would it look like without your offer? What was the initial situation?

It would probably not be so easy for businesses to get credit resources, there would be no opportunity for applicants/interested parties to receive federal and regional support measures through a single window (without our offer). Previously, everyone turned to every bank and did not know that there are tools that can reduce loan payments, subsidising interest rates and other tools that can be used for more comfortable lending conditions.

What is your vision? What do you want to achieve?

There is only one mission: to develop the country’s economy, which is the most important thing. The rest is just tools.

What makes your offer different from other solutions in your field?

There are no such initiatives. Benefits are economic development. When an enterprise has access to relatively cheap long-term money, it can plan its sustainable development and aim at projects that are more ambitious than if there was no such tool.

 
graphic: Infra-konkurs.ru - The Regions Sustainable Development Award

How is your instrument accepted? What obstacles were faced and how were they overcome?

We still face obstacles, because often in many regions the awards criteria are not met, and this is a problem for us. But we are working with this, and more and more regions, and all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, we are trying to cover.

What influence does your instrument have on developing circular solutions?

We are now considering a number of projects in the competition, which are precisely aimed at developing a circular economy. In particular, one of the projects is for the processing and disposal of organic matter. Now a garbage reform is underway, and we want to get involved and give the country a very powerful impetus to carry out this reform. To make this reform more active.

If you had extraordinary powers for one day, what would you change first (in relation to your solution) and why?

If we talk about competition, then two important factors are the key rate, the lower it is, the cheaper the money, and macroeconomic stability, so that credit resources are more long-term.

 
graphic: Infra-konkurs.ru - The Regions Sustainable Development Award

What are you particularly proud of in terms of this instrument and its implementation? What are your further plans?

In general, I am proud that I am in the ranks of the competition and I am a regional representative of the Leningrad region and St. Petersburg. There are a lot of ambitious projects, and we will implement them for the benefit of society and the country.

What is your key message?

Our project is:

Unique, simply because there are no alternatives. If alternative projects appear, it will be just wonderful, as it will benefit everyone in the country.

Innovative, because no one before us has done anything like this in Russia.

Helpful, because it provides access to cheap long-term money.

The instrument through which we can think about sustainable development.

 
As part of the work of the Agency for Economic Development of the http://lenoblinvest.ru/ and the Regions Sustainable Development Award the project https://www.cirtech.ru/ was launched. | picture: "Circular Technologies“ project

START OF THE INITIATIVE

Russia — 2011.

LOCATION

In all regions of Russia.

MISSION

Help businesses gain financial support in regions of Russia.

TARGET GROUP

Small and medium sized enterprises.

MOST INNOVATIVE ASPECTS

The single window structure, where there is an opportunity not only to obtain financing, but also instruments to subsidise interest rates and other instruments that make loans more affordable and targeted.

DIGITAL OFFERS

We are only planning to do this in a digital format, again to simplify the application, collection of documents and communication between the award committee and the applicant.

A FEW NUMBERS

Autumn 2020:

Applications were submitted for 1.5 trillion roubles.

364 projects were implemented.

472 billion roubles were raised for project implementation.

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