丹尼斯 巴瑞许尼可夫, Ulyanovsk SEZ - СЭЗ "Ульяновск-Восточный"
Release Date: 2011-08-26
Ulyanovsk Special Economic Zone: door to Russia and window to EuropeIn a recent interview for Russianavia.net, Denis Baryshnikov, head of Ulyanovsk Special Economic Zone, and Vildan Zinnurov, deputy governor of Ulyanovsk region, threw light on the exciting prospects that Ulyanovsk SEZ is opening for investors in aviation and logistics business, told about the investor-friendly tax and customs policy of Ulyanovsk region and the newly created aviation hub. Ulyanovsk is again proving that it is ready for take-off.
Mr. Baryshnikov, our last meeting took place in 2009 when you were in charge of Volga-Tekhnoport. You are now the voice of Ulyanovsk Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Ulyanovsk Vostochny airport. What changes have emerged over the last 2 years?
Denis Baryshnikov (DB): Ulyanovsk SEZ is part of Special Economic Zones, daughter company of the Russian ministry of economic development. It finances 70% of Ulyanovsk SEZ project, and Ulyanovsk regional government finances the rest. The federal financing supports the internal perimeter of the SEZ, the regional financing supports general infrastructure, roads, utilities, etc. In 2010, we were put in charge of revising the concept developed by Volga-Tekhnoport, and we are now finishing the revision with the help of SH&E international consultants.
Were any significant changes introduced in the revised concept of Ulyanovsk SEZ?
DB: Strategically, the concept is the same – we only corrected its stages. We have designed the master plan and are starting to develop the work project of infrastructure. Stage 1 - construction of sites for the first residents, termination of the first start-up facility and start of operation are planned for 2012. Stage 2 will start around 2013. We need 2 years to finish Stage 1 and get a sufficient number of residents for the second start-up facility. By the way, we have signed a framework agreement with Avia Solutions Group at Le Bourget as one of the first residents.
What advantages is Ulyanovsk SEZ offering to its future residents?
DB: We have summarized the Russian experience of creating SEZ. In Russia, we see that the investors can save up to 30% of their investments and costs doing projects in special economic zones. In our case, the most important advantage is that the general infrastructure, the taxiways, the roads, railways, gas and electricity are sponsored by the federal and regional budget. Secondly, land in the special economic zone is 70 times as cheap as land in the Moscow airports. Rent of 1 hectare of land in the special economic zone is 100 Euros. If an investor wants to buy it, 1 hectare is 4,800 Euros. Compared to the volume of investments, it’s virtually a gift.
We also offer a special tax regime: no property tax, no land tax, no transport tax, lower profit tax (15.5% for the residents), possibility to place and use the foreign goods (equipment, raw, components and construction materials) without paying tax duties and VAT. Tax holidays provided by the state authorities on the regional level last for 10 years. We consider each business case in particular.
What is the exclusivity of the fiscal regime offered by Ulyanovsk SEZ?
DB: Thanks to the uplift of customs limits, we create perfect conditions for international companies. We provide special conditions for uplift of customs duties for the imported goods. The zone is also perfect for exporters of Russian aircraft.
Apart from offering better taxation and no customs duties, all federal taxes that we can’t abolish are returned by Ulyanovsk region as subsidies for up to 8 years under a special legislation. We return 50% of the personal income tax, we compensate the costs of purchased land plots and preparation of the staff at the first stage and provide connection to the infrastructure. We are developing the requirements of investors for compensation of the interest rate of the loans for construction of infrastructure. Apart from that, the region does not take the 4.5% profit tax.
What does Ulyanovsk SEZ offer for the aircraft manufacturers?
DB: Normally, foreign manufacturers of aircraft and operators of foreign aircraft in Russia have to spend up to 30 days to register the aircraft components in Russia. They can lose up to 40 days in total – that hinders the turnover of aircraft components and forces the plane and helicopter operators to make large stocks of components for their aircraft. One of our activities – repair and overhaul of aircraft – addresses this issue: importers of foreign aircraft components do not need to do the procedure of customs registration. The components can be used straight away which guarantees that they will not spend more than 24 hours to get big aircraft components over the border – this is 30-40 times less than the current market practice. We also offer these business cases to export-oriented operators.
How can you characterize the other activities of Ulyanovsk SEZ?
DB: Ulyanovsk SEZ envisages three main types of activities. Apart from repair and overhaul of aircraft that I have mentioned, the second activity is production of different types of aviation equipment (except for engines). We have 2 final assembly projects, four potential residents, and we are in talks with Russian and foreign companies. Our main partner in composite production is Aerocomposit, a United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) company that is currently building its cooperation system. Future supplies of Aerocomposit plan to organize composite production facilities at Ulyanovsk SEZ.
The third activity of Ulyanovsk SEZ is maintenance of aircraft. Our concept is to create a one-stop solution for virtually all types of aircraft during their lifecycle. Obviously, we can’t cover all types of aircraft but, nevertheless, we will work as a supermarket to provide the widest possible service for each operator. At this point, all large operators are interested in organizing service stations for their clients. Ulyanovsk SEZ offers good environment for the repair facilities and maintenance centers.
For the service companies and operators who are familiar with foreign SEZ, we position Ulyanovsk SEZ as a civilized and efficient opportunity in Russia to export Russian aircraft and import foreign aircraft.
The fourth activity of Ulyanovsk SEZ is logistics. Our main principle is to choose a location to reach an equilibrium of transport routes. At this point, the transport routes in Russia are misbalanced because the cargo flows are focused around the Western part of Russia. If we shift them closer to the Urals – the geographic center of the country – the balance will improve in the Eastern direction.
What will be the profile of your logistics residents?
DB: Main profile of our logistics residents are cargo airlines. For instance, Polet plans to organize flights through Ulyanovsk to South-East Asia and Europe. For Polet, Ulyanovsk is very well-located and it is also the basic airport for Polet and Volga-Dnepr cargo airline. We expect that AirBridgeCargo will also join us to build a logistics terminal; Volga-Dnepr Technics plans to build a hangar to combine commercial landing and maintenance. Besides, Volga-Dnepr has a special project for feeder flights using the principle of hub delivery of cargo. Ideally, this project will be a template for global operators like DHL, UPS, FedEx. We should also keep in mind that Ulyanovsk is located in the center of economic activity within a range of 1,500 – 2,000 km. About 40 mln people – more than 45% of Russian population – live in the range of 1,000 km from here.
What are the advantages of Ulyanovsk as a cargo hub over Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk?
DB: Krasnoyarsk was from the very beginning oriented on cross-polar routes to Canada and the U.S. In my personal opinion, Krasnoyarsk has a strategic possibility to develop as a hub for transcontinental routes but it did not make it to become a cargo hub for 2 reasons – the cargo carriers started using Boeing 400 that reaches Moscow with no intermediate landing (instead of Boeing 747) and Air Union airline went bankrupt, so it was no longer possible to use Krasnoyarsk as a passenger hub to distribute cargo in passenger jets. Ulyanovsk model envisages flying long runs with Boeing 747 and short runs with trucks or railway (for 500 km short runs) or short-range cargo aviation (for more than 500 km short runs).
Development of the logistics activities in Ulyanovsk SEZ is planned for the second start-up stage. To increase the attractiveness of Ulyanovsk as a hub, we will have to generate a lot of cargo flows and form the necessary infrastructure by 2014.
Mr. Zinnurov, what is the importance of the new special economic zone from the viewpoint of the regional government given that Ulyanovsk SEZ focuses on transport, investments and industry – areas that are quite important for Ulyanovsk region?
Vildan Zinnurov (VZ): The main designation of Ulyanovsk SEZ is to develop aviation projects and develop the transport potential of Ulyanovsk region to increase our serious competence. This is critical for us because all industries that the special economic zone works with involve generation of added value and require building new facilities for transport, logistics and for suppliers of various levels.
Besides, Ulyanovsk has unique competence in training pilots and engineers. We are proud to be the home of Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation University - the only Russian aviation institute with 75 years of history and the according facilities. We have here the full range of specialized high schools; that is why UAC has given us the authority of chief executor of the training program for all its companies. Deputy of U.S. Commerce Secretary, who visited Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation University, was impressed by its programs and said that they corresponded to international standards. Ulyanovsk is also ready to integrate European standards of training for pilots and engineers according to EASA standards.
DB: Russia is facing a very difficult task of returning to its markets of 40 years ago. During the last 20 years, we have been seriously behind, and it is quite difficult to catch up without world leadership and world level expertise. But it is impossible to get international competences just buying abroad. We hope to make offset contracts with our international partners for a more efficient exchange of competences developed at our new platform. Ulyanovsk SEZ is the meeting point for Russian companies capable of taking new competences and for foreign companies that have them. At the recent Le Bourget in France, we presented Ulyanovsk as the gateway to the Russian market and Ulyanovsk aviation forum as the « Door to Russia ».
What would be your final word for the international aviation industry?
DB: Ulyanovsk SEZ is a unique economic environment created for aviation businesses. It’s a door to Russia for the foreign manufacturers and foreign companies interested in cooperation with Russia. The Russian market is growing at 17-20% every year for the last 7 years. Hence, Ulyanovsk SEZ is a door to Russia for the foreign business and a window to Europe for the Russian manufacturers who can use this platform to borrow international competences.
VZ: Our task is to become the Russian aviation capital by 2020. For that, we are implementing projects and creating business hubs. A developed system of training, an international exhibition platform, production, science and small aviation will be the elements that constitute the new aviation capital and, most importantly, we know how to develop these elements.
| Company: | Ulyanovsk SEZ - СЭЗ "Ульяновск-Восточный" |
| Position: | 总裁 |
| Country: | 俄罗斯 |