In the monotown of Cherepovets on the territory of the Cherepovets industrial park, two large industrial facilities were opened.
Part of the money for building infrastructure for the park came from the Fund for the Development of Monotowns, which is a part of the VEB.RF Group. More than 400 million rubles from the Fund were spent on this. In total, about 4 billion rubles were brought into the Cherepovets economy, creating 1,000 jobs.
A plant for making steam and hot water boilers called “NORD” and a company for smart electricity meters called “NARTIS” were established in Cherepovets, creating over 100 and 250 jobs, respectively. The MONOTOWN.RF Foundation supported the construction of the engineering and transport infrastructure for these businesses, which was estimated to cost 1 billion rubles. 400 million of this amount came from the Fund. In 2018, a plant for producing fibrolite boards and wall panels for the company “Fibroplite” started operating in the park. The Fund provided a low-interest loan of 950 billion rubles at 5 percent for this project.
The Governor of the Vologda Oblast Oleg Kuvshinnikov and the Mayor of Cherepovets Vadim Germanov participated in the opening ceremony of the factories. The meeting was also attended via video link by the chief managing partner for urban development VEB.RF, CEO of the Single-industry Towns Development Fund Irina Makieva and representative of the Federation Council from the regional executive power Elena Avdeeva.
Makieva pointed out that Cherepovets is listed in the top 10 single-industry towns of Russia multiple times and has received support from the Fund. The city is participating in a project to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with the capital. Therefore, VEB intends to invite Cherepovets to the program for the hundred largest cities of the country, which the capital of the region already participates in, to continue working on the development of single-industry towns and improving the quality of life of local residents.
Irina Makieva, Chief Managing Partner for Urban Development of VEB.RF, General Director of MONOGORODA.RF, mentioned that all the Fund’s tools will remain within the VEB perimeter. These tools include loans at 0 percent for projects ranging from 5 to 250 million rubles, as well as loans at 5 percent for larger projects (250 million – 1 billion rubles). The Fund’s instruments also include non-refundable subsidies for the construction and reconstruction of infrastructure facilities. VEB.RF will be ready to receive requests from new residents of Cherepovets and business representatives from other single-industry towns.
The regional leader stated that with the establishment of the enterprise, the demand for heating equipment across Russia is met. Previously, about 60 percent of such equipment was imported, but now the entire supply will be from Russian enterprises, meeting the country's demand. The governor also mentioned that the gasification and post-gasification programs, previously initiated by the President of Russia, will be carried out using Cherepovets equipment.
In his speech, Kuvshinnikov drew attention to the fact that the infrastructure built with the help of the Fund contributed to the attraction of new residents to Cherepovets and the prompt commissioning of investment projects.
The organization is included in the VEB.RF Group, which works to achieve national development goals. The consolidation of public and private investment resources to create comfortable living conditions for citizens and the breakthrough development of Russia in the field of industry, infrastructure, non-commodity exports, small and medium-sized businesses, the urban economy, innovation and information technology is a priority for the Group.
The Russian government had previously decided to liquidate the Fund. This decision was made as part of the implementation of the reform of development institutions. MONOGORODA.RF continues to accept applications until the transfer of existing obligations to VEB.RF. Projects that the organization does not have time to finance will be submitted to VEB for consideration.
