Invest in Russia — invest in Russian regions!
All analytics

Russian Regions’ Investment Attractiveness Rating 2019

Research
8 June 2020

The National Rating Agency (NRA) has presented its seventh annual rating of investment attractiveness of Russia’s regions. The rating includes all 85 regions of the Russian Federation. In 2019, 56 regions retained their positions in the rankings, while 20 regions received a higher and 9 regions a lower rating than a year earlier. The methodology of the rating implies that to keep its position, a region must show at least a minimal growth, while moving upwards requires a really outstanding performance. For some regions, the publication also provides detailed information on investment trends, changes in main economic indicators, and foreign investment flows.

The Roscongress Foundation presents the salient points of the publication accompanied by fragments of broadcasts of relevant panel discussions from the business programme of international events held by the Roscongress Foundation.

Investment growth in Russia has decelerated, with half of the regions showing a decrease in investment activity.

After the positive results of 2017 and 2018 when annual growth rate of investments in the Russian economy exceeded 4%, the first half of 2019 saw a rapid deceleration of investment activity. The volume of fixed capital investments in the first half of 2019 was only 0.6% greater than in the same period of 2018.

иземенение рейтинга регионов в 2019 году .png

At regional level, the picture is even less optimistic, with investments growing in 43 regions and decreasing in 42 regions. Most regions reverted to negative growth after a rise in 2017 and 2018, but in a number of regions (such as Samara, Tomsk, and Volgograd Regions) the current decline continues the downward trend started during the 2014-2016 crisis.

Video: https://roscongress.org/sessions/eef-2019-sovershenstvovanie-natsionalnoy-yurisdiktsii-i-zashchita-prav-investorov/search/#00:04:36.479

For the first time, Moscow is the outright winner, while St. Petersburg moved one step downwards.

Moscow and St. Petersburg have always topped the investment attractiveness rankings. In all the six previous NRA ratings, these two regions were the only ones in the highest group (IC1). In 2019, however, Moscow alone remained in this group, with St. Petersburg sliding down to Group IC2. This situation reflects the outpacing development of Russia’s capital city compared to St. Petersburg. Specifically, in the first half of 2019 the volume of investments in fixed assets increased 19.5% in Moscow and dropped 20.9% in St. Petersburg compared to the same period of 2018 (in comparable prices).

The situation with foreign direct investments is broadly similar. According to Bank of Russia, over the first quarter of 2019 Moscow attracted 16% more FDI than a year earlier, while FDI in St. Petersburg decreased by 40%. A combination of favourable investment climate, dynamically developing infrastructure, and vast experience with large investment projects makes Moscow attractive to investors.

Video: https://roscongress.org/sessions/spief-2019-investitsii-v-razvitie-gorodskoy-sredy/search/#01:00:21.375

The city of Sevastopol made a breakthrough this year, moving three steps upwards in the rankings. This, however, was largely due to positive trends in its main economic indicators rather than private investors’ interest.

While in 2018 Sevastopol was in Group IC8 (moderate investment attractiveness), this year the city moved to Group IC5 (medium investment attractiveness).

Such an outstanding performance was facilitated by positive trends in the city’s main economic indicators. Specifically, in the first half of 2019, growth in fixed capital investments exceeded 35%, while production volumes increased by nearly 10%. These achievements can be attributed to, above all, the financial support from the federal government and capital expenditures of state-owned companies. Risks related to the city’s status and international sanctions remain a significant barrier to private investments, as evidenced by the fact that in early 2019 the growth in foreign direct investments was close to zero.

Video: https://roscongress.org/sessions/iif-2019-umnyy-gorod-ot-teorii-k-praktike/search/#01:09:36.127

Russia’s regions speak about their investment potential on the Internet but their online presence is far from satisfactory.

In 2019, NRA did a pilot assessment of the quality of regional investment web portals from the viewpoint of their content and opportunities for communication between regional administrations and potential investors (via feedback forms, social network accounts, hot lines, etc.).

The results show that in most regions investment portals work rather well as a platform for information disclosure. As for communication tools, these rarely function properly. Specifically, emails sent to contact addresses for investors were left without a response in the majority of cases. Kaluga Region received the maximum score for this parameter, while the web portal of the Chechen Republic showed the poorest result.

Video: https://roscongress.org/sessions/eef-2019-sozdanie-gorodov-budushchego-s-chego-nachat/search/#00:57:54.687

For more information about investment attractiveness of Russia’s regions and economic stability, please see the Regions of Russia, Investment climate, and Foreign direct investment special sections of the Roscongress information and analytical system.

Anlytics on the topic

All analytics
Expert opinion
22 May 2018
“Business is the last constructive relationship between us”

The US—Russia relationship is experiencing a tough period. In this context, the role of business, which is almost the only constructive channel for communication, is especially important, believes Alexis Rodzianko, President and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia.

Research
1 February 2018
Hotels Managed by International Operators in Russia - 2018

EY presents an annual survey of hotels operating in Russia, which are managed by international operators.

Research
10 February 2020
Regional bond market: reasons for stagnation

The Roscongress Foundation and the Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA) have published a joint study on Russia’s regional bond market.