• Vice President of The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP)

• Member of the Board of The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP)

• Chairman of the Committee on Investment Policy for Development Institutions and Export Support

• Chairman of the Board of Directors at the National Agency for Direct Investment (NADI).

• Co-chairman of the Joint Expert Council (RSPP, CCI, "Business Russia", "Opora Russia")

• Deputy Chairman of the Expert Council of the Industrial Development Fund under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation

• Member of the Expert Council of the Interdepartmental Commission (IDC) for the companies and projects selection, applying for support under the mechanism of "Special Investment Contract"

• Member of the Government Transport Commission

• Co-chairman of the Project Committee in facilitating the implementation of new investment projects aimed at carrying out the Presidential Decree of the R.F. dated May 7, 2018 No. 204 "On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation through to 2024" on the RUIE side.

• Doctor of Law, Professor at the HSE University

• Deputy Chairman of the RSPP Committee on Investment Policy,

• Partner in "Vardanyan, Broitman and Partners"

Until 2018:

• General Director of "A101 Development"

• Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank

• Head of Sberbank CIB
• Chairman of the Management Board of "Uralsib Bank" OJSC

• Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Non-Profit Scientific Fund "Development Institute of G.P. Schedrovitsky"

• Member of the Expert Council of the Government of the Russian Federation

• Member of the Board of the Centre for Strategic Research "North-West" Foundation

• Member of the Expert Council of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI)

• Advisor to the General Director for Strategic Development of the Union "Agency of Development of Professional Communities and Skilled Workers" (Worldskills Russia)"

• Member of the Board of the "Cluster of Innovative Technologies of ZATO Zheleznogorsk"

• Head of the Department of Strategic Planning and Management Methodology, NRNU MEPhI

• Director of the Scientific and Educational Center for Advanced Studies in the field of social and cognitive sciences NRU TSU

• HSE University Senior Expert

• Vice President of the "Infrastructure Economics Centre" LLC

• Member of the All-Russian Public Organization "Russian Geographical Society" (RGO)

• Member of the Government Commission of the Russian Federation for Transport

• Member of the National Project Committee "Safe and high-quality roads"

• Member of the Consumer Council on the activities of Russian Railways and its subsidiaries and dependent companies (subsidiaries and dependent companies)

• Member of the expert advisory council under the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation on strategic management and development of state audit

• Deputy Chairman of the RSPP Committee on Intellectual Property

• Lawyer, Member of the Moscow Regional Bar Association

• Head of Moscow Regional University, Moscow Region, Russian State Social University

• Holder of the Letter of Gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation

• Vice President – Managing Director of the Department of Economic Policy and Competitiveness of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs

• Managing Director for Economic Policy and Competitiveness of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs

• Member of the Public Council of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation

• Member of the Expert Council of the Industrial Development Fund

• Member of the Russian Trilateral Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labor Relations

• Vice President – Managing Director of the Corporate Communications Department of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs

• Chairman of the Committee on Information Technologies under the Board of the SIF of the Russian Federation

• Member of the RSPP Committee on the Digital Economy

• Member of the RSPP Commission on Communications and Information and Communication Technologies

• Lecturer at the HSE University, Department of Theory and Practice of Business and Government Interaction

• Member of the Public Council of Rossvyaz

• RSPP, Head of Representative Office, China and Southeast Asia

• CEO of DHH Investments

• Vice President of Deheng Law Group

• Chairman of the Board of Group of Companies SCHI

• Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of General Transactions Inc.

• Member of the Board of Directors of Zenith Energy Ltd.

Management of companies, projects and teams in the field of research, strategy development, business organization and investment attraction. Management of lobbying and GR projects.


Professional experience:

• Industry strategies / concepts (within the framework of GR projects)

• Whitewash / Oblivion Strategy for several industries (together with RUIE)

• Value sales strategy, production and product strategy, corporate strategies for Russian companies.

• Regional strategies in Russia for Xerox, IBM, BOC, Inchcape, SAB Miller, Toshiba PC, GSK, etc.

• Organization of strategic partnerships for Mitsui, Thyssen Crupp, Coca-Cola, IBM

Education:

Moscow State University

Partner at "Vardanyan, Breitman & Partners", Managing Director


Until 2018:

• Chairman of the Management Board of Uralsib Bank OJSC

• Chairman of the Board of Uralsib Financial Corporation

• Head of the managing committee of "Bashkir Soda Company" JSC

Over 20 years of experience in investment management (Orion Capital Advisors, Alfa Bank), investment (Vangard - SSJ, RAO UES) and strategic consulting (BCG)

Head of Investment Policy, RSPP Committee on Investment Policy


Professional experience:

• Engaging foreign investors in the Sukhoi Superjet project and advising the management of Sukhoi AAC and UAC on issues related to the strategy of business units and selected international projects

• Advising RAO UES, CJSC SIA International and other Russian companies on issues of attracting investments and organizing strategic partnerships

• Formation and management of an asset portfolio in Orion Capital Advisors investment fund and Alfa-Bank's investment division

Education:

MBA at Leuven Catholic University (Belgium)

Over 20 years of experience in management consulting (PwC, EY, Roland Berger) and operational business management in the financial sector (member of the board, head of corporate business at Commerzbank in Ukraine)


Professional experience:

• Development of a strategy for the Russian market of PI / VI

• Development of strategies, models of PI / VI funds for large Russian companies

• Development of an asset restructuring fund management model for the Top 3 banks in the Russian Federation

• Development of business and operational models of an internal fund for a financial development corporation

• Valuation of the management model and the quality of venture investments for the development institute

• Valuation of venture companies for investment decisions by the development institute

Education:
London Business School (MBA), Stanford University, Novosibirsk State University

More than 12 years of experience in the development of strategic corporate communications and interaction with public authorities.

Executive Director of the RSPP Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support


Professional experience:

• Establishment and management of new brands within the industry

• Development and implementation of a strategy for creating new industries

• Development of communication strategies for large and medium-sized companies

• Organization of dialogue platforms as part of the implementation of strategies for business and government interaction

Education:

The Russian State University for the Humanities

In the issue of RBK TV dated December 13th, 2019, Mr. Igor Vdovin, Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), Professor at the Higher School of Economics, and Chairman of the National Agency for Direct Investment (NAPI), took part in the discussion of the draft law on the Agreement on the Protection and Promotion of Investment, which was being developed with the aid of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. This week, the State Duma approved the bill in first reading.

However, the Agreement has not yet satisfied either the wider business community nor the government. What needs to be done to make this the necessary tool - and for investment growth in Russia to work perfectly?

Watch the full interview (in Russian) at the link below (beginning at 10:40).

On December 6th, 2019, in Moscow the National Industrial Forum took place, organised with the support of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.

The aim of the forum was to establish the business' position on key issues of the implementation of industrial policy in the Russian Federation, as well as to determine the vector of development of legislative and project initiatives of industrial companies.

The event was attended by more than 800 delegates and guests: the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, deputies of the State Duma, heads of industry unions and associations, the leadership of federal and regional development institutes, owners and top managers of leading industrial companies, enterprises of the metallurgical complex, shipbuilding, chemical, telecommunications and pharmaceutical companies.

The plenary session "Industry and National Development Goals" was moderated by the Vice-President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Chairman of the Committee on Investment Policy, development institutions and export support Mr. Igor Vdovin. In his opening speech, Mr. Vdovin stressed that the purpose of the event is not only to exchange views, but also to formulate initiatives of industrial companies, which in the future can receive support from the Government of the Russian Federation.

President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Mr. Alexander Shokhin, noted that the forum should become a platform for the formation of specific business initiatives and show which support measures are most effective today.

"Support measures are a hot topic for business. Reformation of key instruments, begun almost a year ago, is not complete. Until new rules for subsidising R&D in priority areas of industry have been adopted, a single leasing subsidy has not been approved, and there is no clarity regarding the support of industrial clusters. The business is looking forward to restarting tools already proven effective," said Mr. Shokhin.

He reminded that SPIC 2.0 should take effect in 2020. As of yet, the regulatory framework necessary for launching the new instrument has not been adopted.

"The support program for companies implementing corporate competitiveness programs was launched only recently, but gained quite an interest among businesses. However, it is necessary to further tune this institute, taking into account the identified problems (both technical and systemic) and not be limited to only one selection. And in general, think about going beyond 2024, which so far is perceived as a milestone for many support tools," said Alexander Shokhin.

Mr. Shokhin also held a joint meeting of the RSPP Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support and the International Council for Cooperation and Investments within the framework of the forum. It was dedicated to one of the most promising areas - the "green vector" of industrial development. The best practices for solving environmental problems and the experiences of international leaders in this field were amongst the topics discussed.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Ms. Gulnaz Kadyrova noted the functionality of interactive platforms provided by RSPP. According to her, events such as the National Industrial Forum contribute to the formation of the business' position. The speaker made the main emphasis on measures of state support for the industrial sector to ensure global competitiveness of Russian industry. In particular, she dwelled on the ongoing work on the accumulation of support measures in intersectional areas — expanding by 15-20 universal support measures with more than 40 industry-specific ones. Ms. Kadyrova also pointed out the necessary simplification of support procedures and a number of other relevant issues.

State Duma Deputy, Head of "The Locomotives of Growth" project, Mr. Denis Kravchenko emphasised three of its main objectives: the development of the real sector of the economy, export support and increasing productivity. The key development problems of the domestic industry, according to the Deputy, are the lack of funds for development in the regions and lack of awareness of state support measures. To solve these issues, The Locomotives of Growth is collaborating with the Ministry of Finance and supervisory agencies to replicate the SPIK 2.0 project and the SZPK, carrying out outreach programmes with regional leaders and representatives of business communities on the possibilities of state support for the industry.

Rostelecom President, Mr. Mikhail Oseevsky in his speech on the topic of industrial digitalisation, big data and artificial intelligence noted that this [digitalisation] process is at the initial stage in many industrial companies. In his opinion, there are two structural problems that impede the development of digital technologies: first, the unresolved task of launching a 5G network and second, new risks in the field of information security. These problems, the speaker noted, can only be solved with the joint efforts of the business and the state.

Mr. Andrey Varichev, General Director of Management Company Metalloinvest LLC, spoke about personnel problems. General Director of PJSC Uralkali Mr. Dmitry Osipov noted the need to refine support mechanisms, which would then enhance the implementation of foreign projects of Russian businesses.

There is a need to set more ambitious goals in the export sector and to employ the best international practices, including in the development of the shipbuilding industry, said Mr. Alexey Rakhmanov, President of USC.

Project groups on support measures, digitalisation, as well as industry sessions on metallurgy and mining, engineering, pharmaceutical, chemical and petrochemical industries were held.

The session "Digital Technologies in Industry" was moderated by the Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Mr. Sergey Mytenkov. Representatives of SUEK, Metalloinvest, Tsifra, MTS and others considered issues of digital transformation, problems of asset digitalisation of industrial enterprises, artificial intelligence technologies.

At the session "Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry", presided over by Mr. Viktor Cherepov, Executive Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, experts discussed the Pharma-2030 strategy, strengthening export support, socially significant diseases and other topics.

As a result of the forum, proposals and business initiatives to improve key elements of industrial policy will be formed for the Russian government and presented to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mr. Dmitry Kozak at the meeting on December 10th.

Material provided by the Press Service of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

On September 27th, at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) took place a round table "Inventory of intellectual property - new business opportunities"

Representatives of large industrial, manufacturing and technological companies, together with lawyers and auditors, discussed how to effectively manage intellectual property, as well as how an inventory of intangible assets and intellectual property affects the capitalisation of a business, using several cases as examples.

The event was organised by two RSPP committees — the recently formed Committee on Intellectual Property, and the Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support, as well as by Deloitte with the support of IPChain Association.

The discussion was chaired by Mr. Igor Vdovin, Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Chairman of the Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support. Moderator - President of the IPChain Association, Chairman of the RSPP Intellectual Property Committee Mr. Andrei Krichevsky. Keynote speeches were delivered by Deloitte Legal CIS Managing Partner Ms. Anna Kostyra, Deloitte CIS Accounting Services Partner, Ms. Svetlana Borisova, Deloitte Transfer Pricing Director, CIS Ms. Yulia Sinitsyna, and Corporate Finance Group Director Deloitte CIS Mr. Andrei Nikolsky.

Mr. Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, addressed the discussion participants with a welcoming speech: "This round table can be considered a preliminary expanded meeting of the new Intellectual Property Committee. Initially, the decision to create the Committee was planned to be made on October 9th at a meeting of the RSPP Board, but there was no reason to wait, and on September 18th, by the decision of the Bureau of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, we approved the Committee and its Chairman, whose position was appointed Mr. Andrey Krichevsky. The fact that the RSPP decided to establish a separate Intellectual Property Committee shows how important and relevant this topic is. Three years ago, the goal of scientific and technological development, endorsed by the President of the Russian Federation, was to ensure the country's independence and competitiveness by increasing and maximising its intellectual potential. Unfortunately, in industrialised European countries the share of intangible assets in companies is still an order of magnitude higher than in Russian ones. However, the problem is not that this indicator is low here, but that we have not yet learned how to use and monetise these assets," Mr. Shokhin explained.

In turn, Mr. Igor Vdovin, Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Chairman of the Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support, noted: "I am glad that a new platform has appeared in the RSPP, where you can discuss acute problems in the field of intellectual property directly with market participants and by interested parties. Issues of valuation of intangible assets and their effective entry into economic turnover are being raised more and more often, but so far no optimal solution has been found - either in Russia or abroad. Therefore, today at the round table and in the future we are ready for discussing, seeking the necessary solutions and exchanging experiences," said Mr. Vdovin.

Addressing the key theme of the meeting, President of the IPChain Association, Chairman of the RSPP Intellectual Property Committee Mr. Andrei Krichevsky outlined the most problematic issues: "We have laws that allow us to work effectively with intangible assets. But the fact remains: Disney is still more expensive than Gazprom; KAMAZ will not "move" the Canadian producer of the cartoon Peppa Pig in any way. The fact that something needs to be done with this is obvious to everyone. In the same context, the question of the valuation of intangible assets does not lose its relevance; it continues to be raised at all specialised legal and economic discussion platforms. It is obvious to both Russian and Western experts that the existing methods of assessment are not enough, they do not meet the needs of the industry. For example, the common costly method is appropriate for areas where there is technical documentation, but for a whole layer of creative industries - cinema, music, design - this question remains open. Hopefully, today we will be able to outline the main directions of work in this area and pave the way for further dialogue".

According to the chief intellectual property lawyer of RUSNANO Mr. Vitaliy Kalyatin, "the intellectual property of most companies is ignored. The leadership does not understand why it is needed, how to put it on balance correctly. However, it is not necessary to inflate the volumes of intellectual property and oppose Western countries. Very often, Western companies demonstrate a large number of assets in order to increase capitalisation or enter the markets. This does not always reflect their real capabilities, so you should not strive at all costs for their level of performance. But the fact that no one is doing this with us is a fact, and we need to work hard on this already".

The President of the Federation of Intellectual Property Mr. Sergey Matveev supported the opinion: "From the legislative point of view, we seem to have all the legal instruments: it has been established what the results can be, how they can be protected, but this was not reflected in the activities of the companies. All major industrial players promote their R&D projects, but do not reveal any results from the reports and do nothing further with them. They are also not ready to conduct an inventory, identify protected results and register them because of income tax - this is expensive. So there was a temporary tax benefit for the adoption of accounting intellectual property identified during the inventory, but this did not solve the problem. Yet the cart still has not turned into a KAMAZ".

One of the leading experts in the field of intangible assets inventory is Deloitte, which has dozens of successful cases on the Russian market. Ms. Anna Kostyra, Managing Partner of Deloitte Legal CIS, told why an inventory is needed and which results can be expected: "The inventory is designed to identify those results of intellectual activity that the company knows about, but does not suspect that they have security potential. It is very important to find something that will have economic benefits and give an economic affect in the future. This is the most important criteria. As a result of such a competent inventory, there can be several positive effects for the business: providing the possibility of commercialising intellectual property, protecting it, increasing the company's market share, and reputation. The most important thing is to increase investment attractiveness: the investor will come if there is intellectual property. "

Indeed, the effect of the inventory allows us to significantly strengthen the company's position in the market — Mr. Denis Shubarov, First Deputy General Director of the ZiO Group (Podolsky Machine-Building Plant) shared his experience. "After the demonopolisation of the market, we were faced with the fact that our design and technological documentation for complex elements of a nuclear reactor began to surface in tenders. This, of course, surprised and worried us. We began to look for adequate ways to solve this problem and so learned about the inventory process. It showed that we have intellectual property, we have rights, and they are protected. We were forced to admit that we do not know how to draw up, protect and even plan our work with intangible assets. Inventory has become a very useful experience for us: we began to pay attention to what we are doing, whether we are demonstrating effective performance correctly, and have established internal discipline. This is such an evolution - from security to general recognition," said Mr. Shubarov.

Mr. Mikhail Rozhkov, Technical Director for Innovations at Transmashholding, shared his inventory experience with his company as an example: "We have an A rating, so increasing investment attractiveness was not a key issue for us. The main objective was just protection: protecting our developments from misuse and protecting our customers from operating unverified equipment. We worked with the team of Ms. Anna Kostyra and Deloitte, and that project work allowed us to take a fundamentally new look at intellectual property and begin to develop in a more promising direction".

The inventory often has technical difficulties associated with the valuation of intangible assets. Ms. Svetlana Borisova, Partner at Deloitte CIS Accounting Services Group and Mr. Andrei Nikolsky, Director of Deloitte Corporate Finance CIS, spoke about the limitations in applying the Federal Valuation Standards and the problems that appraisers face. "Since the standard clearly dictates that the cost is formed solely from actual expenses, we immediately tell the client that it is necessary to carry out work to identify, that is, restore the picture of how much the company spent on creating this asset," said Ms. Borisova. Mr. Andrei Nikolsky added: "We mean fair value in the understanding of the international financial reporting standard. An important criteria for market value is the ability to alienate the object from business funds. The fair value does not imply such a need".

It is imperative to understand that inventorying assets is a complex and resource-intensive process, said Ms. Julia Sinitsyna, Director of Transfer Pricing Group, Deloitte CIS. "In order to generate interest in initiating an inventory, a lot of factors must converge. If we remove the very "cherry on the cake" in the form of a tax credit, then many companies can refuse it, except for those that are stated in the directive that they are obliged to do this. We hope that this benefit will be extended, "said Sinitsyna.

For her part, Ms. Anna Kostyra recommended using the expense-forecasting method, when the cost is not restored according to the documents, but according to estimates, how much it would cost at the moment based on the number of hours, costs, and so on.

At the end of the meeting, participants were able to ask the presenting speakers questions, as well as exchange views on further collaboration.

The round table was attended by representatives of major energy, industrial and manufacturing companies: Rosenergoatom, Transmashholding, Rosatom State Corporation, NTC Transcor-K Innovative Company, Rosseti, MTS, Fortum, Rostech State Corporation, METALLOINVEST, United Shipbuilding Corporation, Russian Railways, Russian Standard Vodka LLC and others.

On September 27th, 2019 the RSPP Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support held a conference titled "Development of Creative Industries in Russia".

The event was attended by a number of esteemed experts:

Mr. Sergey Novikov, Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation for Public Projects;
Mr. Sergey Kapkov, Head of the Educational and Scientific Laboratory, Centre for Research on Culture Economics, Urban Development and Creative industries at the Faculty of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University;
Mr. Andrey Krichevsky, President of the IPChain Association;
Ms. Ekaterina Mtsituridze, General Director of Roskino;
Mr. Dmitry Karpov, Lecturer at FH JOANNEUM (Austria), Fojo Media Institute (Sweden), University of Hertfordshire (Great Britain);
and others.

The main thesis of the discussion — Creative industries can become a point of economic growth in Russia if they "recognise themselves as industries".

As the speakers noted, the main question is how Russian creative industries are to make profit and succeed. Presently, they lack entrepreneurial competencies, and more so — an understanding of how to properly export their products. Some speakers expressed ideas such as organising business missions and accelerators for creative entrepreneurs.

On November 20th, 2019, a workshop session led by Mr. Igor Vdovin took place at the HSE University on the topic of «Mechanisms and sources of project financing for Russian businesses»

The workshop was held as part of the university-wide elective course «GR in Modern Russia: Theory and Practice» of the Department of Theory and Practice of Interaction between Business and Government at the Higher School of Economics.

At the beginning of his speech, Mr. Igor Vdovin identified several existing trends, which, in his opinion, are worthy of being discussed at the event. So, those were the following: increasing the share of the public sector; raising of the debt burden of companies; the role of development institutions; innovations in public-private partnerships; and corporate competitiveness programs.

For a substantive conversation, Mr. Vdovin passed the floor to his colleagues. Mr. Andrey Donskih, Partner of the Investment Company «Vardanyan, Breitman and Partners» spoke about the current state of the financial market in Russia. «We are three times behind in growth every year,» the expert noted, «We have practically no stock market». Speaking about institutional investors, the expert emphasised that as an institution they are not on the market.

Mr. Nikolai Tsekhomsky, First Deputy Chairman of VEB.RF, expressing an optimistic point of view, said that companies that have a long negative phase generate a huge dividend flow. The public sector share in GDP is estimated to be up to 70%. At that, however, the expert does not consider this situation to be catastrophic — rather, it is more like a transition period. The question is, however — where does it lead?

Mr. Igor Koval, General Director of IC Group, spoke about the fruitful six-year-long work, thanks to which Russia is now part of the 30 leading business economies. The important question, in his opinion, is how can we really restart economic growth.

Mr. Alexander Gulko, Managing Director of NAPI, emphasised that one might talk endlessly about ratings, yet there are extremely important social factors that ought to be considered. He spoke about the level of people's trust in each other. Expert cited disappointing statistics: in the Scandinavian countries the trust level is 86%, in Russia - 20%, and particularly in Moscow - only 1%. And without trusting each other, there will be no growth in business.

Following Mr. Gulko's assessment, Mr. Vdovin invited the experts to discuss the importance and purpose of national projects in Russia. Mr. Tsekhomsky noted that the advantage of these projects lies in their good structure; however, he expressed an uncertainty in how the theoretical will be implemented practically. Mr. Donskih, in turn, shared with the audience the successful global experiences of national projects, to Mr. Koval answered in kind, proposing to consider the most expensive Russian national project - the infrastructure modernisation plan.

Turning to the topic of development institutions, Mr. Vdovin, through the example of the Industrial Development Fund (FRP), demonstrated the successful implementation of such ambitious cases. Mr. Tsekhomsky noted that for the VEB the main priority is to improve the quality of life of Russian citizens. As such, the principle of non-competition with commercial banks is implemented to aid in this matter.

At the end of the event, Igor Vdovin invited the experts to «engage in futurology» — to make a brief forecast for the next year. The experts presented a variety of scenarios:

According to Mr. Gulko's forecast, the social situation he described earlier will change fairly slowly. His forecast was rather pessimistic: in one year the number of Russian people who will begin to trust each other will likely not increase.

Mr. Koval, in contrast to Mr. Gulko, said that the number of PPP projects will increase over the year by a two-digit figure, thus presenting a positive forecast for next year's public-private partnerships.

According to Mr. Tsekhomsky, one might expect an increase in discussions concerning the National Welfare Fund of Russia; particularly, individuals might begin to express discontent regarding their low deposit rates.

Mr. Donskih also believes that deposit rates will continue to fall. At the same time, he expects to strengthen business activity next year.

Generally, the experts more or less agreed on the positive predictions for the coming year, expecting a rise of business activity and an increase of private-public partnership deals, and expressed a wariness regarding deposit rates and social relations.

This material was originally provided in Russian by the Department of Theory and Practice of Interaction between Business and Government at the Higher School of Economics.

NAPI and Russian Ecological Society create a joint environmental practice

On December 16th, 2019, an partnership agreement was reached between the Russian Ecological Society (RES) and the National Agency for Direct Investment (NAPI).

The parties agreed on cooperation in organizing the work of a joint environmental practice, which will provide a range of services in the areas such as environmental protection and nature management, as well as in related fields. The practice will include a wide range of products: audit, consulting, financial model development for a project, attraction of green investments, environmental project support, environmental risk management, etc.

NAPI's significant experience in consulting and in attracting investments, and the recognised expertise and authority of the Russian Ecological Society will allow both parties to effectively interact and strive towards achieving the goal of creating a structure of a qualitatively new level of business support, for domestic and foreign companies alike.

At the Forum, heads of departments, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and industry leaders discussed proposals for the implementation of a comprehensive model for the renovation and modernization of public passenger transport in the Russian Federation, as well as the possibility of attracting extra-budgetary funding for urban transport projects.

The key event of the Forum was the plenary discussion "A comprehensive program for the modernization of passenger transport in urban agglomerations". The meeting was moderated by Igor Vdovin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NAPI, member of the RSPP Management Board, Chairman of the RSPP Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support.

Following the results of the Forum, the key proposals of the participants were sent to the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin.

At the Forum, meetings of two Working Groups were held, the purpose of which was to formulate proposals from the business community on issues related to system-wide measures to support projects of industrial companies, as well as to diversify the military-industrial complex in the interests of large private business. The working groups included heads of large and medium-sized industrial companies, development institutions, as well as regional executive authorities.

The working group "System-wide measures to support industrial companies" was held under the leadership of Maria Vasilkova, senior investment director of PJSC AFK SISTEMA. Within the framework of the Working Group, key proposals were formulated on measures to support industry in the Russian Federation, as well as on the adjustment of important business instruments - KPPK (Corporate Competitiveness Enhancement Program), IPPA (Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement), SPIC (Special Investment Contract), etc.

The meeting was attended by: Igor Nechaev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MCC EuroChem JSC; Alexander Misharin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sinara - Transport Machines JSC; Vadim Sorokin, President of GAZ Group; Andrey Shikhanovich, Director of the Department for Relations with Government Bodies of JSC United Metallurgical Company; Victor Lashkarev, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Udmurt Republic and others.

The working group on "Import substitution. Diversification of the defense industry complex in the interests of big business" was held under the leadership of the Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, coordinator of the federal project "Locomotives of growth" Denis Kravchenko. Oleg Bochkarev, Deputy Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation, Oleg Ryazantsev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Artem Garibyan, Director of the Directorate of Project Finance and Direct Investments of Promsvyazbank PJSC, Alexander Vedrov, Deputy General Director of JSC Concern East Kazakhstan region Almaz-Antey and others took part in the discussion about production and technological policy.

The working group was tasked with formulating possible tools and mechanisms for interaction between large private companies and defense industry enterprises in the implementation of import substitution projects, and with determining the main incentives for diversifying defense industry enterprises in the interests of large businesses.

Following the meetings of the Working Groups, a Plenary Session was held, moderated by Igor Vdovin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NAPI, Member of the RSPP Management Board, Chairman of the RSPP Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support.

The plenary session was attended by: Vasily Osmakov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation; Natalya Eremina, Chairman of the Board of JSC United Metallurgical Company; Vadim Sorokin, President of GAZ Group; Alexander Misharin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC Sinara - Transport Machines; Sergey Kobzev, Deputy General Director of Russian Railways; Sergey Morozov, Governor of the Ulyanovsk Region; Boris Yaryshevsky, Senior Vice President of PJSC Promsvyazbank; Igor Dubonosov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC AKB Novikombank, and others.

The participants of the plenary session thanked the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation for its active position in improving and fine-tuning the instruments of support for industrial companies, and further proposed a number of initiatives related to import substitution in mechanical engineering, diversification of the defense industry complex in the interests of large private businesses and the creation of new financial instruments aimed at stimulating industrial production in the Russian Federation.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of NAPI Igor Vdovin took part in the discussion of the reform of development institutions, which was led by the Deputy Prime Minister - Chief of Staff of the Government Dmitry Grigorenko. The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov, President of the All-Russian Public Organization "Business Russia" Alexei Repik, Head of the Chamber of Commerce Sergey Katyrin, President of the All-Russian Public Organization of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses "OPORA Russia" Alexander Kalinin, Secretary of the Public Chamber Lydia Mikheeva.

On behalf of the Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has developed and submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers a number of suggestions (roadmaps) for reforming development institutions. They spell out procedures for transferring institutions under the control of VEB.RF, for liquidating and redistributing the functions of development institutions between federal agencies and VEB.RF, as well as for modernizing the existing structure of institutions.

We believe that this dialogue with the business community is extremely important in optimizing the activities of development institutions, and the proposals of business associations that were voiced during the meeting must be reflected in the final documents of the reform.

On Wednesday, December 9, 2020, at the Higher School of Economics, a workshop was held by Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of Theory and Practice of Interaction between Business and Government of the Higher School of Economics, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NAPI Igor Vdovin on the topic: "Sources and mechanisms of attracting investments in crisis conditions".

The workshop covered such topics as:
- reform of development institutions;
- the market of direct and venture investments;
- instruments of state support for Russian companies;
- stimulation of investment activity and business outlook on these processes.

The event was also attended by Alexey Basov, Deputy General Director - Investment Director, Board Member of RVC JSC and Pavel Chistyakov, Vice President of the Center for Infrastructure Economics.

An expanded joint meeting of the Committee on Innovation Policy and Innovative Entrepreneurship, the Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support and the Russian Council of Direct Investment Funds was held under the leadership of the head of Rusnano Anatoly Chubais and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NAPI Igor Vdovin.

According to the agenda, two issues were to be discussed:
- cross-border carbon regulation in the EU. Risks for Russian exports, and the potential for reducing them through the implementation of renewable energy projects;
- regulation of venture and direct investment funds in Russian legislation: barriers and solutions.

At the conclusion of the event, it was decided to request the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia to hold a working meeting with the participation of representatives of the department itself, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, RVC JSC and the Rusnano Group to develop joint steps that will contribute to the adoption of draft laws "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Investment Partnership" and certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation", and "On Amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in Connection with the Improvement of Taxation of Income from the Activities of Investment Partnerships".

On February 11th, 2021 a meeting of key stakeholders and decision-makers of the infrastructure market took place.

The meeting was attended by: Igor Vdovin, Chairman of the Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support, RSPP; Irek Fayzullin, Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation; Igor Levitin, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation; and Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP).

The key topic for discussion was the issue of pricing in construction. The findings of continuous monitoring of prices for basic building materials revealed a significant increase in the cost of metal structures and reinforced concrete products by approximately 20%, which can lead to a shortage of funds for the construction of the facility while maintaining the cost of existing contracts. One of the proposals was to consider the possibility of a commensurate increase in the cost of construction of objects, taking into account the share of metal and reinforced concrete products in the cost part of the project in order to eliminate a shortage of funds.

In addition, the participants discussed the issue of improving the regulatory framework and attracting funding for infrastructure projects.

On March 10th, 2021, a meeting of the Coordinating Council for the Support of Investment Projects was held, co-chaired by Andrey Bokarev, President of Transmashholding JSC and Igor Vdovin, Chairman of the Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support, RSPP. The event was opened by the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Alexander Shokhin.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Andrey Ivanov, heads of the largest industrial and investment companies - Grigory Berezkin, Roman Trotsenko, Andrey Guryev, Nikolai Tsekhomsky, Dmitry Komissarov, and others took part.

At the meeting, the membership and composition of the newly established Council was approved. Attendees also discussed business initiatives related to stimulating investment in priority development projects.