The message that it is easier to buy abroad should not exist

Business is looking for new suppliers and objects for investment.

Within the framework of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF), the Moscow authorities presented a platform for commodity cooperation, which can redirect up to 30% of imports to friendly countries in the coming years. In interview with Vedomosti. City Vladislav Ovchinsky, Head of the Department of Investment and Industrial Policy told about how manufacturers are looking for the missing raw materials and components, and investors choose land for production areas today.

— At the SPIEF, the Moscow Government announced the launch of the commodity cooperation site. What is it for and how is it going to work?

— This is an interesting tool for non-financial support of industrial enterprises. Typically, the federal government and the regions launch different subsidy and support programs, but financial resources decide not everything. Now the issue of supporting the logistics chains is quite acute. After all, many manufacturers of raw materials, components, spare parts and materials left us within a few months. We have set the task to create conditions under which industrial enterprises can quickly find the right products in the territory of the Russian Federation or friendly countries. And if such products do not exist, make a request for its creation.

For example, a soft drink factory comes with the problem that there is no carbon dioxide, which was previously supplied from abroad. At the site you can find carbon dioxide producers on the territory of the subject and the entire Russian Federation and take the contact of the customer. Thus, the supply chain is built and the enterprise saves money, because the products produced in the territory of the Russian Federation, as a rule, are cheaper than foreign counterparts.. There was a misperception of Russian industry in the 90s, which is easier to buy abroad than to do something on the territory of the Russian Federation. This message should not exist, because Russian manufacturers make high quality and economically profitable products.

— The site does not appear from scratch. Was the portal mainly used for government purchases?

— Yes, it is a portal for suppliers that was launched almost 10 years ago and specialized in small volume procurement. Dozens of subjects of the Russian Federation buy for themselves products on the site. The product cooperation platform was created on the basis of the suppliers' portal, which annually concludes more than a thousand contracts.

— Does it mean that you just expanding the functionality and not only government agencies, but also companies themselves can search for suppliers through the portal?

— The directory, which is available on the portal suppliers, is used at the site of commodity cooperation, while the functionality itself is new, unique. We tried to avoid the restrictions that are for the official in terms of public procurement. There is a different terminology and principles of sourcing suppliers. The mechanism should be convenient for the industrial enterprise - as on market places, in one click. Of course, the site still needs to be developed and filled with information.

Today, more than 3,000 manufacturing companies operate in the capital, which are interested in new regional suppliers of raw materials and components. Moscow industrialists are also ready to place their orders on contract productions of the regions. With the help of the free service the user can find the necessary products or its analogues, make an electronic transaction and exchange documents on performance of obligations. Now, the portal employs more than 50,000 state customers and about 270,000 suppliers from 49 Russian entities. In addition to digitalization and development of services for doing business in Moscow, we have also updated the investment map of the capital.

— Is the investment map a new tool?

— Yes, it is a tool with which any investor can find information about objects that are available for rent, purchase or bid. The user of the Moscow investment portal can not only choose a site for his business based on geographical preferences, but also calculate the profitability of the project. For example, assess infrastructure, population size and age, educational facilities and public spaces, and much more. Today, the map shows more than 100 sites for business, as well as information about 3000 city facilities for purchase or lease at auction. You can find car-places, apartments, separate buildings and land plots.

The map contains analytical data on the city as a whole: internal and external investments, human resources, transport infrastructure. For example, the implemented system «Telecom» shows the number of people in different squares on weekdays and weekends. Monthly statistics reflect the number of times a territory travels and the number of telephone conversations. This allows investors to assess how the object of interest is suitable for starting or scaling up a business.

— How detailed does the investment map describe the objects in terms of their technical characteristics?

— If it is an industrial facility, land or partner facilities, you can see information about drainage, electricity, approximate cost of maintenance and connection costs. On land plots are marked type of authorized development, and the description of objects contains photos. In fact, the study of the card of the object replaces the business inspection visit to the site and request primary documentation from the owner and on average saves 1 to 3 working days per object.

— So, on the one hand, there are some objects for auction, on the other hand –is it possible to choose a production site?

— Yes, in the investment map there are sites for localization and land that can be provided as part of large-scale investment projects. Now the mayor of Moscow has launched a program to provide land for industrial production for 1 ruble per year for a period of 5 years. Any investor, industrialist can choose on the map a convenient land plot and send an application for its provision for rent. In fact, it is a packaged investment project, where everything is described, up to the engineering and the cost of its completion.

— In what direction do you plan to develop it?

— We follow the experience of users on the map, search queries and will refine it based on requests. We also plan to add cadastral data of objects to the investment map. We will introduce additional services related to the analysis of infrastructure surrounding an investment project. For example, if you want to build a school, you can see if there are a lot of residential buildings and objects under construction to assess the profitability of the project. Probably, in the territory of the Russian Federation such services no longer.

Source: Vedomosti