Page 68 - RusRPTJul23

investment vehicles, and big Russian companies. In the case of the Leningrad
Region, about half of the value of its investment deals was linked to an
alumina plant
The lack of adequate investments was painfully obvious in the field of Arctic development, one of Russia’s priorities, which also includes the development of the Northern Sea Route, an alternative shipping route to Asia. There were some deals made at the forum, but these remained limited and reflected a state-driven development push. For example, one of the agreements was about a shipyard
development,” highlighted the idea that Russia is increasingly unable to count
on foreign investments (or even domestic investments without various stimuli
and coercion) to develop its economy.
financing
and related port infrastructure to be built by Rusal, which had
been announced months earlier. Even the theme of the event, “sovereign
in the Arkhangelsk Region to be built by the Far East and
Arctic Development Corporation that would theoretically be able to serve up to
40% of Russia’s Arctic fleet. At the same time, the government
will not be
the construction of the Northern Latitudinal Railway, a key Arctic
development project, as there are not enough funds available for both this
project and the expansion of Far Eastern railways until at least 2027.
Government-funded projects have so far failed to attract much foreign
investment into the Arctic to replace the Western investors that left the country.
Ambassador Mikhail Korchunov
repeated
that Moscow would welcome a
developing partnership with Beijing and Delhi on Arctic projects, while
Murmansk governor Andrei Chibis
urged
private investors to support the
development of the Northern Sea Route, seemingly to little avail.
4.5 Labour and income
4.5.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
The unemployment rate in Russia is now at its all-time low and amounts to 2.4mn people, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). "Indeed, now the unemployment rate is at its all-time low - 2.4mn people according to the methodology of the International Labor organisation," she said.
Analysts slightly lowered the forecasts (-0.1 p.p. in 2023 and 2025) and expect the unemployment to remain near 2022 level over the entire horizon (3.6-3.7%).
68 RUSSIA Country Report July 2023 www.intellinews.com