"Russia is building a new Arctic. With private money"

Following up on Monday's "Russia seeks Chinese support in developing Arctic shipping routes, promising long-term gas supplies in return".

From the Barents Observer:

A system with major tax breaks is to make private investors place billions in new regional infrastructure. 

«We have discussed a new system of investment preferences,» Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Trutnev made clear to the press after last week’s meeting in the Arctic Commission, the governmental body for Arctic developments.

According to the top government official, companies that invest in the Arctic could get their tax burden reduced with as much two thirds for the whole project period.
«We are looking at two alternative approaches: One with up to 15 years long tax preferences that include zero tax rates on profits and property, land use and extraction, and a second with 2/3 tax reductions for the whole project period,» Trutnev said in the press briefing.

It is the second option that is the most interesting both for government and the companies, he made clear.

Huge investments
Large-scale investments are on the table of the government planners. A cost estimate recently presented by the Ministry of Natural Resources outlines a need for a total of 10.5 trillion rubles (€143 billion) of private investments in the region over the next ten years. That includes at least 118 different priority projects in the field of new industry and infrastructure, the ministry says....

....MORE