Prepared by Alexander Gordienko
BISNIS representative
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
September, 1998
The Kirov Oblast (region) is located in the central and eastern part of European Russia. It is 120,700 sq. m. with a population of 1.69 million people. Kirov is the capital of the region and is located 800 km east of Moscow. Kirov has fewer than 500,000 residents.
The Kirov Oblast has substantial deposits of iron and copper ore, peat, mineral water, glass sand, and clay for the production of porcelain. There is a large deposit of tumour phosphorite with a quantity of 2 billion tons. Deposits of oil have been explored. Geological oil reserves are estimated at 538.3 million tons; 132.6 million tons are considered extractable. One of the oil fields, Zolotaryovskoye, is currently under development. The key regional asset is its forests, which cover 60 percent of the territory and total 345.5 million cubic m. Coniferous trees are dominant.
The Kirov Oblast ranks 43rd in Russia by its industrial output. The principal industry sectors are chemical/petrochemical, machine -building, metalworking, lumber/paper production, woodworking, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, and handicrafts.
The Kirov –Chepetsk Chemical Company and Kirov Tire Company are on the list of 200 largest Russian enterprises by production volume. The Kirov industrial potential accounts for 90 percent of railroad cranes, 80 percent of aluminum cable, 50 percent of power transmission non-insulated wires, 15 percent of tires for trucks, 30 percent of cable and capacitor paper made nationwide.
Approximately 22,000 enterprises and organizations of all ownership forms are registered in the Kirov Oblast, 16,800 of which are privatized or privately owned ones. The non-ferrous metals-processing plant, one of the largest in Russia, produces a wide range of rolled products. The Kirov Oblast is a large producer of apparel made of fur.
The sector of building materials makes such products as silicate bricks/panels, concrete and silicate slabs, wall panels, pre-fabricated reinforced concrete products and some other items. Primarily, local sources of supply of raw materials are utilized for their production.
The light industry is represented by fur clothing, knitwear, leather, textile sub-sectors.
The Vyatka region is well known for handicraft artists who make Matryoshka dolls, souvenirs and gifts of straw, wood, lace, Dymkovo style painted clay toys.
A number of local Research Institutes are intensively involved in microbiology and biotechnology research.
The region has numerous sources of mineral water and medicinal muds, used medically for their mineral and elemental content.
Forests of the Kirov region occupy 8.2 million hectares of land. It is one of the leading Russian areas by overall reserves of lumber, amounting to 1,102 million cubic m. Sixty-six percent of forests contain coniferous trees. Deciduous forests are dominated by birch-trees, which total up to 77 percent.
The Kirov Oblast ranks 4th in the Russian Federation by production volume of lumber and wood materials. In 1997 6 million cubic m of lumber and 1.3 million cubic m of wood products were produced regionally.
The lumber and woodworking sector accounts for 13 percent of the regional industrial output.
Agribusiness
Grains, vegetables, fruits, berries etc. are 62 percent of the regional agricultural produce volume. Approximately 27 percent of the region is used for agribusiness. The major crops are rye and potatoes.
The Kirov Oblast has a high production potential of berries, mushrooms, and herbs for pharmaceutical applications.
Such animals as elks, bears, wolves, hares, beavers, foxes, squirrels, wild boars and some others are authorized to be hunted in forests of the Kirov Oblast.
About 1,600 km of railroads traverse the Kirov region and connect Central Russia to the Urals, Siberia and the Far East, as well as to the north of Russia and to the southern areas. The most important waterways are the Vyatka River and its tributaries. Their total length is 2,000 km.
The density of roads is 155 km per 1,000 sq. m. The Federal highway Vyatka runs across the region. The Kirov section of a new road S. Petersburg – Yekaterinburg is being built.
Natural gas is pumped via the Kirov region from Okhansk to Kirov (200 km), from Yamburg to Tula (94 km), from Yamburg to the Western border of the CIS, from Perm-Kazan to Nizhny Novgorod.
Oil is supplied via pipes from Kalmagory to Klin (80 km), from Surgut to Polotsk (32 km).
Local companies have extensive business contacts with West European companies, especially from Germany and Finland. Thus far, there are no joint ventures with American firms or their subsidiaries, operating in the region.
Two hundred twenty enterprises and organizations are engaged in foreign economic activities.
On September 18, 1998 the regional Duma adopted a law “On Governmental Support of Private Investors in the Kirov Oblast”. Under this law governmental support of investors may be rendered in the form of tax concessions and benefits. The regional government can provide financial and non-financial guarantees to investors, including lease of land and real estate property.
Key contacts:
1. Governor of the Kirov Oblast, Vladimir Nilovich Sergeyenkov
Tel: (8332) 62-95-64, Fax: (8332) 62-89-58
2. Department of International Relations and Foreign Economic Activities, Administration of the Kirov Oblast
Director, Tatiana Alexandrovna Vasilieva
Tel: (8332) 38-11-98, 62-86-05, Tel./Fax: (8332) 38-11-98, 62-86-05
3. Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kirov Region
President, Nikolay Mikhailovich Lipatnikov
Russia, 610000, Kirov, Oktyabrsky Prospekt 104 Office 706
Tel/Fax: (8332) 67-93-43
E-mail: iac@vtpp.kirov.ru
Head of Department of Foreign Economic and Interregional Relations
Tel: (8332) 67-92-29, Tel/Fax: (8332) 67-93-43
E-mail: iac@vtpp.kirov.ru
4. Hotel of the Administration of the Kirov region
Kirov, ul. Gertsena 43
Tel: (8332) 62-69-21