Today, 16:08 Incidents
Up to +20 degrees warmer in the Chelyabinsk regionToday, 15:45 Society
At the suit of the prosecutor in Chelyabinsk, unfinished construction will be demolished on the Kashirin BrothersToday, 15:05 Society
In Miass, VAZ knocked down a young girl in a zebra crossing to deathToday, 14:44 Incidents
Bad morning: several Chelyabinsk residents found punctured wheels of their cars at onceToday, 14:27 Incidents
Putin approved the criteria for assessing governorsToday, 14:15 Politics
Texler made his first appointment in the government of the Chelyabinsk regionToday, 14:04 Politics
Life-long love: in Korkino, the couple celebrated a diamond weddingToday, 13:39 Society
Evgeny Teftelev leaves the post of vice-governor of the Chelyabinsk regionToday, 13:21 Politics
"Centennial artifacts are not needed": an activist tries to save the remains of a stone embankment in ChelyabinskToday, 12:34 Society
IMPORTANT. Candidates for Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region were allowed to self-nominateToday, 12:30 pm Politics
In the Ural "ban" rescued a schoolboy from the ice of the lakeToday, 12:00 Incidents
Public transport will operate on Easter night in ChelyabinskToday, 11:47 Society
A private broke the jaw of a corporal in Chebarkul and got a real sentenceToday, 11:37 Society
Chelyabinsk citizen was arrested for refusing to remove the tint from the car windowsToday, 11:29 Society
The court refused the Chelyabinsk woman demanding 700 thousand for the fall in the hypermarketToday, 11:17 Society
Residents of Ozersk convicted of extortion of apartments and moneyToday, 11:11 Society
South Ural farmers repair equipment using a 3D printerToday, 10:50 Society
In Ozersk, FSB officers detained clandestine gunsmithsToday, 10:36 Incidents
Ivan Urgant proposed to make Kim Jong-un the mayor of KopeyskToday, 09:56 Society
Chelyabinsk residents share photos of the April snowfall on social networksToday, 09:52 Society
URALSIB increased the maximum car loan amount to 5 million rublesToday, 09:49 Finance
NEED HELP. In Chelyabinsk, a 9-year-old child was hospitalized after being hit by a carToday, 09:25 Incidents
Chelyabinsk residents told how they are going to celebrate EasterToday, 09:17 Society
Most sorrowful day of the year: Good Friday - prohibitions, beliefs and traditionsToday, 07:20 Society
The priest, exiled to the village because of the photo of his wife, was returned to MagnitogorskYesterday, 20:14 Society
More than 80% of Russians consider themselves happyYesterday, 17:13 Society
The South Ural police denied accusations of beating up the autoladyYesterday, 16:52 Society
In Magnitogorsk, unknown persons poured paint on a car and wished the owner deathYesterday, 16:44 Incidents
ATTENTION. Traffic in Leninsky district of Chelyabinsk will be limited for 2 daysYesterday, 16:38 Society
Police seized 70 thousand bottles of counterfeit alcohol from a warehouse in ChelyabinskYesterday, 15:52 Society
Lynx first caught a camera trap in the Zyuratkul National ParkYesterday, 15:45 Society
Wet snow and cooling down to -5 will come to the South UralsYesterday, 15:43 Society
IMPORTANT. South Ural children will not be allowed into camps without vaccination against tick-borne encephalitisYesterday, 14:50 Society
The director of a firm in Magnitogorsk has underpaid taxes by 13 millionYesterday, 14:43 Society
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Vice Governor Chelyabinsk region
To be more precise, the responsibilities of the deputy head of the region Alexey Ovakimyan include increasing the investment attractiveness of the Chelyabinsk region, financial recovery of enterprises, expanding the tax base, as well as ensuring effective management of state property and preventing deliberate bankruptcies.
About this, as well as about ongoing and planned investment projects and proposals, about whether the South Urals is becoming more interesting for foreign and Russian partners, readers of the Access News Agency can ask Alexey Ovakimyan personally.
Recall that all messages are pre-moderated. The right to answer personal questions remains with the heading guest.
Questions and answers
Igor Pavlov:You are responsible for investment attractiveness, Klepov - for attracting investment, Murzina - for the implementation of investment policy. Does this mean irresponsibility? How can several people be responsible for the same thing?
Attracting investments to the region is not my exclusive, but the priority of the governor's policy. All ministers and deputy governors of the Chelyabinsk region in their area of responsibility are responsible for attracting investments. My area of responsibility is legal support investment activities and organizing the efficient use of the region's resources (land, subsoil, property, including bankrupt enterprises) to attract specialized investors.
Victor:Where is our region in terms of local and foreign investments in comparison with other regions of the country? Do you have accurate information on this issue, and not just your opinion?
The information you are interested in can be seen on the website of the ministry economic development Chelyabinsk region: econom-chelreg.ru.
Aigul:There are more and more children in Churilovo, could you somehow make sports sections there, especially women's football, it is becoming more and more popular, and if it appears in Churilovo, I will be very very grateful to you, thank you! :)
Churilovo is one of the most promising and actively developed regions of the city. Of course, all the necessary infrastructure is also planned there. Your appeal on the women's football sports complex seems to me very interesting. We will definitely coordinate this issue with the administration of the city of Chelyabinsk.
Vitaly:Alexey Dmitrievich, hello. Recently, much has been said about the fact that our region should be more positioned as a tourist or archaeological (Arkaim), then, accordingly, people will reach out, and this will increase the budgets of the territories. However, in many respects, the matter does not go beyond words. Do you have a similar direction in your plans, or are they still unpromising?
The South Urals as a tourist region must be "untwisted" practically from "scratch". Nevertheless, this is being done and will be done in the very near future. The economic and social impact of this work is colossal. Each region has its own zest (caves, monuments, lakes, the same Arkaim and "Demidov places"). We prepare proposals for investors for the construction of health-improving, leisure and entertainment complexes. We will develop an information campaign on tourism in the South Urals.
For some reason, it used to be thought that people should come to the administration and look for a way out to " the right person"to get a land plot. Now the approach is changing. If a person comes with an interesting project, land can be given even free of charge, provided that an object necessary for people and the region will be built on it.
Ivan Georgievich:Mr. Minister, in recent months on TV a lot has been shown about the fact that delegations come to us different countries, agreements are signed. And what are the real joint projects have already been implemented, and what else can we expect?
Foreign investors really paid attention to the South Urals. This is the result of the governor's travels, but the region's long-standing closeness and the caution of foreign companies are making themselves felt. From the first meeting to the construction of the plant, as a rule, more than one year passes. In 2011, after multiple negotiations in Chelyabinsk, several foreign (mostly Italian) companies have already registered. We expect more. I think by the end of the year the results will be visible to a wide range of people.
Olga Nikolaevna:Once, speaking, you said that it is necessary to carry out an inventory of regional property in the region in order to preserve what may be useful to the residents of South Urals, and to offer those objects that are used ineffectively to investors. Has this work been done and what is the result?
Taking an inventory of regional and municipal property is not an easy question. A lot of objects (and even enterprises) were not included in the property register. Apparently, we still have to work to protect the rights of the state to those objects that at one time were "lost" by the region for various reasons.
Nevertheless, by 01.07.11 the inventory will be completed. In the second half of 2011, fundamental decisions will be made on measures for the most effective use of it.
Konstantin:Alexey Dmitrievich, in your opinion, what is investment attractiveness region? Convenient geographic location? Here, take our region. The capacities of the once largest defense enterprises are idle. That is, the entire infrastructure is there. I understand that your task is to find investors for these projects. But, on the other hand, different ratings mention the Chelyabinsk region as the worst constituent entity of the Russian Federation from an environmental point of view and occupies almost the first ranks in corruption cases (bribes, kickbacks). Is there a system for creating attractiveness - investment - for the region? Do even the chapters have municipalities Any ideas on this, except for winter resorts and summer camps?
The Chelyabinsk region has all the prerequisites for attracting investments. Even mutually exclusive things, like the industry of Karabash and the nature of Uvildy (at a distance of 8 kilometers) - this is also our highlight.
The most important thing is to create the prerequisites for attracting investors:
1. Regulatory framework (benefits, simplified procedure for resolving administrative issues, etc.);
2. Reopening of previously lost logistic corridors. Chelyabinsk is located on a straight line of the transport corridor " Western Europe- Western China. "At the same time, road, rail and air routes have been laid bypassing the region. The situation can be changed this year. The inflow of investments into the region after the change in the logistics scheme will be incomparable with any other measures.
3. Well, and of course, human resources. Attracting specialists to the region and training our own personnel (who do not leave the region) are one of the prerequisites for investment growth.
Daniel:Dear Alexey Dmitrievich, how seriously has your life changed after your appointment as vice-governor? You manage to deal with the affairs of the Avuar company, and by the way, who replaced you in this post? Several times I had the opportunity to meet with you at seminars, and it seemed to me that you are a rather gentle and rather intelligent person. Isn't it hard to be a lieutenant governor with such qualities?
Of course, it was easier to work in Avuar, but working in the government is an element of professional self-realization. The holding has always been a partnership, so my departure was not extreme for the company. Today, Konstantin Igonin and Stanislav Mironov are managing the Avoir. As for personal qualities, I think they are not the worst for an official. Look, in Europe no one yells at anyone, and they live no worse than ours.
Yuri Yaroslavovich:A few days ago Yurevich gave you the right to sell land plots under suburban construction... How long will it take to prepare all sorts of rules, instructions, regulations, and can this be done according to the "one window" principle?
Attracting investors for the development of the South Ural lands is indeed a priority issue and is directly related to the creation of a tourism cluster in the region. Moreover, land and property are one of the main sources of tax revenues local budgets.
By the end of the year, the issue of allocating land plots to everyone will be resolved. You just need to understand that land will not be distributed in a chaotic manner, but according to an agreed plan, without infringing on the interests of the rest of the population (in particular, without restricting access to water bodies) and in compliance with investment obligations for the construction of previously agreed facilities, be it villages, bases recreation, sanatoriums, etc.
"One window" when processing documents will be required. In the region, such a body will be the regional "property fund".
Ivan Stepanovich:The Chelyabinsk Region has always been a machine-building region, and so far we cannot get away from this. Another thing is that the connection between enterprises and science has been lost? And then, not every plant will undertake to create a "probe" of the inventor, and here you would come in handy, as a person in charge of investors. Look what the food science students of SUSU have invented - there is no such thing in the whole world. And ChTZ, as it has been producing tractors for 20-40 years, and continues, the plant has lost the feeling of modernity and reality. Perhaps, if this enterprise were to be resold, it would be possible to create a promising machine-building direction, including for the Industrial Ural project, or new models of municipal equipment?
Alexey Ovakimyan was born in 1972 in the city of Ozersk.
Graduated from the South Ural Polytechnic, received higher education in the South Ural state university at the Faculty of Economics and Law.
Started his career in August 1996 as an operational officer of the Office Federal Service tax police in the Chelyabinsk region, then became the head of the organizational and inspection department and completed his work in the tax police as an assistant to the head of the department.
From August to November 2002, he headed the Consolidated Department economic analysis, forecasting and regulation of the Committee on Economy of the Chelyabinsk Region. In November 2002, he was appointed head of the Entrepreneurship Support Center of the Committee on Economy of the Chelyabinsk Region.
In January 2004, he moved to the position of Executive Director of the Symbol - Stroy Invest Corporation, where he worked until April 2005.
From April 2005 to January 2011, he was the main founder and director of Auditing Firm Avuar, one of the largest audit and consulting companies in Chelyabinsk and the region.
In parallel with his main job, Alexey Ovakimyan was engaged in teaching activities - first at the Ozersk Technological Institute, a branch of MEPhI, and then at SUSU, where he worked for 10 years at the Department of Economics and Economic Security. Since 2001 he has the academic degree "candidate economic sciences».
Received an auditor's certificate in 2002 by type audit activity"General audit". Member of the Audit Chamber of Russia since 2006, member of the Council of the Ural regional branch of the Audit Chamber of Russia since 2008.
For a long time, he was a freelance advisor to the staff of the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Urals federal district, the head of his territorial reception office in the city of Ozersk, Chelyabinsk region.
From February 2011 to April 2012 - Deputy Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region for Legal, Property and Investment Issues.
Experts in economics, planning and resource management at the micro and macro levels have always been respected. Back in Ancient Greece, Aristotle in his treatises "Topeka" and then "Politics" asks about production processes person. Xenophon in his work "Economics" describes in detail the economy of Athens. The most famous economists of the 21st century are the Nobel Prize winner in economics Paul Krugman, a former chief economist The World Bank and Nobel laureate José Stiglitz, ex-adviser on economics to the UN Secretary General and author of the concept of "shock therapy" Jeffrey Sachs. All these outstanding personalities are united by one thing - a high-quality economic education and a non-standard approach to the profession.
A graduate of the Higher School of Economics and Management of SUSU, Ph.D. in Economics, ex-vice-governor of the Chelyabinsk Region for legal, property and investment issues, spoke about how the education received at the South Ural State University helped to realize it and what qualities are needed today for young specialists. and today the owner of the audit group of companies "Avuar" Alexey Ovakimyan.
- Alexey Dmitrievich, why did you choose SUSU to obtain the profession of an economist?
- When I decided to enter the correspondence department at SUSU, while working in parallel at the Office of the Federal Tax Police Service in the Chelyabinsk Region, there was a merger of two departments with good educational and teaching potential - "Economics in Construction" and "Economics in Mechanical Engineering", which attracted ... I am glad that I was not mistaken then, since I entered the university after the army and could analyze where the best training systems are. I think that I was lucky, because at that time SUSU had accumulated the most progressive teaching staff, who put high-quality basic knowledge into us.
- How did the knowledge gained at the university help you?
- The main role was played by charismatic teachers who knew how to "fall in love" with their subject. There were quite a few of them. For example, a teacher of accounting Irina Vasilievna Khlopotova, the phrase which I still remember: "Accounting is a way of knowing the world around through the balance of assets and liabilities." Or Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Smagin- an absolute guru in his subject " Financial management". All these people have laid the desire to work and develop in this profession.
- How interesting was it to study?
- Very interesting! I studied at the correspondence department, working in the tax police, so I once again confirmed a well-known truth for myself - the knowledge in which you feel an acute shortage is best absorbed. It was a good school for me as a young economist: the specifics of my work forced me to delve into the economics of various industries. Then my classmates and I belonged to a new generation of economists, in contrast to those who were educated in the Soviet economic schools, we understood the difference between planned and market economies being, thus, more competitive than our colleagues. Indeed, in the 90s - market economy was something new and outlandish, the methods of its control also seemed unusual to everyone, there were no algorithms, all standards and regulations were invented on the fly. The dollar exchange rate has changed many times during the month and the legislation is about the same.
- Are there any vivid memories of the years of study at SUSU?
- A funny story happened with the choice of a theme for my graduation thesis... Then it was very "fashionable" to write about banking However, we must pay tribute to my scientific advisor - Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Smagin, who taught me a lesson, as it is now called, coaching. I was eager to write a diploma on banking in terms of non-standard financial transactions- leasing and factoring. And he voiced his desire to Vyacheslav Nikolaevich, who did not try to persuade me, but sent me to the bankers I knew in order to clarify with them the relevance and applied nature of the thesis. Imagine my surprise when I heard that theory is at odds with practice, this topic is not at all interesting to banks, since at that time these organizations had two main sources of income that brought superprofits - lending and currency exchange. Disappointed, I came to Vyacheslav Nikolaevich, who guided me to write a diploma on the topic “ Economic security entrepreneurial activity ", which I eventually successfully defended" excellently ", graduating from SUSU with honors. A little more than a month passed, a call came from the alma mater, where I had already been invited to teach the above course of lectures. So, for ten years from 1998 to 2008, in addition to my main activity, I gave lectures to students, which I am very happy about. After all, it is known that there are two ways to thoroughly master a subject - either go to teach it, or go to teach it. Teach more effectively. In addition to new knowledge, I also acquired rhetorical skills, learned how to communicate with the audience, which I had not previously been able to do.
- Does your company cooperate with SUSU today?
- It is imperative that a lot of graduates of the SUSU Higher School of Economics and Management work at the Avuar Group of Companies. Moreover, for us SUSU is a basic university, with which it is very convenient and effective for us to cooperate.
- What can you wish current graduates to realize their potential in their careers?
“In these dynamic times, you will never achieve anything with a standard approach in traditional markets. We need to look for innovative approaches to traditional markets, or fundamentally new markets. Then there is a chance of success, but, of course, there is also a huge chance of failure. Therefore, from personal qualities, I would also single out courage and willingness to take risks! After all, the most dynamically developing state over the past 200 years, the United States, was essentially created by adventurers who were not afraid to swim across the ocean. It is in business that healthy adventurism and ingenuity are very important, in the best sense of the word.
30.03.2007 00:00 57 (10692)
Five years ago, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor Alexey Ovakimyan became a businessman. Opening an audit firm, he did not have start-up capital, his own office - you cannot earn them in the civil service ...
Five years ago, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor Alexey Ovakimyan became a businessman. Opening an audit firm, he did not have start-up capital, his own office - you cannot earn them in the civil service.
Aleksey Dmitrievich had a different capital: two higher educations - technical and economic, work experience in the tax police, regional administration, at the department at SUSU. This turned out to be enough to successfully establish a business.
Today the Avuar enterprise occupies the fourth line in the rating of auditing companies of the Chelyabinsk region, branches are opened in Moscow and Samara. But the director does not rest on his laurels. She teaches at SUSU a rare but demanded subject - "Economic Security of an Enterprise".
On a voluntary basis, he heads the committee for investment policy South Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry, represents the Ural region in Moscow. Perhaps, for the layman, the concepts of audit, consulting, investment are too distant, pretentious. But when a specialist enters the conversation, you suddenly realize that life itself forces you to understand them.
Invisible riches
It is known that investment is good for everyone. These are new jobs, additional contributions to the budget. The more there are, the better for the region's economy. But the trouble is: for some reason investors are in no hurry to come to us.
There is a serious problem in the market, - explains Alexey Ovakimyan. - There is a lot of money now (although it is not visible from everywhere). And there are very few real projects to invest in. A good business project is like a highlight. To find it, you have to dig through a heap of slag.
In Moscow, the issue is even more acute. When I arrive, my colleagues at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry are surprised: "Gentlemen, do you really have nothing to invest in in the Urals?" I’m ashamed to say - there’s nothing. Everyone needs money. Just whistle - there will be a line, projects will be brought. Of these, 95 - 96 percent can be thrown out. They are not adapted to life.
What does it mean?
Let's say there is an idea to produce something. Whether the market needs it, whether it is in demand - very few people care. It happens that an inventor has come up with a novelty, but abroad this product has been produced for a long time and the brand has been promoted. Many projects have not been economically worked out, many are fraudulent.
Even if the project suits you, then during its implementation a colossal number of regulatory obstacles arise. For example, when buying land. There are no priorities for good business projects. It doesn't matter if you build a casino on this site or a Silicon Valley that will glorify you all over the world. The land allocation procedure is the same.
Money loves silence
Does the audit somehow have something in common with the topic of investments?
Of course. Even being an auditor, that is, a specialist in documents, economics, it is difficult to evaluate a project. Not being an auditor is impossible.
Audit and consulting are not the same thing?
Not really. An audit is a must. Once a year, a certain category of enterprises is audited. You can do it formally by checking whether the reporting is reliable or not. And you can conduct a deeper analysis, finding weaknesses in economic activity companies. Further, the help of professional consultants is just required.
For example, the owner of a large company says: “Money loves silence. The enterprise needs to be small ”. In this case, we explain: “You will have problems with borrowed money. They won't lend a lot of money. Arranges?" - "Yes". Then a large holding company has to be transformed into several small ones.
Others, on the contrary, ask: “Let's make us big. We want our shares to be quoted on the stock exchange, so that cheap loans are given. " While consulting, we warn: “You will have problems in terms of tax administration, attention, inspections. Ready?" - " Ready!" - "Go"...
Big business is an indicator of success. Is not it?
We recently ran into an interesting problem. It is considered great for us when the company has its own factories, children's sanatoriums, boarding houses: “Look, what complex I contain! What is my social network! " Foreigners think differently: “Having a social sphere is harmful for business, it is evil. It must be handed over immediately. " In the West, business is primarily a brand. They register a trademark, invest crazy money in the promotion (it is much more expensive than building a plant).
Possessing a well-promoted trademark, you can place orders at any plant, controlling the quality of the products. In order for no one to use the trademark, it must be properly registered. Then grant licensing rights. This is how the international holdings Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, Adidas are built. We are trying to promote the Urals companies on this principle.
We say to businessmen: "Let's make our brands large-scale, bring them to the federal level, invest money in their promotion." Because people trust local producers. If the quality of the products is high, the brand is well-known, then high-quality production can be organized in any region of Russia. Moreover, the products will be local.
At one time you served in the tax police, you have the rank of lieutenant colonel. What about economic crime?
She is becoming more civilized. A new, American wave has also reached us - raiding, that is, an unfriendly takeover of business. This used to happen in Moscow. Now business is being taken away here too, and quite often. Raiding is the most serious economic crime. Because in the morning you can come to the office and find out that the company, building, office does not belong to you.
Roots in Kirovakan
I didn't want to talk about sad things, and the conversation smoothly moved on to more pleasant topics.
You have a rare surname for our places. Were you born in Chelyabinsk?
In Ozersk. When it was being built, young specialists were gathered from all over the Union. Then everything was classified: you can come, you can not leave. Young people were put on a train to the station "Kyshtym" and said: "This is where you will work." Father was called from Kirovakan, from Armenia (he is a builder). Mom was brought from Yekaterinburg (she worked in the laboratory for testing building materials). There they met. Therefore I am a half-breed.
Are there many paternal traits in your character?
I think incest is a blessing. My temperament is probably Armenian, but dressed in a European shell. Inside, everything is boiling, boiling, you constantly have to do something, run to run. At the same time, something is holding back: wait, do not boil, you must not show it. It turned out that the Armenian volcano is wearing a European jacket. The upbringing of the volcano is holding back.
My dad is a very friendly person, fireworks of emotions. Although 57 years in Russia have left their mark. He is an honored builder of Russia, an honorary citizen of the city of Ozersk, a respected person. When you walk around the city with him, he begins to tell when what was built. After all, almost every house was built with his participation.
Family in Armenian
Have you forgotten the peculiarities of the national cuisine?
Few recipes were passed on. But like any Armenian, I make a real barbecue. As a business I don't use it (smiles).
- How to cook a delicious shish kebab?
- There are no special secrets. You just need to know how to properly put the meat on a skewer. When the slices are cut into small ones and put on a skewer across, they burn along the edges, and the meat is raw in the middle. A small slice turns into a biscuit.
If you take a large slice and put it lengthwise, then the meat is evenly baked and remains juicy. And then all the secrets in spices and their combinations. A purely Armenian version: fresh herbs are put into the meat, it is settled for a while, soaked and then it gives an amazing aroma.
Please tell us about your family.
- The family is normal in Armenian, correct - a wife and three children. Russian wife, met in Ozersk. The eldest son will turn 12 in May. It is named after his grandfather - Dmitry. The younger ones are twins Misha and Anya (shortly - Mishanya). They will be five years old. Not alike.
Looking at them, one involuntarily recalls the horoscopes: the year of this, the month of that. Nothing like this. They were born on the same day - and there is nothing in common in the character. Even outwardly they do not look alike - common features neither in the face nor in the figure. The girl is painstaking, calm, shy.
Although, of course, a flirt. The boy is lightning, he cannot stand still for a second: he constantly jumps, never sits down, says something. If strangers come to visit, he will easily crawl into his hands what problems he will tell. Since our twins were born, I have put an end to the horoscopes.
Where do you spend your free time?
- At work. The wife is unhappy, but what to do? I love my job very much, I have enough responsibilities. But if I can find time, I hurry home. Fortunately, the family is big, friendly, there are many children. On weekends, the duties are more serious: to give one a lift to figure skating, dancing, to tutors, the eldest - to tennis, then chess. Recently I even managed to go to the dacha. They built a slide with the children, a snow woman. We had a wonderful rest.
Dear newspaper
Finally, we traditionally started talking about "Vecherka".
In my opinion, a respected newspaper, - says Aleksey Dmitrievich. - In recent years, not everything has been smooth for her. But this stage has been successfully passed. It is no coincidence that the Jewish people that I respect, in order to become wise, went through the ordeals of persecution. Apparently, the test was also useful for the newspaper.
It is not as official as some, and allows for a kind of dissident opinion. There is analytics, there is eventfulness. If we talk about wishes, from my point of view, "Vecherka" lacks forecasts. We have formed a middle class, which, I believe, is your client. And, thank God, the middle class has been doing more or less well for the past 15 years.
Therefore, many are interested in questions: how to correctly place the money earned, how the market will develop valuable papers? A professional will enter an international exchange, register himself - and will work. But what about someone who does not know how to do this, is not an economist, but wants to invest further? I like that these materials began to appear on the pages of the newspaper more and more often.
Looking through the various press, I see that Vecherka has chosen the right approach: it is moderately engaged, there is analytics in the disclosure of events, and seriousness is felt. It's like with telephones. There are a lot of functions in "Samsung" - everything shines, blinks, great, beautiful. There seems to be nothing special about Nokia, just a device. But the seriousness of the business is there. So is the "Evening Chelyabinsk".
Tatiana MARINA.
Photo by Sergey VASILIEV.
Senior partner of the audit and consulting group "Avuar" - about why the development of a development strategy is a thankless job, why the Chelyabinsk region needs another airport, and why the main resource for development is not the economy, but education.
Alexey Dmitrievich, you are the head of a group that is developing a strategy for the socio-economic development of the Chelyabinsk region until 2035.
Yes, to be honest, at first I didn't really want to write a strategy. Including because I understand what it is. In 2002-2005, I worked in the regional ministry of economic development and was engaged in this. In addition, predicting the future is generally an amateur job. If only because you understand that it will not come true anyway (smiles).
On the other hand, the last serious development strategies in our area were written in 1998 and 2008. It just so happened that both times the crises that broke out in those years made these works irrelevant in a few months.
Nevertheless, I understand that the region needs a strategy. On the basis of precisely such documents, budget planning should be carried out, and the necessary normative base... Planning in any case should be based on something. Not on the fact, for example, that the conditional head of the conditional region flew to the conditional Munich, he liked something there, and he decided: "Let's do the same thing." All the same, we are talking about money, and it is necessary to plan in advance, divide, understand what is in priority, and in general - where this money will come from.
A strategy is needed. But none of the normal people wants to do it (smiles). Thankless job.
- Then why did you decide to take on this business?
Firstly, this is a rather serious professional challenge for me.
Secondly, it coincides with my worldview. Over time, I realized that I would live here, in Chelyabinsk (smiles). I'm comfortable here. This is a city (like the entire region) with a still good quality of workers, with many interesting people, and at the same time, it is a territory with fairly low costs. And a million-plus city is the best place to live. There is already a lot of infrastructure here, but there is no such fuss that is in Moscow, for example.
Thirdly, the governor of the region, Boris Dubrovsky, decided that it was necessary to develop a strategy with “self-reliance”. This is not devoid of a certain logic - those who know the region and want to continue living in it should develop plans for the development of the region.
In addition, almost all regional strategies developed by large consulting companies are rather stereotyped. I looked at several similar documents - this is, in fact, a matrix where regional indicators are laid down, and everything else goes completely identical to each other.
The regional authorities have allocated nine million rubles to develop the strategy. In the eyes of the layman, this is notable money. Is it really a lot or a little?
In fact, not only the amount is important, but also the deadline for completing the work. When compared with other regions, the "price tag" ranged from 120 million and two years of work to 18-19 million and a year of work. We have, I repeat, nine million. And only six months to work. That's not a lot.
The development of any strategy begins with a detailed analysis of the current situation and situation. At the same time, I have heard more than once that there is actually not so much quality information, analytical and statistical data on the region's economy.
This did not come as a surprise to us. As well as the fact that the available statistics are rather wishful thinking. Although there is a lot of reliable, high-quality information. But one thing is data that can be counted and verified - say, the number legal entities or the number of registered properties. And something completely different - for example, the volume of foreign trade turnover of the Chelyabinsk region with other regions of Russia. It is simply hardly possible to calculate it in detail. We treat this data philosophically ...
If we consider the economy of the region as a whole, then we must understand the resources and competitive advantages. If we are provided with resources and have competitive advantages, then where exactly the flow of goods will go - to Bashkiria, Kazakhstan or the United States, the entrepreneurs themselves, and not the authorities, will decide. The task of the authorities is to provide the necessary support measures in the presence of a competitive product. Or create conditions for creating a competitive product. In our work, my colleagues and I proceeded precisely from this.
- Who did you involve to work on the strategy?
We tried to gather everyone who wants to help. And this even became a problem for us - the customer set the deadlines short. And we talked to just about anyone - factories, economics departments and university departments, municipalities, even art critics and journalists. The positive thing about this was that there were a lot of interesting thoughts, ideas, messages. But when it came to the question that everything proposed must be clearly described, there were fewer applicants (smiles). In general, we have a lot of people who are ready to talk and speculate about development prospects. But there is much less clear understanding of how to achieve this, what mechanisms should be. There are problems with this.
As a result, they settled on the fact that SUSU took over part of the work, ChelSU took over part of the work, part of the work was given to the federals, in particular, the analytical center "Expert" and Dmitry Tolmachev were involved.
“In general, we have a lot of people who are ready to talk and speculate about the prospects for development. But a clear understanding of how to achieve this is much less. "
Returning to the current state of the Chelyabinsk region, its economy. What is the state of affairs, and is the economy of our region very different from what is customary to think about it?
If we talk about the economy, then our region continues to lag behind similar regions of the country. We do not even take leaders - Moscow, St. Petersburg or Kazan. Now we are losing in comparison even to our colleagues - “metallurgists” from Cherepovets (Vologda Oblast) or Lipetsk. In addition to them, we also watched Kuzbass and our neighbors from the Sverdlovsk region and Bashkortostan.
If we take the Vologda and Lipetsk regions, then their growth rates are explained by a “low base”, but they are ahead of us in terms of the dynamics of economic diversification in their regions. They have become less "metallurgical" than the Chelyabinsk region. And by the pace, dynamics economic growth(starting from budget revenues, household income, gross regional product) they are ahead of us now.
The Chelyabinsk region in the 90s lost the way of the economy that was in the years of the Soviet Union. We were strong not only in metallurgy. We not only produced metal, but also made machines, equipment, electrical equipment from this metal, on which the final product was produced. Third-fourth level of redistribution.
Now, in fact, only the first or second level of redistribution remains. We produce metal, extract some kind of minerals, but metalworking and mechanical engineering, alas, have not remained at that level.
The same metalworking now occupies a negligible percentage of the metal produced in the region. And our metallurgists, since machine building collapsed in the 90s, do not consider consumers in the Chelyabinsk region as any significant customers for themselves, and almost all products are supplied either for export or in other regions of the country. It is almost unrealistic to take the same copper at the RMK factories - they have been contracted for years to come. The same is with Mechel or MMK; at best, their products can be obtained from large wholesalers.
- And what about mechanical engineering and defense?
Those whom we call machine builders, as a rule, dream of either getting a state defense order or joining the chain of suppliers of state corporations or oil and gas companies such as Rosneft or Gazprom.
You see ... almost the entire economy of the region ... Firstly, we do not have a final product, and secondly, largest industries rather focused on the demand of large consumers outside the region, and not on B2C, not on the final consumer, not on the retail market, not on the domestic demand of the region's residents. Our economy does not know how to work for its own population.
- And what about agriculture?
Yes, of course, it is aimed at the end consumer; it is, after all, food (smiles). And yes, it began to occupy a prominent place in the economy. But this is still far from metallurgy in terms of volume.
"Our economy does not know how to work for its own population"
In fact, there is an objective side to what I have described. By and large, our enterprises can rely on the end consumer, on the demand of the population only within the Ural location - Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, Tyumen region, Bashkortostan. This is actually a good location, the third largest in the country; more than 15 million people live in these territories, a 500-kilometer shoulder from Chelyabinsk.
- Good market.
Yes, not bad. But not China. If you make a mass end product for the whole world, you also need to have the logistics of its delivery, and at the lowest possible cost. That is, the port. Sea transportation is the cheapest, especially if in large volumes. And we have to the nearest sea - three thousand kilometers.
Wait. For many years we have been told that the Chelyabinsk region has a unique geographic location and certain logistic capabilities and benefits.
Now we have no logistics advantages for our producers. Our manufacturers can count on an effective transport leverage of 500, for some types of goods - 700 kilometers. This is, in fact, the Big Urals.
- And what about the prospects for a transport corridor to China and in the opposite direction to Europe?
Once, as an official, I promoted this idea. And she is generally alive - the Urumqi - Chelyabinsk - Western Europe corridor.
- And we will not rest against the carrying capacity of the railway and the M-5 highway?
M-5 is a real trouble, a problem. From all sides - both from the transport and logistics, from the point of view of the region's economy, and from the point of view of safety: accidents and deaths are off scale. This problem must be solved in one way or another. She is key for our area.
But the regional authorities cannot spend their resources on the M-5 - the highway is federal. Although at one time there was talk about the construction of a backup track.
The cost of the reconstruction of our section M-5, according to our calculations, is about 70 billion rubles. The version with a backup track is also generally realistic. There are two options: either the regional authorities will be able to convince Rosavtodor (which I don’t really believe, because their plans have already been drawn up for a long time to come), or we are making a toll road-backup. But its creation without attracting a federal grant or something similar is hardly possible.
Development of logistics is impossible without M-5. We are all the same ... our vector of development, as I see it, is directed towards Asia. In central Russia, competition is already very high, and if our producers look for their markets, they will be to the east of the Chelyabinsk region.
The "Western Europe - Western China" corridor is important even in a global sense. And it will take place where conditions will be created faster for this, be it our region or, say, Orenburg. If the M-5 highway and the railroad become part of this corridor, then Chelyabinsk may become a truly demanded logistics hub.
Although, if you look closely at technology, 17 years ahead ... Rail is not the most promising mode of transport.
- Why?
Very expensive. It's also expensive on the highway. Roads, railways and automobiles - this is a huge infrastructure that must first be created, built for huge money, and then maintained, which also requires significant costs.
Why is sea transportation the cheapest? Because, in fact, apart from ports, there is no infrastructure there - ships just sail on the sea.
Aviation today has restrictions on the carrying capacity of aircraft, so "air" is also quite expensive. But so far, calculations show that in the distant future it is air transportation that will dominate along with sea transportation, especially if vehicles with a large carrying capacity and low costs are created - airships or something else.
- That is, a high-class airport is becoming a key development factor?
Yes, absolutely. And the region needs another airport, in the mining zone, between Chelyabinsk and Ufa, approximately in the Zlatoust region. An airport for regional lines, but with the ability to fly, say, to Moscow. Otherwise, our tourist cluster will remain an unclaimed dream.
The current scheme, when you first need to fly to Chelyabinsk (which is not yet Dubai, and does not make such an impression by itself), the airport of which does not yet have sufficient capacity, and then still go 130-150 kilometers along the M-5 to its the current state ... Not the happiest prospect for any tourist. It is better to fly directly to the place where the person wants to rest.
"The region needs another airport, in the mining zone, between Chelyabinsk and Ufa, approximately in the Zlatoust region."
The development strategies that are being developed by the leading regions of the country are distinguished by very serious ambitious tasks. In the same Tatarstan, the task is to increase the population of the republic by a million people. The logic is clear enough - the more people live in a quality area, the more money there, the larger the market, including the consumer market, and the higher the level and opportunities for development. As far as I remember the first discussions in your working group, the experts were inclined to think that it would be good not to lose the population ... Why? And how ambitious is the strategy you are developing?
The task of increasing the population of the region was set before us by the governor of the region, Boris Dubrovsky, who considers such a development of events, among other things, the best assessment of the quality of regional governance.
But we have prioritized not the total number of the population, but its quality, may I be forgiven for this expression. Quality human capital- this is the key indicator.
You see, any new technology, in addition to all its benefits, always leads to the reduction of "simple" jobs. Is always. And the reduction of jobs in those industries that form the basis of our today's economy is an inevitable process.
Therefore, we considered that the goal should be not so much the gross growth of the population as the improvement of the quality of its life. And for this, first of all, the level of people's competence should grow - their skills, experience, qualifications, knowledge.
To put it quite simply, smart people should live in the Chelyabinsk region, and they should live well.
- But in what indicators could this be expressed?
In the economy, this is primarily labor productivity and output per employee. This is precisely the difference now between Russia and the leading countries.
Now the average output per working person is about 730 thousand rubles a year. Just over 60 thousand a month. And the same level of wages simply cannot be higher than labor productivity. And in Germany, for example, the output is 80 thousand euros per year per employee. So much for the difference that separates us from what we want to achieve ...
This does not mean that our person should work harder (sometimes this is simply impossible) - but he should work smarter, on different, more efficient equipment, and using completely different technologies. Or the product that a person creates must be unique and inimitable.
In addition, the design of our labor market is fundamentally flawed. A good half of the labor market is something tied in one way or another either directly to the budget or to something quasi-budgetary (municipal unitary enterprises, UIA, state-owned enterprises, and the like). But budgetary sphere does not create added value, at best it provides service.
This can be changed only by drastically changing the quality of public administration. Which, in an amicable way, should become a kind of global online service. Everything that a person wants from the state, he should receive through, roughly speaking, mobile app on the phone, and, if possible, do not meet with the official at all. This, by the way, among other things, will drastically reduce costs.
And in any case, the economy that will be created, the technologies that will appear - all this is invented by people. And our super goal is to make here a kind of "factory" for the production of such smart people. The smartest people.
- That is - a battle for brains?
Yes. As in the rest of the world, I will note.
- But what you are talking about is impossible without high-quality education.
Studying where to get these "brains", we analyzed the level and quality of education in the Chelyabinsk region. It turned out that our level of secondary education is quite decent. But further ...
Now those graduates who graduated well from our best schools and lyceums leave Chelyabinsk immediately. To the same Moscow. Those who stayed here study at our universities, but if they graduated well from them, then, as a rule, they also leave.
Here, for the most part, conditional "C-grade students" remain. And they are much less likely to be able to create something new, breakthrough. Although they often turn out to be good entrepreneurs, and you shouldn't underestimate them (smiles). But we need not just good businessmen, but creators and inventors of something new.
We have a good basic resource - the graduates of our schools. But why are they leaving? Someone - because they want to live in Moscow or New York. Normal desire, and you can hardly do anything with it. But let's look at the same USA - not everyone there is set with the goal of going to Washington (or New York, or California). After all, the university capital of the United States is Boston. We would like Chelyabinsk to become such a “Boston”.
What is it like? Given the presence of some leading Russian universities in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Tomsk?
And in my business, and also because my children are now entering universities, I was forced to analyze in detail Russian higher education. And I will tell you that well, we do not have Stanford Universities or Massachusetts Institute of Technology in our country. In Russia there are simply good, well-known universities, there is a high level of basic higher education. But in our universities there is no benchmark for the constant introduction of best practices into the educational process.
These practices arise from world leaders. And they do not consider this data secret, and share it quite calmly (maybe because it has already been invented, and they are working on something new). Look, the same Massachusetts Institute of Technology just published all of its core training courses in the public domain. Go to the site, look, study, implement. The same universities are calm about the exchange of teachers and similar practices. Well, why not take and implement these best world practices from us? Moreover, very few people in Russia do it ...
- Will our universities want to do this? Do they need it?
Right now we can (if we want) become leaders in this industry. Moreover, as they say, "for inexpensive". And it's not just about the largest universities ...
- That is, not only SUSU, but, say, a private Russian-British Institute of Management?
By the way, an excellent example of its kind.
One not only does not exclude the other, but it is impossible without each other. And believe me, it is the human resource that changes the economy the most.
But there is one more factor, without which growth and development are impossible - people must believe that this is possible and that this is already happening.
Right. And here dynamics is very important. If people see that something, albeit a little, but still changes for the better, that something happens every day, that will be enough. But something needs to happen in practice every day. This is all quite understandable and realizable. There would be a desire ...