Atom-TOR took on the budget policy of Novouralsk. ZATO Rosatom has no funds for infrastructure
The management company of the priority development territory in Novouralsk, Atom-TOR, is trying to lobby for the expansion of the municipality’s spending powers to finance the construction of the industrial park infrastructure.
According to the management company’s forecasts, residents will invest hundreds of millions in the production of the first stage of the site, but this will require investments worth more than a billion. The mayor’s office of ZATO “Rosatom” recognizes the need to develop the zone, but they are very cautious about allocating funds for infrastructure through the budget, insisting that it must be supported by design estimates and clear parameters regarding the financing and maintenance of the planned facilities. However, at the moment, the management company has not prepared the relevant documents; moreover, the very concept for the development of the industrial park was subcontracted, and work on it is planned to be completed only by the beginning of December. By this time, according to the deputies, the main parameters of the region’s budget will be drawn up, and “it will be extremely problematic to fit new expenses into it, especially taking into account the limited capacity of the treasury in the current conditions.”
The Ministry of Investment and Development of the Sverdlovsk Region is considering the possibility of allocating funds to create infrastructure for the site of the Novouralsky industrial park, which is part of the ASEZ. The management company Atom-TOR (controlled by Rosatom State Corporation) previously presented the development project for the zone to the Deputy Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region Alexey Shmykov.
Let us clarify that the construction of the infrastructure of the first stage of the industrial park, which occupies 78 of 256 hectares, according to estimates of the management company, will cost 1.1 billion rubles. At the same time, costs for on-site facilities could amount to 384 million and will be provided by funds from Atom-TOR JSC, while the remaining part will be raised from the federal, regional and municipal budgets. As experts note, government money, in particular, can be obtained if the industrial park is included in the federal register, in which Novouralsky is currently not included.
According to the publication’s sources familiar with the discussion of the issue of financing, several options have already been considered. In particular, the possibility of directing money through the Middle Urals Development Corporation, which owns 50% in OJSC Management Company Industrial Park Novouralsky. The latter, in turn, controls 49% in Atom-TOR Novouralsk LLC. Another 51% in the authorized capital of the LLC belongs to JSC Atom-TOR. However, this scheme, according to insiders, did not receive the support of regional officials.
“Currently, possible options for creating the necessary infrastructure are being explored, including in the event that the Novouralsk City District submits an application to increase spending powers for investment activities <...>, this issue can be considered as part of the work on the draft regional budget for 2024 and the planned period 2025-2026,” the Department of Information Policy of the Sverdlovsk Region told Pravda UrFO.
The publication’s interlocutors call the expansion of spending powers a working option, clarifying that it has not yet been approved. Representatives of Atom-TOR lobbied, according to insiders, for the allocation of about 300 million rubles in this way next year, declaring the residents’ interest in creating production facilities. The largest investor was the RariTEK company with an estimated investment volume of 600 million rubles.
“Several residents are ready to enter the site, including those involved in the production of composites, but we are put off by the lack of clear data on the time frame for creating the infrastructure. The possibility of building our own gas piston station is being considered. By the end of October, the issue of allocating 56 million rubles for the construction of the gas pipeline must be resolved,” shares the publication’s interlocutor in the Novouralsk City Duma.
About 260 million rubles, as sources say, are required to provide the industrial park site with water. As one of the possible options, Atom-TOR considered raising funds within the framework of the investment program of the Vodokanal municipal unitary enterprise for the construction of a pipeline from the networks of the city-forming Federal State Unitary Enterprise Elektrokhimpribor. However, this option was not supported by the Novouralsk administration. According to municipal officials, there is underground water on the site, and it is necessary to consider the possibility of supplying enterprises from this source, which could be much cheaper.
It is worth noting that the issue of the need to create the infrastructure of the Atom-TOR industrial park has been raised for several years. However, so far the company has only ordered a road project to the site. In addition, Atom-TOR contracted out the formation of the very concept for the development of this zone for 14.6 million rubles. By the beginning of December, according to the terms of reference, the contractor must submit technical and economic documentation, including calculation of the cost of construction of infrastructure facilities.
In the Legislative Assembly of the region, without a concept for the development of the park and the support of the municipality, as deputies share, they are not ready to consider the issue of allocating funding for the project. In addition, the possibilities of the budget, which includes expenses for the creation, in particular, of the Titanium Valley infrastructure, are currently limited.
