Nikolai Goncharov: "The number of residents in the SEZ managed by Kavkaz.RF has increased by a third in one year."

Nikolai Goncharov, Deputy General Director of Kavkaz.RF, discussed the development of mountainous regions in the North Caucasus, the state's support measures, and the impact of such support on the economies of the North Caucasus Federal District regions at the Caucasus Investment Forum.

For 16 years, Kavkaz.RF, as a state development institution and management company, has been building and maintaining cable cars, ski slopes, artificial snowmaking systems, and other related resort infrastructure. Such "heavy" work is beyond the capabilities of private investors, but it is essential for the development of resorts of the scale of Elbrus, Arkhyz, Mamison, and Veduchi. The resorts have become magnets for both tourists and investors.

"The constructed facilities attract investment in commercial infrastructure, and interest from private investors is growing every year. "Currently, 112 residents are operating in our tourism and recreation special economic zones. Of these, 38—more than a third of the total—have attracted investment in 2025 and early 2026. Residents have announced investments in hotels, restaurants, and amusement parks totaling 210 billion rubles. More than 2,200 rooms have already been opened, creating 1,284 jobs," said Nikolai Goncharov.

According to Nikolai Goncharov, Kavkaz.RF's performance is measured not only and not so much by the number of infrastructure facilities built and private investors attracted, but, to a greater extent, by the volume of tourist flow, the resorts' contribution to tourism, and, ultimately, the GRP of the respective regions of the North Caucasus Federal District.

Over the past five years, the number of tourist trips to Kavkaz.RF resorts has increased by an average of 20% per year. Last year, despite a slight slowdown, tourist flow increased by 11% (higher than the national average of 5%). Kavkaz.RF is now approaching 2 million trips. The contribution of resorts managed by the development institute to the North Caucasus Federal District's tourism sector is estimated at 35-36%. Tourism's contribution to the North Caucasus Federal District's gross regional product (GRP) is approximately 5%.

"In collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, we have developed a comprehensive system of measures to support and support the activities of residents. In addition to tax incentives, residents have received subsidized financing totaling 23.3 billion rubles, and another 662 million rubles have been approved for projects under the program to support modular, non-permanent accommodation facilities. Furthermore, all residents have free access to the utility infrastructure we are creating, which collectively provides savings of up to 25% on capital expenditures," noted Nikolai Goncharov.