Caucasus.RF is ready to share its experience in attracting investment and creating SEZs with South Ossetia.

The First International Investment Forum “South Ossetia. Investment Horizons” is being held in Tskhinval from September 18 to 20, with the participation of the Caucasus.RF development institute. The forum is dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the republic's formation and, according to the organizers, will mark the transition from the recovery phase to the development of South Ossetia's economy.

The forum began with a youth agenda. On the second day, participants discussed the republic's growth points and the development of the banking system. One of the key events was the session “Eurasian Bridge: Investments and Technologies for the Future of the Caucasus,” at which Andrey Tsemakhovich, First Deputy Director General of Caucasus.RF, spoke. The government of South Ossetia, representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, experts from VEB.RF, Bank of Alania, and the Eurasian Integration Fund discussed the investment attractiveness of the republic and the banking system of the Republic of South Ossetia, as well as the economic potential of the region, including in the field of tourism.

Andrey Tsemakhovich emphasized that the creation of a zone with a special regime on the territory of the republic could become a “driver” for economic development.

Kavkaz.RF has gained extensive experience in attracting financing to the North Caucasus Federal District, implementing breakthrough projects, and building relationships with banks. This has resulted in residents committing to invest 200 billion rubles by 2030, as well as more than one trillion rubles in fixed capital. We are ready to scale up our mechanisms for working with investors and banks and share our experience with other regions, especially those with similar growth factors and infrastructure constraints," notes Andrey Tsemakhovich.

The results of the development of the Elbrus, Mamison, and Veduchi are evidenced by the figures and their growing popularity—the volume of tourist traffic to resorts managed by Kavkaz.RF increases by 15-20% annually, and in 2024, the resorts collectively welcomed more than 2 million tourists.

"We see significant potential in the Republic of South Ossetia for the development of the agro-industrial complex, the construction of greenhouse complexes, the cultivation of apples, grapes, and nuts, the construction of trout farms, as well as facilities for processing agricultural products, the creation of centers for processing and preserving vegetables, bottling mineral water, and the creation of an industrial park for the production of building materials can be considered. All these areas are promising and will be in high demand among potential investors," says Andrei Tsemakhovich.

The Development Institute works closely with Sberbank—some of the funds were transferred in the form of funding, thanks to which SMEs have the opportunity to obtain low-interest loans through the bank. Work is underway with Rosselkhozbank on co-financing individual projects and providing loans through the ZPIF.

South Ossetia could become one of the most promising regions for investment inflows and a platform for implementing diverse projects in the fields of mineral resource exploration and extraction, agriculture, and tourism development.

The forum will continue tomorrow. Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov is expected to participate in the plenary session dedicated to socio-economic development until 2030.