Sevastopol to Become Engineering, IT, Winemaking Center – Reports

MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Agency for Strategic Initiatives has worked out a plan for Sevastopol’s further development, according to which the city will become a center for engineering, aircraft testing, IT and winemaking, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported Wednesday, referencing the project’s outline.

According to the outline, Sevastopol is to use engineering as one of its vehicles for development. The city will also provide ship repairing and aircraft testing services to Russia’s Ministry of Defense. These plans will require the development of port infrastructure, shipyards, construction of aircraft test and repair center in cooperation with rotorcraft designer and manufacturer Russian Helicopters.

The agency also suggests placing an emphasis on IT, tourism, fish processing and winemaking. The establishment of a technology park and the relocation of several major IT companies’ offices in Sevastopol will allow the city to become a center for Russian IT with a turnover of more than 30 billion rubles by 2030, according to the newspaper.

Sevastopol’s GRP by 2030 should hit the 390 billion ruble mark. To achieve this, 93 billion rubles needs to be invested in the region. The project has already received prior approval, Vedomosti points out.

The newspaper says the project will be supervised by Sevastopol’s Agency for Strategic Development. The project will involve the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, Russian electricity transmission and distribution grid company Russian Grids, Russian Railways transport company, Rostec corporation and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Former governor of Sevastopol Alexei Chaly will be the director of the project. Board of directors will also include Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin.

Sevastopol, together with Crimea, became subjects of the Russian Federation on March 21 after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on reunification. Crimea, previously an autonomous republic within Ukraine, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Kiev government that came to power as a result of a coup in February. A referendum held in March revealed that more than 96 percent of voters in the region were in favor of leaving Ukraine for Russia.