TOMSK, Jun 18 – RIA Tomsk. The current residents of the Tomsk Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and new companies will receive 30% discounts on the rental of offices and laboratories in the next six months – this way the regional authorities and the SEZ leadership intend to support the high-tech business in a pandemic, the press service of the regional administration said.
Earlier it was reported that after the abolition in 2018 of a number of federal tax benefits and increased contributions to social funds for companies that do not work in the field of information technology, the Tomsk SEZ faced an outflow of residents. So, only in 2019, 19 firms refused to work in the zone. Over the entire period of the existence of the SEZ, the number of residents decreased from 100 to 45.
According to the press service, the administration of the region and the Tomsk special economic zone of technical innovation type developed a privilege for residents renting offices and laboratories in the territory of the special economic zone.
"In the Tomsk region, the support and development of innovative high-tech companies operating at the intersection of science and business has always been a priority. Therefore, in a difficult economic situation in a pandemic conditions, the regional administration and the management of the SEZ decided to provide residents with a 30% discount on room rental", – the deputy governor for economy Andrey Antonov is quoted in the message.
It is specified that the privilege is offered to existing and new residents. The support measure will be valid from July 1 to December 31, 2020.
“Right now, the monthly short-term rental rate for the all-inclusive system in the buildings of the Tomsk SEZ is 650 rubles per square meter in office buildings and 520 rubles in laboratory and production facilities. From July to December 2020 it will be reduced to 455 rubles for offices and 364 rubles for laboratories. When concluding long-term lease agreements, the rate will be even lower", – adds the press service.The Tomsk SEZ, one of the six technical innovation zones of the Russian Federation, was opened on April 26, 2006. Its residents work in the fields of IT, microelectronics, instrument engineering, energy, and pharmaceuticals. Earlier it was reported that the volume of business investment in production on the basis of the Tomsk SEZ reached the level of budget costs for the construction and development of the SEZ by the end of 2018 - 14 billion rubles.