Komi Republic awaits upturn
The Komi Republic struggles with investments and industrial production, the latest Barents Monitoring report shows.
After a year of serious economic hardship, the Komi Republic in 2010 improved the situation, but was still barely able to reach pre-crisis levels.
The Barents Monitoring 2010 report for the region shows that industrial production increased only by 0,3 percent. That comes after a industrial production setback of 1,4 percent in 2009. The region’s main export article and source of revenue – oil – saw a decline in production of a as much as three percent. A total of 13 million tons of oil was produced in the region in 2010. Gas production amounted to 3,3 billion cubic meters, an increase of two percent year-on-year.
The Barents Monitoring report for Komi is written by the Barents Information Centre in Naryan-Mar, a unit under the Norwegian Barents Secretariat.
Other industrial goods did better. Coal production in the region increased by 15 percent to 13,6 million tons. Also paper and pulp experienced a positive trend. After a downturn of more than eight percent in 2009, the construction industry in 2010 got a boost of 14,1 percent.
Housing construction, however, experienced a historical low. According to the report, housing construction in 2010 reached its lowest level in the last ten years. A total of 1.2 thousand flats with a total area 81.2 thousand square meters were been built, which is 32 percent less than in the same period of 2009.
Also regional investments remain at a modest level. A total of 102.6 billion rubles was invested in the basic capital, which is 91 percent of the level of 2009 in comparable prices. Most of the investments were placed in mining, pulp and paper production and pipeline transport.
Foreign investments totaled 682.7 million US Dollars, which is down 75.5 percent of the level of 2009. Corporate interests from a total of 11 countries invested in the region. Germany, Great Britain, Cyprus, Austria were among the main investors in 2010.
Employment in the region remains stable. A total of 13.1 thousand people were in December 2010 officially unemployed. The level of official unemployment was 2.4 percent of the economically active population according to official data.
Read more Barents Monitoring reports here
