It’s a go to investments in sports!

On November 7, 2018, in the capital of Tatarstan, the Second Industry Forum of PPP "Investment in the sports industry" was held at the "Kazan Arena" stadium.

The event was organized by Tatarstan Investment Development Agency together with the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation with the support of the National PPP Center.

The forum was attended by the Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Pavel Kolobkov, the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, the Head of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Taliya Minullina, federal and republican officials, leading experts in sports industry. The event was attended by 400 people from 26 Russian regions.

"Public-private partnership in the sports industry is now more mainstream than ever before. Tatarstan is the region with extensive experience, developed infrastructure and attractive investment environment. The share of foreign sporting goods consumed in Russia (sports equipment, uniform) reaches the industry maximum. It is a clean and cost-efficient import-substituting history, the implementation of which can be also done with the help of PPP mechanism", - Taliya Minullina shared.

The government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Russian Federation, as well as leading Russian experts discussed the role of private investments in sports industry, implementation of PPP in construction and operation of sports facilities, effective use of facilities and increase of investment attractiveness of sports infrastructure, problems of budgetary co-financing and the recent trends in the PPP-projects market with the participants of the forum.

"This year, over 800 sport events were held in Tatarstan. The total economic effect of the FIFA World Cup amounted to RUR 11 billion, that is sport creates the mechanisms for the support of tourism industry and infrastructure construction", - Rustam Minnikhanov noted.

The Government of Russia shares the position of Tatarstan. In the frames of the forum, the Agreement on cooperation and interaction on development of physical culture and sport was signed between the Government of Tatarstan and the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation.

"Within the framework of the agreement, holding of a number of world competitions, including FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) is considered. We have great plans, because Tatarstan is an important partner for us, an example of attitude to sports and the promotion of sports principles. Tatarstan is among the leaders by the number of people involved in sports, in particular, about 40 per cent of the population of the republic. Many sports programmes are being implemented here", - the Minister of Sport of Russia Pavel Kolobkov explained.

The Minister noted that the volume of national market of the sports industry in 2017 was estimated at 600 billion rubles, 60 billion rubles of which are domestic goods. The volume of public private partnership in the field of sports is growing: currently, 56 projects with a total amount of RUR 96 billion, including RUR 12 billion investment from private companies, are being implemented in Russia. The venue for the event was no accident, it serves as an example of the Republic of Tatarstan: the Kazan Arena stadium earns annually 100 million roubles, while the state finances it only by 50 percent.

The discussion of strengths and weaknesses of the projects with potential investors and private partners took place within the strategic session, pitch session and panel discussion. The best cases were considered and promising projects were reviewed, as well as agreements on the implementation of new joint projects were signed.

Thanks to PPP, it’s a go to investment in sport!