TASS, September 9. The new tourism complex in the Polar Urals in the Yamalo-Nenets Region will bring to budgets of all levels 20 billion rubles ($274 million) in tax payments and will offer more than 1,700 jobs, the regional government said on Thursday following a meeting between Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexei Chekunov and Yamal’s Governor Dmitry Artyukhov.
"In addition to the scientific station, we are organizing there a tourism cluster, which is a part of the Strategy for Development of the Russian Arctic Zone," the press service said. "The project includes a new ski complex, a network of hotels of different classes, food and catering facilities, and leisure facilities, as well as necessary transport infrastructures. <…> The project’s implementation will bring more than 20 billion rubles in tax payments to budgets of all levels, and will offer more than 1,700 jobs at the stage of construction and a similar number - at the stage of exploitation."
The cluster will unite the Kharbeisky nature complex, the Land of Hope ethnic village, unique nature attractions, like, for example, Lakes Bolshoye Shchuchye and Khadataeganlor.
In making the tourism complex, the parties may use the mechanism of the Arctic concession to speed up organization of the engineering and social infrastructures. At the meeting, the minister initiated this option.
"We will attract investors to making the facilities," the press service quoted the governor as saying. "We have been using successfully the public-private partnership mechanism in the region - as you well know, we have used a concession to build the Porovsky Bridge, and now we continue works to upgrade the airport in Novy Urengoi."
Earlier, the Yamalo-Nenets Region said the tourism complex will unite the lower and the upper clusters: the lower cluster will have alpine skiing routes and ski lifts, and the upper cluster will consist of a hotel complex, food, catering and leisure facilities. By the second year, the complex will be receiving more than 100,000 guests. Later on, this infrastructure project will be a key tourism attraction in the Polar Urals, and thus in addition to the renovated airport in Salekhard, the authorities say, it will attract both Russian and foreign travelers.