New criteria will be taken into account when assessing the regional investment standard.

On March 20, 2025, the Nevsky Town Hall hosted a regular meeting of the working group "Improving Investment Activities" of the Headquarters for Improving business Conditions, organized by the St. Petersburg Investment Committee.
The event was held in the format of a round table, which brought together experts, economists, representatives of government authorities, the business community and public associations of entrepreneurs of St. Petersburg, resource supply organizations.
The main topic of discussion was the Regional Investment Standard of St. Petersburg.
"The regional investment standard was introduced in St. Petersburg in 2023 according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. This tool is designed to give investors an idea of how investment projects are implemented in our city - from the idea to the commissioning of the facility. The high quality of the implementation of the St. Petersburg investment standard was confirmed by experts and the business community in 2024 as part of the SPIEF. Thanks to our joint work, St. Petersburg has entered the top five among Russian regions according to the results of the National Investment Climate Rating," said Ivan Skladchikov, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Investment Committee.
He also stressed that the structure of the National Investment Rating has been updated in accordance with new national goals, best international and Russian practices, and proposals from the business community and regional teams. When assessing the investment climate, experts from the Agency for Strategic Initiatives will additionally take into account three non-rating indicators: the effectiveness of procedures for putting a cultural heritage site into operation, the effectiveness of procedures for connecting to heat supply networks, and the development of innovative infrastructure. These criteria will also be taken into account when confirming the implementation of the Regional Investment Standard (RIS) in 2025.
Dmitry Panov, Chairman of the St. Petersburg regional branch of the all-Russian public organization Delovaya Rossiya, noted the importance of not only confirming the implementation of RIS, but also using this tool as an incentive to implement investment projects and increase the investment attractiveness of St. Petersburg. The expert emphasized the importance of feedback from representatives of the business community, in particular experts from the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the All-Russian Public Organization Delovaya Rossiya, who participate in the assessment of the RIS.
Mikhail Lobin, First Vice President and General Director of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of St. Petersburg, spoke about the specifics of implementing large industrial investment projects and stressed the importance of having highly qualified personnel as a competitive advantage in the region, including when evaluating the effectiveness of RICE implementation.
Business representatives shared specific work cases, including solving the problem of providing production facilities with workers and engineering personnel. So, Evgeny Vereshchagin, General Director of the limited liability company Industrial Technologies, introduced the meeting participants to a new development – the first Russian training center for training specialists in working with industrial robots of domestic production, created jointly with St. Petersburg State Technical University LETI.
Vladimir Yatskovsky, Deputy General Director of Albatros LLC, an expert on the development of maritime transport and port infrastructure, joined the meeting via video link and raised the issue of labor rationing in the maritime industry.
Sergey Stepanov, CEO of the ACADEMIA boutique hotel chain, spoke about the involvement of cultural heritage sites in investment turnover. He highlighted the positive experience of implementing investment projects taking into account RICE and identified the WINDOW industry as a promising growth point for the investment development of St. Petersburg.
Mikhail Golubev, an expert at the all-Russian public organization Delovaya Rossiya, expressed a desire to expand the list of agencies involved in working with investors within the framework of the RIS.
The participants were addressed by representatives of resource supply organizations - Vyacheslav Kalinin, Director of Technological Connection and Head of the Department of Technological Connection at PJSC ROSSETI Lenenergo, Dmitry Volkov, Deputy General Director for Technological Connection and Development of Heat Supply Systems at SUE TEK SPb.
Alexander Khodachek, Vice President of the Higher School of Economics, Alisa Timoshina, public representative of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Plastics Processing Plant LLC expressed their suggestions for adjusting the RIS. Komsomolskaya Pravda" Tatiana Loginova, Adviser to the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in St. Petersburg Svetlana Kogan.
The participants agreed on the need to hold joint meetings with other working groups of the Headquarters for improving business conditions, in particular with the working group on entrepreneurship, in order to more effectively address questions from investors.
Summing up the meeting, Ivan Skladchikov outlined the near–term prospects for the development of RICE in St. Petersburg - the introduction of the sixth element "PIC.Business". This feedback mechanism will allow entrepreneurs to apply online through the Public Services portal and receive support in the shortest possible time.