Legislation is being improved and a competition is being organized to optimize investment activities

On November 28, 2024, a regular meeting of the working group "Improvement of investment activity" of the Headquarters for improving business conditions in St. Petersburg was held.
During the meeting, the results of the work on the organization of a regional competition to identify the best project proposal for the adaptation of cultural heritage sites for modern use in the locations of St. Petersburg were summarized.
Chairman of the Investment Committee of St. Petersburg Ivan Skladchikov noted the importance of attracting the attention of both investors and young professionals to the preservation of windows through such events as the competition "Conservation with adaptation 2024-2025", which was announced as part of the IV Conference on the Preservation of Cultural Heritage Sites – monuments of wooden Architecture.
According to Anna Isakova, director of the Investment Management subordinate to the Investment Committee, all the necessary documentation has been prepared for the competition and a list of facilities has been compiled. It is planned to continue accepting applications from participants until April, and to complete the competition in September 2025.
The agenda of the meeting included the issue of changes in the regulatory framework at the federal and regional levels in the field of legislative consolidation of the regional investment standard (RIS) and optimization of investment activity processes.
"One of the key areas of our work is the updating and adjustment of investment legislation. We pay special attention to improving the mechanisms of the regulatory framework and making those changes that are objectively overdue," Ivan Skladchikov noted.
Thus, in accordance with the list of instructions of the President of Russia following the results of SPIEF-2024, the Investment Committee has developed proposals to amend the Law of the Russian Federation dated 02/25/1999 No. 39-FZ "On Investment Activities in the Russian Federation". The initiatives were prepared on the basis of an analysis of data on the functioning of the RIS elements obtained by specialists of the St. Petersburg Investment Committee as part of a working group under the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. Currently, the proposed amendments to the legislation have been submitted to the federal level.
At the regional level, amendments have been developed to the Law of St. Petersburg dated 06/17/2004 No. 282-43 "On the procedure for providing Real Estate owned by St. Petersburg for construction, reconstruction and adaptation for modern use." The innovations adopted by the St. Petersburg Parliament in the first reading are primarily aimed at preventing the re-profiling and changing the functional purpose of the investment facility after its commissioning. 
"We have carried out extensive and systematic work to eliminate those gaps that did not allow us to transparently build a dialogue with investors. We expect that all regulatory procedures will be more understandable for entrepreneurs, which, in turn, will have a positive impact on the investment climate," Ivan Skladchikov stressed.
During the meeting, the project of reconstruction of the "Postal Quarter" and the creation of a cultural and business space in this historical part of the city was also considered.
Alexander Vakulenko, Head of the Federal Postal Service of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, emphasized the importance of preserving the main postal function of the facility after its reconstruction.
The discussions were attended by specialists of the Committee for the Development of Transport Infrastructure of St. Petersburg, the Committee for Property Relations of St. Petersburg, economic experts, representatives of the Admiralteysky District municipality, and members of the business community.
The participants agreed on the need to update the concept of the "Postal Quarter" and continue discussions on the project at the next meetings of the working group.