The Investment Climate in Russia's Regions

Since 2014, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) has presented the National Rating of the Investment Climate in Russia's regions. It shows how convenient it is for entrepreneurs to do business in a given territory.

Experts assess the speed of administrative procedures, the availability of infrastructure, support measures, work with investors, and the quality of interaction between business and government bodies.

The 2026 methodology includes 127 indicators. The rating team has grouped them into eight areas, including real estate, utility networks, business protection and support, exports, infrastructure and technology, human resources, and market and competition development.

In developing the methodology, specialists drew on Russian and international experience in assessing the investment climate. They also took into account the results of the rating from previous years.

In 2025, the Russian government approved the National Model of Target Business Conditions. It covers company registration, intellectual-property protection, international trade, labor relations, and other issues that entrepreneurs face in their work.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak stressed that regions, federal agencies, and business need to work together. "Attracting investment to the regions is the key to balanced, long-term economic growth. This has to be teamwork between the federal government, the regions, and business, following clear, predictable rules. We see that on many of the roadmap's action items, deadlines need to be moved up, and more ambitious targets need to be set. The National Model is a living tool that makes it possible to keep improving business conditions. Healthy competition among regions matters a great deal here. We will certainly take this work into account, since the regional component is one of the core parts of the National Model," Novak stressed.

Targets have been set for every region to reach by 2030. The results achieved by the leaders of the National Rating serve as the benchmark.

Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov noted that an investor always deals with a specific region. "An investor comes to a specific territory. How well that work is organized affects both the timeline of the investment-and-construction cycle and the launch of the project itself. The investment rating isn't rocket science, but it's crucial for the country that business conditions be leveled out across all regions — above all, by having lagging regions focus concretely on improving their investment climate. Effective regions, which build federal, system-wide measures into their overall investment policy, serve as the example here," Reshetnikov noted.

ASI Director General Svetlana Chupsheva described the improvement in the investment climate as the result of joint work by the Russian government, the regions, and business associations.

"Even though the rating itself doesn't factor in the actual volume of investment, every year we look at the correlation between regions' rankings and the inflow of fixed-capital investment. In 2025, total fixed-capital investment came to 42.6 trillion rubles. That's 6% more than in 2024," Chupsheva said.

Moscow accounted for 9.13 trillion rubles, or 21.4% of the total investment volume. It was followed by Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area–Yugra, and the Republic of Tatarstan.

Six of the rating's eight areas showed positive trends. Regions have continued to shorten the time needed for administrative procedures. On average nationwide, entrepreneurs receive a construction permit in 79.5 working days. In the leading regions, the process takes 49.5 working days.

Svetlana Chupsheva spoke about the trend in these indicators. "We look very good in international rankings when it comes to indicators like the length of procedures and the cost of getting connections and various permits. For instance, every year we see a shorter time needed to obtain a construction permit. Today it averages 79.5 working days nationwide, and 49.5 working days among the leading regions," she added.

The rating also separately assesses how well entrepreneurs are protected. The average number of regulatory and oversight inspections per year has fallen. The share of companies that experienced pressure from government bodies and natural monopolies dropped from 16.6% to 14.4%. Entrepreneurs rated business safety at 3.83 out of 5. The share of companies that faced unwarranted pressure from law-enforcement or security bodies fell to 5.7%.

At the same time, businesses rated the availability of financial support and credit lower. "This is the lowest figure in the past four years — 2.9 out of a possible 5 points. At the same time, the non-financial business support indicator came to 4.5 out of 5. In 50 regions, we're seeing a decline in the share of regional tax breaks relative to consolidated budget spending," Chupsheva said.

The rating's results show which measures are already having an effect. Magadan Region has focused on workforce training, Amur Region is working on business protection, Krasnodar Territory is developing infrastructure for small business, and Omsk Region is digitizing its export services.

Magadan Region

Magadan Region took second place in the "Human and Labor Resources" category. Over the year, the cost of recruiting employees fell by 20%.

The region takes part in the "Professionalitet" program. Colleges and mining companies train specialists together, based on the needs of production. Graduates gain hands-on experience while they are still studying, so companies need less time and money to bring them up to speed.

Magadan Region ranks among the top ten for support of small and medium-sized businesses. Entrepreneurs can consult an accountant and a lawyer free of charge, and get help with hiring staff, labeling, certification, and sales.

Businesses rate financial support in the region more than 16% above the national average. The region ranks among the top three for the share of tax breaks in budget spending and for the availability of financial infrastructure.

Amur Region

Amur Region took fifth place in the "Business Protection" category. It ranks among the top ten regions with the smallest share of companies that have encountered corruption on the part of government bodies or natural monopolies.

Entrepreneurs gave high marks to how convenient and clear regulatory and oversight procedures are. On this indicator, the region ranks among the top five.

The region regularly convenes a working group on reducing administrative and law-enforcement pressure on business. It is chaired by the governor. Meetings are attended by the heads of security and oversight agencies, the prosecutor's office, and the ombudsman for entrepreneurs' rights. Regional authorities have required municipalities to hold their own events aimed at reducing the administrative burden.

Amur Region ranks among the top 20 for its level of digitalization and among the top 15 for the quality of digital services for investors and small businesses.

Krasnodar Territory

Krasnodar Territory took fifth place in the "Infrastructure, Technology, and Communications" category and sixth place for support of small and medium-sized business.

A large number of small and medium-sized companies operate in the region. By the number of businesses per thousand residents, the territory ranks among the leaders.

Entrepreneurs ranked Krasnodar Territory second in the country for the quality of consulting and educational services. The region ranks among the top ten for the quality and availability of real estate for small business.

By the end of 2025, the territory's microfinance fund ranked first in Russia by portfolio size and volume of loans issued.

Omsk Region

Omsk Region rose 18 places in the "Export Activity" category. In 2025, the region joined the implementation of the Digital Standard for Export Support Measures.

Entrepreneurs can now get an "Exporter" microloan on the "My Export" platform. All the main steps take place through a single window.

The region took first place for the effectiveness of implementing the Regional Export Standard. The Omsk Export Center ranked ninth among similar organizations.

With the center's support, 73 entrepreneurs signed export contracts worth 52.2 billion rubles, and another ten companies exported for the first time. Over the year, entrepreneurs' rating of the regional export-support system rose by 8%.

There were also positive changes in real estate. Of the 20 indicators in this category, 17 improved. The average time to obtain a land plot for lease following an auction fell by 13 working days.

Omsk Region ranks among the top ten for the quality of digital services for investors. It also ranks among the top five for the share of organizations with broadband access to high-speed internet.

The rating gives regions material for practical work. Its results show where entrepreneurs are losing time and what constraints they face. Systematically addressing these problems makes it easier to launch projects and helps businesses grow, which in turn affects employment, regional income, and quality of life.