Viktor Ikonnikov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of Arkhangelsk Region and Minister of Economic Development, Industry and Science, explained that the preferential lending mechanism is primarily aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises that implement projects in the priority sectors of the Arctic regions.

'Preferential lending will allow residents of the AZRF to significantly reduce monthly interest payments on loans, and entrepreneurs will be able to invest the savings in their projects and the development of their businesses', the Deputy Chairman said.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Diagnostics, which was granted residency status in the AZRF in March, is investing the proceeds, as well as its own funds, into establishing a private CT centre where CT scans will be performed on a commercial basis for all age groups, as well as under the regional health insurance programme.

The project includes the renovation of the leased premises, partly to make them safe from X-rays, in accordance with the sanitary and epidemiological norms and regulations of Rospotrebnadzor. The total investment will amount to around RUB 30 mn

This investment project was the first one to be approved by the Commission under the Ministry of the Development of the Far East and the Arctic for the opening of a preferential lending programme for residents of the AZRF.