One of the leading foreign economic activities of the Republic of Tatarstan is attracting foreign investment.

Beginning from 1993 and up until 1998, the volumes of foreign investments into the Republic of Tatarstan showed the tendency to grow. The largest amount of investments into the economy of the republic were attracted in 1997-1998. In 1997 two regions of the Russian Federation - Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan - attracted 75% of total amount of investments into Russia. At the end of 1998 the Republic of Tatarstan was third subject of the Russian Federation - after Moscow and Moscow region - by the amount of attracted foreign capital.

Following 1998 crisis, the amount of foreign investment attracted into the republic in 1999 decreased significantly. But in 2000 the amount of foreign investments grew to USD 142.9 million, 6.2 times higher than in 1999.

In 2008 foreign investments into the RT economy reached their absolute peak since 1993 at about USD 2.6 billion, of them about USD 723 million of direct investments. In 2009 the economy of Tatarstan received over USD 2.2 billion from abroad, i.e. global financial and economic crisis affected this sector of foreign economic activity of the republic less significantly.

As of 1st of January 2010, foreign capital accumulated in the economy of the Republic of Tatarstan amounted to about USD 5.8 billion. The share of direct investments amounted to 7.1% from the total amount of funds attracted in 2009, portfolio investments amounted to 5,6%, others amounting to 87.3%.

As of the end of 2009, the principal investments into the Republic of Tatarstan came from Luxembourg - USD 1.14 billion. In 2009, other active investors into the republic were from France - USD 541 million, Germany - USD 289.7 million and the Netherlands - USD 150 million.

As of the end of 2009, 77.8% of in-flowing foreign investments were directed into operations at real estate market, 18.4% - into extraction of fossil minerals, 3.3% - into processing industries. For comparison, as of the end of 2008 44.3% of in-flowing foreign investments were directed into construction, 28% into processing industries and 26.1% into real estate operations.

Industrial production type Special Economic Zone "Alabuga", located in Yelabuzhsky district of Tatarstan is one of the economic growth and development sites, hosting many of the joint production projects. Special Economic Zone provides investors with sites with all necessary infrastructures. Special Economic Zone tenants mainly represent three key clusters: production of automobiles and auto components, processing polymers into consumer goods and production of construction materials. As of the end of 2009, "Alabuga" Special Economic Zone had 9 tenants.

2009 witnessed a number of production facilities with foreign participation entering operation: brick production factory with Austrian "Wienerberger" (May), a complex of 6 asphalt-producing units of Swiss "Ammann" (June), "KAMAZ-Cummins" JV with Americans (November), tyre production with German "Continental AG" (December) and others. Tatarstan International Investments Company, joint establishment with investors from Muslim countries, had its first Shareholders meeting in Bahrein.

Photogallery "Foreign investments"