Today, October 2, at the site of the International Investment Forum Sochi-2015, North Caucasus Resorts Open-joint Stock Company (NCR OJSC) and POMA SAS (POMA) (France), in the presence of Lev Kuznetsov, Minister of North Caucasus Affairs, entered into the contract for the supply of ropeways in the framework of the development of ski infrastructure of the tourism cluster sites on conditions of long-term export financing. The document was signed by Oleg Gorchev, Director General of NCR OJSC, and Jean Souchal, President of the Board of Directors of POMA.

In accordance with the contract, POMA in cooperation with international financial institutions will provide the export crediting guaranteed by the French insurance agency COFACE, for the supply of equipment for ropeways. The amount of funds channelled by NCR OJSC for the purchase of this equipment will make around 100 million Euro. This amount includes the cost of the equipment that will be delivered to the sites of the tourism cluster under the contracts in the framework of the project implementation, and the correspondent erection supervision work. The term of the consumer credit in question is up to 8.5 years and the maximum interest rate is up to 4.5 per cent.

Lev Kuznetsov, Minister of North Caucasus Affairs, told journalists that this agreement is a brilliant of import substitution policies in tourism. “In the North Caucasus, we focused on several areas in which we develop the real sector of the economy, increase the income and improve the quality of life, including through addressing the unemployment. One of them is tourism. Its development allows to present the Caucasus not only for Russian citizens but also for investors, including those fr om abroad. This agreement and the project of North Caucasus Resorts meets these objectives,” the Minister said.

“Despite the difficult international political environment, we continue to develop cooperation with European partners. The key ski equipment manufacturers are located abroad, but they are all interested in Russia as a dynamically developing market of tourist services, so we are looking for options of mutually beneficial cooperation based on a long-term partnership,” said Oleg Gorchev, also noting that the NCR OJSC has developed an effective partnership with POMA. “All the ski lifts operated by the resorts of the tourism cluster - and there will be six of them by the 2015/2016 season - are produced by this company which is largely focused on the Russian market, wh ere the ski tourism has just started to develop, compared to Europe,” explained the Head of the Company.

According to Jean Souchal, POMA has been actively building ski infrastructures at the leading ski resorts around the world for 80 years. The first POMA ropeway on Elbrus was built in 2007. “Over the past years, NCR OJSC and POMA have established the long-term and stable relations of partnership and trust. We sincerely believe in the prospects of the Russian ski industry, and particularly the development of resorts in North Caucasus: Arkhyz, Elbrus and Veduchi. I am very proud of this agreement with our Russian partner NCR OJSC in creating ropeways with the support of the State French Agency COFACE, which will allow us to implement financial solutions for the development of future supply,” he said. The Head of the POMA also noted that Russian-French cooperation in the development of the ski industry, which started years ago, becomes more and more real and working.