MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Deputy Minister for Crimea Andrey Sokolov announced at an economic forum in Yalta on Saturday that the sum allocated for Crimea's infrastructure development can be comparable to the funds spent on the preparation for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, adding that "in the coming years this sum will only increase."
According to Sokolov, Russia plans to allocate about 90 billion rubles for the social and economic development of Crimea in the next five years.
Russia to launch Crimean ‘Silicon Valley’ by 2020 http://t.co/1bXtuAIGPu pic.twitter.com/ScxI7odXgE
— RT (@RT_com) April 18, 2015
By 2020, Russia also plans to start operating its analogue of Silicon Valley (the California home of the world's largest high-tech corporations) on the peninsula. The project, called Digital Valley of Crimea, was presented at the Yalta forum on Saturday.
Crimea rejoined Russia in March 2014 following a referendum in which 96 percent voted in favor of the move.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law on the development of the Crimea Federal District and a free economic zone on the territory of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol in November, 2014.
Under the special economic status, established for 25 years, large investors in Crimea's economy will be able to receive additional tax incentives to enable them to import goods and equipment duty-free.
