Egor Polyakov assessed progress in infrastructure and resident enterprise construction at the “Kulibin” SEZ

Egor Polyakov, Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Igor Ishchenko, Director General of the Development Corporation, and Vladimir Balakin, Deputy Minister of Industry, Trade, and Entrepreneurship of the region, have assessed the progress in constructing engineering infrastructure at the state site of the special economic zone (SEZ) “Kulibin”, as well as at the “Technopark H₂O” and the “Aksis” enterprise.

“The scale of work is impressive. At the state site, all necessary infrastructure is being built from scratch, while residents are constructing their enterprises to the most modern standards. We can confidently say that the “Kulibin” SEZ is one of the main centers of investment activity in the region,” noted Egor Polyakov.

The state site occupies most of the total area of the SEZ in Dzerzhinsk – 416 hectares out of 724.7 ha. Currently, builders are working on water supply and sewage networks, as well as constructing two security checkpoints (CPs). Overall construction progress for infrastructure at the state site exceeds 70 %.

In parallel, construction of industrial production buildings is also underway. At these sites, workers are laying foundations and installing metal structures, reinforced concrete elements, and facade panels.

At the state site, LLC “Aksis” (part of the “Instrument” group of companies) is building a production facility for carbide tools and technological tooling as part of the regional machine‑tool and tooling cluster. The plant will manufacture carbide rods, multifaceted inserts, milling cutters, drills, reamers, and inserts.

Investment in the project exceeds 3 billion rubles, and 442 jobs are planned to be created. Construction is expected to be completed in 2026.

Company representatives noted that the enterprise is actively developing its workforce potential by hiring and offering internships to students and young professionals. In addition, in 2025, with support from the “Instrument” group of companies, the “Cutting Tool Design” laboratory was established at the Alekseev Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University (NSTU).

Egor Polyakov also assessed the construction progress at “Technopark H₂O”. Its infrastructure will include an engineering center for introducing new technologies into production, as well as an innovation and technology center offering consulting services to residents. To date, potential residents have already been secured for most of the technopark’s space. These companies plan to operate in the fields of chemistry and instrument engineering. Completion of the “Technopark H₂O” project is also planned for the first half of 2026.

In addition, the Deputy Governor visited the production facility for micronized silica gels and stable silica sols operated by “RusSilika”, which launched on the territory of the Kulibin SEZ in June 2025. Investment in the enterprise totaled 21 billion rubles, creating more than 200 jobs.

“To date, the Expert Council for the development of SEZ has approved 55 projects, with total investment exceeding 166 billion rubles. For the “Aksis” enterprise, which is set to launch soon, nearly all necessary engineering networks have already been connected, and telecommunications network connections are nearing completion. We plan to fully complete infrastructure development at the state site this year. We also expect several residents to begin construction activities on site this year,” said Igor Ishchenko, Director General of the Development Corporation of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

For reference, the industrial special economic zone “Kulibin” was established in May 2020 on the territory of the Dzerzhinsk urban district. Today, the Dzerzhinsk part of the “Kulibin” SEZ covers an area of 724 hectares and includes the state site (415 ha), as well as private sites operated by DPO “Plastic”, “Oka‑Polymer”, and “Sintez OKA”. The private sites are already equipped with infrastructure. In November 2025, the Russian Government issued a resolution to expand the SEZ territory by another 117 hectares, incorporating a site in the city of Bor. The total area of the “Kulibin” SEZ now amounts to 842 hectares.