The Caucasus Gets Its Own Investment Hub
Sber plans to help build the “Investitsionnyy khab” (Investment Hub) digital platform now being developed by Kavkaz.RF. The agreement was signed at the Caucasus Investment Forum, or KIF.
The platform will combine data on planned and active investment projects, government support measures and tools for seamless interaction between businesses, regional authorities, development institutions and banks. Investitsionnyy khab is designed to support long-term economic growth across Russia’s North Caucasus Federal District, known as SKFO.
Capital Keeps Flowing Into the Caucasus
The region is already drawing investor attention. In 2025, investment in local projects reached nearly 1.5 trillion rubles (about $19 billion), while agreements signed at KIF-2026 exceeded 400 billion rubles (roughly $5 billion). A platform that can shorten the time needed to choose a project site and support projects through every stage of implementation could bring even more capital into the macroregion. New initiatives in tourism, agriculture and logistics would also mean new jobs for local residents and further infrastructure development.
Investitsionnyy khab is effectively a digital framework for managing investment in a fast-growth territory. Kavkaz.RF, the state development institution building the platform, manages a tourism cluster that already includes six special economic zones focused on recreation and tourism. Both the number of resident companies and tax revenues from those zones continue to grow year after year.
An Integrated Investment Layer
The digital platform is expected to make interactions between investors, SKFO development institutions and financial organizations faster and easier. It will include a marketplace of projects, analytical modules, a registry of state support measures and automated application tools accessible through a personal online dashboard. Bringing together a unified database of investment projects – including sector data, implementation stages and financing needs – creates the basis for predictive regional analytics. In the longer term, the platform is expected to integrate with the Investitsionnaya karta Rossii (Investment Map of Russia), expanding opportunities to attract additional investment.
A Map for Capital
Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development launched the Investitsionnaya karta Rossii in 2024 as a navigation tool for selecting industrial sites and comparing regions. The platform now includes 540 industrial parks and technology parks, along with nearly 18,000 available investment sites across the country. In 2023, 44 Russian regions began implementing the Regional Investment Standard, and by the end of 2025 all 89 federal subjects had adopted it.
President Vladimir Putin has set a target of increasing investment in fixed capital by at least 60% by 2030 compared with 2020 levels. Reaching that goal will require further improvements to the investment climate in the regions, particularly with the needs and capabilities of the digital economy in mind. The Investitsionnyy khab project fits naturally into that strategy.
Investment Development Moves Onto Platforms
Russia is steadily building a platform-based model for managing investment growth. One region after another is shifting from offline approval processes for business projects to digital investment support systems.
For SKFO, Investitsionnyy khab is expected to become exactly that kind of platform. Entrepreneurs will be able to launch a project, while the system recommends support measures, analyzes investment payback, connects banking services and routes applications through the operational process. Sber is not the only company joining the initiative. MSP Bank will also participate after SME Corporation and Kavkaz.RF reached a cooperation agreement at KIF-2026.
