The Crystal Fund

• unity and integrity of state planning, elimination of excessive requirements and documents;
• clear hierarchy of national goals and coherence of planning tasks;
• correct identification of the leading development link — priorities (sectors, projects, technologies, structural changes in the economy) that are crucial for achieving national development goals;
• concentration of resources on priorities;
• balanced plans, adequately resourced and interconnected;
• monitoring the actual (not merely formal) effectiveness of plans;
• a unified system of strategic planning pieces.

At the core of the new strategic planning system is a digital Gosplan powered by artificial intelligence.
System functionality:

• flexible, adaptive, scenario-based planning and impact assessment of managerial decisions, as well as of changes in external and internal factors, with real-time recalculation of the entire system of development indicators when any variable changes;
• full automation of balance compilation and plan integration, including the justification of resource consumption standards, capital construction calculations and inter-industry balance modelling;
• solving optimization problems in economics.

The Crystal Fund is developing a new public procurement model
based on long-term supply contracts with investment obligations
(offset contracts).

The investment potential of offset contracts for the regions
amounts to RUB 1.5 tn in capital investment.

Effects of implementing offset contracts:

• long-term economic benefits for regions, including import substitution and growth of gross regional product;
• average budget savings from offset contract tenders are twice as high as traditional competitive procedures;
• inflow of additional private investments into regional economies
  (on average, RUB 1 of private capital investment per RUB 8 of procurement volume).

The Crystal Fund, in collaboration with Russia's Ministry for the Development of the Far East and Arctic and the Government of Primorsky Territory, is developing a project for the advancement of the Primorye-1 and Primorye-2 ITCs, which link China's northeastern provinces to the ports of Primorsky Territory.

• North–south cargo transit through Russian territory is 40% faster and cheaper compared to domestic routes within China.
• The project has previously received political support from the leaders of Russia and China.
• The project is being developed with the aim of attracting funding for its implementation from the capital market.

The potential freight base of the corridors on the Chinese side has increased by 65% compared to 2017, reaching 70 mn tons:

• 4.5 mn tons account for ITC Primorye-1 (containers only).
• 65.5 mn tons account for ITC Primorye-2 (55 mn—grain, 10.5 mn— containers).

The use of the Primorye corridors brings Chinese shippers annual savings of $1.2 bn.

The Crystal Fund, in cooperation with the Marine Board of the Russian Federation, is developing a Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor Capitalization Model, which will make it possible to attract funding for the project via the stock market.

The model is based on global best practices for raising capital from the stock market to implement major state projects, such as the Suez Canal, the Eurotunnel and the ports of Alaska.

• Construction of Ice-Class Container Ships and “Leader”-Type Icebreakers for Year-Round Navigation
• Construction of hub ports in Murmansk and the Russian Far East
• Construction of railway links to ports along the North Sea Route
• Establishment of maritime safety infrastructure

The Crystal Fund, together with the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Government of Primorsky Krai, is developing the country’s first International Advanced Development Territory (IADT) — a unique zone for international economic cooperation.

The territory will be established at the junction of the Primorye-1 and Primorye-2 transport corridors, connecting the northeastern provinces of China with the ports of Primorsky Krai.

The IADT will feature a special legal, financial, and tax regime, creating new opportunities for investment, trade, and technological exchange. The project will form Russia’s “gateway” to the Asia-Pacific region, attracting capital and technology from friendly nations.

The initiative has already received support from the Administration of the President of Russia and the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

The Crystal Fund established the National Project Institute to implement the strategy for transforming the construction sector.

The institute’s team has participated in the development of dozens of projects in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and chemical industries. It has extensive experience in designing marine transshipment terminals and river hydraulic engineering facilities.

The goal of the NPI is to ensure high-speed construction through the use of advanced technologies:

• flow-line and conveyor-style design, drawing on the best domestic practices;
• standardisation of design solutions (National Library of Typical Engineering Components);
• modular and robotic construction;
• artificial intelligence in design and construction;
• additive technologies in construction.

Commissioned by the Office of the Security Council, the Crystal Fund is developing a project to revive Elektrograd — a Soviet- era megaproject aimed at creating a cluster for advanced processing of non-ferrous and rare earth metals in Siberia.

The project has been endorsed by the Head of State, and a decision has been made to establish a project office modelled after the management systems used in nuclear or space programmes.
The stock market is considered one of the key sources of project financing.

Project No. 1. Coal as the foundation for AI development

The Crystal Fund is developing a strategy to transform the coal industry into a foundation for digital infrastructure. Instead of supplying raw materials, it is proposed to use energy directly at extraction sites to power data centres and AI systems, eliminating the need for costly logistics.

Implementing the strategy will enable coal-producing regions to be transformed into infrastructure clusters, granting Russia new leadership not only in energy but also in the digital economy.

Project No. 2. Small-scale coal-fired generation in block-modular design.

The Crystal Fund has developed a project to build modular coal power plants with capacities from 5 to 50 MW, making them suitable for powering small settlements and individual investment projects.
The technology makes it possible to reduce electricity generation costs by more than half compared to diesel power plants.
The project includes electrostatic filters that provide complete protection of the air from soot and suspended particles, and it also provides for the recycling of 90% of ash and slag waste. The pilot project is planned for implementation in the Chukotka Autonomous Area.

• Eastern Exchange to enable Russian companies to access the stock markets of friendly countries through cross-listing
• Commodities exchange for exports to Asia-Pacific countries
• Trade and investment platform for digital financial assets (DFAs) and smart contracts
• International commercial arbitration

Key decisions:

• The special operating mode of the Eastern Stock Exchange: executing securities transactions in friendly countries' currencies without a central depository.
• A single window for cross- and dual-listing of securities issued by domestic companies on the stock exchanges of friendly Asia-Pacific countries.
• Experimental legal regime for the issuance and placement of DFAs, including tokenised equivalents of securities on a blockchain platform.
• Commodity exchange focused on exports to the Asia-Pacific region, with support for market participants in utilising exchange infrastructure (reimbursement of costs for storage, insurance, use of transport corridors, etc.)

The Crystal Fund proposes introducing a new collective real estate investment mechanism in Russia—specialised Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which are successfully operating on the stock markets of 40 countries worldwide..

The REIT model is highly popular among investors: the funds purchase real estate using capital raised from the stock market, lease it out, and distribute 90% of the profits as dividends.

The global capitalization of REITs exceeds $3 tn.

Countries use them to finance the construction of roads, ports, warehouses, telecommunications infrastructure and the development of forest plantations.