PORA to operate the international BRICS scientific and expert workshop on municipal and territorial finance

In 2027, the PORA Expert Center will act as the operator of an international forum platform on municipal and territorial finance in BRICS countries. The Gorchakov Fund will provide a grant for the implementation of this initiative to the Project Office for the Development of the Arctic; PORA’s victory in the competition became known in mid-October 2026.

The problem of financing municipalities is relevant for all BRICS countries: the volume of socio-economic tasks at the local level often exceeds the capacity of their own revenue bases. Under these conditions, instruments of extrabudgetary capital attraction, the development of partnerships, and the creation of flexible financial mechanisms acquire particular importance.

“The diversification of financial instruments is becoming one of the key conditions for the sustainable development of Arctic cities and territories that are of strategic importance for our country. Our project is, in essence, the first attempt by the Russian expert community to launch a platform for exchanging experience and developing new mechanisms for financing local territories under sanctions restrictions that narrow the possibilities for interaction with international development institutions. The Fund’s support for the project confirms the significance of the topic that we are bringing to the international agenda,” notes Ekaterina Serova, Director of the Department of International Relations at PORA.

Forum participants will discuss national practices of municipal financing, opportunities for attracting extrabudgetary investment, and prospects for developing mechanisms of cross-country project financing of territories. The event will bring together representatives of government bodies, municipalities, development institutions, the banking sector, and the scientific and expert community of Russia, India, and China. For Russian participants, the opportunity to adapt successful practices to the tasks of developing the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation will be of particular importance.

For reference

In July 2026, the PORA Expert Center presented a large-scale Atlas of Municipal Finance — in this online project, international experience in attracting financial resources to the municipal level is systematized. The Atlas is addressed to two groups of readers. For municipal administrations, it serves as a guide in searching for financing instruments applicable in specific territorial conditions. For developers of federal and regional policy, it serves as an analytical basis for assessing reforms of the municipal finance system.