Profile of the Kursk Region

 

Date of the Region Establishment – 13th of June 1934. The region became independent from the Central Black Earth Region.

Territory – 30 thousand km² or 17% of the Central Black-Soil region

Population

The number of resident population of the Kursk Region equals to 1,050,134 thousand people, including: urban residents – 724,071, rural residents – 326,063 (as of 01.01.2025).

The Administrative Center – the city of Kursk with a population of 436,678 people (as of 01.01.2024).

Administrative and Territorial Division

The Kursk Region includes 347 municipalities, including 28 districts, 5 urban districts (Zheleznogorsk, Kursk, Kurchatov, Lgov, Shchigry), 27 rural towns and 287 rural settlements.

Geographical Position and Nature Characteristics (Landscape)

The Kursk Region is a constituent entity of the Russian Federation and a part of the Central Federal District.

The Kursk Region has natural environment typical for the forest-steppe zone. The region’s territory is located almost in the central part of the East European Plain, on the southwestern slopes of the Central Russian Upland between the forest and steppe zones. Kursk is located 536 km from Moscow.

The region measures approximately 171 km across from north to south, 305 km from east to west, total length of the border is 1250 km.

The Kursk Region borders the following regions of the Russian Federation: the Bryansk Region in the north-west, the Oryol Region in the north, the Voronezh Region in the north-east, the Belgorod Region in the south.

In the south-west and the west the Kursk Region borders the Sumy Region, Ukraine. This state border is 245 kilometers long and runs through 6 districts (Rylsk, Glushkovo, Korenevo, Khomutovka, Sudzha and Belaya districts).

Climate of the region is moderate continental and is good for agriculture. The average temperature in January is from 5 to 7°С below zero, and in July from 21 to 22°С above zero. The average annual precipitation is 584 mm which is typical for the territory with moderate humidity. There are 220-235 days with an average daily temperature above zero. Annual sunshine duration is 1775 hours (44% possible value).

Natural Resources Potential

Mineral Raw Material Base

The Kursk Region has unique natural resources in terms of volume and diversity, capable of meeting the needs of the region, as well as the needs of other regions (for some types of raw materials).

The region is located on the territory of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, the world's largest iron ore deposit. In total, three iron ore deposits have been explored in the Kursk Region, and more than thirty deposits and occurrence of minerals have been identified.

Raw materials of regional significance include phosphorites, zeolites, quartz sands (glass raw materials) and cement raw materials.

Common minerals include (refractory clays, raw materials for bricks (clays, loams, marls, tripoli), raw materials for expanded clay products (loams and fusible clays), chalk, building sands, building stones, peat). There is a deposit of underground mineral waters.

Water Resources

The Kursk Region is located in the basins of the Dnieper and Don rivers (78% and 22% of the region's territory, respectively). In total, there are 902 permanent and temporary watercourses in the region, of which 188 are more than 10 km long. The largest rivers are: Seym, Psyol, Svapa, Tuskar, Kshen.

Land Resources – 2.27 million hectares of agricultural land. The area of agricultural land is 75.7% in relation to the total area of the Kursk Region.

Forest Resources are represented by massifs of pine, oak, birch, aspen, ash, black alder and other wood species and belong to protective forests for their intended use. The forest cover of the region is about 8.2%.

The recreational resources of the region are extremely diverse and promising for organizing recreation and tourism. On the territory of the region there are: 1 nature reserve of federal significance – the Central Black Earth State Biosphere Nature Reserve named after Professor V.V. Alyokhin; 85 natural areas of preferential protection of regional significance and 1 natural area of preferential protection of local significance.

There are 56 species of mammals in the Kursk region, half of which are commercial species. Forests and wetlands are the most valuable in the region for various types of commercial species. The hunting areas of the region are inhabited by moose, wild boars, roe deer, deer, hares, foxes, squirrels, wolves, martens. More than 30 species of fish live in the fishery reservoirs of the region.

Economic Development

The Kursk Region is a dynamically developing industrial and agricultural region.

The gross regional product accounts for about 0.5% of the total gross regional product of all entities of the Russian Federation.

Industry accounts for the largest share of the gross regional product – more than 33%. The share of agriculture is more than 12%.

The main competitive advantages of the Kursk Region are: a developed network of railways and highways; energy supply, rich mineral resources, fertile soils; a legislative framework that allows for an effective investment policy.

The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant provides electricity not only to the Kursk Region, but also to most regions of the Central Federal District.

The Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, the world's largest iron ore deposit, is located in the region.

6 main gas pipelines and 2 oil pipelines pass through the territory of the region. The basic sectors are industry, agriculture, trade, construction, transport and storage.

Industry

Significant industrial centers include the most populated cities of the region – Kursk and Zheleznogorsk.

The industrial complex of the region includes more than 2,000 enterprises (including individual entrepreneurs, micro, small, medium, and large enterprises) engaged in production activities in various industries. Only about 140 organizations belong to large and medium-sized enterprises.

Industrial complex organizations employ more than 100,000 people, or about 21% of the number of people employed in the economy.

The leading role in the economic complex of industry is played by the electric power industry, mining, food production, production of medicines and materials used for medical purposes, production of chemicals, production of rubber and plastic products.

Industrial enterprises of the region produce: iron ore raw materials, concentrates, pellets, batteries, mobile power plants, generators, geological exploration and oilfield equipment, radio measuring equipment, low-voltage equipment, rubber and plastic products, chemical yarns and fibers, products made of polymer materials, medicines, medical products, knitted and sewing products, footwear, wood fibre boards, printed cardboard packaging, flexible packaging materials.

The volume of investments in fixed assets of industry is increasing annually, from 68.6 billion rubles in 2020 to 123 billion rubles (an increase of 1.8 times) in 2023.

More than 20 investment projects are being implemented in the industrial complex.

Rosenergoatom JSC continues to implement a large-scale project for the construction of the NPP-2 replacement plant.

The Kursk Region is working on the creation and development of industrial technoparks. In 2023, SOYUZ, the industrial technopark was created on the basis of the KEAZ group of companies, and is included in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia. Work on the creation of the Sovtest industrial technopark continues on the basis of the Sovtest ATE enterprise.

In 2024, two clusters were formed: the Electrotechnical Cluster of the Kursk Region and, together with the Voronezh Region, the interregional cluster.

The products of the leading enterprises of the region are certified for compliance with international standards.

Agricultural Industry. The Kursk Region is a zone of intensive and developed agricultural production in terms of natural, climatic and economic conditions.

Agricultural land accounts for 80 percent of the region's total land, and arable land accounts for 64 percent.

The leading industries are crop production (production of cereals, sugar beet, oilseeds) and livestock husbandry (breeding of pigs, cattle, poultry and sheep).

Agriculture in the region is characterized by steady and dynamic development. The Kursk Region ranks 3rd in the Central Federal District in terms of agricultural production.

The dynamic development of agricultural production contributed to the achievement of high results.

The region has broken records for gross grain crops twice (in 2020 – 5.8 million tons, in 2022 – 5.7 million tons). In 2023, a record gross harvest of oilseeds in the amount of 1.4 million tons was achieved. The region ranks 2nd in Russia in terms of soybean production.

The Kursk Region is among the top three Russian regions in terms of meat production.

The food and processing industry is developing dynamically, 114.4 billion rubles were invested in the industry in 2019-2023, which allowed to increase the production of high-margin products highly-demanded in the Russian Federation and abroad.

In 2024, the volume of shipped products (food and beverages) amounted to 336 billion rubles, with an increase of 3.3 times compared to the level of 2019.

In terms of meat and by-products production, the region ranks 2nd in the CFD (607.5 thousand tons), butter and butter pastes – 3rd place 12.3 thousand tons, vegetable oil – 4th place (592 thousand tons), sugar – 4th place (552 thousand tons).

Consumer Market. About 8,000 retail enterprises operate in the Kursk Region, including over 100 international, federal, and regional retail chains, and over 2,000 non-mobile retail facilities.

All retail formats are represented and dynamically developing in the region: large shopping complexes, chain enterprises, convenience stores and narrow specialization stores, non-stationary, mobile, branded trade facilities. The growth and activity of e-commerce is observed.

The consumer market of the Kursk Region is characterized by the following indicators:

trade sector provides 10.6% of the gross regional product and about 15% of tax revenues to the regional budget;

average annual number of people employed in wholesale and retail trade is 89.5 thousand people, or 17.8% of those employed in the region's economy.

Special attention is paid to the organization of trade services for the rural population and residents of border areas. In addition to permanent shops, stalls and shopping pavilions in the region, mobile trade is represented by 97 car stalls that serve the population in 500 localities. These are consumer societies, individual entrepreneurs, and legal entities.

International Relations

The Kursk Region has 10 agreements on cooperation in trade and economic, scientific and technical, humanitarian and cultural fields and 11 protocols of intent and memorandum on cooperation with foreign partners, 45 protocols on establishing twinning relations with municipalities of foreign countries.

According to the results of 2024, enterprises and organizations of the Kursk Region carried out trade with 93 countries of the world, including export operations with counterparties from 60 countries.

India, China, Belarus, Ireland, Latvia, Turkey, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and Italy were the top trading countries.

In 2024, the Kursk Region welcomed nine foreign delegations, including three visits of the heads of diplomatic missions of foreign countries to the Russian Federation – specifically from Belarus, Armenia, and Sri Lanka. The region is also actively engaged in international business, organizing trade missions to Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. Region’s business units participated in 22 international forums and expos.

Additionally, the Honorary Consul of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka lives and works in the Kursk Region.

Investment

The Kursk Region regularly confirms high ratings in reputable rating agencies:

Expert RА has been awarded a high A-3 level of investment attractiveness;

the National Rating Agency (NRA) has confirmed the high investment attractiveness of IC-3, Level 3;

the Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA) has assigned a credit rating with a ‘Positive’ outlook of ‘A+(ru)’.

The Kursk Region is now implementing around 80 investment projects, including a complex of import substitution projects, with a total investment volume of 800 billion rubles.

There are measures of State support for investors, such as:

most-favored-nation treatment (corporate property tax relief);

lowered corporate income and corporate property tax rates for participants in regional investment projects;

investment tax deduction for corporate income tax;

corporate income tax relief, corporate property benefits, for participants in special investment contracts;

leasing of a land plot in state or municipal ownership without bidding.

Two types of preferential tax treatment are provided in the region: a free economic zone and a special economic zone of the “Third Pole” manufacturing and industrial type. Corporate income tax, land tax, corporate property tax, and insurance premiums are among the tax preferences offered to residents.

Development organizations assist investors:

the Industrial Development Fund offers preferential loans to carry out investment projects;

the My Business Center offers a variety of government assistance programs, such as financial, information and consulting, training, and engineering services;

the “One Window” mode of support offered by the Kursk Region Development Corporation JSC enables investors to choose a land plot for production in line with their needs, create business plans and submit business ideas, arrange for communication with authorities and resource-supplying organizations, coordinate and obtain permits in a simplified manner, and more.

The Kursk Region now has two state industrial parks: “Fatezh” and “Yubileyny”.

Communications and Information Technology

The Kursk Region is well-represented in telematics services, television and radio broadcasting, mobile and postal communications, and local, long-distance, and international landline telephone communications.

The market with the fastest growth rates is that of mobile communication services. The region is served by all of the country’s biggest mobile operators, including MegaFon PJSC, VimpelCom PJSC, T2 Mobile LLC, and MTS PJSC.

Rostelecom PJSC, ER-Telecom Holding JSC, AVANT LLC, and KURSKTELECOM LLC are a few of the significant telecom providers in the Kursk Region.

The growth in the number of state and municipal services offered through the Kursk Region's e-Government infrastructure, the rise in the number of registered users in the “Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services (Functions)” federal information system, the introduction of the Feedback Platform to enhance the effectiveness of communication between the executive bodies of the Kursk Region and citizens, the development of the e-Government infrastructure, and the creation of the e-Services Platform are all indicators of the region's transition to digital government and the emergence of an information oriented society.

“Multifunctional Centre for the Provision of State and Municipal Services” - the Autonomous Institution of the Kursk Region (henceforth referred to as AU KO “MFC”) works in the Kursk Region since 2008. Every city district and municipal district currently has the applicant service infrastructure. The number of applications from residents for services in AOU KO “MFC” is steadily growing each year, while the list of state, municipal, and other services offered outside of AOU KO “MFC” is increasing.

There are 134 media outlets that are registered or have an editorial office address in the Kursk Region: 21 eMedia (6 TV channels, 15 radio channels), 67 print publications (54 newspapers, 13 magazines), 46 online publications, electronic periodicals, and news agencies (37 online, 5 electronic periodicals, 4 news agencies).

Transport Infrastructure

The operational length of highways is 17.4 thousand km. Russian federal highways M2, M3, P-298, A142 pass through the territory of the Kursk Region. All the districts and towns of the region are connected with the administrative center by paved roads.

Road freight transport turnover amounts to 2133.8 million t·km (2023). Passenger transportation by buses of common carriers amounts to 74,357 thousand passengers (2023). Turnover of common carrier buses passengers is 730 mln. pkm (2023).

The region's railway network is represented by main railway lines: Moscow – Kursk – Belgorod – Ukraine border, Moscow – Kursk – Kastornaya – Voronezh, Oryol – Arbuzovo – Lgov, Kursk – Lgov – Glushkovo – Ukraine border and other railway lines.

The operational length of public railways is 1561.2 km, among them 500 km of approach lines. Electrified lines length is 242 km. The Kursk Region is among the leaders concerning high density of railways in Russia. The Kursk Region major railway hubs are Kursk, Lgov, Kastornaya, Rzhava. The region’s public railway lines belong to the Moscow and South-Eastern railways.

There is Kursk International Airport Named After M. I. Gurevich on the eastern border of the region’s administrative center. As of February 2025, the airport operates under temporary flight restrictions for civil aircraft.

Construction

Housing and socially significant facilities are being built at a rapid pace in the region: hospitals and clinics, athletics facilities, rural health posts, general medical practice centers, kindergartens and schools.

In terms of the volume of the total area of housing commissioned, the Kursk Region ranks 11th in the Central Federal District and 43rd in the Russian Federation. As of the end of 2024, 0.721 million square meters of housing were commissioned.

According to statistics, 33.7 square meters of housing are available in average per 1 resident of the Kursk Region, which corresponds to the 15th place in the rating of the entities of the country.

Healthcare

The Kursk Region healthcare system includes 66 institutions. The regional perinatal center and the Kursk Oncology Scientific and Clinical Center named after G.E. Ostroverkhov work in the region. Central district hospitals, rural medical posts, and outpatient clinics provide medical care for rural residents.

Centralization of emergency medical services completed in 2024. The work of 4 outpatient oncology care centers has been organized.

Healthcare facilities and resources is constantly being improved: a new clinic, rural medical posts and outpatient clinics have been built.

Education

The Kursk Region system of secondary vocational and higher education includes 33 professional educational institutions with 29 thousand learners, and 11 educational institutions of higher education with more than 37 thousand students.

The coverage rate of the region’s youth involved in the programs of higher education is 35.1%, which exceeds the all-Russian value of 29.6%.

The Kursk Region ranks 32nd in Russia in terms of the number of students studying in higher education institutions and 5th in the Central Federal District.

The Kursk Region takes active part in “Professionalitet” federal project realization. Five clusters have been created in the region in the areas of “Nuclear Industry”, “Agriculture”, “Tourism and Service Industry”, “Pedagogy” and “Mining Industry”. They are aimed at the training of more than 4,000 specialists in 31 areas of priority for the Kursk Region economy by 2030.

About 3.4 thousand international students and compatriots from more than 50 countries of the world are studying at the core leading universities of the Kursk Region: Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Kursk State University”, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Kursk State Medical University” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Southwest State University”, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Kursk State Agrarian University named after I.I. Ivanov”.

Culture

The Kursk land gave the world a galaxy of bright stars – poets, writers and artists, whose names are inscribed in golden letters in the history of Russian culture. Among the people who enriched world literature and art are: A. Fet – one of the the greatest Russian lyricists of the second half of the 19th century, A. Deineka – an outstanding representative of socialist realism in painting, Y. Nosov – a writer, author of “Red Wine of Victory” the autobiographical story; G. Sviridov – an outstanding Russian composer of the 20th century, master of vocal and instrumental music. Their art became a significant part of cultural heritage of the Kursk Region and is carefully preserved and passed on from one generation to another.

The Kursk Region is well-known for its rich and quaint cultural heritage, the bright elements of which are Kozhlyan toys and Sudzha carpet weaving.

There is a unique museum of military history “Young Defenders of the Motherland” in Kursk. That is the only Russian state museum of its kind. This museum is a sacred site of commemoration of the feat of young heroes, immortalized and paid tribute to, and an indelible symbol of moral courage and love for the Motherland.

A unique treasure – the only archeology museum in the country – functions on the ancient land of Kursk. Its walls carefully preserve the priceless evidence of centuries, whispering stories about the ancient civilizations that flourished in the Kursk Region. Here, among the artifacts, history comes to life and represents an essential fragment of the richest cultural heritage of Russia.

In the Kursk Region there are also many museums depicting life of the prominent people and war years history: “Afanasy Fet Country-House Estate” Museum, Arkady Gaidar Memorial Museum, Memorial House of the Soviet Artist Yefim Cheptsov, Nadezhda Plevitskaya Museum, “Command Post of the Central Front” Historical and Memorial Museum, “Command Post of the Voronezh Front” Historical and Memorial Museum, Ponyry Historical and Memorial Museum of the Kursk Battle.

The Kursk Region is rich in tourist attractions, including “The Kursk Bulge” Memorial Complex and “Poklonnaya Height of 269” Memorial Complex.

Large-scale cultural projects are being implemented with the support of the Kursk Region Government: “Nightingale Night” Literary and Music Event, G. Sviridov’s Music Festival, “Jazz Province” International Festival.

There are 38 museums (including their branches) in the region. There are 1 municipal museum, 1 planetarium, 613 public libraries (3 state libraries, 9 new-generation libraries), 3 theatres, 552 culture and leisure institutions (including their branches), 1 concert organization, 191 movie projection units, 45 children art schools (28 of them are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture of the Kursk Region).

Sport

More than 486 thousand people are involved in physical culture and sports in the Kursk Region, which is 60.2% of the total population of the region. There are 2064 sports facilities on the territory of municipal districts and urban districts of the region. Availability of sports facilities for population amid one-time capacity of sports facilities for visitors including people with disabilities and physically handicapped amounts 60.0%.

Kursk land is famous for its Olympic champions and outstanding athletes. The region is the homeland of Evgeny Klevtsov, Valery Chaplygin, Nikolay Solodukhin, Evgeniya Lamonova, Inna Deriglazova (Gracheva), Vladislav Mylnikov, Evgeniya and Olga Frolkin, Yulia Kozik and Alexander Povetkin.

There are 4 professional sports clubs in the Kursk Region: “Dynamo” Women Basketball Club (Champion of Russia, Winner of the Euroleague, multiple winner of the Russian Championships); “Avangard” Football Club (professional football team since 1958, the Russian Cup finalist); “Atom-Kursk” Women Volleyball Club; “Rusichi” Men Basketball Club.

Tourism

The following areas of tourism are developing in the region: military-patriotic area, cultural-educational area, religious area, industrial area, automobile area. 49 tourist routes, which imply visits to key display objects, have been developed in the region for each tourism area.

Military patriotic education takes a special place in the tourism sector of the region. Numerous monuments and memorial complexes in the region are dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War and the Battle of Kursk: the “Kursk Bulge” memorial, the “Kursk Battle” memorial, the “Poklonnaya Height of 269” memorial, the “Teplovsky Heights” memorial, the “To Heroes of the Northern Face of the Kursk Bulge” memorial, the “Command Post of the Central Front” memorial museum, a unique museum of military history “Young Defenders of the Motherland”.

On August 23, 2023, on the 80th anniversary of the Kursk Bulge victory, the first stage of the Battle of Kursk Memorial Complex was opened in the Ponyrovsky District.

The key object of religious and pilgrimage tourism is the Monastery of the Kursk Root Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary male hermitage – the 3rd spiritual center in Russia. More than 100 tourists and pilgrims visit it every year.

Industrial tourism is rapidly developing in the region. 7 large regional enterprises are in the list of pilot facilities involved in the development of this sector.

Within cultural and ethnographic tourism the Kursk Region develops infrastructure of the “Mill Park” tourist cluster located in Pristensky District on the territory of a unique cultural heritage site of the regional significance with the XVIII century watermill.

In 2023-2024 Tourism and Hospitality Industry Project allowed to create new touristic infrastructure facilities including accommodations in the region.

The Kursk Region Automobile Tourism Development Program intended to last up to 2035 was approved in 2024. “Nightingales and Iron” national tourist route has been defined as a pilot route for autotourism.