The Irkutsk Region government secured RosOEZ support to expand the tourism and recreation special economic zone with new sites in the Slyudyansky and Olkhonsky districts. On Lake Baikal southern shore they plan to develop tourism and create an Olympic winter sports training center and a ski complex for athletes. The governor said these projects could create about 10 thousand jobs in the region

The initiative of the government of the Irkutsk Region to include additional sites in the special economic zone (SEZ) of tourist-recreational type — in the Slyudyansky and Olkhonsky districts — has received the support of the head of RosSEZ, Andrey Alpatov. An official letter to this effect arrived in the region several days ago, said the governor of the Irkutsk Region, Igor Esipovsky.
Along with the expansion of the special economic zone of tourist-recreational type in the area of the town of Baikalsk, where the pulp and paper mill has been shut down, an Olympic training center for winter sports will be created.
A project for such a center has already been worked out. It was initially planned to be located in Krasnoyarsk Krai, but it turned out that the conditions there were not quite suitable, including climatic ones. And when they began looking for a new location, they settled on the southern shore of Lake Baikal. The only thing that held it back was the presence of a pulp and paper mill nearby. Today we understand that it will no longer operate. Therefore, we came forward with a proposal and received preliminary approval from all the sports federations interested in creating such a center, as well as from the federal ministry, Igor Esipovsky says.
The southern shore of Baikal is the most ideal place in terms of natural and climatic conditions and infrastructure for locating sports, tourism, and recreation facilities. There is mountainous terrain here, relatively warm winters, plenty of snow, and the Trans-Siberian Railway and the federal Moscow-Vladivostok highway pass nearby.
Thus, by now a project has been prepared to create a ski complex in the Slyudyansky district for training athletes. It has received approval from the sports federations and the relevant federal ministry. If all the projects currently under discussion are launched, this will make it possible to create about 10,000 jobs, the governor noted.