New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS): The Republic of Crimea, which in March this year acceded to the Russian Federation from Ukraine, is wooing Indian investors to exploit its potential across multiple sectors.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed Thursday by Sergey Aksyonov, head of the Republic of Crimea, and Gul Kripalini, chairman of the Indo-Crimean Partnership.

Aksyonov, who is leading a team of Crimean officials as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's delegation that is on a day's visit to India, said that he was looking forward to Indian businessmen visiting Crimea for investment opportunities.

“I have already met representatives of Indian business and invited them to Crimea. Following this MoU, specific contracts will be signed across various sectors,” he said.

Askyonov said that in the light of the creation of a free economic zone, Crimea has become a dynamic Russian investment centre.

Among the sectors that hold potential for investment, he mentioned tourism, food processing, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and logistics.

Asked whether he was confident of getting funds from Russia for the Crimean budget, he said: “We have no doubt about this and the special economic zone being created will steer Crimea to the path of development.”

Kripalini said that it took a long time to sign Thursday's MoU.

“We have got almost 30 sectors already included in this MoU and will keep adding more sectors as needed,” he said.

Addressing the MoU signing ceremony, Consul General of Russia in Mumbai, Alexey Novikov, described Crimea as “a unique peninsula presenting a tremendous blend of mild climate and historical and cultural legacy with an enormous not yet fully discovered abundance of natural resources”.

“But its most precious potential is people willing to work for the sake of the country and Russian-Indian partnership,” he said.