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Friday, 03 Aug 2012

Russia - Skolkovo Innovation City (HVO RUS-24)

A project near Moscow aims to rival the U.S. tech industry with an 'innovation city'.

Established in 2010, Skolkovo Foundation has $5 bn on offer for joint collaborative research and technology commercialisation as part of the Skolkovo Innovation Hub project.

This major project encompasses a technopark to be built by 2015; Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology - a joint venture with MIT with MSc and PHD programmes; and development of world-class city infrastructure for over thirty thousand residents, with strong tax incentives offered.

Keen to work with world’s science and technology leaders, a senior Skolkovo delegation visited London, Cambridge and Oxford in February 2012 on a UKTI sponsored Roadshow. Several joint projects were launched at and soon after the event – including a £9.3m energy efficiency project involving BP and Imperial; a £6.5 m joint satellite project to predict earthquakes with UCL Space Mullard Laboratory; and a £8.3 m gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology project involving Oxford Catalysts looking to reduce Russia’s flaring of associated petroleum gas.

Concept design of the city has been carried out by renowned architects Jean Pistre Venjamin Golubitsky, David Chipperfield and Kazuyo Sejima with a major emphasis on sustainable development – it aims to become a testing ground for energy-efficient cities of tomorrow. About 50% of the $6bn city development costs are funded from Government through the Skolkovo Foundation and is being used for the infrastructure development and construction of the Techopark, University and associated residential areas. Tenders for these elements are being sought in 2012 on a design and build basis with a view to completion in 2014. Some further $3bn is being sought from private investors/developers for the projects to be implemented by strategic partners – over 300 companies so far, including 25+ multinationals such as Boeing, Intel, Cisco, GE, Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Nokia and Siemens.

Further details on specific opportunities around this project will be provided as they become available. In the meantime, UK businesses interested in this project are encouraged to register their interest below.

High Value Opportunities (HVO) programme

The high value opportunities programme identifies large scale overseas projects offering the most value to UK Plc and aims to provide an intensive level of support to help UK businesses win contracts in and around these opportunities. Find out more.

Opportunity Type: Market Pointers

Register your interest

Only UK companies who've registered with our website are eligible to obtain more information on this opportunity. You'll be asked to login with your current credentials, or register your company details if you've not already done so.