Skolkovo Project – The Future Russian Silicon Valley
Russian media is speaking for the first time about a national project aimed at creating a Russian Silicon Valley, which is expected to become a tech-hub for development and commercialization of technology in the realm of energy, IT, biomedical research, communication, and nuclear technology.
The project is called Skolkovo, and is named after a business school nearby.
Skolkovo project has been approved by the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in 2009, and the building is expected to begin in the second half of 2011, and will last 3-7 years.
The budget for such an endeavor is of $4-6 billion, with half the sum coming from the Russian budget and the other half acquired from co-financing agreements.
Skolkovo is built at the outskirts of Moscow, the capital city of the Russian Federation, and will be able to accommodate some 40,000 people.
Though the project exists only as a draft, it is already signing partnerships with huge companies like Nokia, Siemens, Rusatom, and many others.
The Russian Silicon Valley will allow foreign investors and scientists to come to Russia. For that matter, the government is doing what it takes to relax the formalities, and simplify and eliminate the visa regime for foreigners.
Russian presidential advisor Arkadi Dvorkovich assured that those who want to come to Skolkovo from abroad will have all the accommodations for them and their families they have in their countries.
If Skolkovo is a success, it should mark a new era in the technology-oriented business environment in Russia.
