On July 13, 2012 the Skolkovo Foundation and Alstom Group (France), one of the world's leading energy and transport solutions group of companies signed an agreement on cooperation. Alstom Group has become one of the key partners of the Foundation und and its resident. On behalf of the Foundation the agreement was signed by Alexey Beltyukov, Skolkovo’s vice-president and director of development and planning. And on behalf of the Alstom Group the agreement was signed by Philippe Delleur, senior vice-president for international relations.
According to the signed agreements, Alstom plans to develop at Skolkovo R&D in the field of power generation and power grids, as well as rail and urban transport. At the Innovation Center the Group will also conduct research in the area of automation systems and intelligent networks. Additionally, Alstom plans to localize at Skolkovo its industrial design activities within already started in Russia joint ventures in the field of rolling stock and alarm systems manufacturing.
As Skolkovo’s Alexei Beltyukov said, the Foundation "managed to organize a special neighborhood for Alstom”. It includes presence of such Russian companies, as the Russian Railways and Transmashholding, as Beltyukov said. Also, as the director of development and planning of the Foundation mentioned, Skolkovo’s HR unit will be supporting the French group.
As Philippe Delleur said at the signing ceremony, the agreement is the result of negotiations, which took place in Paris, Davos, Moscow and St. Petersburg. "We are ready to move ahead with our location (of the R&D center) and are proud to become part of this very important project,” Alstom’s Deleur said. The company’s senior vice-president also said that Alstom has "ambitious plans" in Russia, including technology transfer and personnel training. And the Skolkovo Foundation, in his view, is the best place in Russia for the implementation of such programs.
Alstom develops a long-term cooperation with the Russian railway and rolling stock manufacturers. Last year Alstom Group acquired a block equity holding from ZAO’s "Transmashholding" shareholder, a Dutch company The Breakers Investments. Alstom is quite well represented in Russia: it has 15 branches and 6 engineering centers. The company's staff in the country amounts up to 600 employees.
Alstom’s expertise in infrastructural projects represents an important asset for the Foundation, as the Group can potentially take part in the Innovation City construction project, and this opportunity is currently viewed by both parties. The protocol of intent to develop cooperation was signed in Paris in March 2011 by Viktor Vekselberg, President of the Foundation, and Alstom’s CEO Patrick Kron.