A Russian government decree has come into effect that provides free electricity installation for investors in the Skolkovo Innovation Center, saving them potentially millions of rubles in startup costs.
The decree, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier this month, came into effect as of midnight Friday.
“It’s a massive plus for investors in the Innovation City because these sorts of installations can carry pretty serious costs,” said Ilya Moklokov, a Deputy General Director with Skolkovo’s United Department of Asset and Service Management of the Center for Development and Commercialization of New Technology.
“In this way the government has created quite a powerful stimulus that attracts the investment of our partners,” Moklokov added.
In the Moscow region, companies looking to be hooked up to the federal power grid must pay a one-time “technological grid connection” fee, with rates for connections with a capacity of one megawatt starting at around 18 million rubles, or about $500,000, Moklokov added.
The rate for five megawatts is around 90 million rubles, or $2.5 million, he said. The connection fees are sometimes considered an impediment to small and medium-sized business.
The decree does not waive all manner of installation costs, Moklokov warned, just the one-time fee.