HELSINKI, Finland - The finances are in place to guarantee the Skolkovo Innovation Center will be completed on schedule, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told sk.ru on Tuesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of Slush 2014, Europe’s biggest startup conference, Dvorkovich said that tough economic times had forced budget cuts, but there are key areas of the economy that must be protected.
“We have just submitted to parliament the budget for the next three years,” he said. “All the funds that were earmarked for Skolkovo and forming the innovation ecosystem in the country overall are there, no cuts have been made.”
The Skolkovo Innovation Center, frequently billed as Russia’s answer to Silicon Valley, is a 400-hectare site to the west of Moscow that, when complete, will bring together all the key stakeholders in the innovation process, from students at the Skoltech Institute of Science and Technology, through to R&D operations of multinational giants like Microsoft and Boeing.
“We don’t plan to economize on this because it creates potential for the future. We’ve made cuts in other areas, but not here. The guarantees are in place for the investors,” Dvorkovich said.
Skoltech and the Skolkovo Technopark are to open their doors next year, with the completion of the self-contained city, including with residential areas and retail and leisure amenities, set for 2020.
The Skolkovo Innovation Center has already attracted $2.5 billion in funding, and requires a similar amount for completion through 2020.
At the Hypercube last week the Skolkovo Foundation held its Industrial Advisory Council meeting, where chief constructor Anton Yakovenko voiced confidence it would be found.