The Moscow-area innovation center plans to attract €1 bln in total until 2016.
The total volume of key partner investments in Skolkovo innovation center amounted to €135 mln. Said Roman Romanovsky, Managing Director of Skolkovo Foundation Key Partner Relations Department, in his interview to Izvestiya.
In this department he managed to sign cooperation agreements with 11 large companies, nine of which have already begun to invest. For the most parts these are infocom structures which always endeavored to emphasize their status of a strategic investor. Nokia, Siemens, their joint venture NSN,Ericsson, IBM. They go with Dow Chemical, EADS, General Electric and the only Russian investor — satellite manufacturer ISS n.a. Reshetnev. The companies appropriated €135 mln which will be spent within four years on researchers' salaries and laboratory equipment.
— It is not easy matter to attract investors in Skolkovo, — notes Romanovsky. — Russia has the best brand in this respect. Some foreigners have already signed their feathers working with local partners, the others would not believe in the government initiative. In addition, our country is noted for poor informational transparency: There is not any site containing a complete list of national research laboratories available for a foreign consumer. Many governments make efforts to argue large corporation management into research centers siting in their particular countries. Skolkovo faces keen competition in this respect.
Skolkovo offers various preferences to its key partners. From Romanovsky's experience, many foreign companies are pleased with the right to participate in innovation center ecosystem management, create maximum comfortable living and working conditions. And also, together with Skolkovo lay down legislative initiatives encouraging innovation activity development in the country. In return for these preferences the partners commit themselves to carry out research activities in the innovation center: bring their scientists, hire Russian research institutes and engage in venture investment activity. The city philosophy implies zoning, the key partner zone is meant for 4 ths. employees. At the present time the companies which have confirmed their participation in the project have declared 500 employees. The largest research laboratories have been planned by Siemens and IBM — by 150 people each.
As far as the Russian companies are concerned, - as explained by Romanovsky, - Lukoil, RKK Energia, RZhD, Renova, Rosatom affiliated company Compozit are prepared to become key partners of Skolkovo. Negotiations with Sberbank are at the concluding stage.
Most of corporate clients plan to rent premises in the innovation center, and only Sberbank and Renova intend to erect houses at their own cost and expense (negotiations on cooperation with Renova have not been completed as yet. — Izvestiya).
The Skolkovo Foundation Key Partner Relations Department plans to attract €1 bln of investments before 2017.
— In total there will be 4 ths. employees of corporate partners working in Skolkovo. In order to hit the target figures we have to attract 50–80 companieswith the headcount from 20 to 200 people, — says Romanovsky. — In general, the turnover of the research park in Skolkovo innovation center will amount to approx. €1 bln over a four year period. This money will be distributed throughout the ecosystem: researchers' remuneration, work with Russian research institutes, interaction with startups.
— €135 mln is a large sum of money even if divided for nine corporations, — feels the founder of Almaz Capital venture capital fund Alexander Galitsky. — So far the investors act with discretion but if they see the sense of their investments they will start investing larger sums.
In modern times of financial instability €135 mln appear to be a substantial sum of money for many investors. The same amount of money, for instance, was invested in the entire residential sector of three Baltic countries for the first half of 2011 (Newsec company data).
— €135 mln to be invested just in an idea, in blueprints — cool!, — says Maxim Shireikin, Kaluga Region Deputy Governor supervising hi-tech innovation infrastructure development issues. — Before we attracted our own investments we have had to invest substantial sums. For instance, in Obninsk innovation center, when we speak about innovation sector only, we have attracted up to 1 bln RUB for the last three years.