Russian Prime Minister visits Skolkovo

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev praised the progress of Skolkovo on Monday June 20th during a regular visit to the innovation city that he founded as president of Russia six years ago.

"I've just been around the territory, and even though I come here quite often, the changes are clear to see, it's a fully-fledged city being built here," Medvedev told a meeting of the Skolkovo Foundation board of trustees.

Medvedev founded the foundation in 2010 with the aim of diversifying Russia's economy away from energy exports and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and venture capitalism. He makes regular visits to the innovation centre and is a member of the board of trustees.

"There's nothing on a larger scale in our country in terms of innovation, and when we launch it at full capacity, then it will be one of the main projects of its kind on a global level," said the prime minister, pointing out that 18,000 hi-tech jobs have been created across Russia by the foundation, and that investment in the foundation and its 1,500 resident startups more than tripled last year to about 15 billion rubles ($234 million).

The project has already been recognised internationally, with more than 10 percent of Skolkovo startups having made sales on foreign markets, while the foundation has new venture partners in foreign countries including China.

International activity is vital to the Skolkovo Foundation, its president Victor Vekselberg told the board of trustees, which also includes Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and the ministers of finance, trade and industry and economic development.

"We have formed a wide network of international partners with development institutions and accelerators. This allows our residents to promote their products it opens doors to them, and we see this system working," Vekselberg said, citing the example of a Skoltech graduate whose company AstroDigital won a prize at the Slush startup conference in Helsinki last autumn for its technology for processing images taken from space.

In September, Skolkovo will host the International Association of Science Parks (IASP) conference, "which in itself is proof of our potential and Skolkovo's standing in the world," said Medvedev. "So these are good results."

The prime minister's tour included a visit to the giant new Technopark building that is due to open with a bang by hosting the 33^rd IASP World Conference in September 2016.

The technopark will provide office and lab space for the foundation's startups, along with all other services young tech startups are likely to require, such as help with intellectual property registration.

Following his tour of the growing city, Medvedev met with Vekselberg and Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. The prime minister also oversaw the signing of an agreement between Skolkovo and bus maker Volgabus to set up an R&D centre focusing on driverless transport at the innovation city.