Federal Funding to Support Innovative Clusters

The Russian Cabinet is planning to stimulate the development of innovative clusters, which are groups of linked enterprises concentrated in a single territory.
Officials promise to give grants not only to small and medium-size businesses, but subsidies to regions to help support the aggregation of companies into clusters.
The Economic Development Minister will gather plans from regional governments by March 15 to decide on how much money will be allotted from the federal budget, a high-placed official in the ministry said.
The clusters will be formed as a result of the concentration of connected companies in one area, said Alexei Prazdnichnykh, a partner at Strategy Partners. "They are connected by proximity to a buyer or supplier, by infrastructure or by human resources; universities that prepare specialists for such enterprises are also often included in clusters."
In Russia, clusters have been developed exclusively at the initiative of local authorities for a long time, a government official said. "Now, it has been decided to give an impetus to the issue so that it develops into a powerful cluster policy," he said, adding that the issue was a key element to the country's modernization. The advantage of clusters is that help is given not just to a single enterprise but to the whole chain of production, he said.
There are currently 10 developed clusters in Russia and about 100 less-developed clusters. For the time being, clusters receive help through programs for supporting small and medium-size businesses.
Centers for cluster development will be developed in the regions with co-financing from the federal budget. The centers will coordinate the activities of cluster participants, provide informational and consulting services and will function as intermediaries between entrepreneurs and the authorities.
But how much money is required will become clear after the information is received from the regions, as the amount of subsidies to a specific region will depend on how well-off the region is.
An example of a regional success story is the auto cluster in the Kaluga region. The Yaroslavl region has already confirmed a cluster strategy that calls for not only automotive clusters but information technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology clusters.
Officials consider each region should have two or three developed clusters, so that the area doesn't end up dependent on a single industry. Though it's not necessary to drive clusters within the borders of a single region. There could be interregional clusters, such as the auto cluster in the Volga area.

On The Moscow Times materials
 

2010-03-05.

Leave your comment

Sign up Enter verification code