Skolkovo should become 'open platform for research, development'

The Skolkovo Innovation Center near Moscow, dubbed Russia's "Silicon Valley," will need a financial injection of up to 200 billion rubles ($6.7 billion) over three to five years, Russian tycoon and president of the project Viktor Vekselberg said.

"The three-five year plan of our program includes a demand for around 180 to 200 billion rubles," Vekselberg told journalists.

Vekselberg said half of the figure would be injected by the government and the rest would be financed by private businesses.

Skolkovo is being built from scratch 20 kilometers west of Moscow. The center will focus on research in five priority spheres: energy, information technologies, communication, biomedical research and nuclear technologies.

"Our demands for the projects will be high," he told journalists.

He said the projects would be based on the principle of co-financing and the obligatory participation of both Russian scientists and foreign partners.

Source http://en.rian.ru