German nanotechnologists are invited to Russia
Chubais urged German specialists to develop nanotechnology in Russia
Oksana Evdokimova, Deutsche WelleThe head of the RUSNANO State Corporation Anatoly Chubais intends to attract German scientists and businessmen to develop high-tech know-how in Russia.
The Russian authorities are ready to allocate significant budgetary funds for this.
Anatoly Chubais, the former chairman of the Management Board of RAO UES of Russia, came to Berlin for the first time in his new role. Last autumn, he was appointed by the President of the country Dmitry Medvedev as the CEO of the RUSNANO Nanotechnology Corporation.
In Germany, few people know yet that this new state structure was created on the initiative of former Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2007 and immediately elevated to the rank of a national idea. RUSNANO's goal is to open new plants in Russia by 2015 to produce successful commercial products using nanotechnology.
In the long-term perspective, the Russian authorities expect that this should help Russia to jump off the oil and gas needle, diversify the economy, create an innovative, high-tech industry and open a new business.
From nanotechnology to diversificationSuch grandiose plans of the Russian government make a great impression on Western experts, however, according to many German observers, it is still difficult to believe in the reality of their implementation.
Chubais tried to tell about what is behind this in his speech in the German capital, which was held at the fashionable Adlon hotel. The event was organized with the support of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy, the German-Russian Forum and the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce.
According to Chubais, the Russian state is doing its best to boost the development of the nanotechnology industry, which is strategically important for the development of the country. This is being done despite the economic crisis, or even the expected decline in the economy to four percent this year.
It is worth noting that RUSNANO is funded with taxpayers' money. This year, the company intends to invest 570 million euros in the development of nanotechnology projects. But if everything goes according to plan, Chubais said in Berlin, then in six years the budget assistance of RUSNANO will no longer be needed.
Unique featuresIn his report "Nanotechnology: Innovations at the point of contact between government and business", the CEO of RUSNANO called on Germany to cooperate with Russia, calling the possibilities of such cooperation "unique".
According to Chubais, German engineering and scientific thought has always been a symbol of special quality in Russia.
In turn, the director of Innovative Development at RUSNANO, Yuri Udaltsov, said: "It so happened that we began to develop one-sidedly. We want foreign partners to come to us, we want to have competence, technology and production."
German heads for the Russian economyRUSNANO managers called on German scientists, specialists and businessmen to submit their applications for scientific ideas and business plans for the development of high-tech know-how and their practical application in Russian industry.
The main conditions for obtaining Russian financing on the terms of profitable lending: innovative production should be located in Russia, be aimed at commercial success and have practical application. Anatoly Chubais promised that RUSNANO would not only give money for the implementation of innovative projects, but would create the most favorable environment for German scientists and entrepreneurs to implement them in Russia, as well as provide full assistance in solving bureaucratic difficulties.
Why not at home?After Anatoly Chubais' speech, several German businessmen expressed doubts to the Deutsche Welle correspondent that the intentions of the Russian side would be implemented in practice.
One of the interlocutors did not hide his skepticism about such an active participation of the Russian state apparatus, which he called interference in business or even control over the development of nanotechnology and their promotion on the market.
However, in his report Anatoly Chubais stressed that after the successful launch of the projects, the state will release them into "free swimming". Another interlocutor of Deutsche Welle, who wished to remain anonymous, did not understand why German specialists should sell their ideas to Russia, and not engage in their implementation at home, where more favorable conditions for the development of science have been created.
Of the 12 projects, only two are German
So far, RUSNANO Corporation has approved investments totaling 500 million euros for 12 projects. Among them is the launch of a plant in Russia for the production of filters for blood purification, as well as the development of technologies that increase the endurance of gas turbines.
So far, only two of the approved applications have been submitted by German companies, the founders of which are Russian scientists. One of them, the Nobel Prize winner in Physics Zhores Alferov, intends to work on the further development of LEDs.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru10.04.2009