Russian Nanotechnology in Nature
RUSNANO: "bourgeois" view
Elena Novoselova, STRF.ruYour vision of Russian investments in ambitious nanotechnology projects 
presented by the columnist of the journal Nature Quirin Schiermeier (Quirin Schiermeier):
High hopes for Russia's nanotech firms,
online publication from 10/20/2009.
Mega profit from nanotechnology?Russia is developing nanotechnology: The Russian government has announced its plans to invest 318 billion rubles (11 billion US dollars) in the development and commercialization of projects involving nanotechnology developments.
Guided by ambitious plans to create not only a self-supporting, but also a profitable domestic high-tech industry by 2015, the government has already invested 94 billion rubles in the development of nanotechnology over the past two years. Perhaps this will help Russia reduce its dependence on oil and gas exports. But so far, the results of these investments can be considered the creation of about 2,000 new jobs and several new public-commercial enterprises.
According to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the opening of the International Forum on Nanotechnology on October 6, "So far our achievements in this field are insignificant, but we have intellectual, organizational and financial opportunities for leadership in high-tech areas."
The financial crisis has given impetus to the diversification of Russian industry. Oil and gas prices have fallen, and foreign investment in Russia has declined by 31 percent over the past year. And the initiative for the development of nanotechnology in Russia acquired the status at the level of the federal development program after the report of the director of the Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk to President Vladimir Putin (2007) on the prospects and economic potential of the development of this industry in Russia (Nature 448, 233; 2007).
Russia does not lag behind the world leaders – in terms of public investment in nanotechnology, Russia ranks third after the United States and European countries. But according to the level of their own production, it is too early for Russian companies to compete in the economic efficiency of new technologies. Currently, domestic sales and exports of Russian-made nano-products are collectively estimated at $4-5 billion, which, according to preliminary results of 2009, amounted to only 2 percent of the global market volume.
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According to the forecasts of the analytical company Lux Research, over the next 5-6 years, global revenues from the commercialization of nanotechnology developments are expected to increase tenfold – from 250 million to 2.5 billion US dollars. Moreover, nanotechnology will be in demand in a wide range of industrial production – from cosmetic products, new medicines to environmental sensors and nanocoats with a low coefficient of friction.
The state venture company Russian Nanotechnology Corporation (Rusnano) is responsible for the implementation of the nanotechnology integration program in business, which plans to attract 450 billion rubles of private capital by 2015, and increase sales to 900 billion rubles.
However, analysts are still skeptical about the chances of Rusnano State Corporation to achieve this goal. "We see real and serious attempts to attract innovative technologies to the industrial industry in Russia," says Michael Holman, an analyst at Lux Research in New York. "Personally, I am impressed by the measures taken. But, nevertheless, it will not be easy, if only because doing business in Russia is not always convenient for foreign investors."
According to Leonid Gokhberg, an expert in econometrics at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, about 400 academic research departments and about 200 commercial companies are engaged in nanotechnology developments in Russia. The main barrier to the transition of theoretical developments into technology is the weakness of the Russian scientific system, which prevents the receipt of research funding and does not stimulate entrepreneurial activity.
In his speech at the International Forum on Nanotechnology, Dmitry Medvedev clearly stated the following task – creating decent conditions for doing business and a more competitive academic environment. To this end, Rusnano plans to minimize investment risks by acting as a co-investor, a minority shareholder or by providing loans with reduced interest rates. In such joint ventures, any profit will be distributed between the project applicant, the private investor and Rusnano. At the same time, Rusnano will not claim the intellectual property right to the nanotechnology developments being implemented.
The right way...Since its inception, Rusnano has received more than 1,200 project proposals involving nanotechnology, but only a few met the stated requirements.
"At first, few people understood what we were looking for," says one of the members of the Board of Rusnano, Director of the Technical Expertise Department Sergey Kalyuzhny. "In most cases, we had to say, 'Sorry guys, it's a good idea, but it doesn't have market potential.'"
But the understanding of the commercial component of the production of high-tech products is growing and, currently, after lengthy examinations, Rusnano has selected 36 projects for financing. This includes the Novosibirsk company Sun Innovations, which plans to produce nanochernils for printers and the Saturn company (Rybinsk), which produces nanostructured coatings for aviation.
Russia is also seeking to attract international partners. But so far only two projects involving foreign capital have been approved. One of the projects is a joint venture with the German company VI Systems. German partners have invested 1.1 billion rubles in the creation of a production of plates and chips for optical high-speed data transmission devices, which is planned to be launched in 2011 in St. Petersburg. Currently, VI Systems' production facilities are located mainly in Taiwan. "In the near future, we plan to enter the emerging Russian electronics market," Nikolai Ledentsov, founder of VI Systems, Doctor of Sciences at the St. Petersburg Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology, shares his plans.
Several pharmaceutical companies, including Roche and Aventis, announced at the last forum that they would discuss the creation of joint ventures with RUSNANO to develop promising medicines.
Rusnano also participates in infrastructure projects, such as the project implemented jointly with RUSKHIMBIO LLC to build a system for the supply of reagents and consumables to Russian scientists and production workers. This is a Moscow service for the round-the-clock delivery of drugs and reagents necessary for clinical diagnostics, chemistry and drug development.
Russia's efforts in the field of nanotechnology development are part of a large-scale program to strengthen fundamental science and develop the education system. The leader of Russian developments, including in the field of nuclear physics, the Kurchatov Institute received 5.9 billion rubles last year for the implementation of a government program to create a Center for convergent nano-bio-info-cognitive Sciences and Technologies. It is planned that this center will also be engaged in genome decoding, have a single database of data processing and, along with several other research centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will become part of the national research center for nanotechnology.
But international experts warn of Russia's inflated expectations, which may not be justified. "Russia is throwing a lot of money and brains into nanotechnology," comments Ian Miles, an expert on technological innovation at the University of Manchester (UK). "But against the background of favorable and preferential conditions that are being created everywhere for the development of priority projects, including in the field of nanotechnology, it will not be easy for Russia to enter the international market and take a confident position there."
Based on the materials of Nature (High hopes for Russia's nanotech firms, online publication of October 20).
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22.10.2009