The state will support St. Petersburg innovation clusters
Cluster approach
Ulyana Vylegzhanina, Rossiyskaya Gazeta – Economy of the North-West, 03.07.2012
The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has approved a list of pilot programs for the development of innovative territorial clusters that can qualify for subsidies from the federal budget. The list includes two St. Petersburg innovation sites.
The Ministry announced the formation of the list in March of this year. The competitive selection of regional applications, which was carried out by members of the working group on the development of public-private partnership in the innovation sector, representatives of federal executive authorities, the business community, leading scientific and educational organizations, was held from April to June.
Initially, 94 innovation sites applied for federal subsidies. The approved list includes only 25 territorial clusters from 19 regions of the Russian Federation. Moreover, only 13 clusters were recommended to receive state subsidies. The experts sent another 12 clusters of programs for revision.
Starting from 2013, the federal budget will allocate up to five billion rubles annually for five years to support territorial innovation sites. Part of these funds will go to two St. Petersburg players who were among the 13 winners: the pharmaceutical cluster and the radiation technology cluster. By July 15, St. Petersburg applicants will have to write a joint program and send it to the Ministry of Economic Development.
The correspondent of "RG" found out how budget injections will affect the economy of St. Petersburg and why the development of innovation clusters is impossible without state support.
Scientific cooperationA cluster is a group of organizations concentrated on a certain territory: manufacturers and suppliers of products, components and services, infrastructure companies, research institutes, universities and other mutually complementary market entities.
The cluster principle makes it possible to create infrastructure for large innovation and production sites in a relatively short time and at a lower cost, which gives cluster participants advantages in terms of attracting investors, solving personnel issues, commercializing scientific and technical potential and expanding their presence in global markets.
To date, several clusters should be created in St. Petersburg: the automotive, polymer and electronic industries, the production of automotive components, radiology, laser technology, mechanical engineering, pharmaceuticals, and IT technologies. However, many of them still exist only on paper. In order to implement research and production programs, clusters, according to experts of RG, need investments, including the financial interest of the federal budget.
The basis of the cluster of radiation technologies in St. Petersburg consists of research centers and companies specializing in research, engineering and production competencies in the field of radiation technologies. About seven thousand people work in the core of the cluster, the number of employees directly involved in research is about 2.3 thousand people.
The pharmaceutical cluster unites more than 30 companies – developers and manufacturers of medicines, medical equipment, suppliers of components and specialized services. Many pharmaceutical companies have signed contracts with St. Petersburg higher educational institutions. For example, educational programs are being implemented on the basis of the St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical Academy within the framework of agreements with four cluster participants.
– St. Petersburg clusters were not chosen as recipients of federal subsidies by chance, – Victoria Zhelnova, head of the project direction of the Center for Strategic Research "North-West", comments to Rossiyskaya Gazeta (CSR experts participated in the development of the program for the development of the cluster of radiation technologies). – A large number of research centers in various fields of knowledge directly related to the use of radiation technologies are concentrated in St. Petersburg. There are about 30 medical research institutes, at least 10 research centers engaged in the development of new materials, more than 70 enterprises conducting research in the field of nanotechnology, a significant number of research institutes and design bureaus with competencies in complex engineering. In addition, innovation platforms of related topics (for example, an electronics cluster) are based in the Northern Capital, which makes it possible for the pharmaceutical cluster and the RT cluster to expand the circle of participants in innovative projects.
Plans for growthIn the next four years, more than fifty large-scale research and scientific projects are planned to be implemented on the basis of the St. Petersburg cluster of radiation technologies, including more than 20 projects in the field of medicine and pharmacology.
Among them are the development of new types of radiopharmaceuticals and sources for brachytherapy, the production of radiological equipment (in particular, medical accelerators), the creation of new biomarkets and medical techniques.
A separate position in the radiation cluster development program is the creation of a technopark on the basis of the Konstantinov St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. And in order to provide the cluster participants with engineering and production facilities, it is planned to implement two more projects – the organization of an engineering center for radiation technologies on the basis of NIIEF and the creation of a small industrial park within one of the existing innovation sites. It is possible that subsidies from the federal budget will help to put these ideas into practice.
The participants of the pharmaceutical and medical industry cluster plan to produce genetically engineered drugs of a new generation, modern diagnostic systems, medicines for the treatment of bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, dietary supplements and cosmetics. In addition, research complexes in various medical segments (gynecology, oncology, neurology, viral infections) will appear within the cluster. The launch of the first production lines is planned for 2012-2013.
"The implementation of cluster programs will allow St. Petersburg to strengthen its position as one of the world's largest research and experimental centers in the field of radiation technologies and to form a center of the global market of high–tech innovative medical services in the city," continues Victoria Zhelnova. – It is possible that government subsidies will help attract new long-term private investments to the innovation sector.
Fellow InvestorsAccording to a source in one of the 13 clusters whose programs were included in the final list of the Ministry of Economic Development, the annual amount of investments from the federal budget in each innovation platform will be about 450 million rubles.
It is assumed that regional authorities will also participate in the financing of cluster program activities.
Such large-scale budgetary injections into high-tech industrial and scientific associations are fully justified, experts of "RG" are sure. "As world experience shows, the creation and development of high–tech platforms in many cases cannot do without public funds," Andrey Shakhovnin, a partner of one of the consulting companies, notes in a conversation with a correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta. "In the cases of innovation clusters, the effect of any financial investments is achieved in a significant time perspective, so budget leverage is the key to the stability of ambitious projects."
By the way, the formation of innovative development territories and support for high-tech knowledge-intensive clusters are provided for in the strategy of innovative development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. And since January 1 of this year, the federal law on investment partnerships has come into force in our country, which can significantly simplify the work of clusters to attract budget and private capital.
An investment partnership (IT) is an association of two or more companies without the formation of a legal entity that conduct joint investment activities in order to make a profit. According to the new law, partnerships can make a profit by investing the money collected from participants in securities that are not traded on an organized stock market. In addition, IT has the right to buy shares in the capital of business entities and qualify for investment tax credits.
– However, so far the practical issues of obtaining an investment tax credit by the participants of the investment partnership have not been sufficiently settled, – continues Andrey Shakhovnin. The procedure for granting subsidies to high-tech clusters whose development programs are included in the federal list has not been approved either. The federal center must resolve legal and administrative issues related to subsidies by the end of this year.
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