Cluster selection

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development Commission has reviewed Russian regions’ applications for investments in innovative territorial clusters’ projects at the meeting held on 18 August in the town of Troitsk near Moscow. HSE ISSEK experts Mikhail Goland, head of the Centre for Cooperation with Public Authorities, Development Institutes and Companies, and Evgeny Kutsenko, head of the Russian Cluster Observatory, took part in the meeting.

The Troitsk innovative territorial cluster which includes the Technological Institute for Superhard and Novel Carbon Materials (TISNCM) and where the Ministry of Economic Development Commission’s meeting took place on August 18, hasn’t applied for federal subsidies to fund projects in the scope of innovative territorial clusters’ development programmes this year. So the tender commission comprising Arkady Dvorkovich, Mikhail Abyzov, Oleg Fomichev, Artem Shadrin and other experts reviewed innovative clusters’ applications, while the cluster representatives presented them, in a sense, on “neutral” territory.

Federal subsidies to support clusters were allocated for the third time: in 2013, 13 clusters in 11 Russian regions received 1,3 billion roubles, in 2014, 2,5 billion roubles were allocated to 25 clusters in 20 regions, and this year, the total amount of subsidies will be 1,25 billion roubles, to be allocated between 23 clusters in 21 Russian regions. Meanwhile, clusters applied for more than 4 billion roubles to fund their innovative projects.

Preliminary review of the clusters’ applications, and experts’ voting were traditionally conducted at the Russian Cluster Observatory website. The best applications were submitted by the following regions: the Republic of Tatarstan, Samara, Tomsk and Novosibirsk Regions, the Republic of Mordovia, and Moscow. Compared with the previous year, the list of leaders winning the largest amount of subsidies remained almost the same. The Commission will publish its final decision in late September, and a few weeks later, the clusters will get the money.

By Elena Gutaruk

Photo: Troitsk City Administration Web Portal