EDB and ROSNANO to Co-finance Nanotechnology Projects
Igor Finogenov, Chairman of the EDB Executive Board, and Anatoly Chubais, General Director of the State Corporation the Russian Nanotechnology Corporation (ROSNANO) signed a memorandum on co-operation.
The parties will co-ordinate their joint efforts to implement medium and long-term investment projects aimed to promote economic integration in EurAsEC, increasing the output of innovative nanotechnology products with a high value added, and creating new jobs in industry, health, energy, transport and other sectors in EurAsEC countries.
Particularly, the EDB may provide loans, including structured products of $30-100 million for up to ten years. The EDB is also prepared to become a shareholder of ROSNANO project companies founded to assist integration, e.g. of the EDB member countries. To be selected, a project must foster an innovative economy in EurAsEC, increase trade turnover between EurAsEC countries, and be implemented though shareholding in companies from EurAsEC countries.
The memorandum also provides that the EDB will be a member of innovative funds co-founded by ROSNANO. In its turn, ROSNANO expresses interest in participating in nanotechnology projects being implemented by the Bank’s clients by financing, shareholding or providing guarantees.
The Russian Nanotechnology Corporation (ROSNANO) was founded in 2007 in order to implement the government’s nanotechnology policy. ROSNANO does so by investing in nanotechnology projects which have great socioeconomic potential. ROSNANO’s financial participation at an early stage of a project reduces the risks of its partners—private investors. The company set itself the task to boost the output of nanotechnology products in Russia to 900 billion roubles by 2015. The sales of such products by companies in which ROSNANO invests will increase to at least 300 billion roubles annually. To date, the company’s Supervisory Board approved 64 projects. For more information about ROSNANO and applying for co-financing, please visit its site www.rusnano.com.