Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hailed a decision by Germany’s Siemens AG to join his ‘Silicon Valley’ innovation project in Moscow’s Skolkovo suburb, run by billionaire Viktor Vekselberg.
“We hope that the participation of German business will be very, very active in the big project to be realized in Skolkovo,” Medvedev told reporters in Yekaterinburg today after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Medvedev said Russia supports Siemens’ intention to build a research center at Skolkovo and to take part in the project’s management. “This is a very encouraging example for us.”
Medvedev, who has called Russia’s reliance on oil exports “humiliating,” wants to wean the world’s biggest energy producer off its fossil-fuel dependence. He asked Vekselberg in March to oversee plans to create a hub for the development and marketing of new technologies.
Peter Loescher, chief executive officer of Siemens, declined to say how much the company may invest at Skolkovo. “We have not yet decided,” he said in an interview in Yekaterinburg. “We are still in the early phase, but we will certainly bring our full expertise and competence to Skolkovo.”
Job Creation
Loescher said Siemens plans to invest at least 400 million euros ($515 million) in Russia during the next two years. “Together with our partners, we’re creating jobs in the neighborhood of 3,000 people.”
“There’s certainly more to come,” Loescher said.
In addition to the Skolkovo agreement, Siemens today signed a memorandum of understanding with OAO Russian Railways on production of 1,200 rail cars by 2020. The German side has mentioned a price of 2.2 billion euros for delivery of the trains, though Valentin Gapanovich, a senior vice president of Russia’s rail monopoly, said the final price may be lower and will depend on metal prices.
The trains will be produced in Russia. Gapanovich said the plant location will be chosen by Aug. 20 from five possibilities: Moscow, Novorosiisk, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg or Yelabuga. The “high-tech” trains will first be deployed in the Black Sea resort of Sochi and later used across the country, he said.
Siemens signed a partnership agreement with OAO RusHydro and Russian Technologies Corp. on renewable energy. Siemens will install wind turbines with a total capacity of as much as 1,250 megawatts in Russia by 2015, the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Rosatom Corp., Russia’s nuclear power company, may begin work with Siemens in atomic energy fields where the German company’s former partner, Areva SA, isn’t competing, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told reporters in Yekaterinburg.
Rosatom and Siemens are “fully resolute” to partner in building nuclear power plants and are waiting for Siemens’ court action with Areva to be resolved, Shmatko said.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Netanyahu Flying to Silicon Valley to Meet With Elon Musk And Discuss 'Anti-Semitism on X'
- Facebook Declares War on Christianity: Praising Jesus Is 'Hate Speech' And Will Be Removed
- Silicon Valley Scientist Says Humans Should Be Uploading Consciousness to Computers By End Of Year
- Cash App Founder Was Stabbed to Death in 'Good Part' of San Francisco
- WEF 'Smart Cities' Worldwide Are Being Transformed Into Concentration Camps
Loading ...
