Russia to develop science in cooperation with CIS countries

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia is going to develop its science, following an example from its Soviet past – in cooperation with the CIS countries, BBC reports. International Innovative Nanotechnology Centre (IINC) of the CIS countries has been set up in Dubna, Russia, to contribute to cooperation in nanotechnologies and innovations.

This year, Russia has assumed the rotating presidency of the CIS and declared 2010 a year of science and innovation in the territory uniting eleven of the former Soviet republics.

In October last year, the Russian government announced plans to invest 318 billion rubles (US$11bn) into the development and commercialization of nanotechnologies. The state has already spent some 94bn rubles on this area over the past two years, BBC reports. All these efforts are intended to create a domestic nanotech industry by 2015 to reduce Russia's dependence on oil and gas exports.

Although Russia is currently investing in nanotechnology almost as much as the US and Europe, it is still lagging behind in terms of producing real-world products. Analyst from the Carnegie Moscow Centre think tank Masha Lipman is quoted as saying that the newly established organization can't help Russian science. "We can hardly expect this centre to produce breakthrough innovations or scientific achievements. Just like many CIS structures, I think this is more about appearance than substance," she said.

On April 15, Russian-Armenian Center for Innovative Cooperation was opened in Yerevan under a memorandum between Rossotrudnichestvo Federal Agency and RA Ministry of Economy.

The parties agreed to cooperate in establishment of interstate innovative structure, to conduct seminars and consultations, scientific conferences, to exchange information, to promote establishment of joint ventures both in Russia and in Armenia.