Region of Perm: "We will become the leader in nanotech in Russia and achieve international recognition" Mr. Mushinkin, can you give us a brief description of the Perm region from an economic perspective?
The Perm region – on the eastern border of Europe – is an advanced industrial region in Russia. The economic specialization of the Perm region is the mining and processing of minerals like oil, potassium fertilizers and diamonds, mechanical engineering for oil-refining companies and the mining industry, aircraft engines, rocket engineering and precision engineering. In fact, our region is a significant base for the industries that enable these minerals to be mined and then used in complex, high-tech products such as aircraft engines after processing. Read more >>

The presence of high-tech industries requires a highly-skilled workforce. Employee training is provided by national research universities: Perm State Technical University (PSTU) and Perm State University (PSU). New educational courses in nanotechnologies were developed and launched jointly with RUSNANO specifically for the development of new nanotechnology projects.

The Perm region has a population of 2.7 million people, around 1 million of whom live in Perm. However, combined with its neighboring regions, this economic area of Russia accounts for tens of millions of people, making it a perfect market for various consumer goods.

Can you tell us something about the infrastructure?

The Perm region is well-situated on the border of the European part of Russia and Siberia. The Trans Siberian railway, connecting Europe and Asia, passes through Perm. With the local river network – the shipping river Kama and the complex of canals – we have access to the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Baltic Sea. A direct flight route to Frankfurt connects us with the whole of Europe. And Moscow is just a two-hour flight away – bearing in mind the enormous size of Russia, this is really not far.

What makes the Perm region attractive to foreign companies?

All these factors, including its excellent industrial heritage, highly-skilled staff, good location and wealth of natural resources, make the region attractive to foreign companies as a business location. In particular, offices of Henkel, Nestle and Knauf are already based in the region, and a joint venture with Siemens for compressor production is currently being set up.

The Perm region is also an energy-abundant region: because of the hydropower of the Kama, we “export” power to the adjacent regions. It is important for the location of power-consuming manufacturers. For example, not far from Perm, a new factory is being planned for the production of a new power-consuming product – polysilicon, which is used in various forms of electronics production.

Perm is one of the most liberal regions of Russia in terms of economic policy. The regional government does not intervene in private business activities and has no potential commercial conflicts of interest. Involvement of the public sector (at regional level) is almost zero: all business in the Perm region is private or under federal control.

Are there special incentives for foreign companies?

Innovative enterprises investing in new research and development are entitled to apply for reimbursement of 50% of their expenses from regional funds. This initiative of the Ministry of Industry is very important in supporting new projects with a significant proportion of R&D expenses. The foreign companies operating in the Perm region can apply for these grants if they create new jobs in our region.

Finally, the tax rate in the region is also minimal: all enterprises have the advantage of low income tax, which is 15.5 percent compared with 19.5 percent on the federal level, and low property and transport tax.

You mentioned highly-skilled staff: in the Perm region, there are more than 40 universities and research centers. Can you give us the whole picture?

In the Perm region, there are three branches and four institutes of the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 18 higher education institutions and about 35 special institutes and design offices of scientific and industrial enterprises. There is the science centre of the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the universities of the Perm region, there are more than 100,000 students.

The Russian Academy of Sciences is similar to the Max Planck Society in Germany in terms of its functions. Besides the state science institutes, in Russia there are private research organizations – the departments of private business.

Of all the higher education institutions, the most significant are National Research Universities, of which there are only 29 in Russia. National Research Universities have a special status given to Russian higher education institutions for ten years on the basis of a competition. We are proud that 3 National Research Universities out of the 29 in Russia work in Perm: these are Perm State University (PSU), Perm State Technical University (PSTU) and the Perm branch of the Higher School of Economics (this has four campuses in the whole of Russia: in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nijniy Novgorod and Perm).

You are constantly educating highly-skilled workers and making significant technology transfer. Is there any special focus on certain scientific disciplines?

It is evident that the greatest potential is in the science fields which have always been needed by regional industry. For example, the list of priorities of the development program of PSTU as a National Research University, includes “aircraft engine construction and gas-turbine technologies” and “mining and processing of oil, gas and minerals”. Research and employee training in these areas show stable demand from business. At the PSU, these areas include “technologies for the examination, development, forecasting and management of geology resources and systems” and “modeling and management of physical and chemical processes and technology development”.

At the same time, the list of priority fields also includes relatively new scientific domains, for example “urbanism” and “nano-industry” at the PSTU.

In particular, it is necessary to note the scientific potential of the Perm region in a range of scientific fields that form the life-science cluster. In Perm, there are medical and pharmaceutical academies which are the leading institutions of this type in Russia. Furthermore, the scientific area “high technologies for living systems management” is the priority area of PSU as a research university.

Besides the areas listed above, we also regard the information and communication technologies cluster as a priority: software, production of connection devices, telecommunication services and precision instrument manufacture.

Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary technology that is applied in various industrial sectors. Are there industrial sectors in Perm where nanotechnology is already playing a special role?

I would like to mention that in the region, there is stable internal demand for innovations from regional businesses.
Nanotechnologies are already applied in the manufacture of new materials for engines and rocket engineering. For example, the enterprise “Proton” based in Perm produces engine plants for the launch vehicle of the same name which puts satellites, including European ones, into orbit. By means of nanoparticles, new composite materials applied in the manufacture of separate junctions and parts of the rocket engine gain new consumer properties: wear-resistance, strength and durability.

Such properties are much-needed in equipment production and oil-mining. For example, the Perm company “Novomet” produces immersion pumps for oil-mining. By the way, this enterprise was founded by PSTU graduates only twenty years, ago and it is the Perm success story, but now, due to nanotechnologies, the enterprise is moving up to the next level of development. Its production is competitive on the world market. In its manufacturing processes, Novomet uses powder metallurgy, but the application of nanotechnologies enables pumps to work in the aggressive chemical environment.

But as for Perm, I would like to mention not only the fields where nanotechnologies are already applied, but also the industries where it can and must be applied. For example, in the city of Chaikovsky, 300 kilometers from Perm, there is cloth manufacture. We are sure that the application of special nano-coverings will give new properties to the cloth produced, for example the ability to resist mud due to very high wetting resistance.

Why are the Perm region and the governor focused on nanotechnology?

Nanotechnologies help the inter-sector and interdisciplinary development of modern industry. Investment into research and development bears economic fruit in entirely different industries developing in the Perm region: from engine craft manufacture to the textile industry. Furthermore, we are sure that the investment of Kama Fund I managed by Nanostart AG will help us to attract to the region new technologies from Germany in fields that are not yet represented in Perm.

How will nanotechnology develop in the Perm region from your point of view?

It is evident that the level of development of nanotechnologies in the Perm is now similar to the other regions of Russia. This level is defined by the number of proposals submitted to RUSNANO by regional companies, the volume production of these companies and the volume and structure of exports. Innovative production does not account for much of the total export volume of Perm companies. In general, the Perm region exports potassium fertilizers and oil-refining products. But we are sure that the government’s policies stimulating research into nanotechnologies and the attraction of a leading nanotechnology investment company to manage the nanotechnology venture fund will enable the region to become the leader in Russia and achieve international recognition.