Last week, the government of Bashkortostan announced its intention to build an IT technopark named Kurai. The new technology park is part of a 5 year program to foster innovation in the republic.
To build the technopark, Bashkortostan authorities intend to attract up to 1 billion rubles, or approximately $33 million, in federal funding. The project’s initiation is not dependent on the federal government, however. “We can build a ‘virtual Kurai’ following the Skolkovo example,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted Marat Mulyukov, Bashkortostan’s Industry and Innovation Policy Minister, as saying.
Skolkovo, the state sponsored innovation hub that has garnered so much attention, is still under construction in the outskirts of Moscow. But it has already started operating in a mostly virtual way, with dozens of resident companies benefitting from grants, tax privileges, and other advantages.
Roughly 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow, the Republic of Bashkortostan, also known as Bashkiria, is an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation. With a population of just over 4 million, the region is one of the richest territories in Russia in terms of mineral resources, including oil, natural gas and metals. Its industrial base is focused on the chemical industry, including petrochemicals and agrochemicals, along with ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, glass-making, and ceramics.
The IT sector represents just 1% of Bashkortostan’s gross domestic product, compared to Russia’s average of 4.8%, according to Mulyukov. In terms of innovation, Bashkortostan lags behind other Russian regions such as Tatarstan and Udmurtia as well as the Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Orenburg and Perm regions, the minister recognized.
Tatarstan, whose existing IT park is one of the largest technoparks in Eastern Europe, announced plans last month for the construction of an IT village near the Tartarstan capital of Kazan which will house up to 20,000 IT professionals.
