The Republic of Tatarstan is confirming its commitment to innovation with plans to invest heavily over the next two years in the engineering and transport infrastructure of Innopolis, an “innovation city” under completion near the capital Kazan.
Tatarstan will put up a significant part of the total investment, which has been estimated at 20 billion rubles (approximately $670 million). The federal government and co-investors are expected to contribute the remainder, as regional portal ProKazan.ru recently reported, citing a statement by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.
The Innopolis population is expected to reach more than 150,000, within a total area of 20 square kilometers.
The centerpiece of the new city will be its IT Park, which the region hopes to make a Mecca for about 10,000 of the best and brightest young minds from across Russia in programming and high technology. There will also be an IT University, a residential complex for IT specialists and their families, kindergartens, high schools, recreation and shopping malls, sports facilities and medical institutions.
Minnikhanov said last summer that Innopolis will also host a special economic zone (SEZ). In August of last year, Singapore’s RSP Architects presented their master plan for the innovation city to the Tartarstan authorities.
An ambitious innovation strategy
The Autonomous Republic of Tatarstan stands out as one of the country’s most economically developed regions. It is situated on the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers, approximately 800 km east of Moscow. Kazan is a city of more than 1.1 million.
While already known for its developed assets in the oil and petrochemical sector, in aircraft manufacture, instrument and mechanical engineering, Tatarstan has also developed ambitious high tech projects for the past few years.
In 2009, Cisco took part in the creation of IT-Park, which claims to be the biggest technopark in Eastern Europe.
In 2011, IT-Park launched a business incubator; in 2012, it opened a new branch in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan’s second largest city.
