Russia’s Far Eastern region of Yakutia (Sakha) is planning to open its own hi-tech park by 2015, the Russian news agency Interfax reported earlier this week, citing a statement by Anatoly Semenov, the CEO of Yakutia, a techno-park already in operation in the area.
According to Semenov, the future park will accommodate innovation companies working on biotechnology, nanotechnology, IT, and cryotechnology.
“Companies wishing to join the project will be selected on a tender basis. At the moment, we have 65 bids for residency in the park from a range of entities. Therefore, we believe that the idea of establishing a separate hi-tech park is justified,” he said.
The Republic of Yakutia (Sakha) is by far the largest single province of Russia—and of the world; it covers a territory five times the size of France. It is an area awash in natural resources. However, with its freezing cold winter temperatures that reach as low as minus 50-70 degrees Celsius, unparalleled elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, the region has a population of less than a million, with an unusually sparse density of less than 0.3 persons per square kilometer.
