US corporation Applied Materials has refused to supply equipment for Crocus Nanoelectronica, the plant which will manufacture magnetoresistive random access memory (MRMA) chips in Moscow, head of Rusnano Anatoly Chubais said in an interview with ITAR-TASS.
Crocus Nanoelectronica is a joint venture between Rusnano, the Russian state corporation dedicated to nanotechnologies, and French high-tech firm Crocus Technology. The first stage of the MRAM production (MRAM) was launched in late 2013. The project, which follows agreements reached in 2011, is the world’s first site to manufacture MRAM according to 90-nanometer design rule, according to Rusnano.
“We’re at the final stage of construction of large company Crocus Nano Electronics in a Moscow industrial zone which will produce MRAM memory chips,” ITAR-TASS quoted Chubais as saying. Applied Materials, which had to supply part of equipment, backed out of the project. The equipment in question is dual purpose technology which cannot be exported because of the US government’s sanctions against Russia.
In a similar move, major US software developer Autodesk has asked its Russian partners to stop the distribution of its software products and updates to some Russian companies, according to one such partner. This was confirmed by Russia’s Autodesk spokesperson Natalia Raikov, reports Vedomosti.ru.
Well known for its two-dimensional design platform Autocad, Autodesk products are commonly utilized in segments such as construction, oil and gas, metallurgy and engineering. According to Dmitry Osnach, Marketing Director of Russian IT company Ascon, engineering is less likely to be impacted as processes in that segment are moving to three-dimensional design. Osnach also suggested that Ascon is able to cater to the gap in the market left by Autodesk. However, he also conceded that many Russian companies have built up huge archives of design and engineering data that was created and is stored within foreign systems.
