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Dmitry Krinitsky has worked in RUSNANO since 2009. However, back in 2007, when he was the head of the Committee of the State Parliament of the Russian Federation for Economic Policy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, he started participating in the state support programs of nanotechnology development. The said Committee examined the draft law on the creation of the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies. In March 2011, the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies was transformed into Joint-Stock Company RUSNANO. JSC RUSNANO supports the implementation of the state policy in nanoindustry development by means of direct investments and through investment nanotechnology funds offered to cost-effective high-tech projects enabling the creation of new industrial enterprises in the Russian Federation. The main investment areas are electronics, optoelectronics and telecommunications, health and biotechnologies, metallurgy and metal processing, energy, machine- and device-building, construction and industrial materials, chemicals and petro-chemicals. All shares of RUSNANO belong to the state. The assets of JSC RUSNANO are managed by the managing company RUSNANO, which was created in December 2013. In RUSNANO, Mr. D.Krinitsky organizes interaction with regional authorities and the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. When interviewed by our magazine, Mr. Krinitsky mostly spoke about RUSNANO projects, achievements and new investment strategy.
Mr. Krynitsky, why was it decided to create the department for regional policy and interaction with local authorities in the structure of RUSNANO?
In the beginning, one of the priorities of the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies was to inform regions about the new opportunities for attracting investments and to initiate as many new co-funded projects as possible. We were tasked to invest the money received from the government into effective projects in the short run, so these projects contribute to the establishment of the nanotechnology industry. We have three categories of partners in regions: business, science and government. The experience has shown that local authorities in Russia play a key role in reviving the innovation process and introducing innovative products and technologies in the economy and social spheres. Therefore, partnership with them is very important for us.
What problems did the company face? How successfully were they resolved, and what are the achievements of the company?
When we started working, we had a feeling that Russia had many projects "lying on the surface", meaning that it was enough to provide investment and high-tech industrial enterprises would pop up. However, in reality we were often asked to invest in R&D projects, which were not investment projects per se. Many innovators were not ready to prepare documents required for co-investment. Besides, RUSNANO requires the presence of a co-investor, in principle. It was often hard to comply with this requirement too.
Nonetheless, the number of successful projects was steadily growing. I would like to tell you about some of them more in detail. For instance, we could mention the Novomet (Perm), which produces electric centrifugal submersible oil-extraction pumps with the use of nanostructured coatings. When we joined the project, it was a working business, which needed funds to reach a new level of development. Now, the company has a strong position in the market and will no longer need our support in the near future. Similar existing businesses, to which we provided a new impetus for development, are Mikron (Zelenograd), the largest manufacturer of electronic components in Eastern Europe, NEVZ-CERAMICS (Novosibirsk), the producer of nanostructured ceramics for medicine, defense and petroleum industries, New Instrumental Solutions (Rybinsk), the manufacturer of metal cutting tools with nanostructured coatings. We had very good results in the project METACLAY in Karachev (Bryansk region), which is production of anticorrosion coatings based on polymer nanocomposites. Originally, we thought that the company’s products would be primarily used in the cable industry; but we discovered other market niches and refocused the company on manufacturing anti-corrosion coatings for gas and oil pipelines. In 2015, the revenues of METACLAY exceeded 5 billion rubles. Today, the company supplies its products to Gazprom.
An example of a socially significant project is the company PET-Technology. This company develops the network of positron-emission and computer-tomography diagnostic centers for treatment of oncology, cardiology and neurology diseases at early stages. Such centers have already been opened in Ufa, Lipetsk, Kursk, Tambov, Orel, Yekaterinburg, and Moscow. By late 2015, more than 10 thousand people had already been diagnosed there. The network has its own radiopharmaceuticals manufacturing enterprise, located in the city of Yelets, Lipetsk region.
Our cooperation was very fruitful with the MORTON Group. We created together a new generation house-construction plant. The company produces houses using basalt and plastic structures, concrete superplasticizers, nanodispersion paints and plasters, as well as nanocoated energy-saving panes developed by several of our portfolio companies. This is a good example showing that attraction of a strong partner can secure a high synergy effect.
Finally, we should mention the project Hevel realized jointly with Renova Group in Novocheboksarsk. The goal of the project is mass production of photovoltaic hetero-structured modules. This was the first Russian full-cycle plant for production of solar modules launched in 2015. The technology had been significantly enhanced by the Science and Technology Center at the Ioffe Institute providing a highly competitive product. The first 10-MW unit of Buribaevsky Solar Power Plant is already functioning in the Republic of Bashkortostan.
In total, RUSNANO invested more than 175 billion rubles in 107 projects. The contribution of foreign investors exceeded 320 billion rubles. Thus, we have given rise to the investment process and helped businesses to implement their industrial and social development projects. Our investments were used in the creation of 68 plants and research centers in 28 regions of Russia.
Since 2014, we have used a new approach to investments. In particular, funding is preferably provided through participation in nanotechnology investment funds. We are working on the creation of such funds together with large Russian companies and foreign partners.
How will RUSNANO organize its work under the new strategy?
Nanotechnology investment funds are created under the management or co-management of RUSNANO Management Company with the involvement of third-party investors. Each of the created funds will have its own team for researching and developing projects. According to the long-term development program, the total capital of third parties attracted to the investment funds under the management or co-management of RUSNANO will reach 150 billion rubles by 2020.
Back to question of interaction with regional authorities: which regions are the most active in developing innovative projects?
The most active regions are Moscow, St-Petersburg, Tatarstan, Mordovia, as well as Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Lipetsk and Ulyanovsk regions. The dynamics and efficiency of cooperation with regions are largely determined by the attitude of governors. The issue is that, in order to benefit from RUSNANO investments, it is necessary to undertake a lot of work: preparing documents and passing rigorous scientific-technical and investment expert examinations. Not all entrepreneurs are ready to do that. However, the support of governors and their teams, as well as their "mentoring" effect on businesses, is a key factor in many cases contributing to the success of projects.
For example, it is hard to overestimate the contribution of N.Merkushkin and V.Volkov in the development of innovative projects in Mordovia, in particular, the first Russian industrial production of optical fiber at the enterprise Optic Fiber Systems in Saransk. Ulyanovsk region has never boasted the highest socio-economic indicators, but thanks to the active position of its governor, S.Morozov, and his team, the region has been able to attract large investments in its high-tech facilities during the past few years. In particular, the region has implemented an important infrastructural project – a nanotechnology center created with the support of our Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs (FIEP).
We pin great hopes on the development of cooperation with Kaliningrad region, which has a unique geographical position favoring the development of export-oriented industries. We closely cooperate with Astrakhan region, which hosts a unique enterprise producing nanostructured coatings for pipelines. Samara region, now headed by N.Merkushkin, is developing very fast too.
You have mentioned the creation of nanocenters, what is their purpose?
Investment projects have their specific tools of support with different priorities set at each stage of their development. RUSNANO FIEP participates in the creation and development of nanoindustry infrastructure. There are 14 FIEP nanocenters in 10 regions. They function like incubators, searching for ideas and converting them into business projects. It is very important to know how to launch start-ups, among which the Fund has fostered more than 400 projects... As for "grown-up" businesses, the investor needs not only good infrastructure, such as housing, kindergartens, schools etc., but also mechanisms for attracting qualified specialists from other regions. The FIEP experience showed that training specialists for nanoindustry in the interests of private companies is very important. The Fund successfully cooperates with regional and metropolitan universities in the development of curricula for training and retraining highly qualified nanoindustry specialists. More than 130 educational programs were designed with the participation of the Fund and more than 24 thousand specialists have been trained and retrained.
What are the prospects of developing cooperation with the regions?
We are continuously cooperating in two areas: searching for co-investors and searching for promising projects. The interests of RUSNANO and regional authorities are similar in both the areas because one of the key performance indicators is successful launch of new manufacturing enterprises. Within almost 10 years, we have accumulated unique competencies in the field of creating innovative businesses and we are ready to use these competencies for developing regions. The forms of cooperation range from providing consultations to organizing interregional investment funds. We also work with regions under international projects.
It should be noted that hi-tech investors do not want to go to empty "industrial zones". They prefer going to places with available engineering and transport infrastructure. Our investment partners and we are interested in regions where decision procedures about the location of businesses only take a few weeks, rather than several months, to the regions that implement a "single window" system, and where the fulfilment of region’s own obligations are guaranteed. A very important factor that we take into consideration when deciding on the location of a company is active support provided by the regional administration for marketing the products manufactured by the innovative company.
Do you cooperate with engineering companies?
Engineering companies play a very important role in the development of innovative industries. We actively cooperate with engineering companies both at the design stage and at stage of constructing our enterprises with the maximum use of their competencies. In particular, one of our proven and most reliable engineering partners is ELTECH (St. Petersburg).
Currently, we are intensifying cooperation with engineering companies that have expertise in the sphere of integrating the products of our portfolio companies and provide comprehensive and ready-to-use solutions intended for specific tasks set by our customer companies. We are open for cooperation with new engineering partners.
Do you manage to attract foreign investors in spite of the international sanctions?
I suppose that we tackle this task quite successfully. We are actively cooperating with Iran, China, Israel and India. By now, we have already launched two investment funds with our Chinese partners. One of the partners focuses on new materials for energy generation and energy sources, energy saving technologies and environmental pollution reduction; the second partner specializes on venture capital investments in the field of nanomaterials, nanocoatings, energy efficiency, optics, electronics and clean technologies. I want to emphasize that our prerequisite for working with foreign investors and projects is basing the production or R&D center in Russia.
What are the benefits for developing businesses and investors in cooperation with RUSNANO?
As I have already mentioned, the level of RUSNANO competencies is unique. We are a reliable, strong and professional strategic partner for businessmen-innovators. We help domestic nanoproducers to open new markets and achieve success in building solid cooperation with large companies that buy their products.
What, in your opinion, is the development level of the Russian nanoindustry and what are the near future tasks?
I believe that we have managed to create a strong infrastructure and industrial base for nanotechnology and, which is equally important, to promote the awareness about the ideas of innovative economic development. Numbers can tell about the results better than anything else. By the end of 2015, the revenues of the RUSNANO portfolio companies amounted to 341 billion rubles, whereas the planned revenues had been 300 billion rubles. At the same time, 39.1 billion rubles were received from the export of Russian high-tech products. From 2011 to 2015, our portfolio companies paid more than 38 billion rubles in taxes to budgets of all levels and paid 30.6 billion rubles for R&D. We can state that we have reached a new stage when the previously invested money is returning and being used in the development of new projects.
As for the tasks, they essentially remain the same: search and support for promising projects and attraction of investments. In this regard, we began developing cooperation with business associations, such as Business Russia. We expect businesses to offer new projects for co-funding with our investment funds and other private investment resources. The growth trend of private investments in high technology is apparent and it is a very good sign!
Thanks for the interesting story.
The interview was taken
by Dmitry Gudilin
Mr. Krynitsky, why was it decided to create the department for regional policy and interaction with local authorities in the structure of RUSNANO?
In the beginning, one of the priorities of the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies was to inform regions about the new opportunities for attracting investments and to initiate as many new co-funded projects as possible. We were tasked to invest the money received from the government into effective projects in the short run, so these projects contribute to the establishment of the nanotechnology industry. We have three categories of partners in regions: business, science and government. The experience has shown that local authorities in Russia play a key role in reviving the innovation process and introducing innovative products and technologies in the economy and social spheres. Therefore, partnership with them is very important for us.
What problems did the company face? How successfully were they resolved, and what are the achievements of the company?
When we started working, we had a feeling that Russia had many projects "lying on the surface", meaning that it was enough to provide investment and high-tech industrial enterprises would pop up. However, in reality we were often asked to invest in R&D projects, which were not investment projects per se. Many innovators were not ready to prepare documents required for co-investment. Besides, RUSNANO requires the presence of a co-investor, in principle. It was often hard to comply with this requirement too.
Nonetheless, the number of successful projects was steadily growing. I would like to tell you about some of them more in detail. For instance, we could mention the Novomet (Perm), which produces electric centrifugal submersible oil-extraction pumps with the use of nanostructured coatings. When we joined the project, it was a working business, which needed funds to reach a new level of development. Now, the company has a strong position in the market and will no longer need our support in the near future. Similar existing businesses, to which we provided a new impetus for development, are Mikron (Zelenograd), the largest manufacturer of electronic components in Eastern Europe, NEVZ-CERAMICS (Novosibirsk), the producer of nanostructured ceramics for medicine, defense and petroleum industries, New Instrumental Solutions (Rybinsk), the manufacturer of metal cutting tools with nanostructured coatings. We had very good results in the project METACLAY in Karachev (Bryansk region), which is production of anticorrosion coatings based on polymer nanocomposites. Originally, we thought that the company’s products would be primarily used in the cable industry; but we discovered other market niches and refocused the company on manufacturing anti-corrosion coatings for gas and oil pipelines. In 2015, the revenues of METACLAY exceeded 5 billion rubles. Today, the company supplies its products to Gazprom.
An example of a socially significant project is the company PET-Technology. This company develops the network of positron-emission and computer-tomography diagnostic centers for treatment of oncology, cardiology and neurology diseases at early stages. Such centers have already been opened in Ufa, Lipetsk, Kursk, Tambov, Orel, Yekaterinburg, and Moscow. By late 2015, more than 10 thousand people had already been diagnosed there. The network has its own radiopharmaceuticals manufacturing enterprise, located in the city of Yelets, Lipetsk region.
Our cooperation was very fruitful with the MORTON Group. We created together a new generation house-construction plant. The company produces houses using basalt and plastic structures, concrete superplasticizers, nanodispersion paints and plasters, as well as nanocoated energy-saving panes developed by several of our portfolio companies. This is a good example showing that attraction of a strong partner can secure a high synergy effect.
Finally, we should mention the project Hevel realized jointly with Renova Group in Novocheboksarsk. The goal of the project is mass production of photovoltaic hetero-structured modules. This was the first Russian full-cycle plant for production of solar modules launched in 2015. The technology had been significantly enhanced by the Science and Technology Center at the Ioffe Institute providing a highly competitive product. The first 10-MW unit of Buribaevsky Solar Power Plant is already functioning in the Republic of Bashkortostan.
In total, RUSNANO invested more than 175 billion rubles in 107 projects. The contribution of foreign investors exceeded 320 billion rubles. Thus, we have given rise to the investment process and helped businesses to implement their industrial and social development projects. Our investments were used in the creation of 68 plants and research centers in 28 regions of Russia.
Since 2014, we have used a new approach to investments. In particular, funding is preferably provided through participation in nanotechnology investment funds. We are working on the creation of such funds together with large Russian companies and foreign partners.
How will RUSNANO organize its work under the new strategy?
Nanotechnology investment funds are created under the management or co-management of RUSNANO Management Company with the involvement of third-party investors. Each of the created funds will have its own team for researching and developing projects. According to the long-term development program, the total capital of third parties attracted to the investment funds under the management or co-management of RUSNANO will reach 150 billion rubles by 2020.
Back to question of interaction with regional authorities: which regions are the most active in developing innovative projects?
The most active regions are Moscow, St-Petersburg, Tatarstan, Mordovia, as well as Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Lipetsk and Ulyanovsk regions. The dynamics and efficiency of cooperation with regions are largely determined by the attitude of governors. The issue is that, in order to benefit from RUSNANO investments, it is necessary to undertake a lot of work: preparing documents and passing rigorous scientific-technical and investment expert examinations. Not all entrepreneurs are ready to do that. However, the support of governors and their teams, as well as their "mentoring" effect on businesses, is a key factor in many cases contributing to the success of projects.
For example, it is hard to overestimate the contribution of N.Merkushkin and V.Volkov in the development of innovative projects in Mordovia, in particular, the first Russian industrial production of optical fiber at the enterprise Optic Fiber Systems in Saransk. Ulyanovsk region has never boasted the highest socio-economic indicators, but thanks to the active position of its governor, S.Morozov, and his team, the region has been able to attract large investments in its high-tech facilities during the past few years. In particular, the region has implemented an important infrastructural project – a nanotechnology center created with the support of our Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs (FIEP).
We pin great hopes on the development of cooperation with Kaliningrad region, which has a unique geographical position favoring the development of export-oriented industries. We closely cooperate with Astrakhan region, which hosts a unique enterprise producing nanostructured coatings for pipelines. Samara region, now headed by N.Merkushkin, is developing very fast too.
You have mentioned the creation of nanocenters, what is their purpose?
Investment projects have their specific tools of support with different priorities set at each stage of their development. RUSNANO FIEP participates in the creation and development of nanoindustry infrastructure. There are 14 FIEP nanocenters in 10 regions. They function like incubators, searching for ideas and converting them into business projects. It is very important to know how to launch start-ups, among which the Fund has fostered more than 400 projects... As for "grown-up" businesses, the investor needs not only good infrastructure, such as housing, kindergartens, schools etc., but also mechanisms for attracting qualified specialists from other regions. The FIEP experience showed that training specialists for nanoindustry in the interests of private companies is very important. The Fund successfully cooperates with regional and metropolitan universities in the development of curricula for training and retraining highly qualified nanoindustry specialists. More than 130 educational programs were designed with the participation of the Fund and more than 24 thousand specialists have been trained and retrained.
What are the prospects of developing cooperation with the regions?
We are continuously cooperating in two areas: searching for co-investors and searching for promising projects. The interests of RUSNANO and regional authorities are similar in both the areas because one of the key performance indicators is successful launch of new manufacturing enterprises. Within almost 10 years, we have accumulated unique competencies in the field of creating innovative businesses and we are ready to use these competencies for developing regions. The forms of cooperation range from providing consultations to organizing interregional investment funds. We also work with regions under international projects.
It should be noted that hi-tech investors do not want to go to empty "industrial zones". They prefer going to places with available engineering and transport infrastructure. Our investment partners and we are interested in regions where decision procedures about the location of businesses only take a few weeks, rather than several months, to the regions that implement a "single window" system, and where the fulfilment of region’s own obligations are guaranteed. A very important factor that we take into consideration when deciding on the location of a company is active support provided by the regional administration for marketing the products manufactured by the innovative company.
Do you cooperate with engineering companies?
Engineering companies play a very important role in the development of innovative industries. We actively cooperate with engineering companies both at the design stage and at stage of constructing our enterprises with the maximum use of their competencies. In particular, one of our proven and most reliable engineering partners is ELTECH (St. Petersburg).
Currently, we are intensifying cooperation with engineering companies that have expertise in the sphere of integrating the products of our portfolio companies and provide comprehensive and ready-to-use solutions intended for specific tasks set by our customer companies. We are open for cooperation with new engineering partners.
Do you manage to attract foreign investors in spite of the international sanctions?
I suppose that we tackle this task quite successfully. We are actively cooperating with Iran, China, Israel and India. By now, we have already launched two investment funds with our Chinese partners. One of the partners focuses on new materials for energy generation and energy sources, energy saving technologies and environmental pollution reduction; the second partner specializes on venture capital investments in the field of nanomaterials, nanocoatings, energy efficiency, optics, electronics and clean technologies. I want to emphasize that our prerequisite for working with foreign investors and projects is basing the production or R&D center in Russia.
What are the benefits for developing businesses and investors in cooperation with RUSNANO?
As I have already mentioned, the level of RUSNANO competencies is unique. We are a reliable, strong and professional strategic partner for businessmen-innovators. We help domestic nanoproducers to open new markets and achieve success in building solid cooperation with large companies that buy their products.
What, in your opinion, is the development level of the Russian nanoindustry and what are the near future tasks?
I believe that we have managed to create a strong infrastructure and industrial base for nanotechnology and, which is equally important, to promote the awareness about the ideas of innovative economic development. Numbers can tell about the results better than anything else. By the end of 2015, the revenues of the RUSNANO portfolio companies amounted to 341 billion rubles, whereas the planned revenues had been 300 billion rubles. At the same time, 39.1 billion rubles were received from the export of Russian high-tech products. From 2011 to 2015, our portfolio companies paid more than 38 billion rubles in taxes to budgets of all levels and paid 30.6 billion rubles for R&D. We can state that we have reached a new stage when the previously invested money is returning and being used in the development of new projects.
As for the tasks, they essentially remain the same: search and support for promising projects and attraction of investments. In this regard, we began developing cooperation with business associations, such as Business Russia. We expect businesses to offer new projects for co-funding with our investment funds and other private investment resources. The growth trend of private investments in high technology is apparent and it is a very good sign!
Thanks for the interesting story.
The interview was taken
by Dmitry Gudilin
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