Construction Begins on St. Pete's IT Park
The construction of Russia's first information technology park, part of a government program to develop the nation's high-tech industry, officially began last week in St. Petersburg.
Apr 21, 2006
Occupying a total area of 44 hectares and using the Professor Bonch-Bruevich University of Telecommunications as its base, the IT park will need about $1 billion worth of investment. The IT park is due to start operating in 2008 or 2009.
The federal budget should cover 50 percent of construction costs, while the city budget and private investors will finance the rest, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko said at a ceremony to mark the start of construction, Interfax reported.
A total of seven IT parks will be created across Russia, IT and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman said. Besides the one in St. Petersburg, three will be created in the Moscow region, and the government is working on parks in Kazan and Novosibirsk, Reiman said.
Authorities have said Siemens, Nokia and Intel have already shown interest in the St. Petersburg park. The site is to house about 5,000 employees and consist of office, research and computer centers, conference rooms, production facilities, residential buildings and a sports center.
Foreign companies have also shown interest in the idea of creating technoparks in special economic zones in St. Petersburg's Noidorf industrial park and Novo-Orlovsky park. Finnish company Technopolis plans to situate 20 large clients at Noidorf, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said, Interfax quoted reported.
A number of similar projects are under way in the city, including technoparks and business incubators. Last week, St. Petersburg's Polytechnical University announced investment of $50 million into the development of its own technopark, where, at present, 15 companies work. The complex is to double in size, to 100,000 square meters, and include space for lectures and scientific research, as well as companies' representative offices. Construction will start in the near future, university dean Mikhail Fyodorov said.
"IT parks are good for small firms that quickly receive all the necessary infrastructure, and, having similar companies as their neighbors, they can network and use the services of law firms and venture capitalists," said Peter Vaikhansky, vice president of StarSoft.
Anatoly Sourkis, vice president and CFO of Digital Design software company, said he considered the IT park to be inconveniently located, its remoteness from the city center something that might put off potential employees.
"For StarSoft and many other IT companies it would be inconvenient to relocate to this IT park - the process is rather expensive. But it does not mean that not one large company will move there," Vaikhansky said.
The federal budget should cover 50 percent of construction costs, while the city budget and private investors will finance the rest, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko said at a ceremony to mark the start of construction, Interfax reported.
A total of seven IT parks will be created across Russia, IT and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman said. Besides the one in St. Petersburg, three will be created in the Moscow region, and the government is working on parks in Kazan and Novosibirsk, Reiman said.
Authorities have said Siemens, Nokia and Intel have already shown interest in the St. Petersburg park. The site is to house about 5,000 employees and consist of office, research and computer centers, conference rooms, production facilities, residential buildings and a sports center.
Foreign companies have also shown interest in the idea of creating technoparks in special economic zones in St. Petersburg's Noidorf industrial park and Novo-Orlovsky park. Finnish company Technopolis plans to situate 20 large clients at Noidorf, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said, Interfax quoted reported.
A number of similar projects are under way in the city, including technoparks and business incubators. Last week, St. Petersburg's Polytechnical University announced investment of $50 million into the development of its own technopark, where, at present, 15 companies work. The complex is to double in size, to 100,000 square meters, and include space for lectures and scientific research, as well as companies' representative offices. Construction will start in the near future, university dean Mikhail Fyodorov said.
"IT parks are good for small firms that quickly receive all the necessary infrastructure, and, having similar companies as their neighbors, they can network and use the services of law firms and venture capitalists," said Peter Vaikhansky, vice president of StarSoft.
Anatoly Sourkis, vice president and CFO of Digital Design software company, said he considered the IT park to be inconveniently located, its remoteness from the city center something that might put off potential employees.
"For StarSoft and many other IT companies it would be inconvenient to relocate to this IT park - the process is rather expensive. But it does not mean that not one large company will move there," Vaikhansky said.