This month, the Russian government announced an investment of RUB 318 billion ($11 billion) in nanotechnology, building on RUB 94 billion in spending over the last two years. The goal is to create a self-sustaining industry by 2015 to offset the country’s dependence on oil revenue and foreign investment. Currently, Russian nano-enabled products account for 2% of market volume, or $4–$5 billion. The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (Rusnano), a government venture capital firm, is trying to jump start the industry by investing in domestic companies and providing affordable loans, while allowing firms to retain their intellectual property. Out of the 1,200 applications for projects received by Rusnano, it has selected 36 domestic projects. Rusnano’s only international projects so far are a joint venture worth RUB 1.1 billion with VI Systems and an infrastructure project with RusChemBio.

Source: Nature