Russia masterminds an International Medical Cluster
18-Jun-15, Nova Medica
Earlier this week the State Duma, the lower house of Russian Parliament, passed a draft bill on the development of an “International Medical Cluster” in Russia. The stated goals of the new effort include further medical development, transfer of advanced technologies into Russia, and the providing of high-quality medical assistance for populations.
The project is welcoming not only Russian individual entrepreneurs and innovative companies, but also international ones. The latter, however, must come from member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Image: live.sk.ru
Surprisingly, unlike other big real estate projects of that sort, such as Russia’s special economic zones, the Cluster project doesn’t seem to offer tax benefits. Initially, the draft bill didn’t exclude any Russian region from the Cluster project; by this week Russian lawmakers must have decided the endeavor should be exclusively piloted in the Skolkovo innovation hub just outside Moscow.
They don’t rule out the possibility for spreading the experience across regions in a foreseeable future. There’s no timeframe set in the bill for the implementation of this ambitious effort.