Who's Who in Skolkovo? (part 2)

By Olga Blyumin

 

Skolkovo: the Future of Russia's economy (Part 1)
Skolkovo: Land of Milk and Honey (Part 3)
 

In addition to the obvious involvement of President Medvedev, there are several other key figures playing a role in the development of the Skolkovo project. The city will not have a mayor, but instead will be governed by the directors of the Skolkovo Fund. It will have its own police force, will take care of water, electricity and housing services on its own, and the foundation will define other aspects of the city on its own terms which will be covered in a future blog post. First it is important to identify the key actors and investors in the project. 

 

The Skolkovo Fund will have an active Board of Directors and oversight from a Board of Trustees. Viktor Vekselberg of Renova, is presently the main coordinator of the Skolkovo project on the Russian side and will serve as the President of the Skolkovo Fund. Arkady Dvorkovich is a chief economic advisor to the president and serves as Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Modernization, he will also serve on the foundation’s Board of Trustees. In addition, the foundation will also have a scientific council co-chaired by Russian and American Nobel Laureates Zhores Alferov and David Kornberg.

 

The Board of Trustees of the Skolkovo Fund will include:

Chairman: Dmitri Medvedev

Arkady Dvorkovitch, presidential advisor

Vladislav Surkov, First Deputy Chief of Staff to the President

Elvira Nabiullina, Minister of Economic Development and Trade

Sergei Sobyanin, Deputy Prime Minister

Aleksei Kudrin, Minister of Finance

Andrei Fursenko, Minister of Education

Vladimir Dmitriev, Director of Vneshekonombank

Yurii Osipov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Ivan Bortnik, President and Director of the Small Business Research Development Foundation

 

 

The founders of the Skolkovo Fund – VEB, Rosnano, MGTU Bauman, Small Business Research Development Foundation, and Craig Barrett, former Chairman and CEO of Intel, each nominated two directors. Most of the financing for the fund will still be provided by allocations from the state budget.

 

Skolkovo Fund Board of Directors (to be approved by the Presidential Committee on Modernization):

 

With these actors in mind, the next step is to look at how the foundation will be running the city with particular attention to the tax and property rights regimes.