26.07.2012
July 26, 2012, Rybinsk — The development of a plan for joint work to organize and coordinate the cluster by the regional and municipal authorities under the program for development of the ‘Gas turbine and power machine building’ innovative regional cluster was the subject of a meeting held on July 26 at Saturn. The meeting was attended by the deputy governor of the Yaroslavl region, Igor Yelfimov, chairman of the Cluster council and managing director of Saturn, IlyaFedorov, and the first deputy head of the Rybinsk city administration, Leonid Mozheiko.
The decisions made at the meeting approved a working group on the development of a private-public partnership in the innovative sector under the government committee for high-tech and the innovative program to develop the cluster. An important result is the fast work by cluster participants — the cluster’s coordinating council under the governor of the Yaroslavl region, working on the program to develop the cluster taking into account notes from experts of the government committee, and also inclusion in regional targeted programs to develop Yaroslavl region projects of the innovative regional cluster.
To intensify the development of the cluster infrastructure in 2013 the participants have agreed to create by the end of the year a non-profit organization to be funded by the key cluster participants, the administration of the Yaroslavl region, and the administration of the city of Rybinsk. The volumes and sources of financing for the management of the non-profit organization of the cluster will be determined by October 1, 2012.
The priority of this issue was acknowledged by all meeting attendees, since the program of development of the innovative regional cluster is aimed at developing the research and production potential of the companies participating in the cluster, and at creating in Rybinsk infrastructure that can support the development of high-tech, innovative small and medium businesses.
The innovative regional cluster includes companies serving a single research-technology line producing gas turbine engines and power machines — Saturn (cluster coordinator), RGATU (the base for the higher-education institute cluster), Saturn — Gas Turbines, SatIZ, VolgAero, ReMO, NIR, small innovative companies in Rybinsk, and leading educational and scientific institutions of Russia.
Deputy governor of the Yaroslavl region Igor Yelfimov:
"Our primary mutual task is to improve the profitability of our economy and subsequently, the tax revenues of the Yaroslavl region. We need to set our priorities, it’s not possible to do everything all at once, especially in light of the fact that on its own resources, the Yaroslavl region is not one of the richest — we don’t have oil, we don’t have gas. Therefore, working with what we’ve got, we see several potential avenues. One such avenue is gas turbine construction, a sector that’s traditionally been strong in our region, and several others, particularly the newly-selected pharmaceutical cluster. There are different ways to develop sectors — clusters are not the only approach. But taking into account the broader Russian trend for preference by the Russian government for regional clusters, we decided to take this approach.
A cluster is, first and foremost, a regional group of different enterprises and institutions — higher education institutions, scientific institutions, infrastructures that have specific connections with one another and subsequently encompass the entire chain of production. Accordingly, the task of people participating in creating the cluster, who will subsequently manage it, is first to establish the insufficiencies in such chains, and then to build those connections and importantly, support them, because not all connections can work by themselves. Some need support, both financial and administrative.
The government of the Yaroslavl region has accumulated experience in working on such an approach, Saturn has also been on its own journey, and today we have virtually agreed to move forward together. First, we are strengthening our joint work between Saturn and Saturn’s regional partners — the regional administration, the government of the Yaroslavl region, the Rybinsk mayor’s office, higher education institutes and schools, and so on. It is clear that Saturn is the chief company in the cluster, but in my opinion if we want to talk about human resources, then the issue is broader than Saturn, Rybinsk, and the region. Speaking about science, we must understand that without creating the right conditions to live and work right here, in Rybinsk, we won’t achieve anything. Saturn can’t do that alone, it is quite clearly a governmental task.
We are reorganizing under new tasks to work on a coordinating council, and have agreed to create a management company for the cluster and will think about organizing a supervisory council which, in our shared opinion, should include invited experts including from the sectors.“
First deputy head of the Rybinsk city administration Leonid Mozheiko:
“Today we made a number of important decisions, how to energize our work on the development of the cluster, and therefore the cluster initiative is getting full support, both from the main participant and coordinator — Saturn — and from the regional and municipal authorities. The city administration considers the creation of this innovative regional cluster to be a fundamentally important, strategic socio-economic development.”
Head of the cluster council and Saturn managing director IlyaFedorov
“I am hugely pleased with the results of this meeting, because our partnership is continuing with specific work. The most important is that we agreed on the long-term joint work, distributed roles, and worked out areas of responsibility for all the parties — Saturn, the regional administration, and the city administration — in building the organizational forms of the innovative cluster. The main role in this work will be taken up by the regional authorities; they are the ones who must make the first move. Saturn will support them with ideas and personnel.”
NPO Saturnis an engine-building company specializing in the development, production, and aftersales servicing of gas turbine engines for military and civil aviation, military and civil marine vessels as well as for electrical generating and gas transport facilities.NPO Saturn is part of the management company United Engine Corporation.