Joint enterprises to be established in Armenia and Russia as a result of implementation of scientific and innovation programs

ArmInfo. It is planned to  establish joint enterprises in Armenia and Russia based on the 6  scientific programs of assistance to small and medium-sized  businesses, Head of State Committee for Science under the Ministry of  Education and Science of Armenia Samvel Harutyunyan stated summing up  the results of work in 2016. 

He recalled that an agreement on cooperation with the Foundation for  Small Business Support in the Science and Technology Sphere, also  known as the Bortnik Fund or FASIE was signed on June 27, 2016 in  Moscow. The goal of the agreement is to develop small and medium  innovative enterprises and scientific institutions within  international cooperation and programs of bilateral exchange of  technical-scientific employees and researchers. 

In 2016 jointly with the Russian side a competition among scientific  and innovative programs of SME was held for the first time in  Armenia. A decision was made to finance 6 applications from the  submitted 22. "It is for the first time we are financing projects,  which will be directly applied in the economies of Armenia and Russia  in future. Thus, the program will finish with establishment of joint  enterprises on the territories of both countries", Harutyunyan noted.  The Head of the Department stated that the Armenian side's  investments in the implementation of joint project were quite small.  At the same time the Russian side has already expressed intention to  find investors upon the termination of the program, who will be ready  to invest in the organization of production. 

Harutyunyan informed that one of the financed programs envisages  founding production of fertilizers based on free amino acids. The  program was presented to the Prime Minister of Armenia who promised  that the results of the program will be largely used in agriculture. 

The second financed project proposes creating thermal sensors for  NPP. The authors of the idea are serious and well-known people from  Armenia and Russia. "I think this program is very promising",  Harutyunyan stated.  Besides, there are programs in the field of  microbiology, medicine, and physics. 

To note, the main areas for cooperation within the agreement are  energy, information and communication technologies, biotechnologies  and medicine, space and nuclear research. The agreement envisages  implementation of joint scientific competitions, development and  implementation of joint projects within Horizon 2020 program,  strengthening cooperation among small and medium sized enterprises  and scientific-research institutes.