Grants for New Job Creation

Alexander Tsibulya, CNCP Programme Coordinator, Deputy Head of Moscow Office HTSPE Ltd.

The British Closed Nuclear Centres Programme (CNCP), funded by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, has at its disposal financial resources available for grant support for investment projects which meet the programme's aims and satisfy the following criteria:

• Create new sustainable jobs, not less than 55% of which for personnel that were formerly nuclear weapons specialists;
• To be commercially sustainable in the areas of manufacturing and service provision;
• To apply for up to a £100,000 contribution from CNCP.

Other financial investors or collaborators are welcome. CNCP also seeks to identify commercial partners from the UK for relevant projects.

Project portfolio

During consideration of the proposal funding, the CNCP emphasizes the need to study the project's commercial potential for laying a strong foundation for successful future development. Such way, in our opinion, provides the best assurance for the sustainability of jobs created for former weapons specialists.

We understand and accept how important it is that the jobs being created are of high-quality and correspond, where possible, with the expectations of the qualified specialists. For instance, the programme funds market research and preparation of business plans for a number of high-tech products of KIPT (Kharkov, Ukraine), INP (Tashkent, Uzbekistan), INP (Almaty, Kazakhstan), and NNC (Kurchatov, Kazakhstan). It is expected that, on the basis of the business plans developed for some of these products, either a decision to provide further funding under the programme will be made, or these business plans can be used to attract outside investors. Western specialists can also be involved in independent evaluation of technologies from the institutes proposed for commercialisation, and compare with similar technologies of the world's leading companies.

At the same time, the projects associated with high technology commercialization, in spite of their huge potential advantages, are often of high cost and significant risk. Therefore, it is important to have a diversified portfolio for the programme as a whole, where projects are distributed over a balanced scale [lower cost, more jobs, lower risk] > [higher cost, less jobs, higher risk]. That is, the risks of high technology projects are balanced with less risky proposals, such as those connected with the extension of existing small and medium size private enterprises for creation of new jobs. This results in lower risks and allows the programme as a whole to achieve its objectives. For instance, in Russia the CNCP has already supported a number of projects proposed by small and medium size private enterprises in the closed cities of Rosatom.

Submitting a proposal

The projects are considered in two stages. First the applicant fills in the outline proposal and presents basic information about the project. After a preliminary evaluation and approval of the proposal by an appointed project supervisor (usually a Western expert), the outline proposal is presented for consideration to the Steering Group in London. If approved, the applicant has then to prepare a full proposal. Submission of a market study report and a business plan alongside the proposal is often a necessary condition. At this first stage, the programme may allocate a small grant for market research and business planning to support the further development of the project concept. An outside expert or a company able to assess the technical and market potential of the project may also be invited at this stage.

During this process, the applicant keeps in regular contact with the supervisor and representatives of HTSPE Ltd. Moscow office. If the full proposal is approved by the Steering Group in the second stage, the project is fully funded. The applicant may have to fulfil certain conditions. The contract for implementation of the project can be signed either through CNCP's partnership with the International Scientific Technology Centre or Science and Technology Centre of Ukraine (ISTC\STCU) or on the basis of a contract between HTSPE Ltd. and the executor of the project. The first variant is used more often for the projects implemented by the institutes. The second is usually used for the small and medium size businesses. Monitoring and auditing is undertaken throughout each stage of the project's implementation and for several years after completion.

For more information about CNCP grant aid projects please contact Alexander Tsibulya, alexts@cncp.ru.