The Eighth Annual CNCP-Russia Conference took place from 5-7 July in Vyborg. Participants
reviewed the results of activities in Russia in the Financial Year 2009/2010, experiences were
exchanged and opinions aired on the direction for CNCP activities for the forthcoming two years.
The town of Vyborg has an interesting history. It lies on the border between Russia and the
European Union, in an area which, from the deepest Middle Ages until the middle of the 20th
Century, witnessed many battles and wars, changing hands from one state to another.
The Conference, as usual, brought together representatives of six Rosatom closed cities, British
and Russian specialists, CNCP leaders from Russia and Great Britain and from HTSPE Ltd, which is
responsible for the management of the Programme. Alongside annual reports, the Conference examined
the effects of the world economic crisis on the business projects being created through the
Programme. At the outset of the crisis there were many grounds for pessimism as to the prospects for
CNCP backed projects. These are directed towards creating new jobs and expanding sales or launching
new products, which are very difficult in the context of economic stagnation. However, in the
event most projects turned out to be more resilient than business in general. Indeed, some projects
even managed to take advantage of these new circumstances. It was noted that CNCP support through
mentoring and financial backing had played a key role. The work of the Business Development Agencies
(BDAs) and International Development Centres (IDCs), and close collaboration between CNCP’s project
managers and the projects concerned had been crucial too.
The Conference set out CNCP’s main priorities for the next two years. The first priority was to
make sure that beneficiaries fulfilled their commitments in terms of job creation. The second
priority was to push forward with the work of creating business support infrastructures in the
closed cities. The Conference heard reports from the Directors of the BDAs created with CNCP support
in Seversk and Ozersk and from the IDCs in Zheleznogorsk and Snezhinsk. These act as CNCP
Coordinators in the cities and play an important role in the implementation of a whole range
of projects. This model of support for business projects could, in the opinion of the conference
participants, be deployed in other Russian cities. “Every territory is unique, but we can all follow
the same path and take the CNCP system as the model for creating jobs”, urged the Head of the
Administration of the City of Seversk, Igor Volkov. HTSPE will continue to provide help to the
development of such structures, and for the development of business incubators and technoparks.
The third CNCP priority was to provide assistance to beneficiaries in the search for new sources
of funding, whether private sector or deriving from government. The Round Table session, which was
dedicated to collaboration between cities and regional authorities on questions of economic
development, provided a unique opportunity to discuss these issues. Cooperation between the Seversk
administration, BDA-Seversk and the administration of the Tomsk Oblast, which came about in part
through the implementation of CNCP projects, provided an appropriate example. One of those taking
part in the discussion was Andrei Trubitsyn, the head of the department for the development of
business and the real economy in the Tomsk Oblast, which over the past six years had come to be
recognised as the leader in Russia in creating favourable conditions for small and medium business.
He made a very interesting contribution, speaking about the instruments which exist at the federal,
regional and municipal levels for supporting the development of small firms. He also spoke about the
role of international resources in this process.
CNCP will take every opportunity to ensure that its work has long term effects, including helping
to support the integration of the economies of the closed cities into regional and world markets.
It will strive to promote business partnerships and will offer help with launching products in
international markets. This latter function is particularly important in view of the significant
proportion of projects which involve high technology products. The programme has also developed an
approach whereby successful initiatives and methods are cloned to provide the basis for projects in
other locations. CNCP continues to actively collaborate with city administrations and businesses, by
organising study tours and seminars and by using professional specialist consultants, both Russian
and British, to help solve particular problems facing Programme participants.
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