OREANDA-NEWS. Vnesheconombank expects to extend financing for the first National Technological Initiative (NTI) projects as early as this year. The funds allocated to promote the NTI projects may reach RUB 10 billion. The respective documents have been considered by Vnesheconombank’s Supervisory Board. In compliance with VEB’s new Strategy 2021, NTI project financing is one of the Bank’s operational priorities. The Memorandum on Financial Policies allows the Bank to provide debt finance for the NTI projects complying with the major investment areas and industry priorities, as well as the following criteria:

  • Project payback period exceeding 5 years;
  • Total project value exceeding RUB 1 billion;
  • An NTI project must provide for launching or scaling-up an innovative enterprise and be approved by the Interagency Task Force for National Technological Initiative Development and Introduction under the Aegis of the Presidential Council for Economic Modernisation and Innovative Development of Russia (ITF).

To raise financing for the NTI projects in the amount not exceeding RUB 500 million, Vnesheconombank’s Supervisory Board made a decision to establish VEB Innovations Limited Liability Company to promote those NTI projects that have passed through the technology/product/service prototype stage and obtained the ITF’s approval.

“Vnesheconombank and VEB Innovations will offer complementary financing tools to help launch and scale up innovative enterprises and services. We are capable of providing support for companies that are at various developmental stages”, Deputy Chairman of Vnesheconombank Pyotr Zolotarev said.

“Our competencies and a wide range of tools allow us to not only provide financial backing for the NTI projects but also actively promote them, which, on the 7-to-10-year horizon, would enable such projects to become ‘national champions’ and export their products and services to the global market”, he added.