OREANDA-NEWS. In the course of the Moscow International Forum "Open Innovations" State Corporation 'Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)', OJSC SME Bank and the Small Enterprises Support Fund in Scientific and Technical Sphere signed an agreement on cooperation.

Under the agreement the parties agree to coordinate work on funding small and medium-sized enterprises involved in scientific-technical and innovation activity as well as to provide joint comprehensive support for high-technology companies with the use of repayable and non-repayable financial instruments.

Under the agreement the parties intend to subsidize research and development activities of SMEs, with a total amount of subsidizing being no more than 15 million rubles for one company. In its turn Vnesheconombank is exploring the possibility of providing financial support through its subsidiary OJSC SME Bank for innovative credit products under the Program of providing financial support for SMEs including the credit product "Baltica-Innovations".

The agreement's implementation would make it possible to reduce an aggregate cost of funding SMEs involved in undertaking research and development activity through compensating a part of interest rate on credits to be extended under the Program and would assist in introducing new developments and in speeding up the development of innovation SMEs.