Siemens will most likely do its initial projects at the Skolkovo technology hub in the areas of bio or nuclear medicine, and could show results by late 2011, Siemens Russia vice president Martin Gitsels told The Moscow Times on Thursday.
Similar projects elsewhere have had budgets of up to to $4 million, Gitsels said.
Siemens also said the Skolkovo Foundation, which is headed by Viktor Vekselberg and Craig Barrett and is responsible for the birth of the innovation hub in Moscow's suburb, is now conducting a European roadshow to attract parters, investors and managers.
On Wednesday, the foundation's top management met with a score of top European companies and academic institutions in Munich to discuss possible projects, Dietrich Möller, president of Siemens Russia, told reporters in Moscow on Thursday.
Among the companies in attendance were energy giant E.On, Austria's largest construction company Strabag, and Robert Bosch, Möller said.
While no deals were signed on Wednesday, Möller expects a few to go through over the next couple of months.
“There was a lot of excitement over Skolkovo in Munich, and after being at a panel for just a few minutes you could hear a lot of ideas for potential cooperation floating around,” he said.
Experts say that among European countries, the United Kingdom may be the next stop for the roadshow. There is also a possibility that Russia will be looking at Japan for potential parters.
Siemens signed a memorandum of understanding with the Skolkovo Foundation in mid-July in Yekaterinburg and joined the foundation's management council.
The Skolkovo project will be unveiled in three stages: The planning stage will take three to six months, construction is scheduled for 2011 and 2012, and the launch is slated for 2013.
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