Two major American technology companies, Intel and Motorola, kicked off projects in Moscow on Monday, seeking to expand their presence in Russia's growing high-tech market.


The chip-maker Intel joined forces with 18 Russian computer companies in an effort to tap the small-business and home-office sector, while Motorola announced the opening of a wholly-owned Moscow research laboratory.


"Our project is focused on understanding what the end-user's requirements are and what manufacturers and distributors can do to make the computer high technology available," to small-business users, said Paul Otellini, senior vice president of Intel Corporation.


Intel's premium Pentium chips will now be made more widely available to the Russian computer manufacturers, at competitive prices, Otellini said. Otellini noted that approximately 30 percent of the 1 million computers sold in the country this year went to private consumers and small businesses.


Otellini said he expected computer sales in Russia to grow to 3 million in 1996.


Motorola's laboratory is aimed at taking advantage of the high-quality scientific and technical expertise of Russian researchers, once pampered by the Soviet military-industrial complex, but now available for hire at bargain rates.


"Motorola views the new Moscow research laboratory as a statement of our commitment to Russia and to this nation's highly qualified scientific community," Mel Slater, a Motorola vice president, said in a statement.


The new lab is part of the company's semiconductor products sector, which is responsible for designing and manufacturing semiconductor components and silicon systems. The lab will employ 30 researchers and plans to hire 70 more professionals by the end of 1997.