Two tech companies, preparing to launch domestic microchip production in partnership with STMicroelectronics, are lobbying the state to ban imports of similar products, newspapers said Wednesday.
Sistema, which produces chips such as SIM cards for cell phones, and state venture Rusnano are preparing to invest 16.5 billion rubles ($534.7 million) in a joint venture to produce 90 nanometer chips with STMicro as their technological partner, Kommersant said.
Vedomosti said the proposal would give Russian producers unspecified priority in the market for microchips used in passports, travel cards, retail security devices, pharmaceutical products and archive materials. It proposes that Russia should use only domestic SIM cards for cell phones.
(Reuters)
