A year after President Dmitry Medvedev first spoke about Skolkovo, the Silicon Valley-type hub near Moscow, Hewlett-Packard has still not joined the rush to participate in it.
Entering an innovation hub for HP depends on a number of factors, such as financial benefits, the presence of talented staff and other incentives, the company's Russian leadership believes. Skolkovo is just one of many global hubs that the company could consider coming to some day.
"We look at all of these technoparks equally, regardless of their location and the country," Alexander Mikoyan, head of HP in Russia, told The Moscow Times in an interview Wednesday.
"For us, Skolkovo is just one of those Silicon Valleys, and when we come to the realization that it is competitive and coincides with our goals and objectives, we will participate in it," he said, without specifying a time frame for possible entrance into the project.
"I do not think anybody wants us to participate just for show. People would probably prefer us to participate without the noise and PR that often accompany the project," Mikoyan said.
He pointed out that many of the companies that decided to participate in Skolkovo do not yet have significant investments in Russia.
HP currently has a research laboratory in St. Petersburg and a factory that produces PCs on the outskirts of that city.
Among companies that pledged to participate in Skolkovo are Microsoft, Siemens, Almaz Capital, Alstom and EADS.
In early March, Viktor Vekselberg, the billionaire who runs Skolkovo, said the number of projects there could reach 100 this year.
