Are investments required to obtain resident status?
The Project Rules do not specify any investment requirements in order to be granted the status of a resident. Project participants may make capital investments in infrastructure on the basis of agreements concluded with the RUSSKY ISTC Management Company in accordance with the Russian law.
What preferential regimes can operate concurrently with the ISTC regime?
In accordance with Article 14 § 9 of Federal Law No. 216-FZ, a project participant may, at the same time, be a participant in the Russky ISTC project, a Skolkovo Innovation Centre resident and also a participant in other ISTCs.
In which territory must you be based, and for how long, in order to be a resident of the ISTC?
Under Federal Law No. 216-FZ, the permanent executive body of a legal entity must be permanently based in the territory of the Russky ISTC.
If the Project Rules provide for such possibility, it is legally permissible for the permanent acting executive body of a legal entity, and also other bodies or persons with the right to act in the name of the legal entity without a power of attorney, to be based outside the territory of the ISTC (but for no more than 3 years before the launch of the ISTC infrastructure facility), AS LONG as it is actively engaged in scientific or technical activities and enters into an agreement with the Management Company on its permanent presence in the territory of the ISTC once the ISTC infrastructure facility has been launched. Amendments to the Project Rules are currently being developed.
How does the ISTC help companies to establish international partnerships and enter markets in the Asia-Pacific region?
In order to help residents develop their projects and commercialize their innovations abroad, the Russky ISTC offers companies support in the form of expert advice and analysis in the areas of innovation and technology, and helps include them in global research projects. In cooperation with the Far Eastern Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Far Eastern Federal University, the Russky ISTC offers direct access to experts from the Asia-Pacific countries and the Far Eastern Federal University’s partners and representative offices in other countries. The ISTC is also working on the development of its own network of partners.
When will the ISTC regime be expanded into other constituent entities of the Far Eastern Federal District?
The current territory of the Russky ISTC is defined by Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1868 dated 18.11.2020. Discussions are under way concerning the expansion of the ISTC regime into the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District. Proposals from constituent entities of the Far Eastern Federal District concerning the real estate and land plots to be included in the Russky ISTC are scheduled to be drawn up by December 2021. The decrees on changes to the boundaries of the Russky ISTC are to be issued by the end of July 2022.
