VEB and SREI Approve Principal Terms and Provisions to Establish Russian-Indian IT and Innovation Fund

MOSCOW, December 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Vnesheconombank, VEB-Innovations and an Indian company SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd with the support of Roscongress Foundation signed an agreement on the terms and conditions to establish a Russian-Indian IT and Innovation Fund with the target size of investors' commitment amounting to USD 200 million.

On the part of Vnesheconombank, the Agreement was signed by the Chairman Sergey Gorkov, on the part of VEB-Innovations - by the Director General Kirill Bulatov, and on the part of SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd - by the Chairman and Managing Director Hemant Kanoria.

The Fund is designed to attract investment in innovative companies focused on the development of cooperation between Russia and India. Particular emphasis will be placed on promising inventions based on a strong scientific and technological base of Russia and India. This will help facilitate an innovative transformation of both economies. The Fund will also help build up trade in Russian and Indian cutting-edge technologies and their transfer to other countries. The parties have already started to identify projects for the Fund's pipeline, which will include projects of Russian innovative companies.

As a next step, the parties will proceed to creating a corporate structure of the Fund, with operating activities scheduled to begin prior to the end of Q2 2018.

Apart from the Fund, VEB and SREI are actively promoting Russian high-technology exports in the Indian market.

"We expect the Russian-Indian Fund to help boost trade and economic cooperation between our two countries. Such platform is of crucial importance as it will facilitate a pipeline of projects and joint assessment and financing of these projects. For many IT companies, the Russian market is not enough for distributing their products. And cooperation with SREI will help them enter the market of India and the Asia-Pacific region," said Vnesheconombank Chairman Sergey Gorkov."

"Information technologies and innovations are very quick processes, and our cooperation is also rapidly evolving. In June, we signed a memorandum of understanding. And next year the Fund will be ready to make the first investment," said SREI Chairman and Managing Director Hemant Kanoria.

SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL) is one of the leading independent financial institutions and infrastructure financial conglomerates in India. Founded by the Kanoria brothers in 1989, it specialises on capital markets, including M&A transactions, venture investment and project financing. Total assets under the Group's management is around USD10bn. SREI has been operating in Russia since 2005.  

Vnesheconombank (VEB), officially called State Corporation "Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)" is a national development bank and one of Russia's largest financial institutions. Established in 1924, Vnesheconombank has been operating in compliance with the special Federal Law "On Bank for Development" since 2007. The Bank's supreme governing body is the Supervisory Board headed by Chairman of the Russian Government Dmitry Medvedev. According to the VEB Strategy 2021, Vnesheconombank priority financing areas include high value added manufacturing, infrastructure, non-commodity exports, innovation and the National Technological Initiative (NTI) projects. 

Roscongress Foundation - a major organizer of congress and exhibition events 

The Roscongress Foundation was founded in 2007 with the aim of facilitating the development of Russia's economic potential and strengthening the country's image by organizing conventions, exhibitions, and public events. The Foundation develops substantive content for such events, providing companies and organizations with advice, information, and expert guidance, and offering comprehensive evaluation, analysis, and coverage of the Russian and global economic agendas. It offers administrative services and promotional support for business projects and helps to attract investment, including in the form of public-private partnerships. 

Today, its annual programme includes events held from Montevideo to Vladivostok, offering an opportunity to bring together global business leaders, experts, the media, and government officials in one place, creating favourable conditions for dialogue and the promotion of new ideas and projects, and assisting in the creation of social enterprise and charity projects.