18 february 2012

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes part in a meeting of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Expert Council

Participants:
The prime minister took part in selecting the projects submitted at the meeting.

In particular, the meeting participants reviewed the Safe Gas project, which involves the introduction of new polymeric, composite gas cylinders. Such cylinders have a number of advantages over ordinary metal cylinders, including safety, lightness and resistance to rust. These cylinders do not explode so they cannot have splinters. The authors of the project asked the ASI to introduce amendments to the State Standards stipulating that manufacturers must guarantee the safety and non-explosiveness of gas cylinders. Yury Belyaev, Board Chairman of Avtokomponent, who submitted the project, said that if the issue is resolved, the company will increase its output to 2 million gas cylinders within three years. It also plans to increase its revenues to 150 million euro per year and thus occupy a 20% market share in Russia.

Following the discussion, the prime minister said that he will issue instructions to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to draft the relevant amendments to the State Standards in the field of production and use of gas cylinders. "This must be done in the shortest time; we will try to support this ASI initiative. I will issue relevant instructions to the Industry and Trade Ministry within a couple of days," Vladimir Putin said. "These changes may also give an impetus to the car and gas industries," he added.

During the meeting, Vladimir Putin also looked into the details of a project that envisages the production of children's toys. The project proposes the establishment of an industry cluster that will include scientific, industrial and infrastructural platforms. Manufacturing children's toys and goods is a part of the project. Antonina Tsitsulina, President of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, the non-profit organisation that submitted the project, said that its implementation requires a 10-hectare land plot in Moscow or the Moscow Region. The total cost of the project amounts to two billion roubles, with 20% of the sum to be invested by the companies that have already expressed an interest in the project.

The experts concluded that the project proposed by Antonina Tsitsulina is interesting but requires further work and expert analysis. The prime minister promised to contact Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Moscow Region Governor Boris Gromov to discuss the issue of allocating a land plot for the project and the creation of the Childhood Territory innovation and industrial cluster under the auspices of the ASI.