Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has issued a number of directives following the meeting of the Presidium of the Presidential Council for Economic Modernisation and Innovative Development on December 24, 2012.

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1. Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Finance

Draft and submit a set of measures, including legal, organisational and financial measures, which would make provision for considerable reductions in the cost of connecting Russian households to broadband and high-capacity Internet services.

Deadline – April 1, 2013.

2. Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Communications and Mass Media and Ministry of Finance

Submit coordinated proposals regarding the development of world-class research centres to focus on breakthrough research in the field of information technology, on the basis of Russian research agencies and higher educational institutions, including the allocation of funding for key research groups of these centres, for a period of at least five years.

Deadline – April 25, 2013.

3. Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Communications and Mass Media and Ministry of Finance

In conjunction with the relevant federal executive agencies and organisations, draft and submit a set of measures to ensure the legal protection of the results of advanced commercial research projects by Russian innovation companies abroad, including patent support.

Deadline – May 28, 2013.

4. Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Labour and Social Security

Study the issue of reducing the maximum number of employees of IT organisations who have the right to apply for benefits in the form of paying reduced insurance-premium rates into state extra-budgetary funds, as well as the issue of extending these benefits after 2017.

Deadline – April 25, 2013.