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Russia's Economy Ministry to set up fund for venture projects in social, IT sectors

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. Russia’s Economic Development Ministry plans to create a fund worth up to 6.9 bln rubles ($105.7 mln) for developing venture projects in education, social and IT sectors, Deputy Minister Ilya Torosov said in an interview with TASS.

"The plan is to set up a fund based on the RVC (Russian Venture Company - TASS) worth up to 6.9 bln rubles. The funds will be allocated for supporting startups in the area of education, social and IT sectors. We plan to back around 200 startup projects at their development phases from acceleration to pre-IPO within five years," he said.

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According to Torosov, the issue is about repayable investments provided for a ten-year period.

"What is important is that we are creating an institution for professionals - the RVC and IIDF (Internet Initiatives Development Fund - TASS). Fundamentally, those are going to be full-fledged markets players, meaning not a ministry, not a separate fund consisting of public officials, but so-called business angels who know how to invest competently," he explained.

"By supporting those projects, we are going to create an industry, which is unfortunately at an early development stage so far. Interestingly, it is one of the core growth drivers of the US and British economies. Overall, education and medicine are widely acknowledged as catalyzers for economic development," deputy minister noted.

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