MOSCOW, June 26. The Roscongress Foundation and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center (Italy) have signed a cooperation agreement centred on innovation and sustainable development. The agreement concerns the exchange of knowledge and information, organization of meetings, and interactions between leading international experts and representatives of Russia and Italy’s economic and industrial circles.

In the medium-term, this agreement will help promote innovation in both countries, especially with respect to tech developments from Russian and Italian researchers and the Russian and Italian startup ecosystems. The agreement will facilitate the advancement of the Business Priority quality standard for small and medium-sized innovation-focused enterprises and the sustainable development of companies granted this status.

"Innovative development is a major part of the Roscongress Foundation's efforts. Our innovative platform has been in operation for two years now. While it brings innovative topics to the platforms of major events, it also facilitates innovative Russian companies’ development and entrance into global markets. We are glad that, thanks to partners such as Intesa Sanpaolo, we are able to expand our international presence and promote Russian innovations," said Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Roscongress Foundation Alexander Stuglev.

Merging Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center’s know-how with the support of the Roscongress Foundation will aid in the active development of close cooperation. It will also facilitate the joint evaluation and advancement of the potential of Russian SMEs operating in innovation and sustainable development and attract international investment towards the companies’ growth and the implementation of their projects.

The Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center is part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. Known for its innovation, the Center’s mission is the research and analysis of new business models in order to advance the competitiveness of the Group and its clients. The company focuses on four main topics: the circular economy, development of promising startups, corporate venture capital (through their subsidiary Neva Finventures), and applied research. Thanks to the reach of its Italian and global networks, the Innovation Center is able to build relationships with other participants of the innovation ecosystem: enterprises, startups, research centres, and universities and initiate new forms of entrepreneurship to enable their access to venture capital.

"Innovation is the heart of a company's development. Intesa Sanpaolo Group considers innovation a tool for competing in increasingly complex and globalized markets,"said Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center General Director Guido De Vecchi. "This cooperation agreement between the Roscongress Foundation and Banca Intesa will make it easier for Russians SMEs to leverage our know-how in identifying the most promising companies and receive support in the search for international investors".

For Reference

The Roscongress Foundation – a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organizer of international conventions; exhibitions; and sporting, public, and cultural events. 

The Foundation was established in 2007 with the aim of facilitating the development of Russia’s economic potential, promoting its national interests, and strengthening the country’s image. One of the roles of the Foundation is to comprehensively evaluate, analyse, and cover issues on the Russian and global economic agendas. It also offers administrative services, provides promotional support for business projects and attracting investment, and helps foster social entrepreneurship and charitable initiatives.

Each year, the Foundation’s events draw participants from 208 countries and territories, with more than 15,000 media representatives working on-site at Roscongress’ various venues. The Foundation benefits from analytical and professional expertise provided by 2,500 people working in Russia and abroad. In addition, it works in close cooperation with 122 economic partners; industrialists’ and entrepreneurs’ unions; and financial, trade, and business associations from 69 countries worldwide.  roscongress.org

The Business Priority project aims to increase the competitiveness of Russia's economy through the promotion of domestic innovative products and technologies. It aims to create a globally acknowledged national quality standard for high-tech innovative projects with a high liquidity on the global market.

The Roscongress Foundation serves as a platform for the comprehensive support of such projects and the companies that develop them, granting them Business Priority status for meeting specific criteria. The status provides a number of advantages, including direct cooperation with major investors and manufacturers and consultations with leading finance, law, marketing, and advertising experts. This support drastically shortens a product’s time to domestic and global markets, increasing a business’s scale and capitalization.

Intesa Sanpaolo Group is one of the largest, most profitable banking groups in Europe. Intesa Sanpaolo provides services in the realm of commercial, corporate, investment, and savings banking, asset management, and insurance. It is the leading banking institution in Italy, where it provides approximately 11.8 million clients with digital and traditional banking services. Other banks in the Group serve 7.2 million clients in other European countries, the Middle East, and North Africa. Intesa Sanpaolo is a recognized global leader in sustainable development.

The Group strives to be a driving social and economic force, considering these aims crucial to the creation of added value. In the realm of environmental protection, the group has created a EUR 5 billion fund dedicated to the development of circular economies. The fund promotes major projects to engage socially vulnerable people in economic processes and reduce poverty, in part through the creation of a EUR 1.2 billion fund for providing financing to various social groups that have trouble accessing credit.

Intesa Sanpaolo Group is actively involved in cultural activity, both independently and in cooperation with partners in Italy and around the world, including through the organization of permanent and temporary exhibitions consisting of its own expansive collection of art in galleries around Italy – the Group’s museums in Milan, Naples, and Vicenza, and, soon, a museum complex in Turin.

Intesa Sanpaolo Group operates in Russia through its Russian bank, Banca Intesa, which handles over half of the trade operations with Italy and participates in financing major Russian national and international projects.