OREANDA-NEWS. June 07, 2010. Government-owned investment company Suomen Teollisuussijoitus Oy (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) and Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (RUSNANO) on Thursday signed an agreement on a Finno-Russian nanotechnology investment programme.

The aim of the cooperation is to co-invest a total of MEUR 50 in rapidly growing and internationalising nanotechnology companies operating in both Finland and Russia.

Finnish Industry Investment and RUSNANO are evaluating possible target companies and will invest in them jointly and on equal terms. The investment programme will last three years.

“We believe that combining top-level Finnish knowhow with top-level Russian expertise will produce technology that is globally competitive,” comments Industry Investment’s President & CEO, Juha Marjosola.

“Drawing on both RUSNANO’s and Industry Investment’s solid experience, we have together reviewed the deal flow and identified a number of interesting companies. The first joint investment can be implemented within six months.”

“This co-investment programme will allow us to consolidate our resources and experience in developing innovative companies, thus opening new opportunities for Russian technologies to enter global markets," says RUSNANO’s CEO Anatoly Chubais.

Finland’s Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs Mauri Pekkarinen attended the signing of the cooperation agreement on nanotechnology investment at the 1st EU–Russia Innovation Forum, which was held in the Finnish city of Lappeenranta.

Suomen Teollisuussijoitus Oy (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a government-owned investment company whose mission is to promote Finnish business, employment and economic growth through capital investment. Finnish Industry Investment invests in funds and directly in growth companies. Capital investments are needed for financing growth, and for internationalisation, spin-offs, major industrial investments, and both sectoral and corporate restructurings. The targets are in all sectors. The company co-invests with private investors, limiting its investment to at most half the capital invested and ownership. The investments of Finnish Industry Investment amount to MEUR 650.