RUSSIAN STATE CORPORATION SIGNS CONTRACT WITH INTEL

ST.PETERSBURG, June 8 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian state corporation for nano- technologies (Rosnanotekh) on Saturday signed an agreement of intent with the INTEL Company - the world leader in the production of processors-on the sidelines of the 12th International St. Petersburg Economic Forum. Leonid Melamed, the head of the Rosnanotekh Corporation, told a news conference that the document was just a framework agreement and didn't imply any financial commitments. The sides will share information, carry out joint scientific and innovative research and support the high school of learning. The sides will focus on joint research in the field of nanotechnologies and highly productive computer systems- the so-called super computers or, according to Melamed, universal apps for modelling mathematical processors. "Russia has ten such super computers. Russian computer engineers have recently launched one of them at the Moscow State University," Melamed said. Another major cooperation agreement was signed between the Bank of Moscow and the Russian Railways joint-stock company. The agreement will allow financing Russian railway projects by attracting the funds of international financial organizations and through investment projects. Vladimir Yakunin, the president of the Russian Railways joint-stock company, and Andrei Borodin, the president of the Bank of Moscow, signed the document within the framework of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on Saturday. "The agreement was concluded with an aim to establish and develop long-term mutually-beneficial cooperation in spheres of mutual interest," sources in both companies told Itar-Tass. The Bank of Moscow will provide financial consulting on joint projects and will help introducing high-tech banking services in the structural units of the Russian Railways. The Bank of Moscow and Russian Railways have been cooperating since 2003. Over that period of time the Bank granted 20 billion roubles worth of credit resources to the Russian Railways. It financed the purchase of railway vehicles through leasing companies. In the meantime, the Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko and the World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have struck an agreement in St. Petersburg under which the World Bank will draw up its vision of strategy for the city's development in the next 20-30 years and will submit it to the city government. Matviyenko told reporters after the meeting that St. Petersburg's negotiations with the World Bank would continue for the next two months. After that the bank will present its professional view on St. Petersburg's long-term development. "This study is going to be useful for the St. Petersburg government. The viewpoint of this internationally respected financial institute is vitally important for us. We will be able to base ourselves on this document to develop long-term urban plans," the governor went on to say. Matviyenko said that St. Petersburg had established almost exclusive relations with the World Bank. "It is the only Russian region that has concluded an agreement on intellectual cooperation with the bank," she said.