Gazprom Neft and St Petersburg University have signed an agreement at the 2021 St Petersburg International Economic Forum on cooperating in establishing the Nevskaya Delta Science and Technology Innovation Centre in St Petersburg, under a document signed by Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov and St Petersburg University Rector Nikolay Kropachev.
Part of St Petersburg University’s land in the Pushkin District of St Petersburg has been selected as the site on which the Nevskaya Delta Science and Technology Innovation Centre is to be developed. The university, together with its technology partners, will locate research and production facilities, a business incubator, a techno-park and cross-functional centres within the
Gazprom Neft plans to become a permanent partner to the project, and to integrate its capacities into its own science and technology cluster’s “ecosystem” — which already comprises more than 10 innovation centres. The company’s engineers will develop laboratories for 3D printing and developing new industrial materials at the St Petersburg University Nevskaya Delta Science and Technology Innovations Centre — Gazprom Neft, in conjunction with researchers, having already synthesised an ultra-strong material for producing for drilling-equipment cutting tools, comparable to tungsten-carbide in stress-resistance and coming close to matching the qualities of diamonds.
The St Petersburg University Nevskaya Delta Science and Technology Innovations Centre will also become Gazprom Neft’s local centre for testing new technologies prior to their subsequent deployment at fields and facilities throughout the country. The company is considering the possibility of opening its own R&D centre within the Nevskaya Delta, going forward.
Expanding collaboration between Gazprom Neft and the City of St Petersburg will also allow the company’s technological development and its training programme for young scientists, engineers and digital specialists to be further synchronised with St Petersburg’s scientific “ecosystem” — meaning Gazprom Neft will be able to increase its R&D activities and recruit talented personnel while they are still at university.
“This year marks the 10th anniversary of our company moving to the ‘Northern Capital’. An ‘ecosystem’ of Gazprom Neft scientific and engineering centres — working in close collaboration with St Petersburg University — has been created in the city, in that time. The technologies created as a result of that partnership have wide-ranging scope for application — from the Arctic, to the oilfields of the Middle East. I am confident that expanding our collaboration with St Petersburg University as part of the new ‘technology delta’ will help our common goal — consolidating St Petersburg’s status as the scientific and technological capital of both our industry, and Russian industry, as a whole.”
Alexander Dyukov Chairman of the Management Board, Gazprom Neft
“The university has been collaborating with Gazprom Neft — in various areas — for many years. University specialists are involved in preparing Gazprom Neft’s innovation projects, our students take up internships at the company, and our graduates are invited to find work. I believe this agreement will take our joint activities to a new level.”
Nikolay Kropachev Rector, St Petersburg University
The Nevskaya Delta Science and Technology Innovation Centre project was first presented by St Petersburg University at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2019. Several dozen of the university’s partner technology companies have already confirmed their interest in being part of the project, applying for office accommodation there. A science park, R&D centres, innovation labs, pilot production facilities and testing and scientific and educational facilities will all be established within the St Petersburg University Nevskaya Delta Science and Technology Innovation Centre. In line with federal legislation, scientific and technology centres have the right to the same tax concessions as those afforded to SKOLKOVO.
St Petersburg State University is one of the largest research and educational centres in Europe and the world. 25,000 students study at the university, and 5,000 academics, including Nobel and Fields laureates, work there. The university’s scientists are listed among the Web of Science (WoS) Highly Cited Researchers, every year. The university is, today, an advanced research centre, including more than 15 major laboratories, the Institute of Translational Biomedicine, the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies, and 24 resource centres that form part of Russia’s leading research park. The St Petersburg University Research Park has unique technological capabilities that are, in a number of areas, unmatched anywhere in the world.
Gazprom Neft is developing a unique science and technology cluster in St Petersburg, including more than 10 innovation centres. From the country’s Northern Capital Gazprom Neft controls the construction of hundreds of wells in Russia and abroad, digitally controls plants and petroleum product deliveries all around the world, manages its own Arctic fleet, and manages the only offshore rig — the Prirazlomnaya platform — on Russia’s Arctic shelf. The company is one of St Petersburg’s most important employers. More than 200 students from St Petersburg’s universities undertake internships at Gazprom Neft every year — with statistics suggesting one in every five of them goes on to work at the company after graduating.
