New ?Skolkovo? for nanotech and advanced public utilities planned outside St. Pete

St. Petersburg may expect to soon have a new satellite town housing a Rusnano innovation center and a local branch site of Moscow?s Skolkovo innovation hub

A new satellite town may soon appear outside St. Petersburg; the construction has been approved by the regional governor, reported Rn-peterburg.ru, a local real estate website. The satellite town, preliminarily called ?Yuzhny? (Southern), is said to house an innovation center run by Rusnano, Russia?s largest nanotech company, and a large local branch R&D and administrative site of Moscow?s Skolkovo innovation hub. In addition, the development program calls for the construction of an industrial park for light industry companies as well as a techno-park to develop advanced technologies in Russia?s public utility sector. According to the source, the town will cover a total area of 1,910 hectares next to the Kiev Highway and the existing border line between St. Petersburg and the neighboring Leningrad region. Yuzhny is expected to become home to as many as 134,000 residents. The overall tab for the project is about $5...