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Accompanied by Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District Alexander Gutsan and Novgorod Region Governor Andrei Nikitin, Vladimir Putin familiarised himself with the plan for the second phase of the centre’s development. He also visited the Sberbank project’s educational space called “School 21,” toured an exhibit on vocational training, and participated, via video link, in an opening ceremony for the Federal Technology Park for Vocational Training in Kaluga.

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The Innovative Scientific and Technological Centre (ISTC) is a project designed to develop the electronics industry. It has been implemented under presidential instruction since 2021. The project was initiated by Yaroslav the Wise Novgorod State University. The two ISTC buildings, with an area of over 19,000 square metres, accommodate a microelectronics design centre, science laboratories and classrooms for the Novgorod University advanced engineering school, as well as the centre’s residents, including 18 organisations, such as branches of Rosgeologia, Roscosmos, and Rostec.

The President was shown the plan for the second cluster development phase, which includes the construction of a laboratory unit and a cableway across the Volkhov River, as well as improvement of the embankment, including a green space. Novgorod University Rector Yury Borovikov provided the explanations.

The President also visited School 21 workspaces and classrooms. It is a Sberbank project which offers free world-class education in the sphere of IT. In addition to ISTC, School 21 campuses have been opened in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Kazan and Surgut, with a total of over 4,000 students, of whom over 2,000 are doing an internship or have been successfully placed with the country’s major IT companies. The President was informed about the details of the project by Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Sberbank German Gref and Director of the School 21 campus in Veliky Novgorod Andrei Latyshev.

After that, Vladimir Putin saw an exhibition devoted to secondary vocational training in Russia. Minister of Labour and Social Protection Anton Kotyakov and Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov reported to the President on this subject. At the end of the tour, the President participated, via video link, in an opening ceremony for the Federal Technology Park for Vocational Training to train teachers in Kaluga. Kaluga Region Governor Vladislav Shapsha gave a brief report.