Russian Research Deal Agreed

British Petroleum (UK) has joined forces with the Russian Skolkovo foundation to create a new oil refining research centre.

The UK giant signed the £9.3 million research deal, which will focus on heat exchange and catalysis, to help make the process more sustainable in Russia.

There will also be further collaboration between the two countries, as London Imperial College and the Institute of Catalysis in Novosibirsk also take part.

The project, dubbed UNIHEAT, is part of a Russian project to create a “Silicon Valley” of its own and move away from having such a strong reliance on natural resources.

The country’s government hopes that given time, technology, knowledge and entrepreneurship will become Russia's strongest resources.

With UK firms getting involved at this point, Britain’s research and development expertise will shine through and potentially forge further opportunities in other sectors as Russia moves forward with the project.

UK Trade & Investment is backing the joint project, which was unveiled in London this week.