Just weeks after agreeing to open talks on mobile phone roaming charges with the EU, Russian Communications Minister Igor Shchegolev announced an agreement between five of Russia’s leading telecom companies on a proposed 4G network.

The question many in the global technology community have been asking recently is whether the Skolkovo Innograd Center outside Moscow can become the “Russian Silicon Valley” and serve as an "innovation engine" for the country’s economy. 

However, implicit in this question is an assumption that should be challenged: that the Silicon Valley model is the best way to fund a new generation of Russian Internet start-ups.  Could it be that this American-style model is incompatible with the nuances of Russian society and therefore not entirely suitable for Russia? 

While more often recognized as an oil and gas producer, Russia is rapidly gaining ground in the renewable energy market through the work of innovative companies like emerging solar energy standout Nitol Solar.  Founded by a group of friends in 1998, the company grew from humble start-up beginnings to billion dollar revenues in the span of a decade.

For many Russians, traveling in the EU means high mobile phone tariffs as they face surplus charges for what is commonly known as “roaming.”  However, face-to-face talks between Russian and EU officials in Brussels last month may have spelled the end to pricey telephone chats for Russian business travelers and holidaymakers alike.

At the beginning of the year Datasiel S.p.A, an Italian supplier of integrated IT systems for public administration, struck a deal with Russia’s Borodino Group to distribute its products in Russia. The deal will introduce Datasiel’s central registration system, CUP, to Russia, coordinating patient appointments in hospitals, clinics and pharmacies and helping to modernize the sector. Enrico Castanini, the CEO and general manager of Datasiel S.p.A., talked to Modern Russia about Datasiel’s budding relationship with Borodino and its debut on the Russian market.