Lotos Special Economic Development Zone & Astrakhan State University Become Partners

The ceremony of signing cooperation agreements between the Lotos Special Economic Development Zone, the MedInTech Company, and Astrakhan State University has taken place at ASU.

The Lotos Special Economic Development Zone is a major industrial facility in Astrakhan Region undergoing the initial development stage. This is the time for it to attract highly qualified specialists capable of tackling most urgent issues. Astrakhan State University is ready to train the right specialists who meet this requirement. Thus, it is crucial for the two institutions to initiate close cooperation. Our University would provide our graduates with a worthwhile job that shall definitely contribute to development of Astrakhan Region; in its turn, the Lotos Zone shall employ qualified specialists who would tackle urgent issues efficiently. This meeting was preceded with serious joint work, so it was time to sign the official cooperation agreement.

Dr. Konstantin Markelov, Acting Rector of ASU, opened the event. He remarked that this Lotos Zone is a large-scale enterprise of strategic importance for Astrakhan Region in particular and for Southern Russia in general. The project is backed by the Russian President, who controls it regularly. “Our cooperation with the Lotos Zone shall definitely shift industry of our Region to a higher level. Any facility requires professional staff, so we’d like to become a key professional training center for residents of this Development Zone”, he pointed out.

Mr. Sergey Kuchumov, First Deputy Minister of Industry, Transport, and Natural Resources of Astrakhan Region, gave his speech, too. According to him, nowadays a base to train qualified specialists who would provide industrial development in Astrakhan Region is emerging; ASU backed by the Regional Government and Ministries could become a splendid “supplier” of highly qualified staff to contribute to this development significantly.

The welcoming speech by Mr. Sergey Frolov, Deputy Minister of Education & Science of Astrakhan Region, characterized the present-day state of the system of professional education. According to the Deputy Minister, manufacturing is the main driving force of education. That is why cooperation between ASU and the Lotos Zone is not just a declaration; it is a rapid change of syllabi and enhancement of facilities of our University.

Mr. Sergey Milushkin, Director of the Lotos Economic Development Zone, presented the facility he directs. He emphasized the aim of its operation – formation of a local chain of shipbuilding and machinery; he also named its tasks that include production of components for shipbuilding and oil-and-gas industries and characterized the overall structure of the Zone.

Mr. Ramazan Fayziev, General Manager of the MedInTech Company, spoke about further cooperation with our University. This company manufactures third-generation syringes; therefore, it needs specialists in Chemistry and Biology; it also needs to have its staff retrained at ASU.

Top managers of companies – residents of the Lotos Zone – gave presentations related to their major activities; those companies were ATEF-Russ LLC and Hexa-Lotos LLC. There was also a presentation of a potential resident – the Monocrystal R & D LLC.

The signing of the cooperation agreement was met with applause; the partners congratulated each other on this event, which, in their opinion, will be just a beginning of successful and productive relations and contribute to development of Astrakhan Region.