The Russian government has allocated 18 billion rubles (about 604 million U.S. dollars) to be spent through 2012 for modernization and innovations, the RBC news agency reported Wednesday.
According to a decree signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the government has allocated the equivalent of 182 million dollars in funding for strategic computer technologies and software over the next two years.
For space research and telecommunications, the investment will be nearly 289 million dollars. For medical equipment and pharmaceutics, 67 million dollars will be spent. More than 55 million dollars will be allocated for energy-saving technologies.
The projects have been approved by the presidential commission for modernization and technological development of Russian economy. President Dmitry Medvedev made modernization a centerpiece of his tenure in office.