Anatoly Chubais / S. Porter / Vedomosti

OJSC "Rosnano"

Investment company in the field of nanotechnology. Shareholder: 100% – Rosimushchestvo. Financial indicators (RAS, 2012): asset value – 196.5 billion rubles, revenue – 6 billion rubles, net loss – 24.4 billion rubles.

A reserve of 21.8 billion rubles is reflected in the financial statements of Rusnano according to Russian standards for 2012. Of these, 18.4 billion rubles are for the depreciation of financial investments, 3 billion rubles are the obligation under the issued guarantee, and 0.4 billion rubles are for doubtful debts. The reserves amount to 16.4% of 133 billion rubles - the amount Rusnano financed projects for all four years of investment.

Almost half of the reserve is accounted for by the project with the Nitol group for the production of polycrystalline silicon for solar batteries - Usolye-Sibirsky Silicon, said Oleg Kiselev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Rusnano. According to the data on the Rusnano website, since 2009 the company has invested 9.4 billion rubles in the project. Rusnano transferred all these investments to the reserve for possible write-offs, said Kiselev. In total, the alternative energy sector accounted for more than 65% of the reserve - in addition to Nitol, there were projects indirectly related to the sector: Lipetsk company for the production of cutting wire for silicon wafers Cutting Edge (Rusnano invested 2.6 billion rubles in it), Stavropol sapphire wafer plant Monocrystal (1.3 billion rubles), etc. About 15% of the reserve is accounted for by the project for the production of flexible tablets Plastic Logic, said Kiselev. The remaining 20% is a reserve for the depreciation of several other projects, including in the field of metalworking, says Rusnano representative Sergei Filippov.

Nitol's problems are connected with the reduction of state support for solar energy in Europe - in Italy, Spain and Germany, as well as with the overproduction of polysilicon in the world after the commissioning of factories in China, says Kiselev. Indeed, in connection with the crisis, European countries reduced the amount of subsidies allocated for solar energy, agrees Anton Usachev, director of the Russian Association of Solar Energy Enterprises. But a much greater blow to the polysilicon market was the crisis of overproduction that occurred in 2011, which could not have been foreseen, says Usachev. Since 2009, world prices for polycrystalline silicon have fallen from $400 to $16 per 1 kg.

The Plastic Logic project made a marketing mistake – the company, whose strong point is the production of flexible screens, was trying to enter the tablet market, Kiselev admits. It was assumed that Plastic Logic would build a plant in Zelenograd to produce monochrome screens for its own e-readers, but in May 2012, its CEO Indro Mukarji announced that Plastic Logic would not produce its own devices and would focus on the production of plastic displays and other components of plastic electronics. As a result, it had to abandon the construction of the production facility in Zelenograd, cut costs and close the office in the USA, Kiselev says. Of the $240 million invested in Plastic Logic, Rusnano reserved about 40% for possible depreciation.

However, the creation of a reserve does not mean that investments will necessarily be written off, Rusnano is working to preserve each project, Kiselev emphasizes. Thus, Plastic Logic will focus on the production of flexible screens, there are also opportunities to preserve the project with Nitol, he believes.

If Nitol offers an attractive price on foreign markets or creates a vertically integrated business on the basis of existing production, it will receive a big boost to enter foreign markets, Usachev is sure. Nitol also has prospects in Russia – currently under consideration are regulations that will introduce localization requirements for solar energy – in 2014–2015, at least half of the equipment components in the construction of solar generation facilities must be domestic, and from 2016 – at least 70%, he explains.

Even if all the investments reserved for impairment are written off, 16% is a normal rate for venture investments, says the head of one of the major venture funds.

Rusnano made a mistake of 21.8 billion rubles.