A high-tech research and production hub...

Medvedev said that the center"s research will focus on five priority spheres: energy, information technologies, communication, biomedical research and nuclear technologies.

"We will build the center where we have enough facilities to do it quickly. Time is of utmost importance here. So, we will build it in Skolkovo," Medvedev said.

The Russian president announced plans "to form a powerful center for research and development" during his annual state-of-the-nation address on November 12.

Russia"s second largest city of St. Petersburg, and Siberia"s Tomsk and Novosibirsk, were named among the likely locations. Obninsk and Dubna, two towns near Moscow which retained a high concentration of research and development facilities from the Soviet period were also seen as possible contenders.

Skolkovo will be home to an eponymous Management School, a joint project by 14 major Russian and international companies and business leaders aimed at creating the first world-class

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