Bayer is going to share its new pharmaceutical technologies with Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises. The agreement to this extent was signed by the pharmaceutical concern and the region recently, member of Russia’s Soviet of the Federation and Chairman of Ural Pharmaceutical Cluster Non-Profit Partnership Supervisory Board Eduard Rossel announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg.

We have long been on the lookout for a strong partner to develop our pharmaceutical industry, since our problems are hard to solve on our own. Bayer was also interested in finding a business partner that would help them in their Russian operations. The company’s Russian sales are minuscule and only amount to 180m tons a year, whereas the concern’s target sales are ?17bn annually,’ Rossel said.

Under this agreement, Sverdlovsk Region chemical enterprises will be manufacturing X-ray concentrate, presumably starting in 2012.

The agreement also contains a proviso regarding Bayer’s need for first-grade glass, and it is this particular production that will soon be launched in Sverdlovsk Region.

In addition, the two parties agreed to do some modern scientific research together.

The concern is willing to hand over its new developments through setting up new enterprises,’ Rossel said, explaining that the foreign companies that buy Russian plants usually turn the latter into their raw materials base. Bayer, however, has no such plans.

The company is happy to see that we are going to do scientific research and development. We get a two-way partnership with them,’ the official added.