GC “Element” wanted to produce equipment for the production of microelectronics

“Kommersant” became aware of the details of the project of the Element Group of Companies for the development and production of equipment for the production of microelectronics. We are talking, in particular, about plasma etching installations, equipment for ion implantation and tungsten deposition. Nanotronika, part of the group, intends to first provide Element with equipment and then bring the equipment to the domestic and foreign markets. But Kommersant’s sources in the industry assess the project skeptically, noting first of all the shortage of specialized specialists in the Russian Federation.

Sources told Kommersant that Nanotronika LLC (established in the spring of 2023, 100% owned by the Element group) intends to begin the development and production of a line of equipment for the production of radio, microwave and microelectronics. We are talking about the development and production of plasma etching installations, growth of epitaxial structures, equipment for ion implantation and tungsten deposition and a number of others. Kommersant’s interlocutor, familiar with the details of the project, adds that first Nanotronika must “satisfy the internal demand” for equipment from enterprises included in Element. The group declined to comment.

“Target projects for the implementation of new developments could be new production facilities for power electronics at topological standards up to 350 nm and the expansion of existing capacities at 90 nm topologies,” one of Kommersant’s interlocutors clarified. In the future, Element expects to supply equipment to Russian companies, and then to “partners from friendly countries.” The interlocutor estimates the volume of the potential market at 150 billion rubles. until 2027.

A Kommersant source familiar with the project added that Nanotronika plans to “attract promising development teams” in 2024, which can be involved in R&D and R&D, while it is planned to hire 90 specialized employees. The company also expects to involve “partners from China and Belarus” in the work. According to one of Kommersant’s interlocutors, several billion rubles have already been invested in the project.

As a Kommersant source close to the government explains, even before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, equipment for the production of microelectronics “was subject to export control” and Russian companies could only purchase equipment on the secondary market. “As a rule, transactions were carried out on exchanges in China, Korea and Taiwan,” he explains. Since March 2022, the purchase and import of equipment into the Russian Federation, emphasizes Kommersant’s interlocutor, “has become even more complicated, and the price of equipment has increased several times.” In March 2024, the FT reported that Samsung and SK Hynix had stopped supplying even used equipment to China, fearing that from there it could end up in Russia.

In the fall of 2023, as part of the implementation of a number of non-public state projects for the development of microelectronics, the Russian authorities announced a program to begin production of a wide range of equipment for the production of electronics (see “Kommersant” dated October 12, 2023). The Ministry of Industry and Trade explained to Kommersant that more than 40 installations, both technological and control and measuring, are currently being developed in the country. “In total, it is planned to allocate more than 240 billion rubles for the development of equipment, materials, chemistry and CAD for electronic production. until 2030,” the ministry added.

At the same time, Kommersant’s source, familiar with the progress of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s project for the development of electronic engineering, looks at Element’s plans with skepticism. According to him, today even specialized companies and organizations “do not always undertake the implementation of government orders for the development of such equipment, citing a lack of specialized employees.”

A similar position is shared by Kommersant’s interlocutor close to the ministry. “We had great difficulty finding people to implement the first stages of the project to develop electronic engineering. The number of specialists in principle capable of implementing such projects in the Russian Federation is extremely small. Therefore, it is unclear where Element will get employees for Nanotronics plans.” The head of the Basis consortium, Arseny Brykin, agrees that the project will not be easy: “The plans, of course, are correct, but so far no one has seen samples of the declared equipment and its prototypes ready for the market.”

Nikita Korolev