Russia is expected to invest US$2.54 billion in its domestic chip industry by 2030

Russia announced a new investment program to seek greater independence in its ability to manufacture chips. The plan is to invest a total of 240 billion rubles in the area by 2030. The number is the equivalent of approximately US$2.54 billion – or R$13.7 billion.

According to Tom’s Hardware, the Russian government will launch 110 different research and development (R&D) projects over the next six years. Therefore, they intend to create their own equipment of all varieties in the field of semiconductor manufacturing. This includes obtaining raw materials, developing production and design automation tools, among others.

Russia currently has 400 chip manufacturing tools, but only 12% of them can be manufactured in the country. Due to economic sanctions the country faces – in part due to the attack on Ukraine – the costs of imported equipment have risen by 40% to 50% on average.

The Soviet country works mainly with “mature” lithography processes, considered old by the cutting-edge industry, but still useful for less demanding areas of technology. Thus, Russia plans to have domestic facilities capable of producing 65nm and 90nm wafers by 2030.

Russia sets ambitious goals

Russia appears optimistic about the capabilities of its engineers. Even with an investment amount 57 times smaller than the money that will be spent on the war against Ukraine, authorities expect significant progress in the creation of new equipment.

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There will be 15 different types of control devices, 13 types of plasma chemistry installations, 10 lithography systems, 9 different tools for “packaging” chips, 7 for wafer production, and so on. A whole variety that the country does not have at the moment, which – according to its authorities – will be developed in just six years.