President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Aide to the President of Russia Andrey Fursenko were among those who stopped at the University's booth.

The Forum consists of an expo and a conference. KFU’s booth at the former is dedicated to catalytic underground petroleum refining. Vice-Rector for Research Danis Nurgaliev, Vice-Rector for Innovation Dmitry Pashin, and Head of EcoOil Priority Research Unit Mikhail Varfolomeev represented KFU today.

Dr. Varfolomeev spoke about the technology and emphasized that it promises billions of tonnes of heavy oil available for extraction around the globe. Vice-Rector Pashin explained that the University decided to concentrate on petroleum technology at this year’s expo because it was one of the most advanced and market-ready. He also contributed to the plenary session with an opinion about pertinent problems of innovation at universities, namely, the lack of technological entrepreneurs.

President Rustam Minnikhanov praised the expo participants for their practicality. He emphasized that the marketability of presented projects is significantly higher than in previous years, and he personally is sure that about 80 percent of them should find success. Still, universities need to ramp up efforts in innovation, he said, with both national and global markets in mind.

This year's forum is co-organized by the Investment and Venture Fund of Tatarstan, Russian Venture Capital Association, Government of Tatarstan, Government of Russia, Russian Venture Company, Skolkovo, and Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises.