Experience in evaluating the project on research infrastructure of the center for collective use for the production of catalysts

The infrastructural component of Russia’s scientific and technological development requires a significant update of the methodology for evaluating the relevant investment projects. The article covers the issue of simultaneous assessment of financial and economic efficiency of research infrastructure projects and justification of the need for government participation for successful implementation of such projects. The suggested methods and models are based on the transition from financial to economic indicators of the project through the adjustment of cash flows, identification of public effects significant for such projects (social, environmental, indirect, price, tax), and allocation of synergistic effects in their composition. These methods and models were tested for the innovative project of the Center for Collective Use “Experimental Catalyst Production”, which was proposed by the Institute of Catalysis in 2018 within the framework of the Novosibirsk regional programme “Akademgorodok 2.0”. The results show that the stimulation of investment in research infrastructure is justified by a significant excess of the project economic efficiency compared to its financial efficiency and it significantly depends on the choice of an adequate mechanism for government support.