Viktor Vekselberg, President of the Skolkovo Foundation, said: “It is hard to imagine a more vivid example of efficient cooperation between business and science than the Center of applied research that we are establishing. This success is possible because of a close cooperation of global leaders in research on heat exchange and catalysis processes – Imperial College London and Boreskov Institute of Catalysis – with active involvement from British Petroleum. I am sure that we will be able to evaluate the results of the Center in the not too distant future, which may lead to a significant decrease of energy losses in oil and gas refining”.

Mr. David Peattie, Head of BP Russia, added: “We are delighted to be involved with this very important research programme. Improving heat exchange technology is really important for the environmental efficiency of the oil processing industry. We are very pleased to team up with Skolkovo to fund Boreskov and Imperial, two of the world’s leading research institutes in this key research programme”.
Professor Sandro Macchietto, Chair of the UNIHEAT Steering Committee and Joint Project Director, from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, said:  “Imperial has a strong track record of working with industry around the world to find innovative solutions to make the refining process more efficient and sustainable. This is one of the first projects of this kind in Russia to kick off. We hope it will lead to real efficiencies in the sector and help us to make the refining process as environmentally friendly as possible”.

Valentin Parmon, Boreskov Institute of Catalysis director, concluded: "We believe, that combining our experience in development and utilization of catalysts and catalytic processes with experience of Imperial College in chemical technologies would lead to fundamentally new approaches in advancing energy efficient technologies of processing carbon fossil fuels. The agreement, initiated by the Skolkovo Foundation, is setting an extremely important example (including for Russian companies) of support, provided to fundamental research and innovation by leading international corporations”.

Mr Paul Docx, CEO of Imperial Consultants and Coordinator of the UNIHEAT Industry Engagement Programme, said:“From the very outset of the project, Imperial Consultants will be facilitating interactions between Russian businesses and researchers. This unique industrial engagement programme, whereby knowledge transfer activities are run in parallel to research, will ensure that advances in oil refining processes have immediate impact”.

David Peattie, Head of BP Russia