A Russian trade delegation has visited London to drum up support for its planned “world-class” technology and science research hub outside Moscow.

The Skolkovo project, backed by £2.5 billion in funding, largely from the Russian government, will include research centres dedicated to IT, biomedicine, energy and nuclear science, as well as a business park and a town with 26,000 residents.

It will also add a university campus, following in the footsteps of US institutions Stanford and Berkeley which have bases in California’s Silicon Valley.

The Skolkovo Foundation, which is managing the project, already has the support of at least 14 global firms including BP, Nokia and Siemens – and there will be plenty of scope for introducing translation services.

Foundation president Viktor Vekselberg said during the delegation’s visit to London: “We believe the Skolkovo initiative will be one of those projects that will change Russia.”

The foundation is hoping to open facilities in 2014.