General Electric Energy is investing $30 million dollars to build a technology centre in Kaluga, near Moscow. The company says the sales and service center for energy equipment will be running by the end of next year

Speaking with RT, the President of GE Energy, John Krenicki said the centre, which would create up to 100 jobs, would service more than just the electricity sector, with GE Energy looking to invest in the electricity sector for the longer term.

“Its going to support multiple businesses, so its not going to just support the electricity sector. It’ll support the oil and gas sector, it’ll support the water sector. It’ll support metals, mining, industrial sector. So it’s very diversified. So things change, the economy will recover, and this will be a great time to invest is when things are soft, and the market is slow. But the energy business is a very long term business, so we’re not distracted at all based on the fact that things are a little slow right now. It’ll turn around.”

RT: Did your sales drop in Russia?

“Right now, we are still growing in Russia, but if the economy stays slow we will see some contraction. But again, Russia’s doing fine. This is the centre of the universe for the energy business. Russia is still getting started in terms of things like wind power. Russia has historically been very strong in things like hydro electric power. But I think in wind and solar, biomass combustion, landfill gas, flare gas, those are going to be huge markets in Russia. And again we are investing to serve those markets.”