LIGA Group, a Yekaterinburg-based electronics manufacturer, has suspended its project to build a plant producing laptops, tablets and all-in-one computers, CEO Alexei Lezhnin told RBC.
The plant was planned for the Kosmos industrial park. Lezhnin cited delays in launching the park's central microchip production facility, Karat, and the country's unfavorable economic situation as reasons for the halt.
"We see that [domestic] laptop manufacturers are not feeling very well in the current economic situation. Now all such infrastructure projects are mostly suspended," he said.
While construction is frozen, LIGA Group will focus on creating a hardware-software complex for drone pilot training. The simulator will consist of a computer with specialized software, a joystick and a virtual reality headset. Such systems are planned for schools, where students from the 8th grade onward are taught to operate unmanned aerial vehicles.
The company promises to release the first version of the software product by the end of the year. Lezhnin estimated investments in the project at "tens of millions of rubles," with LIGA Group expecting to recoup them in two to three years. He estimates existing market simulators cost about 250,000 rubles per set.
Drone training is part of the new school course "Initial Military Training." Starting September 1, the Ministry of Education splits the subject "Fundamentals of Life Safety and Defense of the Motherland" into two mandatory courses — "Life Safety" and "Initial Military Training." The changes initially affect 8th and 10th graders, with 34 hours allotted to each course.