The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Innovation Strategy until 2030 from the Ministry of Digital, according to which it is planned to establish its own chip production. About this informs Forbes.
The Ministry of Digital is currently considering two scenarios for starting the production of microcircuits. The first involves the licensing of ready-made “turnkey” technology. In this case, a licensor company will be involved, which will be responsible for building the plant, setting up the equipment and starting the pilot line. This will allow the state to own a controlling stake in the factory, which will provide priority for the needs of the defense-industrial complex and research projects.
The second option is cooperation with a strategic partner on a commercial basis, where the state will receive a minority share. This will allow you to quote orders according to your own interests. Among potential partners, such companies as Austrian AMS, French CMP, German IHP and X-FAB, French-Italian STMicro, Chinese LFoundry and Israeli TowerSemiconductors are considered.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs plans to launch the production of chips with sizes of 180, 130 and 110 nanometers. Although these developments are not advanced compared to the 1.8 and 4 nanometer technologies that Intel and TSMC are developing, such chips are capable of meeting the needs of the defense, agricultural and automotive sectors.
As Oleksandr Grudanov, a member of the working group at the Ministry of Digital, explained, smaller semiconductors with a size of 10 or 7 nanometers are usually used in smartphones, data centers and for the development of artificial intelligence. At the same time, their production is highly competitive and requires investments of tens of billions of dollars.
