A New Chapter for Russia's Semiconductor Industry
Russia is accelerating the development of electronic design automation (EDA) tools for 28-nanometer process technology. In late 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to launch the Tsifra-R project, moving its start date up by four years.
Today, Russia’s domestic high-volume chip manufacturing is limited to process nodes of 90 nm and above, making 28 nm a major milestone for the industry. It would enable design centers to develop their own microcontrollers for industrial applications, telecommunications chips, automotive electronics components and processors for robotics. Chip design will take into account the specific technological capabilities of Russian manufacturers, supporting an end-to-end development and production chain, from architecture to finished devices.
Foundries and Software on a Synchronized Timeline
As EDA software for 28 nm is being developed, Zelenograd is also building up its manufacturing capacity. NM-Tech JSC is constructing the FAB-300 plant for this process node. In January 2026, the creation of United Microelectronics Company JSC was announced. The new company will bring NM-Tech, Element Group and Angstrem together under a unified structure to manufacture chips at 28 nm and below. The comprehensive program to develop Russia's electronics industry through 2030 is expected to receive 1 trillion rubles (approximately $10.9 billion) in funding.
The critical link between the new hardware and software will be the development of a process design kit (PDK), a package of component libraries and strict design rules tailored to a specific manufacturing process. It is this precise customization that is expected to create an end-to-end path from circuit design to the transfer of production-ready data to the foundry.
Building a Unified Design Environment
EDA for microelectronics is not a single editor but a toolchain covering logic and physical design, design-rule checking, routing and data preparation. Several pieces are already in place. The Advanced Research Foundation (FPI) has completed its Obsidian project, a demonstrator for designing chips at the 180 nm node using open-source tools. Other developments include 2D simulation modules supporting nodes down to 130 nm and chip packaging solutions. This experience has exposed the limits of open-source software: it does not meet Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC) cybersecurity requirements or provide full verification capabilities. As a result, further development is focused on proprietary tools rather than adapted open-source solutions. Building on this experience, engineers are creating end-to-end design flows tailored to the physical characteristics of actual manufacturing processes. That is why the software is being developed for specific foundries: Tsifra-B EDA, supporting nodes down to 90 nm, for NM-Tech LLC and Mikron JSC; Analog-B EDA, for 350–180 nm, for Mikron and enterprises within the Rosatom Group; and SVCh-B EDA for the Istok-Shokin Research and Production Enterprise JSC.
In parallel, by the end of 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to begin adapting tools for process nodes down to 65 nm and developing 3D modeling capabilities, the next stage beyond the basic design flows.
From Prototypes to 100 Platforms
Individual components are already demonstrating that they work. In July 2026, Aquarius JSC unveiled a basic layout editor. Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics (TUSUR), together with the National Computer Corporation (NCC), is developing software tools for designing microwave integrated circuits. In September 2026, NIIMA Progress JSC, part of Element Group, and NCC agreed to test existing Russian EDA developments against practical design tasks.
The next step is to integrate these components into a unified environment that includes logic synthesis tools, verification systems and signal-delay analyzers.
Total investment in EDA development through 2030 is estimated at 54.6 billion rubles (approximately $658 million). The plan is to introduce around 100 software platforms by the end of the decade.
Modeling Processes at the Atomic Level
The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade's EDA development roadmap also calls for new approaches to manufacturing. In 2029, the ministry plans to launch the PTM-Pro R&D project on device and process modeling, which will simulate physicochemical processes at the crystal-lattice level, including ion implantation, dopant diffusion and silicon oxidation.
Meanwhile, the industry is already adopting artificial intelligence. Algorithms are being used to detect logic errors, optimize component placement and reduce power consumption. The success of this effort will depend on having qualified personnel. Leading universities are already developing specialized courses and EDA laboratories.
Partnership Instead of Dependence
If the new EDA tools are successfully deployed in industrial production, Russian developers will be able to offer modules and integrated solutions to international partners, particularly in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Asia. For now, the priority in Russia is to equip domestic design centers. This will be an important step toward building a fully independent chip design and manufacturing chain, from architecture through production.
China and India are pursuing similar efforts to develop national tools with direct government support, creating opportunities for international cooperation.
