The American company International Paper plans to allocate $1m on joint projects with the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management, the Venture Business News reports.

The agreement on contribution into the capital fund of the Skolkovo business school has reportedly already been signed by the parties. International Paper is the first company to have offered a program of such projects to the business school.

According to John V. Faraci, the chairman of the board and general director of International Paper, with joint efforts the parties have developed a serious academic program aimed at attracting the smartest and most talented representatives of the new generation into the company.

“We are going to realize joint programs aimed at development of global corporations, creating teams that can work in modern international business conditions, we discuss joint research that will help to make the market transparent and predictable,” Andrey Volkov, the rector of the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management, said. According to him, Skolkovo has similar agreements with Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Credit Swiss.

Under the program, the business school will also hold open lectures of top-managers from the International Paper, master-classes and other such events supporting International Paper's initiatives on stable development. The managers of the International Paper will also mentor some school students.

The International Paper is the largest producer of paper, package and building materials in the world. It owns enterprises in over 40 countries in the world and has almost 60,000 employees. In Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia the company International Paper is mainly engaged in production and sales of office papers, as well as paper-based packaging.