Cisco on Thursday announced the significant expansion of the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute program in CIS countries.

 By the fall of 2012 new Cisco Entrepreneur Institutes will be opened as part of Moscow Technological Institute branches in the large cities of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The institutes will start operating in 16 cities of Russia Belgorod, Kazan, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kursk, Lipetsk, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Rostov on Don, Samara, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Voronezh, and Yekaterinburg as well as in Astana (Kazakhstan), Baku (Azerbaijan), Kiev (Ukraine), and Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

The expansion of Cisco Entrepreneur Institute program followed the agreement reached in June 2010 by Dmitry Medvedev, then president of the Russian Federation, and John Chambers, Cisco chairman and CEO. At that time Cisco committed to investing USD 1 billion in the development of entrepreneurship and sustainable innovations in the Russian Federation.

The Cisco Entrepreneur Institute program will stimulate the development of small and medium sized businesses in CIS countries. The students will be offered two courses. Growing a Business and iExec Enterprise Essentials. These courses have been developed specifically for SMB entrepreneurs. Growing a Business graduates will be able on their own to develop and implement business projects, find optimal ways of developing and expanding their business, and take strategic decisions. The iExec Enterprise Essentials course makes the students aware of IT based leadership and management techniques.