Technology platforms and innovation clusters: together or separately?

There are two instruments of innovation policy considered in this paper - technology platforms and innovation clusters. It is reviewed, to what extent the Western models of such instruments formation are adapted to the Russian environment. International experience testifies that these instruments are interrelated, they can increase the effects of each other, resulting in a greater number and variety of positive effects. On the example of three Russian technology platforms in various sectors the paper demonstrates that capacities of those instruments’ mutual enforcement in Russia are not used to the full extent so far, and in fact, each of them exists on its own, in an undeveloped form. Measures of the federal government level are defined, which could promote implementation of technology platforms for cluster development.