The expansion of data centers for artificial intelligence and cloud computing has sparked concerns about global energy use, but Russia is positioning itself as a key player in this growing sector, according to the Russian newspaper Izvestia. Traditionally, most of these facilities were concentrated in major cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, Russia is now looking beyond the Urals, focusing on its vast Siberian region, which the newspaper describes as a "digital gateway to Asia." This shift is driven by factors such as Siberia's cold climate, its abundant energy resources, and its geographical proximity to China, all of which make the region highly attractive for building data centers. Siberia's appeal lies in its natural advantages. Cold temperatures help data centers cool their equipment more efficiently, reducing energy consumption. This is measured using the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) indicator, which compares the total energy consumed by a data center to the energy used directly by the servers. Lower PUE values indicate better energy efficiency. In the border region of Khabarovsk, for example, average temperatures are significantly lower than in Shanghai, making Russia a more cost-effective location for data centers compared to many other countries. Several projects are already underway in Siberia. In the Primorsky region, including the city of Vladivostok, and in the Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, former mining sites are being repurposed into data centers focused on machine learning and cloud services. These conversions are part of a broader trend that reflects Russia's strategic push into the digital economy. In August 2025, the Russian government approved a plan to build eight "megacenters" by 2036, some of which will be located in the country's eastern regions, further emphasizing the importance of Siberia in this development. The potential for cost savings is a major draw for investors. Izvestia reports that maintaining a large-scale data center in Russia can be two to 2.5 times less expensive than in other regions. This cost advantage, combined with the region’s energy efficiency and strategic location, is seen as a catalyst for a new kind of cross-border collaboration, particularly with China, which is a global leader in artificial intelligence and has increasing demand for data center infrastructure.