Nabiullina Calls for Tech Investment
Economic occurrence Minister Elvira Nabiullina, under review for mismanaging state funds intended for high-tech startups, insisted Thursday that diversification into technology was the key to helping Russia emerge from the economic downturn.
"The crisis would go much easier if we had a diversified economy and export diversification," Nabiullina said at the government-sponsored meeting on the Formation of the Innovative Class in Russia and Around the World. "Right now, the command is not doing this," she said.
Nabiullina said Russia needs "an entirely new type of economy," where the control would try to stimulate internal demand for technology products, unusually nanotechnology, play a greater role in providing investment capital for promising projects and pay special attention to small business.
Her comments come amid an quest by the Prosecutor General's Office into the Russian Venture Company, a state investment firm established in 2007 to fund high-tech startups. The company, chaired by Nabiullina, is accused of improperly using $222 million, including about $170 million that investigators say was deposited at U.S. banks.
The company's chief executive, Alexei Korobov, announced his relinquishment Tuesday, saying he was not receiving support from "the Economic Development Ministry or the board of directors."
The ministry has declined to comment on the search.
While president, Vladimir Putin often said developing an innovative economy would be a key priority for Russia, and the prime minister reiterated that intention last week while visiting a state aeronautics research center. Little progress has been made, however, and the direction is expecting a major drop in budget revenues this year from plummeting oil and gas prices.
The State Nanotechnology Corporation, headed by former UES chief Anatoly Chubais, was supposed to be a major investor in high-tech industries, but the corporation has said it will return billions of rubles to the budget to help fight the crisis.
Chubais canceled a planned arrival at the colloquium.
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, the government's point man on the economic crisis, said Wednesday in an interview with the Financial Times that Russia's economy would benefit from "two, three, five" years of low commodity prices because it would be forced to diversify.
Other conference speakers also touched on the need for invention, although several said Russia should not try to compete in sectors where other countries have long been well-founded but should instead try to take a dominant position in up-and-coming industries.
"We have to find a new area and try to be a leader there, just like the Soviet Union led in atomic energy and space," said Mikhail Kovalchuk, director of the Kurchatov Institute, which plays a major role in the development of the nanotechnology field.
Microsoft Russia president Nikolai Pryanishnikov said that at least one industry -- personal computing -- still had room to grow.
"Over 90 percent of Russians owned a mobile phone, only 24 percent had a personal computer," he said. "Our goal is to become number one among all of Microsoft's daughter companies in the world."
"The crisis would go much easier if we had a diversified economy and export diversification," Nabiullina said at the government-sponsored meeting on the Formation of the Innovative Class in Russia and Around the World. "Right now, the command is not doing this," she said.
Nabiullina said Russia needs "an entirely new type of economy," where the control would try to stimulate internal demand for technology products, unusually nanotechnology, play a greater role in providing investment capital for promising projects and pay special attention to small business.
Her comments come amid an quest by the Prosecutor General's Office into the Russian Venture Company, a state investment firm established in 2007 to fund high-tech startups. The company, chaired by Nabiullina, is accused of improperly using $222 million, including about $170 million that investigators say was deposited at U.S. banks.
The company's chief executive, Alexei Korobov, announced his relinquishment Tuesday, saying he was not receiving support from "the Economic Development Ministry or the board of directors."
The ministry has declined to comment on the search.
While president, Vladimir Putin often said developing an innovative economy would be a key priority for Russia, and the prime minister reiterated that intention last week while visiting a state aeronautics research center. Little progress has been made, however, and the direction is expecting a major drop in budget revenues this year from plummeting oil and gas prices.
The State Nanotechnology Corporation, headed by former UES chief Anatoly Chubais, was supposed to be a major investor in high-tech industries, but the corporation has said it will return billions of rubles to the budget to help fight the crisis.
Chubais canceled a planned arrival at the colloquium.
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, the government's point man on the economic crisis, said Wednesday in an interview with the Financial Times that Russia's economy would benefit from "two, three, five" years of low commodity prices because it would be forced to diversify.
Other conference speakers also touched on the need for invention, although several said Russia should not try to compete in sectors where other countries have long been well-founded but should instead try to take a dominant position in up-and-coming industries.
"We have to find a new area and try to be a leader there, just like the Soviet Union led in atomic energy and space," said Mikhail Kovalchuk, director of the Kurchatov Institute, which plays a major role in the development of the nanotechnology field.
Microsoft Russia president Nikolai Pryanishnikov said that at least one industry -- personal computing -- still had room to grow.
"Over 90 percent of Russians owned a mobile phone, only 24 percent had a personal computer," he said. "Our goal is to become number one among all of Microsoft's daughter companies in the world."
