Izvestia: “We’ll have to buy technology abroad”
Economic modernisation depends on modern technology, which is one of Russia’s weak points and an advantage in the West. “We are ready to buy [technology] for good money,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said yesterday at the international forum “Engineering Technologies 2010,” held in Zhukovsky outside Moscow.
“We are convinced that Russia needs a strong and competitive engineering industry. The industry currently employs over 4 million people at more than 7,500 companies. Support for the engineering industry was one of the priorities included in the anti-crisis measures adopted by the Russian government in late 2008 and 2009,” Putin said at the forum.
He went on to describe targeted assistance to Russian and foreign companies, efforts to stimulate demand for their products, infrastructure projects, and other anti-recession measures.
Thanks to all these measures, “the engineering industry is now rapidly recovering,” he said. “Not a single important technology development project was cancelled during the recession.”
“Just a few days ago, the SaM146 engine, which powers the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft, received European certification,” the prime minister said. “Customers will begin receiving their Sukhoi Superjets by the end of this year.”
The Superjet is one of Russia’s best products so far, but the country badly needs more high-tech success stories. The lack of modern technology seems to be a key problem, said Sergei Chemezov, head of the Russian Technologies state corporation.
“The share of Russian companies creating and implementing technical innovations is only 10%, and the share of innovative products is only 5.5%,” Chemezov said. “These problems can be resolved by creating incentives for innovative Russian projects and increasing our imports not only of finished products but also of promising technology. We are interested in an active technology transfers from abroad and in using other countries’ experience.”
The forum participants immediately seized upon the idea of “possible ‘know-how’ transfers.”
“This is a very odd phrase. Just what is a technology transfer?” Putin asked. “No one in the world we live in would give anything away for free, with the exception of humanitarian aid, of course, where it is needed. Everything else has a price. Cutting-edge technology is a commodity – one that our partners want to market and sell – and we are ready to pay good money.”
The audience applauded, and the prime minister went on:
“One should not allege that Russians are out to do what a character from one of our famous literary works does: snatch a juicy morsel from the boss' kitchen and then hide under the blanket to quietly gobble it up in bed. Russia does not pursue such policies. And I want to assure you that in this sense we are partners.”
“I would like to add that Russian law fully protects intellectual property,” Putin said. “And so I want to ask if there is really anyone who has suffered because of a technology transfer. Show me at least one person who thinks he has been robbed.”
“Yes, sometimes things do not go according to plan. And yes, sometimes there are problems with criminal elements… Such companies and persons do exist, but we will work with you to oppose them,” the prime minister said.
Next Putin addressed the immigration policy.
“We have decided not to include highly skilled professionals into the foreign workforce quota. I think this is a significant step towards removing barriers to the movement of a highly skilled workforce,” he said. “We are ready - from a technical standpoint, that is - to shift to a system based on visa-free travel with a unified Europe. However, that unified Europe has not come to an accord on the matter.”
He also invited those foreign companies that have long been established on the Russian market to expand. In particular, he said, Renault could increase its stake in AvtoVAZ.
“And now we have great hopes that we will be able to make further progress with Renault and execute all of our joint plans, particularly those that we are currently discussing for building a platform to launch no fewer than five new vehicles. You cannot doubt the continued support of the government of the Russian Federation. (…) If you want or need to increase your stock, we are ready to meet you halfway. We are even willing to exchange some shares with the French government,” Putin said.
Anastasia Savinykh
