The agency is to receive private investment under a co-financing programme or charitable donations. Business is ready to co-finance the agency assuming an easy-to-understand and transparent scheme is developed.
"We expect the agency's annual expenses to total 100-200 million roubles. But these are only initial estimates," Andrei Belousov noted.
He stressed that, although the agency is being established by the government, it will receive private funding.
"Most likely, this will amount to co-financing for business projects. Such proposals have already been voiced. Or possibly charitable donations will be made," Belousov said.
"Businesspeople will get involved if it becomes an easy-to-understand and transparent process in the form of a fund or a management company. Delovaya Rossiya lacks a budget for investment projects. Consequently, general council members will make individual decisions about this," said Nikolai Ostarkov, Delovaya Rossiya managing director.
"Hard pressed small business is teetering on the verge of extinction. Moreover, this agency's organisational structure hasn't been clarified. And it's unclear whether small businesses will co-finance it," noted Vladislav Korochrin, vice president of the Opora Rossii public organisation.
The business community is not yet ready to say how much they can donate to the agency.
"First, the agency's goals should be clarified," Korochkin said.
Andrei Belousov explained that the agency should become an instrument for medium-sized businesses and should have political and administrative resources. An online public reception office is the main innovation now.
"This new initiative is absolutely different because it facilitates direct communication between Putin and the business community with no intermediaries," Belousov said.
The agency is to facilitate the implementation of high-priority projects and act as an "ombudsman" who knows whom to contact in case of problems.
The agency will resemble a network with numerous divisions.
Belousov said that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who initiated the creation of the Strategic Initiatives Agency believes that it will also provide financial support for business in the form of grants, interest rate subsidies or state guarantees. The procedure for appointing prospective members to the agency's Expert Council, who will select the various projects, has already been clarified. After the candidates fill out applications on the agency's website, their personal files will be reviewed by experts from the Higher School of Economics and the National Economy Academy. They will rate them on a ten-point scale. The reviews will be passed to a commission headed by Putin who will personally choose the agency's director.
The candidates are to be selected by late July. After that, the rookie employees of the Strategic Initiatives Agency will have to meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Alexandra Ponomaryova