MOSCOW, July 3 (Itar-Tass) President Putin at a meeting with President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov on Wednesday urged not to postpone parliamentary debates on the proposed bill of the reform.
Vladimir Fortov - a first legitimately elected President of the Academy, at a meeting with the president suggested postponing the debates on the reform until autumn and creating a conciliatory commission prior to the autumn discussion. "Sometimes, it is easier to adopt decisions and finalize them, rather than marking time," Putin said.
Commenting on the bill, Putin said that he has found both contentious things in it and things which deserve support. "I have thoroughly studied the positions assumed by the ardent supporters of the bill and its critics. Both the supporters and the critics have said things which should be given support, but there were very contentious positions as well, " Putin said.
The president suggested making global audit checks of the management of the state property at the Academy. " It is necessary to make audit checks to see how the state property is managed at the Academy, to elicit problems and tune a huge mechanism," Putin said.
The president suggested that Vladimir Fortov should concurrently occupy the post of President of the Academy and Head of its Agency for managing the property of the Academy. to which Fortov gave no reply at least while the newsmen were present.
The president also suggested establishing a new structure in the framework of the presidential Council on Education and Science to appoint heads of the scientific institutions and supervise the appropriation of funds. “I have my own proposal to make - to create an independent structure under the presidential Council on Education and Science, which should consist of the most significant and successful scientists recognized in the world. The independent structure should assume responsibility for the appointment of the directors and give its assessment of the results of the scientific work, which to a considerable extent will tell on the distribution of the funds at the Academy," Putin said.
The bill on the radical reform of the Academy of Sciences envisages the establishment of a state-run public organization - The Russian Academy of Sciences, with subsequent liquidation of the existing Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Under a resolution of the Russian government the Academies of Education, Architecture, Construction Sciences and the Russian Academy of Arts will be turned over to the respective authorized bodies of the executive power which supervise the related organizations.
The organizations and scientific establishments which were subordinate to the reformed academies will be turned over to a new Agency which will manage the state property of scientific institutions under the Russian Academy of Sciences.