MOSCOW, December 20. /ITAR-TASS/. As many as 834 billion rubles (~ $25.29 billion) will be allocated for Russia’s basic scientific research programme until 2020, RF President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at a meeting of the RF Presidential Council for Science and Education.
He said that the country currently had a basic knowledge base that had been for the most part created during the Soviet period, and it was impossible to exploit is endlessly. “Therefore, Russia’s long-term basic scientific research program has been launched in the current year, and 834 billion rubles for its implementation will be allocated before 2020,” Putin said.
“Both our own experience and world practice show that large-scale projects with a long period of implementation give a powerful impetus to fundamental science,” the RF head of state said, citing as an example the Soviet atomic project and space exploration program. “I’m sure that the time has come today to think about such initiatives,” he said.
Putin also spoke about the already achieved results in this sphere. According to him, budget financing of scientific research in recent years has increased and Russia is among the world’s top ten countries in this indicator.
“Such investment has made it possible to seriously upgrade the country’s research facilities. Today, more than half of the country’s scientific research equipment is not older than five years,” the president said. Scientists have more than 390 common use centers, including centers with unique stands and equipment even by world standards.
In the view of the Russian president, the growing share of young Russian scientists is also illustrative. According to him, over the past 12 years, the share of young scientists under the age of 29 has increased in the country from 10.2 percent to 13.2 percent.
“It’s a very important trend that we certainly should reinforce,” Putin said.