MOSCOW, December 24. /ITAR-TASS/. The director of the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations, Mikhail Kotyukov, has denied rumors about academic science cuts.
The rumors are not true. There is money for all the institutes, he said.
"I do not know what is the source of the information. The law on the federal budget is passed by the parliament, approved by the president and has come into force. The volumes of budget allocations are approved for three years. The FASO budget a little exceeds 90 bln rbls a year. Aside from the budget funds, there are external finances of various funds and grants," Kotyukov told reporters.
The official believes the reform of the state academies of sciences is expected to reduce bureaucracy, including in allocations and fund spending.
"A subsidy is provided in one sum, and the organization itself decides how to use it," he noted. Under the new system, remaining funds will be automatically transferred to the next year, and institutes do not have to urgently spend them. Only funds of state contracts for federal programmes must be used until the end of the year. The federal agency will fight the "unsound practice", the official assured.
The first task of the agency is to prepare everything necessary to start the fiscal year on time, the agency head noted. More than 100 documents are prepared for this. The agency has asked all heads of institutes to arrive in Moscow to sign agreements on subsidies, and the documents will be sent to those who cannot arrive, he said.