MOSCOW, September 13. / TASS /. The Russian economy’s primary hurdle is the lack of a business plan for economic growth, said Sberbank CEO, Herman Gref at the Moscow Financial Forum on Friday.
"Now the key problem is that we don’t have a business model of the country's economic growth. This morning, I specifically watched yesterday's panel and, in my opinion, the discussion that took place here, clearly showed that we do not have a consensus about what needs to be done. Moreover, if there is no consensus on what needs to be done, then the question of how [things should be done] is not at all on the agenda, Gref said.
The priority today, according to Gref, is the recognition of the primary role of economic development and social policy and the adaptation of management systems to that need. "It has nothing to do with the amount of money. In an effective management system, you find solutions in the absence of resources; in an inefficient model, with the excess of resources, the only thing you make is a lot of noise that does not give a qualitative result. On a macro scale, the same thing happens if you don’t have an effective tool, it’s completely pointless to discuss everything else," Gref added.
First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, in turn, disagreed with Gref, and said that the government has clear goals and objectives. "There are goals, there are resources, and people who will fulfill these goals also exist. There wasn’t all that before!" Siluanov said. In response, Gref objected: "There are wheels, there is a steering wheel, everything is there, but it does not go anywhere."
Gref, however, believes that the management issue is the most relevant problem in Russia. He quoted Alexander II as saying: "It isn't difficult to rule Russia, but completely useless." According to Gref, now Russia is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. "And we cannot use the old management model to solve today's problems," he said.