VLADIVOSTOK, September 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed bewilderment as to why Anatoly Chubais "ran away and is hiding." He suggested that such behavior might be due to fears of criminal cases due to a "financial hole" in the Rusnano company, which Chubais previously headed.

"I don't understand what made him run away. You know, it may still be connected with the fact that there are complex processes going on in this nanotechnology organization, which he headed for many years. There is a big hole there, a huge financial hole," Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

"But there are no criminal cases or prosecutions there, thank God. Maybe this is the reason. He may feel fears that eventually all this will lead to some criminal cases. That's why he even sort of went in hiding in Israel. I honestly don't understand why he needs this," Putin said.

The moderator of the forum, journalist Ilya Doronov, remarked that in July a Russian economic magazine published an article by Anatoly Chubais entitled Non-payments in the Russian Economy of the 90s. An Unforeseen Institution, in which the former head of Rusnano was presented as an independent British scholar. The moderator asked Putin if he trusted British scholars. Putin responded by saying that he trusted scientists and scholars regardless of their nationality when it came to serious research.

"I don't just trust them, I admire their work, their lives and the results of their work. A real scientist is immersed in the subject he or she is working on. These people put their whole life into the cause to which they have dedicated it. Some do not even spare their lives," Putin said, noting that there were many such examples both in Russia and in other countries.

It is a totally different matter, according to the Russian president, when some just "fool around and make fun."

"They are not scientists, of course. They are quasi-scientists and quasi-scholars. They entertain the public. Well, that's not bad either. May they make fun. Although you can go to the circus and watch something in the circus just as easily," Putin said, drawing applause and laughter from the audience.

He added that he had not read Chubais' article.

"Maybe he wrote something sensible," Putin remarked.