The supervisors of patriotic youth Vasily Yakemenko, left, and Vladislav Surkov, 3rd left, were glad to take part even in the innovation meeting with president.
Photo: RIA Novosti
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
President Diluted Patriotism by Innovation
Dmitry Medvedev held its first meeting with Russia’s youth in president’s capacity Wednesday. So far, only the patriotic activists of young generation had attended the events of that kind. Yesterday, however, the winners of international research Olympics were invited in addition to Nashi members, and the subject of discussion wasn’t of political nature – involvement of the youth in innovation projects.
Of interest is that Dmitry Medvedev hadn’t attracted the youth resource of streets to his presidential campaign. Nashi announced the reorganization on the eve of presidential elections, winding up the centralized federal control over the organization and transforming it into a set of thematic divisions. The patriotic projects related to the youth (including the Russian Project in Internet) were closed in the next move and the analysts started to speculate about the stagnation of the patriotic movement of young people.
Yesterday’s event was staged in a hall of Reception House in Gorki, the Moscow region. “We have been toiling at innovation not for the first year,” Medvedev defined the agenda at the very beginning. “Here, the business spends 6 percent to 7 percent of the budget for innovation, while it is between 50 percent and 60 percent in the West and all 70 percent in Japan,” the president announced, urging the business to step up innovation appropriations and promising economic incentives of the government in return.
To make the bond between innovation and the youth more evident, perhaps, the president emphasized the need “to create innovation structures employing the youth.”
Of all young people attending the Gorki summit, only Mikhail Levin, the graduate student of MGU and medalist of the world programming championship, aroused keen interest of the president. Levin proposed to buy ready venture funds overseas and boost the Internet speed. “Buying funds is a good idea,” the president commented, pointing out that the speed of Internet intercourse was one of his concerns.
Nevertheless, the real highlight was the president’s statement about creating the award for young researchers involved in innovation – three laureates will get 2.5 million ruble each. The patriotic reserve force of the youth was promised no political benefits yesterday.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 31, 2008
|
|
|
