Holy place

Dear editors!

A holy place is never empty, as they say. This old truth is especially true in relation to places of leadership and direction. Yes, in fact, only such places should be considered holy. And last week, another such position appeared - the post of head of the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations.

Of course, the Agency is still empty: it has neither chief executives, nor subordinate organizations, nor financial flows that need to be distributed for the benefit of the people. But everything will change soon. The Agency will be filled with subordinate scientific organizations transferred from the academies of sciences, and financial flows will flow through it to support their activities. People in suits and with an expression of state concern on their faces are running through the corridors, carrying important papers from office to office. They will begin to hold morning and evening meetings to discuss ways to implement state scientific policy, implement scientific programs and the tasks of managing scientific organizations. They will begin to convene representatives of the scientific community to round tables, inquisitively asking them whether everything that should be done for the benefit of the people by the Agency’s employees, and whether any little things need to be changed?

In general, working bureaucratic life will soon begin to boil in the Agency for the benefit of society and the people, to fulfill the instructions of the party and government. Well, for now, of course, there is nothing like that yet. They are looking for a worthy candidate for the post of head of this Agency. I also have my own thoughts on this matter, but I’ll share them a little later.

In the meantime, I’ll dwell a little on some of the impressions of observing colleagues from the Academy. Although they were freed from unnecessary administrative settings in the form of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, from the power of thieving academicians who strive to grab an apartment in a prestigious building, their mood is not very bright and cheerful. Apparently, this is due to purely psychological issues that our authorities did not pay attention to. Namely, they may be confused by the unusual name of their new department - the Agency. The word, you see, doesn’t sound very good. Who works at the Agency? That's right, the first answer that comes to mind is agents. And for a long time this word has had a bad connotation in our country: agents of enemy intelligence services and all that. And even now there are rumors of various non-profit associations - foreign agents with whom the party and government are fighting.

In general, employees of scientific institutes feel psychologically uncomfortable - will they be treated as agents of some kind, especially if they publish in foreign journals, go to foreign conferences and conduct joint work with representatives of powers - potential opponents. I must admit, I understand them: I myself would feel uncomfortable as an employee working for the Agency. Even though I try not to have much to do with foreigners. But I think the old proverb is true here: if you endure it, you will fall in love.

And now let’s return to the fundamental question: who will take the place of the head of this Agency. They gossip about different things. Someone is relying on the words spoken by our national leader three months ago that Fortov will combine the posts of President of the Russian Academy of Sciences and head of the Agency. Someone says that the situation has changed a lot since then and that a proven official will be put in charge of the new structure, and not one of those academicians, because of whose unfortunate managerial activities the whole reform had to be started. Various candidates are named. Khlunov, they say, will lead everything from the presidential administration or presidential adviser Levitskaya.

Although I strain my mind quite a lot in thinking about the fate of the country, I cannot know all the government reasons. That’s why I don’t dare to predict anything. But I have my own opinion on this matter. An opinion based on purely rational considerations. Firstly, in order to break away from the old routine and organize work on new principles, an outsider must become the head of the Agency. Secondly, this person must be familiar with the specifics of scientific activity in detail and have the skills to manage scientific organizations. Thirdly, his way of thinking must be innovative so that scientific institutes bring more benefits to the economy. And I know such a person: an academician of several unblemished academies, an innovator, a multifaceted genius - Viktor Ivanovich Petrik.

Yours Ivan Ekonomov