Kremlin plans and planks

“We have changed,” Dmitry Medvedev said at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum

Last year's St. Petersburg Forum was held under the sign of the fight against the crisis, the current one - under the sign of "the beginning of its end." At the last forum, President Medvedev stated the shortcomings of the Russian economy, which could not be overcome for "fat" ...

Last year's St. Petersburg Forum was held under the sign of the fight against the crisis, the current one - under the sign of "the beginning of its end."

At the last forum, President Medvedev stated the shortcomings of the Russian economy that could not be overcome during the "fat" years - at this forum he was extremely optimistic and predicted that Russia would be "a co-founder of the new world economic order and a full participant in the collective political leadership in the post-crisis world."

At the last forum, he said that the crisis "will lead to a reformatting of the world" - at this forum, he said: "A year has passed. Something more has happened: we have changed.”

“Bubbles burst that created the illusion of prosperity and myths that seemed real,” Medvedev said. And he immediately built his own project: Russia should become “a country where prosperity is ensured not by raw materials, but by an innovative economy, and “a country where people from all over the world will strive in search of their dreams.”

Calling the creation of comfortable conditions for investors "the most important task," the president recalled that some time ago he "changed the rules for the work of law enforcement agencies in relation to business" and that "now, by law, the possibilities of arresting entrepreneurs in the investigation of economic crimes are limited." After that, he announced the abolition of the capital gains tax on long-term direct investments from 2011, announced the simplification of the migration regime for incoming highly qualified specialists, a five-fold reduction in the number of strategic enterprises, and promised “improved visa rules” for those who want to do business and career in Russia.

Foreign participants applauded, but it is unlikely that any of them did not remember that the law mentioned by the president prohibiting the arrest of entrepreneurs was confidently ignored by Russian courts in the “Khodorkovsky case”. And no one in this situation can guarantee that investments in Russia (especially long-term ones) will actually be protected.

Other things in the presidential speech were serious wishes. The transformation of Moscow into a financial center, the ruble into a reserve currency, and Skolkovo into “a system unique for our country for the selection, implementation, commercialization and subsequent support of innovative projects” – all this must be fulfilled in the indefinite future. Not a word was said about corruption and the impossibility of economic modernization without political reform. I got the impression that Medvedev is counting on solving economic problems without changing the political system.

At other sessions of the PEF, some new ideas were heard, although not very happy ones.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin noted that although the Russian economy is growing, the growth rates are falling further and further behind the government's "pre-crisis" forecasts every year. He also spoke about the trillion-dollar budget deficit of the Pension Fund and the inevitability of raising the retirement age: they say, "when we decide this - in a year, in two, in five - it's not so important now, but it will have to be done." And he promised a significant increase in excise taxes on gasoline, alcohol and tobacco - which will immediately increase prices.

The pension topic was continued by the ex-minister of labor and social development, and now senator Alexander Pochinok, calling the Russian pension system "an attraction of unprecedented generosity" and stating the failure of the "pension co-financing" program, which included only 5% of working citizens. After that, he called for abandoning not only the "solidarity" pension system, but also the retirement age in general. Like, everyone should take care of their own future pension, and the state should only “include poverty benefits” from a certain age.

In response, the head of the Pension Fund, Anton Drozdov, assured that, according to the calculations of the Pension Fund, the bankruptcy of the pension system would not occur until 2070. To which Pochinok sarcastically remarked that over the past 20 years, “not a single calculation related to pension legislation has been justified.”

At a session where Innograd was discussed in Skolkovo, the head of Rosnano, Anatoly Chubais (according to presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich, he was "the first to believe in this project") said that this would create a "new quality" that is not available in existing technoparks , science cities and special economic zones. And Viktor Vekselberg admitted that the offer to lead the project was unexpected for him, and happily stated that he was “surprised by the public reaction” and the willingness of many large companies in the world to participate in it.

Representatives of a number of such companies who were present (including one of the leaders of Nokia, the former Prime Minister of Finland Esko Aho) readily confirmed this readiness. Which, however, is easily explained: they understand that Skolkovo is a source of money, that their investments in Skolkovo will be reliably protected and that all problems will be solved quickly and in the absence of the usual Russian bureaucracy and corruption.

Craig Barrett, the former head of Intel Corporation, noted that it is necessary to invest first of all in new ideas. And that “if you have a good education and ideas, you need to create conditions where smart people can apply new ideas so that you can quickly start a business.” According to him, first of all, it is necessary to create an appropriate “atmosphere”, while not so much “physical” examples of such innovation centers as Skolkovo are important, but rather “virtual entrepreneurship”, when “society supports this with its culture”.

Vekselberg continued the thought of Barrett (who agreed to become the coordinator of the foreign participants in the project): the main task is to create "a climate, an environment for free creative entrepreneurship." And he said that it was "mystery and mystery." In fact, the world has already figured out this riddle a long time ago: the whole country should be free, and not just Skolkovo - then the climate will be appropriate.

“Is it possible to build an island of freedom and successful business if these conditions are not provided throughout the country?” - asked the columnist for "Novaya" Arkady Dvorkovich. “We will step by step ensure these conditions throughout the country,” was the answer. “You always have to start somewhere. Let's start doing what we can today and move forward." Asked how long it would take to “ensure conditions” across the country, Dvorkovich replied, “Several years.”