The case is a pipe

Dear editors!

Unscrupulous and malicious individuals periodically initiate various bad conversations about the Academy of Sciences. The most frostbitten say that this is a useless legacy of the totalitarian era and that it is of no use - like milk from a goat. Others argue that stagnant tendencies have prevailed in the Academy and that the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences is similar to Brezhnev’s Politburo.

Those who say this, in my opinion, are grist to the mill of the enemies of our state. Either due to thoughtlessness, or, even worse, due to malicious intent, since, as is obvious to any sane person, the best intellectual forces of our country are concentrated in the Academy and attacking it is trampling on the intelligence of the nation. Accordingly, the destruction of the Academy will mean the fall of Russia into the intellectual Middle Ages, when all sorts of greedy alchemists and alphysicists like Petrik will take the place of scientists.

If there is one problem with the Academy, it is the lack of demand for its intellectual potential by the state and society. More precisely, there was a problem, but now there is every reason to believe that it will be resolved in the near future.

A sign of a sharp turn for the better were recent changes in one of the key Russian economic structures - Rosneft, the largest Russian oil company. A significant event took place there: instead of the powerful and knowledgeable Deputy Prime Minister, who was able to read Camões in the original, academician and Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Nekipelov was elected head of the company’s Board of Directors.

Academician, economist, specialist in the theory of functioning and management of economic systems, chairman of the commission for managing the property complex of the Russian Academy of Sciences, chairman of the coordinating council of the Russian Academy of Sciences for forecasting - is it possible to make the best choice of a person who should lead to further prosperity and development of a key Russian company? After all, no matter how many words you say about the importance and priority of science and innovation, we all understand perfectly well that without oil and gas, Russia is a pipe.

This appointment provides another reason to take a closer look at the unique personalities who control the destinies of our Academy. It is clear that only a trusted person, our comrade, can be allowed to take the position of head of a state-owned oil company, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Take any ordinary scientist, mathematician, physicist or biologist, what does he do? That's right, he spends his entire life proving theorems or conducting experiments with rats and protons. All his life it’s the same thing, there’s no greatness or variety in it, that’s why his salary is small, and he won’t be elected to academicianship, and won’t be invited to Rosneft.

Now let's look at the fate of the one who is chosen and called. The unique versatility of Alexander Dmitrievich was evident from a young age: he did not just scribble works on the socialist economy, no, having created an intellectual foundation here, he switched to the diplomatic service, ending up as the second secretary of our embassy in Romania. A few more years - and Alexander Dmitrievich is already working at the Institute of International Economic and Political Studies, where, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, he managed to defend his doctoral dissertation on the mechanisms of socialist integration.

Having comprehended and reflected the realities of the socialist economy, Nekipelov was able to describe the process of formation of capitalism in the country - from Robinsonade to a market economy, organized the Moscow School of Economics of Moscow State University, was elected academician and vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences and, finally, became the head of the Board of Directors of Rosneft.

Alexander Dmitrievich continued his path of success in a new place: the first positive results followed almost instantly: the new board of directors decided to reduce the number of board members of the company from seven to five. Naturally, with the arrival of such a prominent economist, the need for extra people disappeared, and the opportunity arose to optimize the management structure.

This is the intellectual potential of the Academy! I hope that academic landings at Gazprom and Avtovaz will soon follow, and our economy will receive a powerful innovative impulse, and the Academy will become a new channel for extra-budgetary funding.

Yours Ivan Ekonomov