Translated material
By reform and essentially
The transfer of elections of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences was a continuation of the history with the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and is also related to the position of the current president Vladimir Fortov. This was stated by the Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, chairman of the Siberian branch, academician Alexander Aseev, Interfax reports .
"The Academy fell victim to intrigues, unfortunately. Most were ready to support Fortov, who survived in the most difficult conditions of the last three years. Apparently, someone really did not want him to be re -elected," Aseev said. According to the academician, the reason for the postponement of the election may be related to Fortov’s criticism of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations, which was contained in his program.
“Of course, this is a continuation of the story with the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A lot of people are interested in the budget of the Academy, Assets, including the Earth,” Aseev emphasized.
The main scientific secretary of the Far Eastern Department, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Bogatov advocated the preservation of the election of the head of the Academy. "In my opinion, there is no need to appoint the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The existing election procedure for the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences is quite acceptable and democratic. Since 1917, the Academy of Sciences himself has elected the leader," said Bogatov.
Meanwhile, the federal official, on the terms of anonymity, told the BBC that claims to the charter of the Russian Academy of Sciences is only an occasion. “There is an intrigue there. Forters want to stay in this position, and everyone else does not want him to stay. The interests in this area are with the group of Mikhail Kovalchuk,” the source said. Kovalchuk is headed by the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute". The younger brother of Kovalchuk Yuri is the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank "Russia". The media call both people close to Putin. In particular, the idea of the Reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which took place in 2013, is attributed to Mikhail Kovalchuk.
On Monday, all three presidents of the Russian Academy of Sciences withdrew their candidates from the elections . In addition to Fortov, this post was claimed by the chairman of the Council of the Russian Fund for Fundamental Research Vladislav Panchenko and the director of the Institute of Molecular Biology named after Engelhardt Alexander Makarov. Fortov proposed to postpone the autumn elections due to questions to the election procedure in the RAS Charter, so as not to question the legitimacy of the head of the Academy and the Presidium.
The general meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences agreed with this proposal and decided to ask the government to extend the powers of Fortov and the current presidium. At the same time, the current president himself was against it. Fortov explained that he wanted to avoid conflict of interests in the autumn elections. However, the academics insisted that he remain at the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the next six months.
Meanwhile, the executive secretary of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the director of the Molecular Institute at the Kurchatov Institute, Mikhail Paltsev said that the elections of the head of the Academy can pass according to a new scheme. According to him, the State Duma is being prepared in the State Duma, according to which academics will choose several candidates for the post of head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, after which they will send a short list to the president of the country, who will already choose and appoint one of them.
The Kremlin does not know about this initiative, said Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. The bill did not enter the Committee on Science, said its head Vyacheslav Nikonov. Fortov also did not comment on this information. "I do not like to talk about what I had not seen. If it were serious, I would know. I have not seen such a bill," said the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Fortov has been the post of head of the academy since May 2013. A serious RAS reform was underway with him: the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences were attached to it. At the same time, scientific institutions were transferred to the Office of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations.