The government dismissed President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Fortov from office

The government dismissed Vladimir Fortov from the post of President of the Russian Academy of Sciences and assigned the duties of the head of the Academy at the vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valery Kozlov. The document is published on the official website of the Cabinet of Ministers.

"The signed order of V.E.Fors was dismissed from the post of President of the Russian Academy of Sciences on March 23, 2017 at his request. The obligations of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences are assigned to the vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.V. Kozlov. The document will ensure the activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences before the election of the new president of the Academy," the report said.

The press service of the Cabinet of Ministers explains that, according to the law, the government "exercises the functions and powers of the founder and the owner of the federal property of the Russian Academy of Sciences on behalf of the Russian Federation." Therefore, the appointment of the fortor acting head of the Academy of Kozlov should be approved by the order of the government.

The day before, it became known that Forts undergoes a planned examination in the Central Clinical Hospital . "Forters undergoes an examination in the Central Design Code, he does not feel it for a long time, so he planned to contact the doctors. Now his condition is satisfactory," a source familiar with the situation said. According to him, Fortov, before hospitalization, signed an order on the appointment of Kozlov by the acting President of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Forters himself, before the autumn elections of the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will most likely remain a simple academician.

Director of the Mathematical Institute named after V.A.Steklov RAS, head of the Department of differential equations of the Mehmat MSU MSU Kozlov was elected academician in 2000. Since 2001, he has been the post of vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2015, Kozlov headed the commission of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences to improve the structure of scientific organizations under the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations.

On Monday, at the general meeting of the Academy, the appointed elections of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences did not take place. All three applicants removed 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.

On Tuesday, vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, chairman of the Siberian branch, Academician Alexander Aseev said that the transfer of elections was a continuation of the story with the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences . "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 transfer of elections may be related to Fortov’s criticism of Fano, 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.

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. "The media call them both close to Putin people. In particular, the idea of ​​RAS Reform, which took place in 2013, is attributed to Mikhail Kovalchuk.