In 2017, more than 1,000 students from all universities in the country completed their practical training and internships at EkoNiva farms. The guys and girls are all simply wonderful, enthusiastic, it is a pleasure to work with them. This is our human resources potential, those with whom we will build many more complexes. However, unfortunately, we work with most universities in violation of the procedures and regulations of the institutions themselves. They are forced to allow students who come to us for practical training to have individual curricula, otherwise normal cooperation with businesses that are ready to give students direct work experience is excluded. Although for normal work only a couple of signatures under several resolutions are needed.

The second big problem is that many universities no longer teach economics as a subject; it has been removed from the curriculum. And this is happening in the current era! That is, today, from the point of view of the authors of the educational plan, a zootechnician should learn to feed animals, a veterinarian should learn to treat them, and someone else should count the money. Absurd! Because I, as an agribusiness owner, do not need a zootechnician or veterinarian who would not count money and does not understand anything about economics.

Another important issue is the living conditions of young people in the countryside. I still belong to the generation that is used to working without days off. The younger generation – they are different, they need two days off, and that is right. Therefore, today, workplaces in the countryside should not be different from those in the city. That is, a [satellite] dish, a computer with the Internet and 20 acres are not enough for workers in the countryside – this is becoming a thing of the past. People want to receive a decent salary. They want to get into their car, go to the store to buy milk, cucumbers, potatoes, and not grow them in the garden. They want to go to the cinema, have fun, etc.

I always try to spend at least a couple of hours with interns to understand them better. I usually give them an anonymous survey: "How much would you like to earn in two years?" So, every young specialist in two years wants to earn on average from 80,000 to 120,000 rubles. This means that we must be ready to pay specialists so much, then they will come to work for us, because they will understand that over time they will be able to afford not only a Lada Kalina, but a completely normal standard of living.

The text was prepared based on the materials of the speech at the III annual Agrarian Forum of Russia, held by the Vedomosti newspaper on October 23, 2018 in Moscow

Personnel decides everything