Speaking at a meeting of the Council for Science, Technology and Education, President Vladimir Putin noted that the state’s attitude towards science and education has changed over recent years. It is both possible and necessary now to plan how to develop intellectual resources in a way that would bring results similar to those gained through the exploitation of natural resources. This would signal the transition to what is known as the “knowledge economy”.
State spending on science has increased almost four-fold over the past five years, but Mr Putin noted that even this is still not enough to put Russia at the forefront of the scientific world. This money will, however, help achieve several of the country’s biggest priority objectives.