Putin gave the head a terrible scolding of the wounds of officials who became academicians. The Scientific Secretary of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences named the officials elected to the Academy Deputy Director of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Igor Sheremet

In October, 25 officials ran for membership in the Russian Academy of Sciences, 14 of them were elected, Academician Mikhail Paltsev, chief scientific secretary of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS. Senator, member of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Arnold Tulokhonov (became an academician) and the head of the main military medical department of the Ministry of Defense Alexander Fisun (became a corresponding member) entered the Academy. Fisun Paltsev called him a famous military scientist.

On November 23, President Vladimir Putin at the Council on Science and Education expressed dissatisfaction with why several officials became academicians this year, although he gave them the opposite recommendation. He promised to give such officials “the opportunity to engage in science, because, apparently, their scientific activity is much more important than the performance of some routine administrative duties in government and government bodies.” As Vedomosti found out, the highest-ranking official who could become an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the department of medical sciences in the fall elections was Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova. Her name was on the list of candidates published in the RAS newspaper Poisk in June, but then she changed her mind and withdrew her candidacy, a source in the RAS apparatus said. The highest-ranking security official elected as a member of the law department was Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs - Head of the Investigation Department Alexander Savenkov.

According to Paltsev, several major designers graduated from the Russian Academy of Sciences. “Since they head state-owned enterprises, their status is that of civil servants, but they, naturally, are engaged in science, they develop weapons. This is military science,” he explained.

Doctor of Biological Sciences, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Alexey Lopatin also became an academician, TASS reports. From 2006 to 2015, he was deputy director for scientific work at the Paleontological Institute. A. A. Borisyak RAS.

In addition to Fisun, the corresponding members in October were Konstantin Kotenko, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Head of the Main Medical Directorate of the Presidential Administration, who was previously the General Director of the Federal Medical Biophysical Center named after. A.I. Burnazyana, Doctor of Law, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Alexander Savenkov, Doctor of Law, Head of the Department of Registration and Archival Funds of the FSB Vasily Khristoforov, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Director of the Department of Science, Innovative Development and Management of Medical and Biological Health Risks of the Ministry of Health Sergey Rumyantsev. In addition, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Deputy Director of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Igor Sheremet became a corresponding member.

At the Presidential Council on Science and Education, Vladimir Putin scolded the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the fact that this year 14 officials, including employees of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, were elected academicians. The election came despite his recommendation for civil servants not to become professional scientists. Why do Putin care more about the elections to the Russian Academy of Sciences than the strategy for the country's scientific and technological development?

Power over officials

The vertical of power, carefully built by Vladimir Putin, failed in an unexpected place. In October 2015, he wrote a letter to Russian officials containing a strong recommendation (according to another version, a request) to refuse to participate in the elections of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2016, the RAS was supposed to replenish its membership with academicians and corresponding members for the first time since the reform three years ago, when scientists were removed from economic activities and control over their resources was strengthened.

Therefore, it would not be a great exaggeration to say that the head of state closely followed not only the presidential elections in the United States - he was no less concerned about who would be elected to the “big academy,” as he calls the RAS. Moreover, for domestic politics, elections in the scientific community turned out to be more significant in a certain sense.

Questions arose on October 28, when the Russian Academy of Sciences announced the results of a “new call” to its ranks: 176 scientists were added to the number of academicians, and 323 people became corresponding members. Despite the presidential letter, 25 officials put forward their candidacies for the vote, including Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova, and 14 eventually achieved the high status of academicians.

And although fewer officials came to science than in previous calls, the very fact of disobedience and disobedience to the first person became more important than the “Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development,” which since July 2015 was written by 200 experts, and another 3 thousand provided consultations. At the Russian Presidential Council on Science and Education on November 23, it turned out that the document for which everyone had gathered, many would like to finalize and make their own amendments to it. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich even asked scientists to write in understandable language, since he did not see the meaning in a good part of the text. However, the president found the document “detailed and balanced”; he clearly wanted to discuss a different topic.

At the event in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin, they also spoke about the need to increase investment in science to 2% of GDP, and by 2035 to ensure that public and private investment are equal in volume. Since today 80% of funding is provided by the state and this does not correspond to international practice, noted the head of the Science Council, Andrei Fursenko.

Quite unexpectedly, Putin equated the importance of science and technology with national security - if we do not invest today, tomorrow the country will lose in global competition. The president probably had in mind, first of all, advanced weapons: reports of the deployment of the latest missile launchers have been coming in all week. For example, he responded with a smile to an attempt to “trade threats” on the part of scientists, refusing to consider civilian projects as “disruptive innovations”: the online store Alibaba with a turnover of $ 1 billion per day and the Uber taxi service, whose capitalization on the stock exchange is equal to the cost "Rosneft".

Much more, according to the president, Russia’s national security is threatened by the outflow of “talented youth.” “How to keep her in the country?” - he asked the age range. After all, “those who want to take them, especially far from their native borders,” have jobs where young scientists from Russia are invited to build a scientific career. However, the bureaucratic response to the country’s loss of scientific potential was known - to develop a multi-page document entitled “Strategy” and approve it at a purely formal meeting. Meanwhile, the average age of academics in Russia is 73.67 years.

Power over academics

The Russian President's thoughts out loud preceded the main episode of the meeting - the public criticism of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Fortov. Fourteen officials-turned-academics demonstrated collective disobedience and outright disobedience to the president. Among them are security officials: the head of the registration and archival collections department of the FSB, Vasily Khristoforov, known as a major researcher and historian of the special services, as well as the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and head of the investigation department, Alexander Savenkov, who has written more than 50 scientific papers, three monographs and 15 textbooks. In addition, the presidential request was ignored by Senator Arnold Tulokhonov, a scientist and researcher of Lake Baikal; Deputy Head of the Hydrometeorological Center Alexander Makosko; Gazprom board member Oleg Aksyutin and others.

Most of the high-ranking officials elected to academicianship of the Russian Academy of Sciences are actually engaged in scientific activities and have distinguished themselves with their work. But Putin was of little interest in this. “Why did you do this?” - he asked the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences in front of everyone. “Are they such great scientists that the Academy of Sciences cannot do without them?” - the president blurted out. Fortov could only shrug his shoulders and clarify: if they were chosen, it means they are worthy scientists. However, Putin did not listen to him: it is impossible to combine scientific work with management, especially politics, and promised to dismiss the newly minted academicians from government positions.

On the one hand, the president’s indignation seemed justified and correct: it is known why officials in Russia go into science - according to the old Soviet tradition, which is reproduced to this day, for a privileged status. Various public initiatives, for example “Dissernet”, are precisely aimed at identifying officials who have appropriated to themselves degrees and titles that are not deserved by scientific and research work. Due to public pressure “for prestige,” it has become more difficult to be a scientist, and even an academician.

Dissertations purchased in a subway passage, with plagiarism, a pseudoscientific basis and outright nonsense, can be costly for an official and undermine his authority, as happened with the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky. However, on the right hand of the president at the Science Council sat the young head of his Administration, Anton Vaino, who on paper invented a “nooscope” - a kind of non-existent device for examining Vernadsky’s noosphere, that is, the “sphere of the mind.” So the fight against the erudition of Russian officials really resembles the cleaning of the Augean stables.

However, according to the president’s logic, it is one thing to be a “scientist cat” and hold a government post, and another thing to also become an academician. Although the relatives of academicians, who also strive for the coveted title, probably look worse than officials in science. But, as with officials, there are dozens of such cases among more than 500 new academicians and corresponding members. In general, the picture does not look critical and does not require the president’s intervention.

There is no need for it for another reason: doing science is not prohibited by the law “On the State Civil Service,” and the charter of the Russian Academy of Sciences allows for the election of civil servants as academicians, since the main criterion for assessing a candidate is scientific merit. According to the established procedure, the specialized sections of the Academy make a choice, then it is approved at the general meeting. Both procedures are secret ballots. The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Fortov, cannot influence the elections in the professional community in any way.

The latter cannot be believed by officials of the Presidential Administration, who are convinced that the president of the Academy should have “expressed his opinion” when high-ranking civil servants put forward their candidacies. If they consider themselves to have the right to interfere in elections at any level, then what is the problem with the RAS? The democracy and degree of independence of the scientific community from the state must have offended Kremlin representatives who are accustomed to controlling the political sphere. For Putin himself, who several years ago supported the division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during which it was completely subordinate to his vertical, it is completely incomprehensible why Fortov did not monitor the implementation of his “recommendation”. The President of the Academy, in turn, is not clear why Putin’s officials did not do this if he addressed them.

From Putin’s point of view, everyone has lost fear and fundamentally disobeys, disrupting the harmony of ranks. How can one, relatively speaking, scare the United States and Europe when his power within the country is not absolute? The generally insignificant elections to academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the country cast doubt on the effectiveness of the power vertical. They are another excuse to clean up the ranks. The hardware meaning of the presidential anger was to mobilize the bureaucracy, which now must keep an ear to the ground: if a year ago the head of state recommended something to you, and you listened and disobeyed, then hand over your party card and go out into the street.

Stalin once besieged Foreign Minister Molotov in exactly the same way, who was delighted with his election to an honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Then the leader called membership in a scientific organization a “secondary matter” for a statesman. Molotov immediately admitted his mistake and repented. Thus, the vertical of power and the indisputable authority of the first person were preserved. Will officials listen to Putin?

Contrary to the Kremlin’s recommendations, several major Russian officials became academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN). These included the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Ministers of Education and Science. Life looked into which other high-ranking representatives of the Russian bureaucracy violated the direct instructions of the president, and also tried to find out their motives and reaction to a possible resignation.

Such zeal of officials for science caused bewilderment among President Vladimir Putin. Today, at a meeting of the relevant Presidential Council, he, in particular, said that he would give civil servants and officials who became academicians the opportunity to engage in science.

I will have to give them the opportunity to do science. Because, apparently, their scientific activity is more important than the performance of some routine administrative duties in government and government bodies,” the head of state explained his well-founded position.

Life analyzed the lists of current academicians and corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences and found at least five officials who in the near future will have to think about moving from responsible work in relevant ministries and departments to the Russian Academy of Sciences.

It is worth noting that during today’s meeting, RAS President Vladimir Fortov confirmed that several civil servants, namely “five to seven,” were elected to the Academy.

Five to seven people, that's it. “It depends on how you count,” Fortov said, pointing out that their future work in government positions depends on the decision of the head of state. - I believe that this is a question for the president and how satisfied he is with his employees and whether there are any complaints against them.

One of the newly minted academicians, for example, is Deputy Minister of Education and Science Alexey Lopatin. He is a full member of the RAS, he was elected again just recently - along with everyone else, at the end of October 2016.

Lopatin’s colleague in the ministry, Lyudmila Ogorodova, is also listed as corresponding members of the RAS. Only her term of office began in 2014.

Since 2016, Alexey Kuznetsov, deputy head of the Budget Investment Implementation Department of the Department for Managing the Network of Subordinate Organizations of the Ministry of Education and Science, has been elected to Corresponding Member and full namesake.

In turn, the director of the Ministry’s Information Policy Department, Andrei Emelyanov, did not answer Life’s question about whether Olga Vasilyeva’s deputies will leave the RAS or, conversely, leave their posts in the ministry.

The press service of the ministry asked Life correspondents to send a written request, which also ultimately received no response.

In addition, since 2016, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or, as he is also called, the “chief investigator” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Alexander Savenkov, has become a corresponding member of the RAS.

In principle, if Savenkov is transferred to work at the academy, he will not lose much. He is not a poor official; the family of the head of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs declared 77.5 million rubles in income last year. True, the bulk of these funds, according to the declaration, were contributed to the family budget by the wife of a high-ranking police officer.

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked to send an official request.

Also, the head of the Department of Registration and Archival Funds of the FSB of Russia, Vasily Khristoforov, was also elected as a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2016.

Life was unable to get a comment from Khristoforov: at the time of writing, he did not answer calls or SMS messages.

The ban on election to academicianship and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences affects all officials, including governors.

This applies to everyone,” Putin explained to reporters, answering a corresponding question.

Life discovered that among the academicians and corresponding members there are indeed governors: the head of the Voronezh region Alexey Gordeev and the head of the Belgorod region Evgeny Savchenko.

In fact, this is not the first “yellow card” from the head of state for the Russian Academy of Sciences, which chose to violate Vladimir Putin’s instructions rather than quarrel with the influential bureaucratic class, giving them, contrary to all the president’s instructions, the opportunity to be elected to the Academy.

At the end of last year, Vladimir Putin already addressed his colleagues and the then President of the Academy of Sciences with a request.

I asked my colleagues to refrain from participating in the elections of new members to the Academy of Sciences due to the fact that people who hold positions in government bodies, especially at the top levels, are employed or should at least be engaged in a serious manner , otherwise they are not able to fulfill their official duties and can only engage in scientific research in their free time, which practically does not remain for people who work conscientiously in administrative positions,” Putin recalls.

Nevertheless, at the meeting, a heated discussion broke out between the Russian leader and the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during which President Putin directly asked the head of the Academy of Sciences about the scientific viability of the newly elected academic officials and their advisability of being in both academic and bureaucratic environments at the same time. To the president’s reasonable questions, Vladimir Fortov only objected that all the elected academicians and corresponding members “said that they had received permission.”

As a result, the heated discussion ended with the head of state actually raising the question of the continued stay of officials elected to the country’s highest scientific body in their current government posts due to “the more important nature of scientific activity than routine administrative work.”

People enter the Academy of Sciences not for their scientific merits, but for old merits, for length of service, or officials who are given the title of academician as a sign of respect and honor. We can say that this entails a drain of personnel to the West. Young scientists, instead of advancing their careers in Russia using the RAS base, are forced to leave for the West. They have to do this because they rely on their superior academicians, not seeing further prospects,” he says, noting that the Russian Academy of Sciences should be engaged in scientific work, research, moving Russian science forward, and not be a bunch of honorary chairmen.

It is important for the President to solve the problem systematically: to force the Russian Academy of Sciences to free itself from ballast. This can be started by getting rid of officials at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Officials who work 16 hours a day certainly do not have the opportunity to engage in scientific activities. I am sure that these officials will resign from their duties as academicians and prefer civil service,” the political scientist explained.

It is worth noting that during today’s meeting, RAS President Vladimir Fortov confirmed that several civil servants, namely “five to seven,” were elected to the Academy.

Lopatin’s colleague in the ministry, Lyudmila Ogorodova, is also listed as corresponding members of the RAS. Only her term of office began in 2014.

The press service of the ministry asked Life correspondents to send a written request, which also ultimately received no response.

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked to send an official request.

Also, the head of the Department of Registration and Archival Funds of the FSB of Russia, Vasily Khristoforov, was also elected as a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2016.

Life was unable to get a comment from Khristoforov: at the time of writing, he did not answer calls or SMS messages.

The ban on election to academicianship and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences affects all officials, including governors.

This applies to everyone,” Putin explained to reporters, answering a corresponding question.

Life discovered that among the academicians and corresponding members there are indeed governors: the head of the Voronezh region Alexey Gordeev and the head of the Belgorod region Evgeny Savchenko.

At the end of last year, Vladimir Putin already addressed his colleagues and the then President of the Academy of Sciences with a request.

I appealed to my colleagues with a request to refrain from participating in the elections of new members to the Academy of Sciences due to the fact that people who hold positions in government bodies, especially at the upper levels, are employed or should at least be engaged in a serious manner , otherwise they are not able to fulfill their official duties and can only engage in scientific research in their free time, which practically does not remain for people who work conscientiously in administrative positions,” Putin recalls.

Nevertheless, at the meeting a heated discussion broke out between the Russian leader and the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during which President Putin directly asked the head of the Academy of Sciences regarding the scientific viability of the newly elected academic officials and their advisability of being in both academic and bureaucratic environments at the same time. In response to reasonable questions from the president, Vladimir Fortov only objected that all the elected academicians and corresponding members “said that they received permission.”

Political scientist Oleg Matveychev notes that, unfortunately, the domestic Academy of Sciences has turned into a purely nomenklatura institution, where people do not engage in scientific activities, but sit and talk to each other about what respected people they are.

Contrary to the Kremlin’s recommendations, several major Russian officials became academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN)
These included the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Ministers of Education and Science. Life looked into which other high-ranking representatives of the Russian bureaucracy violated the direct instructions of the president, and also tried to find out their motives and reaction to a possible resignation.

Russian officials work day and night not only for the benefit of the country, but also for the benefit of domestic science. At least this is evidenced by the lists of academicians and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences. These included deputy ministers of leading Russian departments, as well as other prominent civil servants.
Such zeal of officials for science caused bewilderment among President Vladimir Putin. Today, at a meeting of the relevant Presidential Council, he, in particular, said that he would give civil servants and officials who have become academicians the opportunity to engage in science.
- I will have to give them the opportunity to do science. Because, apparently, their scientific activity is more important than the performance of some routine administrative duties in government and government bodies,” the head of state explained his well-founded position.
Life analyzed the lists of current academicians and corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences and found at least five officials who in the near future will have to think about moving from responsible work in relevant ministries and departments to the Russian Academy of Sciences.
It is worth noting that during today’s meeting, the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Fortov, confirmed that several civil servants were elected at the Academy, namely “five to seven.”
- About five to seven people, that's it. “It depends on how you count,” Fortov said, pointing out that their future work in government positions depends on the decision of the head of state. - I believe that this is a question for the president and how satisfied he is with his employees and whether there are any complaints against them.
One of the newly minted academicians, for example, is Deputy Minister of Education and Science Alexey Lopatin. He is a full member of the RAS, he was elected again just recently - along with everyone else, at the end of October 2016.
Lopatin’s colleague in the ministry, Lyudmila Ogorodova, is also listed as corresponding members of the RAS. Only her term of office began in 2014.
Since 2016, Alexey Kuznetsov, deputy head of the Budget Investment Implementation Department of the Department for Managing the Network of Subordinate Organizations of the Ministry of Education and Science, has been elected to Corresponding Member and full namesake.
In turn, the director of the Ministry’s Information Policy Department, Andrei Emelyanov, did not answer Life’s question about whether Olga Vasilyeva’s deputies will leave the RAS or, conversely, leave their posts in the ministry.

The press service of the ministry asked Life correspondents to send a written request, which also ultimately received no response.
In addition, since 2016, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or, as he is also called, the “chief investigator” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Alexander Savenkov, has become a corresponding member of the RAS.
In principle, if Savenkov is transferred to work at the academy, he will not lose much. He is not a poor official; the family of the head of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs declared 77.5 million rubles in income last year. True, the bulk of these funds, according to the declaration, were contributed to the family budget by the wife of a high-ranking police officer.
The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked to send an official request.
Also, the head of the Department of Registration and Archival Funds of the FSB of Russia, Vasily Khristoforov, was also elected as a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2016.
Life was unable to get a comment from Khristoforov: at the time of writing, he did not answer calls or SMS messages.

It is interesting that the list of corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences also includes Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova. However, she was elected long before entering the civil service - she received scientific status back in 2004. According to the director of the Department of Public Health and Communications of the Russian Ministry of Health Oleg Salagai, the Minister of Health did not take part in the elections to the academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2016.
The ban on election to academicianship and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences affects all officials, including governors.
“This concerns everyone,” Putin explained to reporters, answering a corresponding question.
Life discovered that among the academicians and corresponding members there are indeed governors: the head of the Voronezh region Alexey Gordeev and the head of the Belgorod region Evgeny Savchenko.
In fact, this is not the first “yellow card” from the head of state for the Russian Academy of Sciences, which chose to violate Vladimir Putin’s instructions rather than quarrel with the influential bureaucratic class, giving them, contrary to all the president’s instructions, the opportunity to be elected to the Academy.
At the end of last year, Vladimir Putin already addressed his colleagues and the President of the Academy of Sciences with a request at that time.
- I asked my colleagues to refrain from participating in the elections of new members to the Academy of Sciences due to the fact that people who hold positions in government bodies, especially at the upper levels, are engaged in service or should at least be engaged in serious service Thus, otherwise they are not able to fulfill their official duties and can only engage in scientific research in their free time, which practically does not remain for people who work conscientiously in administrative positions,” Putin recalls.
Nevertheless, at the meeting a heated discussion broke out between the Russian leader and the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during which President Putin directly asked the head of the Academy of Sciences regarding the scientific viability of the newly elected academic officials and their advisability of being in both academic and bureaucratic environments at the same time. To the president’s reasonable questions, Vladimir Fortov only objected that all the elected academicians and corresponding members “said that they had received permission.”
As a result, the heated discussion ended with the head of state actually raising the question of the continued stay of officials elected to the country’s highest scientific body in their current government posts due to “the more important nature of scientific activity than routine administrative work.”

Political scientist Oleg Matveychev notes that, unfortunately, the Russian Academy of Sciences has turned into a purely nomenklatura institution, where people are not engaged in scientific activities, but sit and talk to each other about what respected people they are.
- People enter the Academy of Sciences not for their scientific merits, but for old merits, for length of service, or officials who are given the title of academician as a sign of respect and honor. We can say that this entails a drain of personnel to the West. Young scientists, instead of advancing their careers in Russia using the RAS base, are forced to leave for the West. They have to do this because they rely on their superior academicians, not seeing further prospects,” he says, noting that the Russian Academy of Sciences should be engaged in scientific work, research, moving Russian science forward, and not be a bunch of honorary chairmen.
- It is important for the President to solve the problem systematically: to force the Russian Academy of Sciences to free itself from ballast. This can be started by getting rid of officials at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Officials who work 16 hours a day certainly do not have the opportunity to engage in scientific activities. I am sure that these officials will resign from their duties as academicians and prefer civil service,” the political scientist explained.