The Prime Minister addressed marathon participants and answered their questions.
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin delivered a lecture as part of the Znanie. Pervye (educational marathon)
Mikhail Mishustin delivered a lecture as part of the Znanie. Pervye (educational marathon)
Mikhail Mishustin delivered a lecture as part of the Znanie. Pervye (educational marathon)
Mikhail Mishustin delivered a lecture as part of the Znanie. Pervye (educational marathon)
Mikhail Mishustin delivered a lecture as part of the Znanie. Pervye (educational marathon)
Mikhail Mishustin delivered a lecture as part of the Znanie. Pervye (educational marathon)
Mikhail Mishustin toured The People’s Feat of Valour exhibition. With Tatyana Golikova and General Director of the Victory Museum Alexander Shkolnik
Mikhail Mishustin toured The People’s Feat of Valour exhibition. With Tatyana Golikova and General Director of the Victory Museum Alexander Shkolnik
Mikhail Mishustin toured The People’s Feat of Valour exhibition. With Tatyana Golikova and General Director of the Victory Museum Alexander Shkolnik
Mikhail Mishustin made an entry in the Distinguished Visitors’ Book
Mikhail Mishustin toured The People’s Feat of Valour exhibition
Mikhail Mishustin delivered a lecture as part of the Znanie. Pervye (educational marathon)
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon dear friends!
Very soon we shall be celebrating an important date – the 80th Anniversary of the Great Victory. As our President emphasized, its significance for the destiny of Russia and the character and values of our people in general is truly tremendous.
The Great Patriotic War was the greatest ordeal for our whole country, it claimed the lives of dozens of millions of our people, and it affected almost every Soviet family. Certainly, we feel proud of the heroic deeds of all those who selflessly fought for the independence of our Motherland. They are the true heroes, whose bravery and commitment inspire us to this day as well. To strike the Nazism down for the future generations to live in a free country was made possible exactly due to the courage and spiritual stamina of our people, its solidarity in facing the common enemy.
Our Victory was forged not only at the frontline. Thousands of people worked in good faith at the factories, in the fields and hospitals to support soldiers and provide them with everything they needed. And the work continued, of course, in scientific laboratories and engineering departments.
I would like to talk today about the contribution of our researchers, innovators, designers and industry workers to the Great Victory. And in general, about the way the technologies influence the development of the state.
After the end of the war, Sergey Vavilov, the then-President of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, wrote, ”almost every element of military equipment, uniforms, military materials, and medicines – all of this bore the signs of initial scientific thought and processing.“
Already on 23 June 1941, the second day of the Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet Union, the USSR Academy of Sciences held an extraordinary meeting and made a decision to mobilize all of the available scientific potential to carry out defence tasks.
The wartime boosted the creation of a multitude of technologies, and this gave the country an impetus for decades to come. Many achievements laid the foundation for modern industrial sectors (I shall briefly dwell on them in more detail) but first, on the production of alloys and medicinal drugs, rocket and aircraft construction and the nuclear sector.
One of the recognizable symbols of the Great Patriotic War is the multiple rocket launch system firing advanced precision unguided missiles. I mean, famous and iconic “Katyusha.” The system was urgently put into mass-production. Numerous modifications of the system and munitions to them were produced. As a result, “Katyusha” played a considerable part in battles against Nazi invaders. And thanks to the achievements in the area of missile weapon technologies, our space programme also received a powerful boost.
Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov started research way back in the 30s. However, it was the war period that encouraged the development of anti-aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, that later formed the basis for intercontinental missiles and then for the entire Soviet cosmonautics.
International experience was also successfully accommodated. As is known, the German V 2 technology was used as well by Soviet and American engineers and designers for ballistic missile systems. Our national solutions of those years in the field of aircraft construction spurred the development of post-war civil aviation. Various types of engines were elaborated: first, conventional, then, (who knows?) turbo-jet. Infinite experimentations with different shapes to improve aerodynamic properties kept going.
The payload mass and flight range gradually increased. The use of new designs and materials, including currently famous composites and aluminium alloys, made it possible to reduce the weight and augment the durability of aircraft, as well as their manoeuvrability and load capacity.
Their mass-production required a significant increase in capacities. This was also achieved. More than 36,000 of the legendary Il 2, the so-called “Infantryman”, were produced alone.
Later on, in peacetime already, factories and equipment were partially refocused on civil aircraft production, and this facilitated a rapid upsurge, I would say, in air transportation in the Soviet Union. In 20 years, from 1940 to 1960, the number of passengers using this type of transport grew 40 times, namely from 400,000 to 16 million people.
I have already mentioned how the use of new materials affected the aviation construction industry. Now, I would like to emphasize that it was important to improve the quality of metals for other types of machines and vehicles. Our steelworkers vigorously engaged in these activities in order to make alloys more durable and lighter without losing mechanical properties. New grades of the so-called alloy steel characterized by increased strength and corrosion resistance were developed. They were needed to make armour, gun barrels, and critical components of military vehicles.
Composite materials also saw heavy use, for example fibreglass or, in other words, glass-reinforced plastic, — in manufacturing bodies of ships, boats and some types of armoured vehicles, whereas they demonstrated good abilities to resist corroding and ease of processing. The reinforcing of plastics with metal fibres or fibreglass made it possible to obtain materials of high rigidity and strength. This is what the aviation and automobile industry called for.
In general, plastics and polymers became indispensable for military equipment. It was due to such properties as lightness and resistance to chemical agent exposure that the production of all above was deployed within the shortest possible time.
The country's industrial base was preserved despite the fact that Nazis occupied our territory, where, before the invasion, over 40 percent of the population lived and a third of all industrial output was produced. At that very time the organisational techniques, competent management and command played the decisive role to come up as one of the key factors on the way to the Victory.
In June 1941, the modalities of removal and accommodation of people and property from frontline regions were established. It was accomplished in two stages. Firstly, more than 2.5 thousand enterprises and about 20 million people were transferred to the east and the south of the country. It was a unique strategic operation. No one in the world had ever done anything like that before.
The factories were re-located to the Urals, Western and Eastern Siberia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan, as well as the Volga region. Workers and specialists moved after them, thus contributing to maintaining the technological continuity of industries and, naturally, setting up in no time the production of goods needed for the front as well as re-starting the economy.
It is in the war years that a serious, as one would put it today, de-bureaucratization of the governance system took place. It was characterized by a clear distribution of responsibilities, while leaving room for initiative and manoeuvre.
The State Defence Committee became one of the key decision-making centres. Under its directive, regional and city committees were established in the front territories (it was a system). They were charged with the formation of militia units, construction of defensive fortifications, repair of military equipment, and then the re-establishment of peaceful life.
Procedures for coordinating military supply logistics and organising new production facilities were streamlined to the greatest extent possible. A seamless cooperation was successfully established, a well-functioning system that allowed for promptly informing local authorities of all decisions made at the higher level.
The leaders of that time employed tools such as planning, prioritization, systemic approach, and, of course, best practices. The use of such an approach at that time ultimately helped secure our nation under a robust nuclear shield.
Work on uranium during the Great Patriotic War was significantly accelerated. In April nineteen forty-three, the so-called Laboratory Number Two – the future world renowned Kurchatov Institute – was established. Within just three years, Igor Kurchatov, an outstanding physicist, created the first nuclear reactor in Eurasia in that research centre. Do you know how it was called? The F‑1. It was a highly prominent nuclear reactor in the Soviet Union at that time. It was build using uranium-graphite blocks. Subsequently, an industrial-scale facility was launched in the Urals, which produced plutonium for the first Soviet atomic bomb. Of course, its primary purpose was deterrence, a strategy that prevented many large-scale global conflicts.
The laboratory initially focused solely on nuclear weapons development. Later, it focused on advancing peaceful nuclear technologies, whose significance remains immense to this day.
We witness the results of the work of this industry on a daily basis. One out of every five kilowatt-hours of electricity generated in our country comes from nuclear power plants. In the European part of Russia, nuclear power accounts for approximately forty percent of electricity generation. All of this has been made possible by our scientists, who continued their work and research even during the difficult wartime years.
When speaking of the heroes of those years, one cannot overlook the feat of our medical workers. Doctors and nurses found themselves on the front lines of the struggle to preserve the lives and health of soldiers and civilians. Just imagine the conditions under which they had to work. Modern time medicine, bandages, equipment – virtually none of these existed at the time. Yet they were tasked with helping soldiers recover swiftly and return to duty, while minimizing complications.
The primary challenge at the time was infections introduced through wounds. They combated these infections using a variety of methods, many of which are now considered, of course, outdated. Among these were herbal remedies, decoctions, and even arsenic and mercury.
Back in nineteen twenty-eight, British scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin – an antibiotic universally known today — for which, by the way, he was later awarded the Nobel Prize. However, foreign colleagues were reluctant to share their breakthroughs. Soviet medical scientists were thus compelled to develop antibiotics entirely from scratch. It is crucial to emphasize that this occurred not during peacetime, but under wartime limitations – when the lives of combatants depended on expertise and ingenuity of medical scientists.
This critical task was assigned to microbiologist Zinaida Vissarionovna Ermolyeva. She and her team conducted trials of a new drug as early as 1943. This drug, penicillium crustosum, was subsequently deployed on the front lines. According to some records, its use reduced mortality from wounds and infections in the Red Army by eighty percent at that time.
Of course, in addition to antibiotics, other pharmaceutical agents were developed – including anti-inflammatory drugs and antiseptics – for treating diseases such as dysentery, cholera, and typhoid fever. By the way, these breakthroughs were frequently attributable to small teams within scientific and educational institutions.
For every individual understood that his or her work – regardless of the field – was crucial to the defence of the Motherland. The entire nation, every enterprise, millions of people on the front lines and on the home front contributed to the collective Victory through their hard work, determination, and courage.
Cultural figures were no exception. Through their creative work, they inspired soldiers, and countered Nazi propaganda. Actors, singers, and musicians travelled to perform in military field camps.
Soviet cinema also experienced a significant surge during the war years. This period gave rise to the genre known as Concert for the Front. Filmed performances of folk songs, opera excerpts, and poetry recitals by beloved artists helped fortify the fighting spirit.
By the way, twelve Battle Film Collections were produced, which featured not only soldiers but also iconic pre-war Soviet screen characters.
Feature-length films were also under production, including non-fiction works distinguished by their profound thematic depth. Many of these films later entered the annals of both Soviet and international cinema.
Notably, the first Soviet film to be awarded an Oscar back in 1943 was the documentary The Defeat of the German Forces Near Moscow. Nowadays, perhaps no one even remembers this. It received this recognition at the height of combat operations, although these films were produced under the most arduous conditions. The hardships could not stop talented directors, screenwriters, and cinematographers. The images they crafted and the events they captured left no one unmoved and continue to captivate modern audiences, particularly those seeking to deepen their understanding of the heroes of that era.
Dear friends!
The Great Patriotic War concluded with the absolute victory of the Soviet people over Nazi Germany. The USSR's position on the global stage was strengthened. A new model of international relations began to take shape. The League of Nations, which existed at that time and had failed in its task to preserve peace, was replaced by a new organisation. The USSR was one of the founding architects of the United Nations. As enshrined in its Charter, the UN's purpose was to ”save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,“ primarily through the peaceful resolution of potential conflicts.
Much has been achieved in this regard, as well as in providing humanitarian aid to people, supporting volunteer initiatives, combating climate change, and advancing healthcare, science, and education.
Yet over the eight decades of UN's existence, numerous contradictions have emerged in the world. We engaged in open discussions with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the problems and challenges confronting the Organisation today. We met last November in Baku during the twenty-ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Many universal principles of international law are being tested now as never before. The nature of geopolitical confrontations has shifted. Trade wars are escalating. Protectionism and sanction regimes are intensifying.
The economy of collaborative production is giving way to an economy of shared consumption. A global race for technological supremacy has also commenced. As our President Vladimir Putin has emphasized, this competition will be the fiercest and most uncompromising in the history of our civilization.
Of course, competitors are trying to restrain Russia's development, to block our access to resources and innovations. Microelectronics, machine tools, equipment, planes, medications and medical devices have all become the subject of restrictive measures; around 30 thousand of such were introduced against our country. We have been subjected to restrictive measures more than anyone else in the world. Despite this, the Russian economy has survived.
To this end, the Government, under the leadership of the President, has taken a whole range of complex decisions. I will not elaborate on that. I will just emphasize that Russia is now among the four largest economies in the world. The growth of gross domestic product is more than four percent. It is significantly higher than the average in the developed countries. We will continue to do everything necessary to further strengthen our state considering the gained experience of sanctions confrontation which proved once again that for future victories, you should rely only on your own strength.
Last year, the President approved Russia's national goals up to 2030 and for the period up to 2036. I remind you, there are seven of them. The most important one is maintaining our population, improving health and well-being of our people and supporting our families. This is also the realization of the potential of each person and development of their talents.
Two other equally important ones are the achievement of comfortable and safe living environment and environmental well-being.
Next goal is a stable and dynamic economy, as well as digital transformation of public and municipal administration.
Finally, the seventh goal which is formulated as technological leadership. Without exaggeration, it is systemically important. Achieving it is necessary for the accomplishment of the other six.
Today, no country can feel secure without having its own developments, innovations and technologies. They are necessary to achieve sustainable economic growth, fully comply with our social obligations, provide modern medical care, build quality roads and open advanced enterprises.
Main tools for achieving the national goals are Russia’s national projects.At the request of the President, they were introduced several years ago.
What are they? These are specific action plans to address key challenges faced by the country. They clearly define the deadlines and the results that must be achieved and, which is very important, those who are in charge of this work.
You have seen that kindergartens and schools are being actively built in recent years, our clinics and hospitals are being renovated, they are receiving equipment and opportunities to receive public services, including electronically, are expanding. Much of this happens thanks to the implementation of previous national projects.
Since the beginning of this year, the Government, at the request of the President, has launched new projects. Nineteen national projects. Eight of them are designed exactly to provide us with modern technologies, ensure Russia’s technological leadership. We are preparing another one, on development of bioeconomics technologies, to launch soon. They include measures to strengthen the domestic industrial base, to increase high-tech production, to implement in accelerated manner Russian developments. All this will help to achieve independence from foreign solutions and will help form promising markets.
Such projects are primarily aimed at developing the main technological sectors of the twenty-first century. What are they? These are machine tools, materials, new materials, chemicals, food, medicine, energy, as well as the transport sphere – aviation, car industry, railway engineering, drones. We pay special attention to space technologies, of course.
Why these particular spheres? The answer is simple – they are the most capital-intensive, require purchase and maintenance of complex equipment but also high-quality raw materials, supplies, comprehensive scientific and engineering support. When sanctions were introduced, there was quite a significant share of import, around 60 to 70 percent. The format of national projects will provide maximum assistance to these sectors, to ensure the inflow of not only public but also, of course, of private investments.
For all these areas, now there are qualified contractors – in most cases, not ministries and agencies, but specific companies and organisations that understand what they need for their development. It was they who determined the objectives for science and industry.
Now I will try to tell you more about each of these projects.
One of the key projects is to create means of production and automation. Why is it a key one? Because no industry can exist without modern equipment and tools. We set ourselves a very ambitious goal to increase independence in this type of production up to 95 percent in six years.
To understand in detail what positions our industry needs, a special classifier was developed for the first time. We have examined what exactly is missing for production chains to work smoothly, and based on this, we develop all our plans.
For example, we need high-precision five-axis machining centres. Maybe you guys haven't heard about it, but it's very important to talk about it. These centres allow processing of a workpiece simultaneously on almost all surfaces — on five axes (that explains its name ‘five-axis’).
A major event took place last year in Krasnodar – their production was launched. For the first time in Russia! But it is still not enough. As part of the national project, we will further increase existing capacities and launch new ones; the same goes for the assembly of industrial robot manipulators. They help automate many processes, and without scaling these processes, it will be impossible to organise modern production. They withstand high temperatures and handle heavy loads, which simplifies the work of operators, by the way. More than a dozen enterprises are operating now, while just a few years ago we had none of them. None! There will be even more of them.
In the Nizhny Novgorod region, mass production of machines for casting complex plastic products will be organised. Mere casting, punching (who heard of those?), nonetheless, these are crucial elements.
Remark: Because without these we will not be able to produce many things: cars, telephones and a huge amount of things that surround us now.
Mikhail Mishustin: Planes, cars, trains. Correct. Thank you. Correct.
The demand for such items as injection-molding machines, different robot manipulators, technologies, casting is very high.
Through state support mechanisms, we, of course, will continue to form conditions to improve competencies in thermal equipment, grinding machines and CNC gear processing machines. Today, all modern mechanical devices contain gear trains.
In total, over 340 new different technologies will be developed under this national project (by the way, we have listed them and set respective deadlines), including to enhance the extent of robotization.
Guys, why do we need that? Without scaling up production, there will be no mass turnout, as you understand, which is crucial so that, as the President instructed, in six years Russia will be among the top 25 countries in terms of robotization.
Our Head of State noted that ”we need to achieve superiority in chemistry and in creation of new materials.“ I have told you how their role increased during the Great Patriotic War. Today, they are in no lesser demand. Therefore, the Government dedicated a special national project called New Materials and Chemistry to complete this task.
Unfortunately, after the collapse of the Soviet Union many enterprises of the industry were stopped or destroyed. Only in recent years the industry has started to actively recover.
For example, seven years ago a modern petrochemical plant was launched in the Tyumen Region. A gas chemical complex is already under construction in the Amur Region.
Russian specialists are working on the creation of unique technologies.
Within the framework of the national project, we will focus on four areas – chemistry, biotechnology, composites and rare-earth metals. There's a lot of talk about them in the media now, too.
It is planned to build new plants and competence centres, develop metal enrichment technologies and build concentrate separation capacities, and naturally – introduce promising products.
We will also increase the extraction of scarce raw materials – niobium, tantalum, tungsten, beryllium and many others. We will also increase production of high value-added products based on these raw materials – alloys, semi-finished products, magnets, laser materials, polysilicon. In total, we will create about three dozen critical technologies and technological chains, in order to develop more than 700 crucial products, and significantly reduce the share of imports of chemical and valuable biotechnological products, rare and rare-earth metals by 2030.
It is very important to increase our own competencies in all modes of transportation, first of all, to strengthen the connectivity of our large country and make travel convenient for citizens. And for business – to increase the reliability of logistics.
The new national project ”Industrial Support of Transport Mobility“ covers four crucial areas – shipbuilding and railway engineering, automotive and aviation industries.
We will support the development of components for the construction of ships of various classes.
In the field of railway transportation – domestic companies already manufacture all types of traction and rolling stock, including high-speed passenger ones, such as ”Ivolga 4.0“ and ”Finist“. The production of high-speed electric trains is to be established.
In the automotive industry, the task is to form a universal modular platform consisting of different units and assemblies. It will be aimed at unifying technological approaches and component base – units and assemblies – in the production of passenger cars. So that we don't have to do it all from scratch every time. And on its basis to master with such a class of transition from internal combustion engines to hybrid and totally electric cars.
And, of course, we need to complete the developments necessary to improve the performance of domestic airliners, to fabricate the most significant elements in order to build our own good quality aircrafts.
On 17 March, a very important event occurred in Komsomolsk-on-Amur — Russian passenger aircraft Superjet with the newest domestic engine PD 8 carried out its maiden flight.
Can you imagine how pleasant it is for designers, technologists, engineers to feel this support?!
And last week, a fully Russian Superjet took to the skies. This is the merit of a large team of specialists, thanks to which our own product, materials, units and assemblies appeared. And flight tests continue.
And the birthday of Ilyushin, the famous Soviet designer, was celebrated by our aircraft builders with the first flight of the third IL 114 300 prototype. It was on 30 March. This machine, assembled entirely from Russian components, joined the certification test programme. All its systems and onboard equipment are manufactured at domestic enterprises.
Guys, this is a very important milestone! It needs to be publicized somewhere. It needs to be supported.
We expect no less success from them in other aircraft. I'll say it again — to keep things safe.
Under the national project ”Efficient Transportation System“, the next batch of nuclear-powered icebreakers of Project 2222–0 is also planned to be built. With variable draft, which allows them to operate in both deep and shallow waters. These are unique vessels, the largest and most powerful. There are no analogues in the world. And Russia already has four of them in service in the northern seas.
By the way, the last one, the Yakutia, joined the fleet just a month ago and has already embarked on its first voyage – from Murmansk to the Kara Sea. And the fifth one – the Chukotka – has been launched and is being completed afloat.
Unmanned aviation systems have been made a separate national project. They are the future of many industries. They help to supervise construction work, monitor forests and water bodies, and develop cadastral systems. In agriculture, they simplify the treatment of fields from pests and facilitate the application of fertilizers. And, of course, they are indispensable in logistics, especially in hard-to-reach areas. For example, two years ago they were used for the first test delivery of mail in Russia beyond the Arctic Circle in thirty-degree frost.
The volume of domestic production of unmanned aircraft systems is consistently growing – last year it almost tripled. Over 600 companies are involved in manufacturing. And together with them, we will continue to develop such technologies by creating the necessary infrastructure in all regions of the country, as well as a unified digital airspace. The President spoke about this in January – we must open the skies for civilian drones, but taking into account the risks and constraints that exist today.
We will expand the production of such aircraft and the necessary engines, navigation systems, and materials, and in the future, we will introduce artificial intelligence into their work. This includes so-called swarming, when drones operate autonomously and transmit information between themselves.
Modern solutions are also in demand in the agricultural sector. And it is not only about machinery and equipment for agriculture. For stable harvests, we need our own seed stock and effective fertilizers. And for the development of animal husbandry – safe food and feed additives, veterinary drugs.
The implementation of the national project ”Technological Support of Food Security“ will help to intensify the work in all these areas. It implies stimulating investments in scientific research in the field of breeding and genetics for their further testing. It is also envisaged to create modern tractors and combines. The production of fully domestic veterinary vaccines should also grow – by 25 percent over six years — is what we have set as a task in the national project.
All this will certainly help our agrarians to set new records. And what is most important, citizens will have a wide choice of diverse and healthy food products. And, most importantly, of Russian origin. It's great when we buy everything Russian!
The next most important national project is ”New Health Saving Technologies“. It is aimed at achieving the goal set by the President to preserve the Russian population.
In order to provide people with quality medical care, we need our own effective medicines. In recent years, our scientists and inventors have achieved significant results here. Thanks to their labour, the first drug for the treatment of Behterev's disease was created in Russia. Advanced tissue engineering products have appeared, for example, for cartilage repair. They also created modern bionic prostheses and heart valves.
The national project is expected to coordinate all medical research, strengthen support for scientific developments, produce drugs for cancer, acute myocardial infarction, pain syndrome, lung damage, diabetes and other conditions. Our specialists will start implementing tissue engineering-based biomedical cell products into clinical practice more actively.
Special attention will be given to genomic technologies for diagnostics and therapy, regenerative medicine. The use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, including decision-making assistance to doctors, is to become a cutting-edge trend. During the COVID period, the pandemic, a mechanism of using artificial intelligence for diagnostics, especially in remote areas, was of great help in this sense! Guys, that was a breakthrough.
The main objective is to make advanced approaches to prevention more accessible to citizens. After all, health is all about prevention. The domestic production of vital and essential medicines will have to increase to 90 percent (all that is made in our country), while the production of medical devices — to 40 percent.
Another national project is New Nuclear and Energy Technologies. Russia has always been a leader in the nuclear industry. To maintain this status it is necessary to improve the existing expertise and develop new skills both in traditional fuel and energy sectors and in environmentally friendly ones, such as solar and wind energy, electricity storage systems, and nuclear technologies.
Today, facilities for the production of gas turbines and their individual components, such as converters, disconnectors, contactors, switchers and other very important elements of the technological sovereignty are already under active construction. There has been success in production of heat-exchange equipment and loading arms. Lithium-ion battery factories are popping up across our country.
The Rosatom State Corporation is constantly developing new types of nuclear power plants on a regular basis, including high-power plants with fast neutron reactors and a closed nuclear fuel cycle, medium-power plants with increased breeding ration and low-power plants needed remote areas.
Within the project, there is a plan to build units with improved high-power water-cooled reactors at Kursk and Leningrad nuclear power plants.
Surely, all of this will help strengthen and improve the status of our country as an energy superpower, as well as to expand global Russia's presence at the international market.
To ensure independent development of our country, we need our own outer space services based on remote Earth sensing data and, of course, secure data transmission channels.
In order to do so, we will have to multiply satellite constellation. This is the aim of a special national project ”Development of the outer space activities of the Russian Federation.“ It provides for very active participation of entrepreneurs. We decided to go for public private partnership in this sphere. Its implementation will help decrease the cost of satellite launch and production for the country.
We are already preparing the Vostochny Cosmodrome for the launch of the Amur LNG launch vehicle which is to become reusable in future and we are establishing assembly lines to produce space vehicles en masse at the factories. We have all the competences we need.
Russia has almost full chain of rocket and satellite engineering, including electronics, optics and other technologies.
At the same time, we are working out the ways to attract private investments to the industry. There is huge demand for images and telecommunications. It will enable us not only to retain our competences in outer space but to transition to constant advancement of the equipment.
Now I would like to briefly mention a national project under the President's instruction and which is still in the pipeline. It is called ”Technological support for bioeconomy.“ Its aim is to achieve the sovereignty of the bioeconomy in the agricultural and forest industry complexes, veterinary practice, industry, ecology, medicine and energy.
Guys, what is bioeconomy in general? It is innovative solutions involving biological resources, microorganisms and their derivatives. For example, it means processing of vegetable and animal raw materials to obtain new types of fuel, food ingredients, feed supplements, many other products and promising drugs that are capable of protecting plants from pests and make soils more fertile.
Countries that are successful in developing such projects and their further implementation will be able to make an impetus to many industries of the economy, including new ones. Russia has all it needs to do so. Of course, we are going to finalize the project. (Applause)
Dear friends!
Innovations have always been drivers for progress, have changed the way of life and shaped the basis for advanced sectors, have opened the horizon of possibilities. Starting from the earliest times, we saw it happen when copper was substituted with bronze and then…
Remark: Iron!
Mikhail Mishustin: What is this?! He is a unique guy.
Remark: After that there was transition to iron, during the Iron Age.
Mikhail Mishustin: Good. What did the invention of the wheel prompted?
Remark: The invention of the wheel prompted the creation of wagons, carts…
Mikhail Mishustin: Crafts. Well done! And transport. You really are prepared. I thought he learned some facts. But no, he has something to add to almost every topic in my lecture.
Irrigation systems took our agriculture to a higher level. That was what happened when the world was developing.
For example, writing and book printing gave people access to new knowledge, they started to share that knowledge.
As a matter of fact, technology in the world develops in leaps and is influenced by such factors as access to natural resources, proximity to trade routes and many other factors. It is affected by both external and internal conditions. The Great Patriotic War is another such example. The solutions appeared at the time managed to turn the tide of the hostilities and, to a large extend, ensured the Great Victory.
Now we see that more solutions needed for the special military operation appeared. New solutions, which are going to form the basis for industries in the nearest years, appear. It is not an exaggeration to say that we stand at the threshold of a new era, where new materials, chemistry, robots, biotechnology, artificial intelligence will change our economy, medicine and education as well as the way of life as we know it.
There is only one thing that remains unchanged. Advanced technology is always created by people who are talented, have profound knowledge and can think creatively.
Russian people are precisely of the kind. As our President said, ”the main gold reserve of Russia is its people“. It has always been and always will be like this.
The heroes of the Great Victory gave us a priceless gift, which is life, a possibility to create and dream, raise children, achieve outstanding results for the sake of ourselves, our families and our country. Let their heroic act be an example and inspiration for all of us.
Today, Russia's success depends on you, the young people, who are going to build the future of our country with your ideas and hard work.
I would like to wish you to always yearn for knowledge, move forward, not be afraid of bold ideas, and to keep on going once you chose your way.
Believe in yourselves and think big. In that case, you'll do fine. (Applause)
Thank you, guys, for your attention.
I will take a few questions.
Remark: Naturally, there are a few questions, as the audience always finds something to ask. We would appreciate your answers after such an informative lecture.
Mikhail Gulyaev (third-year student, Moscow Aviation Institute): Good afternoon, Mikhail Vladimirovich!
My name is Mikhail Gulyaev, I study at the Moscow Aviation Institute.
Our university actively participates in a number of tracks aimed at achieving technological leadership, in particular it is engaged in the creation of research and production associations.
In this regard, I have a question: what are the plans of the Government to consolidate the technological sovereignty of our country? What will be the main priority?
That’s the question I wanted to ask.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you very much. There is a lot planned. The issue you have raised is a complex one.
Consolidation of the technological sovereignty is an important large-scale undertaking outlined by the President. Its realisation is crucial for the development of the entire country and its future. And it certainly requires a comprehensive approach.
The focus should not be on just one particular area.
I would like to describe our priorities in the pursuit of this goal.
Your name is Platon, is that right?
Platon Zakharov (tenth-year student, Vasily Orlov Maryina Roshcha School): Yes.
Mikhail Mishustin: What is the determining factor? What have we discussed?
Platon Zakharov: It is our people that determine everything. People are our only gold reserve shaping our future.
Mikhail Mishustin: Look at that!
This is our manpower!
Well done, Platon!
Human resources are the key.
Indeed, what is necessary to achieve any goal? It is competent, trained workers with up-to-date competencies and practical skills. Today, in order to achieve technological sovereignty, who do we need most? Engineers, technologists, researchers, people who can operate sophisticated machines.
We have geared our education system specifically to train such professionals. We are currently modernizing technical schools and colleges.
In recent years, I would like to draw your attention to this fact, 370 clusters of the Professionalitet project have been launched. They are now fully operational.
I will give you an example. Recently, we went to a technical college in Reutov. I met young people who are studying as part of the Professionalitet programme. I thought that they intended to finish the technical college and then go to a university or do something else with their lives. One class took me by surprise: students, there were about twenty (half of them girls), were trained as welders. They said: Welding is everything to us! They not only inspired us, including those who came with us to have a look at them, but also told us about their plans. I thought to myself: there must be something else. You have no idea what it was… There was one girl. I told her: Look, you are a nice young girl, are you going to study at a university? – No, I want to be a welder. I said: — You don’t want to… — I do want to be a welder.
And she told me that a welder can earn up to 300,000 rubles (as she had already found out), and that she was interested in engineering studies and all that. And all that became possible thanks to a teacher. There was a wonderful teacher there, a 6th class welder, whom we asked — we couldn’t just leave — members of the Russian Government asked him to talk with us. He said: Well, first of all, I love working with the students. Behind him there were two Heroes of the Russian Federation, who were from industrial facilities manufacturing special equipment. They are headhunting these students because they are remarkable. This kind of cooperation between our equipment manufacturers and great teachers can certainly provide us with any number of specialists we need. There was also a girl, a machine setup technician, who told us her story.
Guys, there is nothing to be ashamed of or afraid of. These are the best jobs.
By the way, these days your parents probably also say: Things were different back then. However, today, technologists, engineers, and graduates of the Professionalitet — this is the best we have! There is no real difference between a university degree and a vocational training. Nonsense. The Professionalitet provides excellent tertiary education to promote the sovereignty of your country. I believe that the human resources that we are training will be able to accomplish the tasks we are setting.
We also have 50 advanced engineering schools. The large-scale academic leadership programme, Priority 2030, features 142 universities. We are developing a network of world-class campuses so that by 2036…
Platon, do you know how many of them there have been?
Platon Zakharov: I could be wrong, but the campuses will probably be enlarged two to three times in order to…
Mikhail Mishustin: That's right. I will say it straight away: at least 40 — from Sakhalin to Kaliningrad.
(Applause)
There are a lot of people with many talents and skills in our country. We are creating opportunities for each of them to realise their potential, including by obtaining a qualification with good prospects. This aligns with our first priority, human resources. I have touched upon many topics, but I think this is the most important one today.
Our second priority is a solid research basis that underpins advanced infrastructure and enables innovation and breakthrough technologies. Research requires instruments, devices. We are building this basis. Following the President’s order, we are currently upgrading the equipment used by the country’s leading institutions. The equipment is a necessity. How can you conduct research without equipment? At present, there are already more than 600 centers enabling shared use of equipment and about 1,000 laboratories for young researchers. World-class science centers are working on competitive solutions.
Platon, how many of them are there?
Platon Zakharov: I am afraid, I do not know for sure.
Mikhail Mishustin: There are four in the field of mathematics, three in genomics and another ten in line with the priorities of scientific and technological development.
You still have a lot of work ahead of you.
(Applause).
We provide, among other things, special grants and facilities on the campuses of our universities conducting research in the field of artificial intelligence. Eight projects of the Megascience cluster are underway.
Third. It is support for our enterprises so as to provide them with maximum resources to produce new products that are in demand. We have a wide range of tools in place for that. Those have been developed on the President’s order and include all sorts of subsidies for R&D (research and development activities) as well as certain programmes by our Industrial Development Fund, which offers, inter alia, low-interest targeted loans (given the current difficult situation with the availability of finance). The recently established so-called cluster investment platform enables businesses to access long-term soft loans for major initiatives. We are working to scale up such public-private partnership mechanisms.
The fourth priority area is our technology leadership projects, including at the national level. I have described them in great detail in my lecture. Their implementation will pave the way for brand new, cutting-edge industrial enterprises, open access to advanced solutions for our businessmen and citizens, and eventually improve the quality of life – since in addition to the industrial sector, socially important sectors, such as health care, education, fuel and energy, transport and many other sectors responsible for our living conditions will become consumers of such products.
We expect the young generation of our citizens to join these efforts and achieve success in the chosen area through hard work and talent.
Rustam Iskhakov (eleventh-year student, Vladimir Dolgikh Technological Lyceum): Good afternoon, Mikhail Vladimirovich.
My name is Rustam Iskhakov, I am a pupil of the 11A form at the Technolyceum named after Vladimir Ivanovich Dolgikh, Moscow Oblast.
I would like to ask you: whom of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War do you consider an example?
Mikhail Mishustin: A great question.
You know, when I was young, our generation remembered dozens and dozens of names. Older people saw the heroism of our people in general: soldiers, military commanders, our partisans, volunteers, medical personnel, home front workers, scientists, engineers – all those who rose to defend our Motherland. The heroic feats of many people from that generation are etched in the history of our country forever. Many thousands were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
As a child I lived in a town of Lobnya in the Moscow Oblast. There are many monuments there. Each year on the 9th of May, we laid flowers to the legendary air-defense gun. You know, during their offensive, the Germans approached Moscow and were halted at Khimki and Lobnya. There was a defence unit who in fact blocked the approach. They all perished. So you see, we were raised as patriots.
My parents used to work at the Sheremetyevo Airport; I, just like others in my generation, wanted to pursue some career in aviation, whatever that might be. So, I was greatly impressed by stories about legendary pilots. Alexander Pokryshkin: “The bravest of the brave, the best Soviet fighter ace,” one of his award nomination papers read. He developed new Soviet air combat tactics. He worked out his victorious “thunderstorm formula”: “height – speed – maneuver – fire.” He shot down 59 or even 60 enemy aircraft. Our pilots drew stars on the sides of their fighters to count their victories. Hundreds of combat sorties, over 150 encounters. Yet, as his biographers usually note, these victories were not his greatest pride: most of all he was proud that none of those he had led into battle had died. This was what he was so famous for. (Applause)
He was a master of combat command.
The Tolmachevo Airport bears his name.
Other renown fighter pilots are Popkov, Viktor Talalikhin, Ivan Kozhedub – and of course, Alexey Maresyev. Boris Polevoi, inspired by Maresyev’s story, wrote his great book: “A Story about a Real Man.”
You all know, I believe, that during the war, Maresyev lost his feet and was encircled, but he did not surrender: he crawled out of the encirclement, and then he resumed physical training and was restored as a fighter pilot. He was a man of unbending will.
There was a female pilot, Marina Raskova. Now that you have asked, I am going back to what I learnt at school. We all were brought up to know these names. I think it is very important to remember the heroism of these people. Marina formed the first ever aviation regiment composed entirely of women – young women, girls. They were the famous “Night Witches”: that is how they were known during the war. They continued operations till the very Victory, even though Raskova had already perished in 1943 (I think).
Those examples are numerous. I can give you another one. There were scientific engineers who made our country stronger with their inventions. For instance, Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin.
Platon Zakharov: As you approach the railway station you pass by this monument to the great pilot, who carried out a transpolar flight over the Arctic.
Mikhail Mishustin: So we are homies, Platon.
Mikhail Koshkin was a very talented designer. But he died before the war. Do you know how it happened? He was carrying out winter tests of the T-34 tank. It was in 1940, and Europe was already at war; and he was testing the tank in winter conditions. He caught pneumonia and died, because he sacrificed everything to create the tank.
He mastered his job from scratch. I believe he studied in Leningrad. He was a bit over thirty. He was persistent and determined. Many doubted he would succeed. But nothing prevented him from designing the historic T-34 tank. Stalin called it “the first in the string of our armoured forces.”
The armoured vehicle had reliable equipment, high cross-country performance, strong armour, was simple to assemble and repair, which was very important. Koshkin used to say: “It should be as simple as possible, guys. Any mechanic should be able to handle it.” Later, we were taught the same at the university, when the T-72 tank design works were underway at the Machine Tool University where I was a student. So he did it.
As I have already said, Mikhail Ilyich died before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. But he launched his invention in mass production. Later on, T-34 was upgraded and became the most widely produced tank in the history of the machine tool industry, I dare say, tank industry. It was actively used along the entire frontline, leading the infantry and holding back enemy blows. T-34 always holds its place of honour in the Victory column, and Mikhail Koshkin will be always remembered as an ambitious and devoted innovator.
There were many people like him in those years, that is why I believe that for me, the main hero of the Great Patriotic War is the entire Soviet people: our grandfathers and grandmothers, great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers.
They stood united in the face of the enemy, showing courage and bravery, making it possible for our country to survive in the fiercest and bloodiest war ever. As I have already said, that war touched each and every family. Surely, you also have elderly relatives who cherish the memories of those years and heroes.
And I cannot but mention today's heroes – those who take part in the special military operation, those who, at this very moment, are risking their lives and are doing everything possible to protect our Motherland, to defend the truth, justice and our country's sovereignty. Indeed, these people set an example for each and every one of us. An example that will live on in our memory forever.
Alina Vasiliyeva (third-year student, International Relations Department, MGIMO University, Foreign Ministry of Russia): Mikhail Vladimirovich, I am a 3rd year student at the Faculty of International Relations at MGIMO. I would like to know: if you had an opportunity to ”reset“ the world for one day using the most advanced technologies, what global problem would you choose to solve?
Mikhail Mishustin: Good question, Alina. You will probably think that I am going to talk about artificial intelligence. Not exactly. And not about asteroid mining, nor digital inequality which is a very common topic for discussion today at the United Nations summits and various international organisations and platforms. No.
I would like to tell you the following. I would like to focus on something fundamental, but at the same time very simple and straightforward – the availability of electricity.
Have you ever thought about it? You haven't, have you?
Not the availability of oil or gas, but the availability of electricity as a service. Today, this is the foundation for making any digital breakthrough, developing new solutions, and improving the quality of people's lives. Because, in fact, internet technology, artificial intelligence, etc. – all of this has become the privilege reserved only for the developed countries, for those who have such a basic thing as electricity. But not everyone is that lucky.
I can give you an example. In Madagascar, an average family consumes as much electricity in a month as a Russian family consumes in one day. In Central Africa, stable electricity is a luxury, and in East Asian villages, children still do their homework in the light of kerosene lamps. So how can they in such a situation talk about the widespread introduction of generative artificial intelligence or the development of quantum computing?
To address the problem of electricity availability, global infrastructure of the future should, of course, include energy storage for balancing load peaks, for direct current lines that run across continents, smart grids; it should, in general, be based on nuclear and renewable sources, which can offer additional advantages. For example, such generation can reduce costs for citizens and businesses.
In Russia, we are working very hard on this. We pay a lot of attention to such technologies. We have recently launched the first Russian plant in Mordovia to create solar flexible modules. We discussed this issue not so long ago at the meeting of the Presidium of the State Council chaired by the President. This is indeed a crucial matter. Such panels, being thin enough, can be placed on the surface of buildings not damaging the roof. We will further promote this kind of production.
Dear friends, electricity is not just a technology. It is the basis of all the progress and innovation that we have in the world today. It is used in industry and medicine, in the banking system, for developing artificial intelligence, training, and even exploring space and, of course, in such everyday spheres as education, as I have already mentioned, health care, transport, etc.
If we truly want to build a just, sustainable and developed world (I mean technologically), we have to address this challenge of providing people with affordable, clean and stable energy in every corner of the planet, so that in the 21st century electricity is no longer a privilege, but a basic right. (Applause).
Anastasia Getmanskaya (second-year student, St Luka Lugansk State Medical University): Mikhail Vladimirovich, my name is Anastasia, and I come from the city of Lugansk.
I am a 2nd year student at the St Luke Lugansk State Medical University. I would like to ask you the following question: how do you see Russia in 10 years? What are the main words you would use to describe it?
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you.
This question has already been answered by the President quite recently, and I really appreciated his words. He said that Russia is independent, free and strong. That's the best way to put it.
Independent – because our nation has its own way. Our priority is our national interests and the well-being of our people. It is impossible for Russia to be dependent. Right, guys? It's just not possible!
Free – because we have ample opportunities for self-realization, for our talents. Despite all the difficulties, we have a market economy that works. We are open for cooperation with other states and countries that share our values.
And strong – because we have the most talented people who, by their labour, add to the successes of our country, drive forward science, industry and economy. And we have an excellent army.
(Applause).
I am quite sure that in 10 years' time Russia will be exactly like this: independent, free and strong. Of course, three words are probably not enough to describe the future of our state. Russia is a country that has always prioritized improving the quality of life of every person, supporting our families and the defenders of our Motherland, developing education and healthcare.
Today, the most important task is to achieve technological independence and leadership, sovereignty, as well as to move to new economic and social standards based on modern technologies, not knowledge.
In this regard, the Government, as instructed by the President, is working to achieve specific tasks and fulfil the national development goals set for us by the head of state.
Thank you.
I want to thank all the organisers for organising this lecture.
Today we have discussed with you a very important issue – the development of technologies that play an increasingly important role in the world today. And I would like to encourage you: be sure to get education, come and make your country stronger.
(Applause).
Thank you.
