The Military Industrial Commission listened to a report by the Minister of Education and Science, Dmitry Livanov, on a new system of personnel training for the defence industry. Commenting on the report, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the right personnel are a key to success in the defence industry. "Without properly trained researchers working in military science and properly staffed military-industrial enterprises we won't be able to address the challenges that we are faced with under the state armaments programme," Dmitry Rogozin said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the outlined measures should change the system of selection and training of personnel for the defence industry. "We should have the best of the best students study at our technical colleges, not the ones who went there because they failed to be admitted elsewhere," he added. According to Rogozin, the issue of personnel for the defence industry transcends theindustry: "This has a lot to do with the approaches the state, the public and the nation take towards defence and security issues." He added that professions such as technicians, engineers, designers should become reputable and prestigious. "This is not a technical or an economic issue, but rather a political one for a big country like Russia."
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During the first meeting of the Council for Public-Private Partnerships at the Military-Industrial Commission, Dmitry Rogozin said that he expects private capital will bring new ideas to the Russian defence industry. "We expect private business to bring fresh ideas to the Russian defence industry. We are expecting to see new people who are able to take risks, defend their position and occasionally discard traditional approaches and unnecessary rules," Dmitry Rogozin said.
The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the Russian authorities are interested in more private sector involvement in the defence industry. "We want to see more private business in the Russian defence industry for the simple reason that it not only improves the competitive environment in Russia, but also enhances Russia's competitiveness on international arms and special military equipment markets," Dmitry Rogozin said.
Private companies that have come to the defence industry lately are faced with major challenges, including issues of intellectual property rights and participation in advanced research, which requires regulatory improvement. The Government, he said, is ready to "hear and listen" to proposals from private businesses and assist them accordingly. "We will support any undertaking that seeks to improve our national defence capabilities," Dmitry Rogozin said.
