25.12.2007 // NTA-Privolzhye

Sergey Kiriyenko: Russia’s competitiveness depends on intellectual rather than material resources

Russia’s competitiveness depends not so much on its material resources but on the intellect of its people and their ability to compete on the market and to produce high-tech products, the head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko said during a press-conference on Monday.

He said that VNIIEF (Russian Federal Nuclear Center — The All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Sarov, Nizhniy Novgorod region) had an excellent basis for testing and research.

“We would like it to be the best in the world. We must recruit the best and pay them worthy wages. We are working in this direction,” Kiriyenko said.

He said that, according to the President’s decree, in Jan 2008 the key men of the nuclear weapons complex will start receiving target premiums worth up to 20,000 RUR a month.

Starting from Jan 1 2009 VNIIEF will receive almost 1.5bln RUR a year for renovating its infrastructure and for current expenses.

In order to effectively develop the nuclear weapons complex, it is necessary to train highly qualified personnel. “This is one of our priorities,” Kiriyenko said.

In his turn, Acting Director of VNIIEF Valentin Kostukov said that the industry needed a system of personnel training.

“We need specialists who will be able to solve our present tasks,” Kostukov said.

As was reported earlier, Rosatom is considering the possibility of involving specialists of Russian federal nuclear centers in civil nuclear projects.

Kiriyenko said that the key “treasure” of the nuclear industry is not resources but the intellect of people. So, it is necessary to invest mostly in technologies and people.

Kiriyenko said that, if Russia was going to compete on the global nuclear energy market, it had to raise the salaries of its nuclear specialists to the world level.

The key problem of the nuclear centers is that they are not commercial companies and receive money only from the federal budget and under state contracts. “The number of state contracts is growing but not as quickly as we would like it to,” Kiriyenko said.

In order to get additional funds, Rosatom is planning to allow specialists of the federal centers and research institutes to take part in commercial civil projects. “We can’t grant the money, we can let them earn it,” Kiriyenko said.

He said that by 2010 the salaries of nuclear workers will be redoubled.

In 2008 Rosatom will start to pay target premiums to employees of the federal center: from 5,000–20,000 RUR a month per employee.