Putin calls for programs to return effective scientists to Russia from abroad

NOVO-OGARYOVO. April 1 (Interfax) – The Russian authorities should think about expanding programs aimed at returning qualified Russians who are working as scientists abroad, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with the students and faculty of the Baltic Federal University.

Vladimir Vanag, director of the Institute of Chemistry and Biology at the Baltic Federal University, who earlier worked in Boston and has now returned to Russia, said he knows about a dozen scientists who are ready to return to Russia, but there is a problem with wages.

“If they come in the same way as I, they get a normal wage, but it’s not enough. For this reason, if there was a special program to invite such scientists and pay them at least 60,000 rubles a month, it would be a good incentive,” Vanag said.

Putin, in turn, said such a program exists, but it may not be enough. “We want people from our so-called diaspora such as you, who left Russia, to returna(euro) It’s not that they (our academicians) are jealous of people from our diaspora who went abroad to work. They are telling me and the public that they are interested in their return, but only those who will work here as effectively as they do there and can do it. Taking everyone back and beginning to pay them more than our ordinary professors and scientists will be unfair,” Putin said.

Putin recalled that there is a very effective system of grants in Russia. “It’s so-called grants and mega grants. People who are selected and prove what they can do and what they can achieve receive 150 million in grants. Seventy-seven people have already received such grants,” the president said.

Putin said scientists who left Russia have certain advantages. “Working in major foreign research centers, they have additional knowledge and additional contacts. They have a natural competitive advantage. They should use them. But you are right when you say that the state should think about extending its programs,” the president said.