A law for chemistry: Putin urged to achieve superiority in creating new materials

Russia should achieve superiority in the field of chemistry and in the creation of new materials - this will make it possible to produce high standard products for global markets. Vladimir Putin said this on February 21, speaking at the Future Technologies Forum. External restrictions and problems faced by the country have played a stimulating role for domestic science, whose solutions today are often superior to foreign analogs, the president noted. He also assessed the possible return of Western companies to Russia: the head of state urged to treat it with caution in order not to lose the acquired potential, and also to provide an advantage to national manufacturers.

What Putin said at the Future Technologies Forum

The second day of the Future Technologies Forum took place in Moscow. In the World Trade Center, leading Russian and foreign scientists together with business and government discussed advanced scientific developments. Many of them also presented their projects here. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, for example, demonstrated to the forum guests innovations for medicine and agriculture - bioproducts, feed additives and bioreactors. "Rosatom" - developments for the nuclear industry, in particular, composite material with inclusion of boron carbide for protection against neutron radiation. And Sber again showed its AI-tools, which will accelerate scientific research in chemistry, material science and drug development.

On February 21, Vladimir Putin came to see the developments. The central point of the program was a plenary session with the participation of the President. at this meeting, the head of state set the necessary accents in the development of domestic science. It is important for Russia to achieve superiority in chemistry and production of new materials, as well as to multiply the potential of the chemical industry and related industries, the president said. "This means that we need to offer competitive both in price and quality, and most importantly - innovative solutions and products," he said.

Otherwise, vulnerability in the field of chemistry will lead to the loss of industrial sovereignty and strong external dependence. The President noted that the Russian Federation knows this firsthand - after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most important enterprises were destroyed and shut down, and the equipment was taken out of them.

- It is shameful, frankly speaking! I am ashamed in front of the people who spent their entire lives to create the chemical industry of the Soviet Union, who worked for future generations," he said.

Russia was able to successfully overcome the consequences of this. The head of state noted the construction of Zapsibneftekhim in the Tyumen Region and the Amur gas chemical complex being implemented by SIBUR. At the same time, we cannot be content with merely replacing existing technologies in the field of chemistry and new materials; it is necessary to develop our own platforms, Putin said. For example, the Russian Federation plans to launch the Siberian Ring Photon Source (SKIF) facility, which will significantly expand the functionality and range of possibilities of the Russian research infrastructure. The President invited foreign partners to work together.

Foreign engineers, for example, have already "overtaken" Russia in the field of engine building, the President emphasized. But he advised to treat this as a "good challenge". Also, Russia needs to start producing lithium on its own, and the country has had all the possibilities for this for 10-15 years. It is also important to increase the production of rare earth metals - this was generally pointed out by the forum participants.

How Russia will support the development of science

Financing of scientific research should be increased: the share of support should amount to 2% of GDP and involve special attention to breakthrough technologies, the President believes. Almost 170 billion rubles will be allocated from the budget for the national project in the field of new materials and chemistry in 2025-2030, and investments of Russian companies until 2030 may amount to about 1 trillion rubles.

- I meet with the owners and heads of companies sometimes - they have very ambitious, good plans, and I like this attitude. People's eyes are burning, we will support them," he said.

Today, the authorities and business are directly interested in the development of domestic science, said the State Duma. According to Natalia Poluyanova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Small and Medium Entrepreneurship, it is the partnership between scientists and entrepreneurs that allows, de facto, to work directly with "consumers" of technologies and improve them.

- This leads to the development of new high-tech products, assimilation and implementation of innovations in government agencies, and improvement of production technologies. Accordingly, the investments that business and government make in support of science pay off ten times over," the deputy told Izvestia.

Vladimir Putin also proposed to announce a new contest dedicated to the memory of the outstanding scientist Yevgeny Velikhov: the amount of grant for five years will be from 250 million to 500 million rubles. President of the Kurchatov Institute SIC Mikhail Kovalchuk told during the session that the center together with Rosatom and the Russian Academy of Sciences have already started preparing the contest.

Will cooperation between Russia and foreign scientists be restored?

The situation in the world was also discussed. The President commented on the possible return of Western companies to Russia. He suggested treating this process carefully so as not to lose the acquired potential.

- I ask the government to think about how we can regulate the interaction between our enterprises and those of our competitors in order to provide national producers with certain advantages. Yes, within the framework of the WTO, but nevertheless we have created certain difficulties, and we can regulate accordingly the return to our market of those who want to return. By creating and preserving advantages for our own producers. We need to do it subtly, carefully," said the head of state.

Moscow is not going to erect barriers to partnership with Western scientists, but expects that their politicians will realize the harmfulness of limiting cooperation with Russia in the field of science and education. On the same day Vladimir Putin just met with Russian and foreign scientists. During the conversation, he noted that joint work in today's conditions is difficult, and thanked those who continue contacts with Russian partners.

SIC "Kurchatov Institute", for example, will support the decision to restore international cooperation, if it is adopted by the country's leadership, said the head of the center Mikhail Kovalchuk to journalists. At the same time, despite the fact that "Russia now has too much of its own business" in the development of domestic science, the country is open to the resumption of cooperation with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), if such a proposal is received, said Mikhail Kovalchuk.

However, the external constraints and problems faced by Russia have rather played the role of a stimulus for science and business, the President noted. Moreover, domestic solutions often turn out to be more effective than foreign ones. For example, Russia has become an undisputed leader in the Arctic: many people want to cooperate with it in building icebreakers. Vladimir Putin also recalled the newest Russian complex "Oreshnik", which the world learned about on November 21. At that time, in response to attacks on its territory by American and British weapons, Russia tested and launched a combined strike on a Ukrainian military-industrial complex facility - in Dnepropetrovsk, Oreshnik hit a large industrial complex.

- The whole world is talking about "Oreshnik"! What are the materials? The temperature on the warheads corresponds to the temperature on the surface of the Sun," the head of state said. - At the end of the 80's we thought about making such systems. We could not, because there were no materials. That was the problem. It flies and melts like an eskimo, and the control signal passes. These are the results of work on new materials.

Russian scientists as well as specialists in the gas industry consider another domestic technology to be cost-effective as well as safer: underwater transportation of reduced natural gas, Vladimir Putin said.

- When Mikhail Valentinovich [Kovalchuk] mentioned this to me a couple of years ago, I said: "Are we going to transport gas on submarines?". Nothing of the sort, Gazprom and Novatek believe that this is quite possible and will be profitable, it will be effective," the President emphasized.

In the future, the Russian Federation can also provide delivery and operation of power plants on the Moon at the expense of its own scientific developments, Mikhail Kovalchuk said during the meeting. The scientist noted that today the Kurchatov Institute, Rosatom and the Russian Academy of Sciences are jointly developing electrodeless rocket plasma engines for spacecraft of the future, including missions to the Moon and Mars.

The plenary session also discussed the importance of regulating data arrays for the development of artificial intelligence (AI). President of the Kurchatov Institute, speaking about the development of AI and robotics in Russia, reminded that 36 years ago our spacecraft "Buran" flew in fully automatic mode, which no one can still repeat. "Here is the answer about artificial intelligence," Mikhail Kovalchuk said, answering Izvestia's question.

- We have [had] nuclear icebreakers for many decades, and we are in the Arctic. We have the largest population - almost 2 million - living in the Arctic zone. The Americans have two icebreakers, and they don't have nuclear icebreakers. So they have no experience, which means we are decades ahead. Somewhere we are a little behind, somewhere on par, that's how life works, it's a race," the scientist summarized.