Interview

Mintimer SHAIMIEV

25 November 2009, 18:39

The President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev has told Interfax how Tatarstan intends to solve strategic tasks in the coming year.

Mintimer Sharipovich, the President of Russia days ago delivered a state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly, in which he defined national priorities and set out strategic goals and objectives for the next year. How do you intend to solve them in Tatarstan? What are the priorities for you?

First of all, I would like to note that the President’s mobilising state-of-the-nation address contains approaches to solving many urgent issues. Quite a few proposals made within the discussion of the Russia, Onward! article have been considered. Some of them were made by Tatarstan.

The head of state focused on mandatory modernisation of our country. With that, Dmitry Medvedev made a fair observation that this is impossible without well-educated, healthy and spiritually wealthy people. People like that are the fundament of every society.

Russia is a well-educated country; yet, in the present-day conditions, we need to speak of a level of education that could make our people competitive. Unfortunately, we have failed to achieve this throughout the years, although there is a stratum of very talented youths who could contribute to modernising some areas. This is definitely insufficient for a country like Russia, so accelerating the education reform should be made a focus.

We in our republic, jointly with the Russian Education Ministry, have decided to follow this path. Establishing a powerful federal university within Kazan State University is within the framework. It will be integrated into a single educational cluster. The process of education will cover all the stages, including high school, vocational education, higher education and academic science.

We have studied the foreign experience and used the most advanced techniques in the long-term programme of education development. The document is being elaborated on. The teacher who will be able to provide high-quality competitive education will be made the key element of the programme. A student might be ingenious but if they find themselves in the hands of a bad teacher, their potential could hardly be uncovered. The teacher’s work should be made prestigious. A person who receives an education in teaching should be interested in working within their profession. We will make required budget expenses but will make sure that a school teacher’s salary is not lower than in other economy branches. We need to create conditions for the most capable of staff to be engaged in teaching, including those working at universities and in manufacturing, so that a teacher could defend a Master or a PhD thesis if desired, thus opening up new prospects for themselves and not having acute financial difficulties. This is not utopian, if you ask me. The programme will be adopted during 2010, and like any other programme we are implementing in this republic it will be quite specific on certain areas and the schedule.

An advanced Teaching Institute is expected to be set up on the grounds of Kazan State Federal University within the programme. The name speaks for itself. We will thus begin shaping a competitive generation from a school teacher. I have no doubts we will succeed.

Mintimer Sharipovich, following the President’s address, the term “modernisation” is going be used, just like the term “innovations” mentioned by the head of state in his previous address.

For these words to not remain just new-fangled words you hear a lot, we need concrete steps. In my view, one such step should be developing petrochemistry based on oil and gas processing. We really can achieve a quick breakthrough in this area, that will allow high added value in large amounts and will help speedily increase Russian economy’s competitiveness. A paradoxical situation has occurred, when countries that receive oil and gas from us process them into the end product and then sell it across the world, including to us. Owing to oil and gas processing facilities, a great number of highly paid jobs has been created in these countries, newest technologies have been designed and implemented.

We, on the contrary, while owning huge oil and gas reserves and recovery, are establishing unpardonably few such enterprises. Suffice it to say that in terms of per-capita production of polymers and plastics, used to manufacture a great many consumer goods, we are lagging more than four times behind some industrialised states.

Petrochemistry and gas processing are the fields where there are no serious problems with attracting investments, as every larger bank is willing to loan these areas in the long term.

Solving this urgent task is curbed by monopolies, in my view, that, without knowing, solve their own tasks and care not for the country’s strategic interests in terms of innovations and modernisation through creating highly-paid jobs based on making competitive products. I think, the state should make an adequate decision regarding the monopolies, so that not monopolies govern the state but the state governs monopolies, if we are to admit their existence.

The state needs to provide favourable conditions for gas and oil producing companies, offering certain privileges, so they get interested in investing funds in the construction of oil and gas processing facilities. This should be done immediately, as we are dealing with a highly-effective area which niche in the global economic space seems to be narrowing. A civilised but tough competition for the market is underway. The related representative meeting, conducted in Nizhnekamsk by the chairman of the government, inspires optimism with both its content and spirit.

Over the recent years, a network of advanced petrochemical polystyrene, polypropylene, new types of rubber, polycarbonate and polyethylene production facilities has been built in Tatarstan. At present, the Tatneft association is building a largest petrochemical complex in Nizhnekamsk, worth over 200 billion roubles. It will supply the first products in 2010. In a few days, the Nizhnekamskshina association will launch a production facility manufacturing 1.2 million metal-cord truck tyres.

Speaking of modernisation and innovative development, we have to manifold increase construction of advanced motorways and other types of infrastructure.

We, I mean the regions, are unfortunately spinning the wheels, spending a lot of energy and words to ask for “kopecks”, as if we intend to build roads not in our home country. Progress in the 21st century is impossible without modern transport communications and a road infrastructure. I would like to hope that based on the tasks set out in the address, infrastructure-related projects will find their solutions, even if some items in the 2010 budget draft will have to be revised.

In his address, the President lashed out on corruption. Sceptics say the topic has become commonplace...

This evil should be conquered with more than half-measures, as we often do. Corruption can only be eradicated through effective, consistent and at times tough measures. For instance, we have been outraged and have called for order in the alcohol sphere, sometimes adopting acts of little effect. It is commonly known it involves a huge element of corruption and harbours shadow business. Without exaggeration, the business covers a substantial part of the country, involving various influential authorities. It is the basic reasons that need to be eradicated here, throughout the entire vertical.

Let us take the issue of setting quotas for food imports. The sophisticated form of lobbyism in our country nips in the bud domestic production.

Agricultural producers feel that even smallest moves aimed to restore order here produce great results. It is insulting to hear that Russia is incapable to provide itself with the basic food products. I am convinced we can support not our own population alone but supply food to other countries.

Mintimer Sharipovich, since the state-of-the-nation address is designed for the State Duma and Federation Council, the parliamentarians at the federal level immediately launched a discussion of a legal framework for the document. What do you expect of the deputies and senators?

I expect them to adopt high-quality laws that are relevant for the country and the regions. The State Duma and Federation Council often reduce it to half-measures, laws in the process of discussion become vague both in terms of time and content, while most of the ones introduced by the regions remain unexamined or are shelved. It is impossible to always wait for the President of Premier to make instructions. The government turns out to be interested and the parliament not. It should not be this way.

The many talks they have had about introducing technical regulations on milk. As a result, it has all been played down and nothing has in fact changed. Why did they have to make all the fuss then? The Duma’s debate of the law on trade is indicative in this respect. This happens mostly when a draft law affects the interests of larger businesses or of mighty lobbyists.

As a result, we, while loudly debating, have a non-working law that buries initiatives that are good for the nation.

If we are to truly implement the tasks set out by the President, which I think we are, all the legislative and executive authorities at all levels should commit to it. We have no objective reasons to fail reaching the set goals.

Action for the benefit of all of us is needed.