Putin Urges Private Firms to Fund Science in Novosibirsk as Civilian Research Spending Falls to 792 Billion Rubles
Updated
Updated · UNITED24 Media · Aug 11
Putin Urges Private Firms to Fund Science in Novosibirsk as Civilian Research Spending Falls to 792 Billion Rubles
1 articles · Updated · UNITED24 Media · Aug 11
Summary
Putin used a Novosibirsk science council meeting to press domestic companies to directly finance breakthrough technologies as civilian research funding shrank under wartime budget pressure.
792.1 billion rubles — just 2.5% of total federal spending — now goes to civilian science, while roughly one in three budget rubles is directed to the military and security forces.
Tight security surrounded his August 11 visit to open the Siberian Circular Photon Source and a new student campus: police lined routes every 50 meters, residents were told to stay indoors, and university facilities faced closures and movement limits.
Fuel prices at Novosibirsk stations stayed at 63 to 85 rubles a liter despite the presidential trip, unlike earlier visits to Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk that coincided with temporary price drops and shorter queues.
The trip also reflects a broader wartime travel shift, with Kremlin visits increasingly focused on Siberia and other eastern regions as Ukrainian drone operations make European Russia less suitable for such appearances.
Can Russia's private sector truly save its isolated scientific ambitions as the war economy drains state funding to a historic low?
What hidden threats prompted the unprecedented civilian lockdowns in Novosibirsk during the unveiling of a facility built entirely without foreign technology?