16 April 2004 18:50
Russian president raps education minister for inefficiency
[Presenter] The fight against counterfeit goods and piracy was the topic of the conversation between Vladimir Putin
and Science and Education Minister Andrey Fursenko. The president once again drew the minister's attention to the
need the protect intellectual property. Valeriy (?Sancherov) reports:
[Correspondent] Protection of copyright is one of the government's priorities. The president himself said that
the Interior Ministry and the special Service for Intellectual Property and Trade Marks under the Science and Education
Ministry, and our foreign partners in the G8 are following this work attentively. They have already carried out a check
and discovered that only one of 10 DVD discs purchased in Moscow had a licence. All the rest were pirated copies. And
regrettably, the inspectors noted, very high quality ones, at that, sometimes even higher quality than the licensed
copies. But Minister Fursenko thinks that there are no grounds for rejoicing about the skill of our shadow producers of
counterfeit goods.
[Passage omitted: piracy could result in sanctions and fosters illegal trading, Fursenko says]
[Correspondent] Fursenko went on to say that we are fighting against piracy not for America or Europe but primarily
for ourselves: if we fail to guarantee intellectual property rights, we will not be able to keep our own people who are
creating such intellectual property and hoping to put it on the world market. He does admit that the Russian population
does not yet earn enough to be able to afford the legal output of western producers, and the ministry is now drawing up
proposals to reduce the price of goods. Vladimir Putin backed this.
[Putin] I wanted to talk to you about this. We can call on people to do things, explain that things must be done, and
we have to do this, and we have to fight against the criminal world and even against terrorism. But I think our efforts
will hardly be efficient unless we, together, you and the government reduce prices for legal products and ensure their
availability, and until we have set up the appropriate legal base and have taken relevant administrative measures.
[Correspondent] Another topic touched upon during the meeting between Vladimir Putin and the science and education
minister was the question of carrying out the president's proposals. Andrey Fursenko is not yet a very experienced
official, and evidently was not aware that all the president's instructions, including verbal ones, have to be
carried out. Therefore, asked by the head of state what decisions had been taken about joining Novosibirsk State
University to the Siberian Department of the Academy of Sciences - this issue was examined at the February Science
Council - the minister was frankly at sea. He simply floundered, talking about everything but what he had done about the
point at issue.
Patiently listening to Fursenko's monologue, Vladimir Putin gave him a precise programme of action for the whole
of his period of work as a minister.
[Putin] I have a request for you. Everything you have said is important and necessary, and I hope it will be done.
However, concrete agreements and decisions must be executed. So I ask you to remember what we have agreed on - the
relevant notes and protocols are there - and to take a sheet of paper, note down what we have agreed to do and to draw
up with the Academy a concrete plan for carrying out the two or three things that we agreed on.
[Passage omitted: Putin instructs Fursenko to report back on his discussions with Academy President Yuriy Osipov]
[Correspondent] Andrey Fursenko promised to work with Academy head Osipov to put things right in the next few days,
and to finish reorganizing his department as soon as possible. One of the main tasks of the Ministry of Science and
Education, he said, will be to create a society founded upon knowledge, since nothing will be achieved without good
specialists, Andrey Fursenko declared.
[Radio Mayak] |
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