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Olga Romanova: A question for Dmitry Borisovich Zimin:
Why, being a patriot and patron of sciences,
he is keeping all assets abroad like a pensioner,
instead of building institutes, laboratories, or high schools
like Shinyavskiy, Ledentsov, Solodovnikov, and hundreds of others like them,
who lived and worked in the late 1800s and early 1900s?
Dmitry Zimin: Any endowment earns money where it can be earned.
That means that it makes investments like any pension fund, right?
It makes investments in very reliable assets.
That means that creating institutes is insane and is only good
for loosing money, right? And it is earning it.
And then the foundation is involved in the development of science.
With this money you will not have much of an institute,
but the foundation does what it can.
All that is present on our Web sites of the Dynasty Foundation.
Whose question was that?
Olga Romanova: Vladimir’s.
Dmitry Zimin: Well, he seems to have somewhat inaccurate information.
Olga Romanova: Again, about money; so, again we come back to Yukos.
Dmitry Zimin: The Yukos story, naturally, strikes everyone by its injustice.
If there is a decision by an independent court on it,
it will probably be a just and right decision.
And if that happens, I think we must only welcome it.
At the slon.ru Web site, where I work,
we are carrying out a large-scale survey
concerning respect enjoyed by businessmen, the level of appreciation, etc.
And fairly many people have voted already, some 100,000 people.
The distribution of the voices is curious:
Chichvarkin is in second place and Khodorkovsky is in third,
but a distant first is “against all”.
And here again the question is about respect
felt toward business and businessmen.
And still, two victims of the government hold second and third places.
Dmitry Zimin: Doing politics and doing business are different things.
I think that it is wrong to criticize business for keeping silent.
I would also keep silent in their place.
And I did keep silent when I was a working businessman.
Whether you like it or not, that’s the way it is.
They are two different things.
By the way, even in free countries business
may be involved in support of politics, financial support of politics,
but it takes no role in politics itself.
Olga Romanova: And are you not bothered by anyone now?
You are everywhere, and everywhere you go,
you talk and express your opinions.
Don’t they attempt to hand you a subpoena?
Dmitry Zimin: Well, I don’t know.
I think that lately, over the past few years,
I have been leading a quiet life.
Only when I am asked a direct question,
I have nothing to do by answer bluntly.
I would put it this way:
Of course my soul aches
because of what is happening in our country,
Olga Romanova: I have read a very curious research work today:
the writer says that Russia has a population of 140 million;
15 million have access to the internet;
that means that 15 million people have alternative news,
express their own, alternative opinions, read, write,
and have a chance to see something different from Channel One
and channels two, four and the like.
But that is only 15 million. Is that many or few?
Dmitry Zimin: That is not many under any circumstances.
But I would like to remind you that all sociological surveys say that
the driving force in science, politics, discoveries, crafts,
business are just a few percent of the people after all.
Olga Romanova: Thus, 10 percent is many?
Dmitry Zimin: From this point of view, 10 percent is many.
And they can play a decisive role in the fate of our country.
Thus, from this point of view, that is many.
Olga Romanova: And what do you think,
since this is the holiday season after all,
what miracle must happen in our country
for something to change in 2010 or 2011, let alone 2012?
Dmitry Zimin: I can say what hopes could be pinned on.
We have what we call the “resource curse”,
when it turns out that it is easier to buy commodities in the West
for the enormous and largely easy money
than produce anything domestically.
That is true about all things high-tech.
Well, we see what is happening.
When there is nothing to produce,
then there is no place for science, intellectuals.
To break the situation, for worthy economic
and intellectual life to develop in our country,
there must be very serious political will.
Olga Romanova: Whose political will?
Dmitry Zimin: Political will of those who have political power
in their hands or those to whom the power may come.
Olga Romanova: Putin has very much political will.
Its color is a different story.
Dmitry Zimin: No, I said political will to overcome the resource curse
and make our country free,
because only free people can develop modern economy,
economy of postindustrial society, society of knowledge and high tech.
That cannot develop in the absence of a competitive way of life.
There must be competitive way of life in the economy, in politics.
Let God give the ruling power enough reason, strength,
and political will to carry out absolutely essential changes
in our country by evolutionary means,
changes that refer to the emergence of competitive way of life,
unconditionally democratic change of authorities
at all levels upon expiration of a certain term.
There is, of course, no development without that.
If I were a believer, I would pray for that to happen.
Olga Romanova: Last week, a very young journalist,
who is still a student, went to a Khamovniki Court session
for the first time and came back excited, bouncing off the walls.
To my question “How was it?” he says,
“Listen, they look so good, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev! They look so good!”
I say, “And why are you so happy?”
He says, “They are such blooming, smart,
good-looking, healthy, and optimistic guys.
You can understand how it vexes those others who look at them!”
And I thought, “Damn, and what if there may be something in it,
to hell with all them.
A parallel country is living, and maybe they will feel rotten
looking at us while we feel so good without them? We will outlast them.
We will walk free, we will make it …
Olga Romanova: …in the nearest future to see Mikhail Borisovich and Platon here with us.
Dmitry Zimin: I wish that very much, and not only I do so.
God bless them and us and our country.
Not everything is lost yet. God bless.
Olga Romanova: Thank you, Dmitry Borisovich. God bless.