Innovative businesses in Russia cannot exist at the expense of the state and entrepreneurs should take an active role in developing innovation in Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.
"Undoubtedly state funds should exist and they should be invested but this cannot last forever," Medvedev said at a meeting with the national modernization commission .
"Absolutely private, freely running companies independent from the government should arise as a result of these investments," the president added.
However, he pledged that the government would continue investing money into "the most urgent systems and the most important programs."
Medvedev said it is necessary to understand that not all innovative research will bear results, but this does not mean that researchers should have to bear personal responsibility for failures.
The president also said that only normal employment and living conditions could stop Russia's brain drain.
If conditions in Russia are competitive, people will surely return to Russia, he said.
"Of course, we should make serious efforts to achieve this, but there is no other alternative. We can't, after all, drop an iron curtain or use other methods to prevent the brain drain."
SKOLKOVO (Moscow region), December 14 (RIA Novosti)
