Under the current government agenda, Russia will significantly increase the financing of science and education in the coming years.
"The 2007 budget allocates 278 billion rubles ($10.68 billion) for science and education, which is 31% higher than in 2006," Russian Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko said.
He said the government plans a 70% increase in the funding of the national education project, which will total 49 billion rubles ($1.88 billion) in 2007. The previous year, the education project accounted for 212 billion rubles ($8.1 billion).
Over 100 billion rubles ($3.84 billion) will be allocated for scientific research and development projects, up 30%, year on year, he said.
President Vladimir Putin launched the Russian national project "Education" in 2005 to improve the country's competitiveness in the educational and scientific spheres.
