ST.PETERSBURG. Feb 3 (Interfax-AVN) - One-fifth of all R&D executed by St. Petersburg's research organizations is funded by the Defense Ministry, Alexander Viktorov, chief of the science and higher education committee of the city administration, told Interfax-Military News Agency Monday.
The 21 percent of the Defense Ministry are "just one percent below the figure of the Industry, Science, and Technology Ministry," Viktorov said.
He also said that that R&D accounted for 15 percent of the city's economy. Since 1998, it has risen five times, special R&D institutes leading in the investment record. They have increased their R&D investment from RUB1.8bn (USD56.5m) to RUB8.5bn (USD267m) in the past five years, he added.
According to the official, the leaders in the funding are direct R&D consumers, then comes the federal budget, and foreign investors. The latter have reduced their funding last year, Viktorov said.
"Lower investment attraction of our research centers for foreigners is explained by depletion of equipment, brain drain, and breach of succession in a number of scientific schools. Granted due funding, though, these problems are quite tractable, for St. Petersburg's research school is still highly rated in the world," he said.
He expected a rise in the interest during the celebration of the city's 300th anniversary. From May till June this year St. Petersburg will host a number of scientific conferences involving leading international experts, he said.