Opinions & Interviews

PM: Belarus' science needs fine-tuning, not a major overhaul

MINSK, 30 July (BelTA) – Belarus' scienсe does not need a major overhaul, but the system needs fine-tuning, Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko told journalists following the meeting on 30 July where Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko reviewed the performance of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, BelTA has learned.

According to the prime minister, there are no plans to carry out a massive overhaul or restructuring of the National Academy of Sciences .

“We must protect and preserve what has been created. But there is such a word (maybe it is a bit overused, but very accurate) - 'fine-tuning'. The tuning has been done, but the system needs to be adjusted, because time goes by, priorities change, some tasks become more urgent, as the world is going through turbulent times. In order not to end up on the sidelines, we should update our priorities in time,” Roman Golovchenko noted.

According to the head of government, one of the most urgent priorities is technology transfer or the introduction of scientific outputs into mass production. There are still many issues to be dealt with in this area. For example, there are not enough engineering companies in Belarus that could perform these functions.

“Maybe we will go further along this path. Maybe, quite the opposite, we will use administrative leverage to encourage certain industries to commercialize research outputs. We need to come up with financial instruments to support enterprises who seek to utilize the outcomes of research that is done not within an enterprise, but, for example, at the Academy of Sciences. This is also very important, because commercialization of scientific discoveries is quite an expensive thing. To do this, it is necessary to do a great deal of preparatory work, purchase new equipment, fine-tune production processes, etc. Therefore, it is imperative to offer financial incentives to facilitate this process,” the head of government remarked.

As for the performance review of the National Academy of Sciences, the main goal of this work is not to take scientists to task, but to search for reserves to make the economy even more innovative. “We are jointly trying to find reserves that will bolster the Belarusian science,” the prime minister added.

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