RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES SCRIMMAGES WITH MINISTRY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 003239

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/RUS (GREENSTEIN, SIKORRA),EEB/CBA
(MERMOUD),OES/STAS (DR. ATKINSON),OES/STC (DAUGHARTY)
WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP (DR. MARBURGER)
BERLIN FOR ROBERT HAGEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2017
TAGS: TSPL, TNGD, TPHY, RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES SCRIMMAGES WITH
MINISTRY

REF: A. MOSCOW 1974
B. MOSCOW 1704
C. 06 MOSCOW 12582
D. 06 MOSCOW 11278

Classified By: EST Counselor Daniel J. O'Grady. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d)

1. (C) SUMMARY: The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)
recently appointed Mikhail Koval'chuk and Anatoliy Grigoriev
as acting Vice Presidents, reflecting a continuing struggle
between the government and the RAS. While Grigoriev is a
respected full member of the RAS, Koval'chuk only aspires to
full RAS membership. Koval'chuk brings to the RAS, however,
the multibillion dollar GOR budget for nanotechnology, but he
also represents the prospect of increased governmental
control. This conflict will play out against the backdrop of
legislative and Presidential elections in December 2007 and
March 2008. Its outcome, and the continuing turmoil itself,
will adversely impact the investment in new technology. END
SUMMARY

2. (SBU) On June 26, the Presidium of the Russian Academy of
Sciences (RAS) appointed Mikhail Koval'chuk as acting Vice
President in a move deemed by many in the media and the
Academy to be a compromise with the Ministry of Education and
Science in the struggle for government control of the RAS.
Media reports and commentary cited a reputed tradeoff in that
Kovalchuk's close connections to the government will bring
the RAS access to the 130 billion ruble (approximately $5
billion) budget for nanotechnology research and development
that he administers as Director at the Kurchatov Institute
and the Institute of Crystallography. (REF A) Since
Koval'chuk is only a corresponding member of the RAS and not
a full member, he technically did not qualify to be an
officer. However, in a move called "face saving" by the
independent newspaper Kommersant, the Presidium also named
RAS Secretary for Biological Sciences Academician Anatoliy
Grigoriev as acting Vice President to share the duties.
(NOTE: Grigoriev and Koval'chuk were appointed to "acting"
posts because an officer can only be elected during the RAS
elections that take place during the annual RAS General
Meeting, which is expected to occur in April or May of 2008
after the March Russian Federation Presidential election. END
NOTE)

3. (SBU) Grigoriev is Director of the Institute of Medical
and Biological Problems (IMBP) and Head of the RAS Division
on Life Sciences. He is co-chair of the U.S.-Russian Joint
Working Group on Space Biomedicine, Life Support Systems and
Microgravity Sciences that has met frequently with NASA
medical scientists for three decades. He has an exemplary
scientific background and is respected widely for his skill
at bringing together people with opposing viewpoints. He has
a forceful personality and will be an equal match for the
domineering Koval'chuk. (NOTE: Koval'chuk hosted a dinner for
Undersecretary of Commerce Robert Cresanti to celebrate the
2006 opening of the Nanotech Center of Excellence in Moscow.
When Koval'chuk rose to leave at the end of the meal, the
entire Russian delegation of approximately a dozen people
stood up --some of them in mid-sentence-- and departed in a
few seconds. END NOTE) When ESToff met Grigoriev at the
IMBP-hosted meeting of the Joint Working Group last November,
several Russian attendees mentioned that he is a potential
candidate to succeed Yuriy Osipov as head of RAS, which
places him squarely in competition with Koval'chuk. (REF C)

4. (C) The government, acting through the Ministry of
Education and Science (MES),has been trying for the past two
years to rein in the RAS and gain access to the assets and
associated revenues controlled by the hierarchy of the RAS
and its various institutes. (REF D) In March, RAS members
rejected the new MES-drafted charter that would have placed a
Supervisory Council over the administration of the RAS. The
membership voted by a large margin in favor of a charter that
maintained its 200-year old independence from government
oversight. As he revealed in remarks made in an April
meeting with EST, Koval'chuk belongs to a wing of the RAS
that feels the older RAS generation has abused its position
and stayed in power too long. (REF B) As such, these Young
Turks welcome the opportunity for government intervention to
unseat the elder wing. Koval'chuk represents a ready
instrument of government action.

5. (C) Academy Member Yury Ryzhov (protect),President of

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the International Engineering University, told EST last week
that "this business of the RAS vice presidents appointments
has nothing to do with science. This is all part of another
plan to gain bureaucratic control over the Academy." He
noted that Koval'chuk's appointment was packaged with the
huge nanotech budget as a means for the government to
"sweeten the pill" and put its own person in the Academy
administration. On the issue of the enormous spending on
nanotechnology, he disagreed with Koval'chuk's position that
Russia could catch up with U.S. nanotech prowess by massive
investment. He called current Russian use of the term
nanotechnology "unscientific" because there is no commonly
agreed definition of its purpose. Another contact at the
Academy told us recently that the RAS needed to cover the new
field of nanotechnology and Koval'chuk was a good candidate.
She pointed out that Grigoriev's appointment was timely
because the previous incumbent vice president for life
sciences had died recently. She did not see Koval'chuk's
appointment as tied to the nano money, but she said his
selection had the effect of asserting governmental supremacy
over the RAS.

6. (C) COMMENT: The appointment of Koval'chuk has all the
appearance of a prepackaged deal similar to the agreement to
allow Yuriy Osipov to stay on as president of the RAS past
the mandatory retirement age of 70 in exchange for his
backing the MES charter. The defiance of the Academy rank
and file in an election year -- Duma elections are in
December and the Presidential election in March 2008 -- has
compelled the government to proceed cautiously. The Academy
seems to be holding its own, however, as demonstrated by the
appointment of Grigoriev, who will be a formidable rival to
Koval'chuk. In this chess match, there is no end game in
sight, but both sides are guarding their flanks. This
struggle has put the nanotech money in play and will divert
time and attention from the effort to invest in needed
science and technology reforms.
RUSSELL