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