RUSSIAN SCIENCE: TURNING BIOWEAPONS INTO BOTTLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000933 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR ISN/CTR (GOODMAN, DOLLIFF, BERNSTEIN), EUR/RUS (GUHA),EUR/ACE, OES/STC (DAUGHARTY) . WHITE HOUSE: OSTP FOR MARBURGER E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2017 TAGS: KIPR KPAO TBIO RS SUBJECT: RUSSIAN SCIENCE: TURNING BIOWEAPONS INTO BOTTLE TOPS REF: 06 MOSCOW 11278 Classified By: EST Counselor Daniel O'Grady. Reasons: 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A super-secret, elite bioweapons institute during Soviet times, the Institute of Immunological Engineering (IIE) now hosts an American company on its territory in an attempt to replace the state funding that ceased in 1994. Institute Director Dr. Sergey Pchelnitsov, who has spent most of his career at IIE, described to visitors on February 22 a once-great institute that somehow survived the "shock therapy" of the perestroika era, leaving behind its glory days as a magnet for some of the USSR's best biochemists to become a facility with a skeleton crew staff, contrasting with state-of-the-art equipment provided by the international community via nonproliferation assistance programs. The Institute has proven its entrepreneurial abilities by finding tenants for several of its facilities, yet has not found commercial success from its scientific endeavors. IIE weathered the loss of GOR funding, albeit emerging from the storm on a far more modest scale. It is less likely to survive the loss of international grants. END SUMMARY. -------------- From Scientist to Property Manager -------------- ¶2. (C) On February 22, EST visited IIE, which is located in the Chekhov district of the Moscow region, accompanying a representative of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) and a scientist from the Department of State's Jefferson Science Fellows program. Established in 1978 by the USSR Council of Ministers, IIE belonged to the Soviet Union's elite Biopreparat structure, which was charged with developing chemical and biological warfare agents. In 1994, IIE was abruptly abandoned by the Russian government, an action which IIE Director Sergey Pchelnitsov likened to being "thrown under a locomotive." While funding levels had been "excellent" during the Soviet era, IIE suddenly found itself without a kopek of government support. Instead, the Russian government revamped IIE as a joint stock company, retaining 49 percent of the shares. Of that 49 percent, 10 was awarded directly to Biopreparat and the other 30 percent was placed in a trust for Biopreparat to oversee. ¶3. (C) Pchelnitsov praised the situation, observing that "If (the shares) hadn't gone to Biopreparat, they could've gone to anyone." (Note: Biopreparat was represented at the meeting by Leonid Mikhailovich Keromkin, deputy director for the direction of science at Biopreparat headquarters in Moscow. End note.) Nearly drowning in debt and facing bankruptcy, the Institute surrendered some of its property to settle its tax bills and turned to the ISTC to fund its scientific research. Since 1994, the ISTC has exclusively funded IIE's research; Pchelnitsov maintained the GOR has contributed nothing to the Institute's survival. ¶4. (C) Money to maintain the Institute's aging infrastructure has been generated by property-related revenue, totaling 30 million rubles annually. IIE's main tenant is Alcoa, which uses its space to manufacture the metal tabs found on soda cans. Three to four other companies are now renting space to manufacture "biomedicines." Pchelnitsov noted that IIE hopes to someday manufacture its own biopharmaceuticals, but currently "has no means" to do so. IIE also provides basic utilities to its tenants, although none of the IIE scientists work with the private sector projects being conducted on IIE property. When asked why companies are attracted to the IIE facilities, Pchelnitsov praised the Institute's "pristine surroundings and environment." (Note: It was somewhat incongruous to hear about the pristine ecology of a former bioweapons lab. End note) Pchelnitsov claimed that the water table is incredibly pure and has unique characteristics -- it is only one of three such water sources within Russia. He said he hopes to bottle and market the water at some point. Indeed, he apologized that the water served to his guests was from elsewhere. -------------- Bygone Glory Days -------------- ¶5. (C) Despite the Institute's relative success in finding tenants from the private sector, Pchelnitsov bemoaned the impact capitalism has had on Russian science. Science, according to Pchelnitsov, is now racked by the "disease" of business. Promising young scientists shun research institutes in favor of the healthy salaries the business community can provide. Whereas in the Soviet era IIE offered a host of alluring perks to young researchers from subsidized housing to special kindergartens, the Institute no longer even has a dormitory or cafeteria to recommend it. When asked how Russian science could attract the next generation to its labs, Pchelnitsov wistfully said he believed the business sector would soon be full, thus forcing potential scientists to turn to research institutes such as his. Meanwhile, however, IIE's staff is dwindling; it has slid from a peak of 500 total staff in 1993 to about 100 now, of whom only 18 are full PhDs. Most of the scientists with whom EST met had been at the Institute from between 20 to 30 years. ¶6. (C) Soda cans and bottled water are a long distance from IIE's original mission. Pchelnitsov relived the Institute's glory days with his visitors, fondly reminiscing about his work with the USSR Ministry of Defense on pathogens and regional immunities. From his desk in the near-empty institute, Pchelnitsov recounted how the MOD provided him with "thousands" of conscripts to treat with experimental interferon tablets. Explaining that the number of indigenous populations in the USSR produced a great diversity of diseases and immunological reactions to study, Pchelnitsov cited one example of the Institute's work with a military divers school in Sevastopol as a highlight. ¶7. (C) IIE continues to conduct scientific work with ISTC funding. When asked whether they had tried to diversify their funding sources to include GOR research grants, IIE staff responded that it had proven impossible to obtain any funding from Russian ministries since the Institute was now completely "outside" official responsibility. The Ministry of Health, for instance, was interested in only funding the institutes for which it had oversight. Approaches to Federal Public Health Officer Gennadiy Onishchenko had produced no results. He is interested in promoting and funding only those institutes under his purview, an approach the scientists felt was reasonable. ¶8. (C) Applications to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) were also impossible, since NIH grants would be subject to Russian taxes, rendering the actual grant amounts so small as to be worthless. Thus, the IIE scientists made repeated pitches in support of the ISTC, one going so far as to display a PowerPoint slide that baldly stated, "ISTC Is Great." On a tour of the facilities, each ISTC project number on each piece of equipment was pointed out, driving home the point that without international support, IIE would have withered long ago. While the premises were well-maintained, albeit basic, the stillness characterizing the Institute was not just a result of the thick blanket of snow outside, but the dearth of personnel. ¶9. (C) Despite their entree into property management and plans to bottle water, IIE management and staff indicated they had met with little success in commercializing their research. Indeed, Pchelnitsov and his staff professed to be unaware that the ISTC even had a commercialization team and could contribute resources and advice to IIE on marketing ISTC project results. While in many ways the Institute has adapted its administrative approach to market conditions by bringing in tenants, it has yet to view its scientific research from a market-oriented perspective. -------------- Comment: The Future is Now -------------- ¶10. (C) In some ways, the cocoon of ISTC funding has buffered the IIE from orienting its work to meet market demand. Pchelnitsov has found creative ways to improve the administration of the Institute, but the approach to scientific research is remarkably Soviet-era in its indulgence of research for the sake of "science," rather than revenue. Other mementos of the Soviet era abound, from the blank areas on the wall once dedicated to proclamations of the Communist Party to the quaint "Parents' Corner," undoubtedly once heavily used when the Institute actually employed staff young enough to have small children. Another relic of the Communist era was the presence of Dr. Keromkin, the Biopreparat minder who said little but listened to everything. While the GOR may not provide any financial support, it does take an interest in the Institute's work and interactions with foreigners. ¶11. (C) IIE's trajectory -- from its illustrious origins to its current humble state -- might foreshadow what other institutes will experience if the current trends in science reform continue (REFTEL). The metaphorical train that "ran over" IIE in 1994 appears to be heading for the institutes affiliated with the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). These RAS institutes have taken GOR funding for granted and are generally unused to commercialization. Like IIE, many of them will first turn to property management for revenue, rather than commercialization. This will take them farther and farther from the work they dreamed of doing, back in an era where to be a scientist was a mark of prestige, one that came with housing, special schools for one's children, and financial security. As IIE has demonstrated, nostalgia is a powerful thing, but it won't generate funding. BURNS