Press Release,  July 2,  2013

Members of Saint Petersburg Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences held a meeting against the reform of the Academy of Sciences proposed by the government. The meeting was held outside Saint Petersburg Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the Universitetskaya Embankment. Deputy of the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly (the YABLOKO faction), Professor Alexander Korbinsky addressed the meeting.
“The Academy of Sciences has always been an island of freedom, freethinking and independence. Khrushchev was furious when he didn’t manage to get Lysenko’s supporters to the Academy in 1964, but he had nothing to do with it. When Brezhnev and Andropov tried to fire Andrei Sakharov the academicians did not allow to do that. At the beginning of the 2000s Putin did not manage to remove Berezovsky from the Academy. But not because the academicians liked Berezovsky so much, but because they have self-respect”, said Korbinsky.

“They understood that they wouldn’t be able to protect anyone after this. They [the authorities] will do away with one person first and finish with the whole Russian science. The academicians knew what professional and human solidarity was”, underlined the deputy.
“I want to remind you that our German colleagues say they still feel the damage Adolf Hitler did to the scientific schools. They still cannot extricate themselves from the consequences. Our authorities try to carry out the same experiments with the Russian Academy of Sciences”, said YABLOKO’s deputy.
“The physiologists who are present here can confirm that there’s one more reason: our officials have a very well-developed grasping reflex!” Korbinsky compared the reform of the Academy with the situation with The Russian Institute of History of Arts in Isaakievskaya square (St. Petersburg) which is situated in a “dainty” building [the authorities try to remove the Institute from the building where it has been situated for more than a hundred years because of its location and high cost]. “The struggle for the Institute still goes on and no one knows want it would come to”.

“This situation covers the Academy of Sciences as well because our authorities stick to the point of a grocery’s owner: If I give you the money, you will do everything that I want. It’s bureaucratic way of thinking when orders are not to be discussed. It never happened in the Academy of Sciences and God grant it will never happen”, said Korbinsky.

“I wish those present the sense of professional and human solidarity, we need it more than ever now. The YABLOKO party supports us and already adopted a statement against the bureaucratic reform of the Academy of Sciences. YABLOKO’s faction in the Legislative Assambly of St. Petersburg also supports us. On behalf of the unversity community I can tell you that we will always support you. Wish you strength and success!” concluded the parliamentarian.

See also:

Bureaucratic reform of the Russian Academies is inadmissible
Actions against reform of the Academy of Sciences took place in St. Petersburg and Moscow