Press Release, July 5, 2013

On June 5 YABLOKO’s activists conducted a series of one-person pickets by the State Duma against the reform of the Academy of Sciences. YABLOKO leaders Sergei Mitrokhin took part in the action.

Sergei Mitrokhin

“It’s a useless reform and should be stopped immediately”, said Mitrokhin.
YABLOKO leader believes that another measures should be taken to enhance the prestige of the Russian science. “The financing of science should be increased and and the system of receiving grants should be changed because it is bureaucratised now”, explained Sergei Mitrokhin.

The YABLOKO party opposes the reform proposed by the government and insists that a successful perspective reform of the Academy can take place only as a result of an open public discussion and debate within the academic community.
“This organisation should be independent and one shouldn’t give them orders. Today the government wants to turn the Academy into a canary in a gold cage – “we’ ll increase your salaries and feed you better, but you will lose your independence”, said Sergei Mitrokhin.

Grigory Semyonov, YABLOKO’s municipal deputy

Sergei Mitrokhin believes that Vladimir Putin should take Alexander II for a model. During his emperorship the universities gained academic freedoms which the government wants to take away today”.
“Everyone’s salary should be increased, but not by means of taking away freedom. In this case it’s not the increase of salaries, it’s a bribery of the scientists”, added YABLOKO leader.

Sergei Mitrokhin said that YABLOKO is ready to help the scientists to attract the attention of the society to the problem, organize protests and support them in the struggle for their rights: “We need to protest and if it’s a mass protest then we will by no means achieve results. If the scientists put up with their fate, they will be forced into the corner.”

The pickets were conducted at 9 a.m. About 100 people came to protest against the reform. YABLOKO’s activists hald a poster with a slogan “The reform of the Academy of Sciences is a crime against the Russian science”.

See also:

Grigory Yavlinsky on the reform of the Academy of Sciences

Bureaucratic reform of the Russian Academies is inadmissible

Alexander Korbinsky: “German scientists still feel the damage Hitler did to scientific schools”