Russia Leveraging Development and Educational Aspects of National Projects

Today’s discussion between Putin and Igor Shuvalov, Chairman of VEB.RF State Development Corporation, provides an opportunity to look at a portion of the history of Russian educational institutions that are organizations separate from schools yet intimately connected nonetheless. One is the recently created Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the other is the Znanie (Knowledge) Society whose roots go back to 1863 and was recently reconstituted in 2016 by a Putin decree. These are only two of a number of organizations both within and without the formal education system and often directly associated symbiotically with Russian business and industry, that are designed to increase the wellbeing of all—state, people, and the economy—in a manner that will self-perpetuate.

First lets see what’s being leveraged and how as discussed in this short dialog between Putin and Chairman of the State Development Corporation, VEB. Russian Federation, Igor Shuvalov. VEB can be characterized as a state/public owned bank whose job is to work with the Bank of Russia and Russian commercial banks to finance the National and Strategic Development Projects formulated by Russia’s government. Here’s one description from 2021:

Under Shuvalov, the development bank ‘Vnesheconombank’ was transformed into the state Development Corporation “VEB”.The Russian Federation”, Putin has given it new functions and powers. In particular, VEB became responsible for coordinating the activities of development institutions and the long-term socio-economic development of the country. [My Emphasis]

As you read, VEB is a vital Russian institution intimately involved in organizing its continuing development, what Xi would call Modernization. Now the talk:

Vladimir Putin: Igor Ivanovich, good afternoon!

How is your institution doing?

I. : Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, everything is fine. Regulation of the banking sector and the corporate sector in general today allows not to provide public reporting on their activities. We understand that these are temporary measures – we hear about this constantly from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. However, since the results of 2022 seem to be positive for us, including for interaction with our counterparties in the capital market, in agreement with the Government, we decided to open some data. And I want to report these data to you.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

Igor Shuvalov: VEB's net worth currently stands at RUB 785 billion, with a high capital adequacy ratio of 15.1 percent. By law, we must keep the bar at least ten percent. When the capital adequacy ratio approaches the level of 11 percent, this is already a subject for discussion with the Central Bank and the Government, but now we have a fairly high margin of safety. We provided this information to all the creditors we worked with, including foreign creditors. Moreover, we agreed that in order to build a more trusting relationship, we are ready to provide more information.

What's going on with our tools right now? "Project Finance Factory": The Government decided this year to give a certain relief for the period. You were just talking about this, and this is your instruction, because now there is a situation where businesses want to share more risks with the development bank.

According to its original rules, the Project Finance Factory required 20 percent of the project initiator's capital. So far, a decision has been made for the next two years that the investor can provide 15 percent. Thus, for him, this is a certain relaxation.

Last year, you also spoke about the need to create equity funds. All such decisions have been made. We are already launching the first two funds. The total limit with VEB's participation in such funds will be 200 billion rubles. Thus, it will be possible to add up the initial contribution of the initiator at the expense of its own funds and these equity funds. It seems to us that this will be quite effective.

We are already working in such a way that we can work with the market for up to 10 rubles per ruble of equity capital – we treat capital carefully-and raise up to 30 rubles for this amount through lending by commercial banks. Thus, up to 40 rubles can be attracted to the project for one ruble of capital. This is already a common practice for us.

The main partner banks that we work with are Sber, VTB and some others with state and non-state participation. We will now try to promote the "Project Finance Factory" mechanism not with the largest banks, but with some regional ones. There are all possibilities for this.

Also, at the meetings on the development of innovative and high-tech sectors that you held, there was a question that the legislation, in principle, does not encourage us to participate in such projects. The government issued an order that the market has already called the "right to risk": we now have the right to form a portfolio and be responsible for the result of the entire portfolio, rather than for individual transactions. This decision has been made. Its absence has always hindered us in making investment decisions – now we have a tool to invest in the creation of high-tech holdings and operate with the best players. In particular, we are currently considering one of the projects to create a large company in the field of cybersecurity.

When the development bank was first created, it was mostly some complex projects of the industry or such objects as Sochi before the Olympics. Now these are both major projects and projects that are more understandable to people: public transport and a modern urban environment. We participate in joint programs with DOM. RF and regional authorities. In general, everything related to the development of the urban economy is now a priority for us.

Vladimir Putin: Very good.

What role do you think this new tool you mentioned will play? I understand that it will contribute to the development of this investment activity, but you have, as they say, heard: what other options and projects are possible besides what you have mentioned?

Igor Shuvalov: There are a lot of interesting projects in the field of education right now. The direction that is called EdTech: this is high or new technologies in education, a very promising direction. Because what [needs] to be taught? We should always be in cooperation with the Ministries of Education or Science [and higher Education], and we are working with them. But modern forms of training and other methods of bringing knowledge are just modern companies that [exist] on the market either in the form of very small start-up companies, or – some – have already gained serious positions. So this new rule will now allow us to create a conglomerate, help investors acquire both small and medium-sized [SMEs] and large companies that will be able to feel comfortable not only in the Russian Federation market, but also in other foreign markets to be seriously represented.

Vladimir Putin: Excellent. Thank you.

It seems the idea is to create an educational conglomerate consisting of already existing SMEs, combine them with some larger entities and create something similar to Rostec except in the field of education instead of industry. Other leveraging directed at further developing the urban economy was also discussed and resulted from new legislation enabling that leverage. The secrecy the Bank of Russia wants to employ is aimed at keeping unfriendly nations from easily learning about Russia’s economic progress—let then continue to fantasize about Russia failing.

One of the public organizations formed by the Russian government is the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, which as implied is involved with the implementation of Russia’s strategic initiatives. One month ago, Putin again attended its annual forum, this year’s theme being "Strong Ideas for a New Time." It should be noted that Head of the ASI Expert Council is Igor Shuvalov. What makes this organization and its forum unique is that it’s “An annual event aimed at identifying and supporting implementation socially significant initiatives of Russian citizens that contribute to strengthening Russia's sovereignty and achieving the country's national development goals until 2030.” In other words, it’s a forum for a type of direct democracy in which any and all Russians are welcomed to participate. The head of ASI Svetlana Chupsheva describes the process:

[E] very year we see an increase in the number of ideas and projects that are submitted to the platform. If in 2020 we had 15 thousand applications, then this year--23 thousand. We have 400,000 members and users crowd platforms that offer their ideas, projects, as well as evaluate and help to "twist" those ideas that are proposed by leaders from all over the country.

No age restrictions: from schoolchildren to older people - sages, who are also involved in this project. Different professions: doctors, miners, Scientists are absolutely all represented.

We are very glad that people believe in their country, that people are ready to share ideas, projects to solve the most difficult issues, difficult tasks, and the main thing is for the development of our country.

And this number will only grow along with the participants in other academic contests, of which there are a dozen currently, several of which are international. In his speech to those assembled, Putin illustrates more of what the forum’s about and in the end discloses why it’s important to have a mechanism most nations lack that is a form of direct democracy involving citizens in their nation’s development:

Vladimir Putin's visit to the exhibition "Development of the Creative Economy in Russia"

Vladimir Putin: Dear friends, good afternoon!

Thank you.

I welcome the participants of the third forum "Strong Ideas for a new time", [under the motto] "Strong ideas for a strong country"!

And the new time is not some distant future. This is, in fact, our time, we live in it today. Here are the interests of our Homeland, the country, and the aspirations of the people for whom we work, learn, create, fight and fight.

The contribution of every Russian citizen to the common cause, the teams of every enterprise and, of course, young creative, scientific, and business teams, as well as all initiatives aimed at strengthening and developing industrial, intellectual, and technological potential, is now significant and important.

[To talk] about how to further support such a desire – to benefit, serve the country and the people, revealing their talent and potential, today, as I understand it, we have gathered for this very purpose, this competition was organized for this purpose, which Svetlana [Chupsheva] told me about just now.

Since 2020, the number of proposals submitted to the forum has increased by more than half. And, frankly, I am sincerely glad that residents of the historical territories of Donbass and Novorossiya have joined your project. I want to greet them separately.

I would like to emphasize once again that social, entrepreneurial and volunteer initiatives are a real engine of development. A strong, responsible civil society is the foundation of our country's sovereignty.

Using the best solutions and proposals put forward by our citizens, businesses and other associations, we need to set high standards for social support, urban and locality improvement, and create a supply-side economy – in other words, an economy that does not live off the consumption of foreign goods, imported goods, but creates and produces modern goods, services and technologies by itself.

I repeat: all this is within our power, and we certainly have all the opportunities for this creative path of development. Even now, our companies produce products with excellent characteristics, which are often in no way inferior to foreign analogues, and sometimes even surpass them. And I'm sure it will. This superiority is the point: not to copy, but to go one step ahead.

While it happens, of course, that the goods are good, but little is known about them yet. Now only at the exhibition and talked about it. Who came up with something with bones-it seems to be nonsense, but good nonsense, useful, especially for families with children. But no one knows about it. I hope that thanks to events of this kind, people will know more.

As you know, any monopoly, any domination is not eternal. Our companies and teams are ready to compete, and many have already proved it. When I spoke about monopoly, I was referring, of course, to your Western competitors, because, in fact, in many industries they have secured this monopoly here – in our domestic market – for themselves.

Our manufacturers are already proving and proving that they can work better. Now it is important to help Russian manufacturers, as they say, to promote, so that we have our own brands, which the country can and will be proud of, and which will be recognizable not only in Russia, but also in the world as a whole.

We are all adults here, and you are entrepreneurs, you know that everything is done gradually, step by step: let's start with the nearest neighbors, with the CIS countries, then the SCO countries, BRICS-the market is incredibly large, colossal. Listen, in the BRICS countries, as you know, most people on the planet live in the countries of our allies.

That is why I asked the Agency for Strategic Initiatives to hold an annual contest of the best new domestic brands on the sidelines of the forum and invite small and medium-sized companies to participate in it.

The organizers planned that 500 brands would come to the contest – so I was just told – well, a maximum of a thousand. However, it turned out that in just two months, more than five thousand applications were submitted from domestic manufacturers of clothing, food products, and developers of high-tech solutions. The competition was, as far as I understand, very, very high, and the winners were also certainly worthy.

I congratulate all of you-the winners in this case-on this victory.

I have already mentioned the exhibition that I have just seen, and I want to say that, of course, the results of what many people have done are presented at this exhibition, they are impressive.

I asked my colleagues from the Presidential Administration and the Government – separately, in the most solemn atmosphere possible – to award the creators of such brands. And since these entrepreneurs are now with us in this hall, let's once again congratulate and welcome them. (Applause.)

I am sure that your ingenuity, entrepreneurial and creative talent, of course, played a decisive role on the way to victory. At the same time, I would like to add that almost each of the winners was able to rely to some extent on measures to support the national project for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, and used the most modern trademark registration mechanisms.

So, over the past seven years, the period for obtaining so – called trademark protection certificates in Russia has been reduced almost three times-to four months. For example, last year in the United States of America, this procedure took an average of almost 14 months, in Japan – eleven, and for our friends in the People's Republic of China – from one to two years.

By the way, today a law comes into force that gives the right to register trademarks not only to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, but also to self-employed citizens.

For reference, Russian entrepreneurs have submitted more than 43,000 applications for trademark registration in the first five months of this year. This is a 35 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022. Moreover, the number of registrations of domestic brands and the turnover of trademark rights is constantly growing, which means that they are becoming more and more valuable assets. We need domestic entrepreneurs to learn how to capitalize them more effectively and extract additional profit from this.

Dear friends!

I have already said that for a long time large foreign companies, in fact, displaced our domestic products, and not always at the expense of quality and price, but at the expense of aggressive advertising and, of course, subsidizing the goods that they produced at home, and there in some areas the subsidy is simply crazy.

As a rule, the WTO does not notice this or notices it, but it cannot do anything, because our foreign colleagues, especially in Europe, have learned very well how to circumvent all these WTO requirements.

And of course, huge resources were invested in advertising. Some even turned their departure from our country into a high-profile PR campaign. I don't know if a PR campaign will help their business or not-I doubt it, it's unlikely.

As I have already said and said many times, because of sanctions, because of the departure of Western companies, the world did not collapse. On the contrary, moreover, opportunities for Russian entrepreneurs have expanded many times over. They actively occupy vacant niches in the market, develop new ones, including export directions. As a result, the entire economy is moving forward.

I will mention a few indicators, I mentioned this yesterday when I was in Dagestan, but it is not a sin to repeat here: Russia's GDP grew by 5.4 percent in May – over a year, from May to May. This is a decent indicator. As for the manufacturing industry, the growth is measured in double digits - 12.8 percent. The manufacturing industry has grown, great. This is not only at the expense of the defense industry, but also related industries are growing. And this is against the background of the lowest unemployment rate in recent history and low inflation. This is good work, this is a good result.

Now we need to offer such support tools so that domestic companies sell their products more efficiently, learn how to convey to the consumer, as experts say, their mission, the value of their goods and services. And so that their purchase carries positive emotions in addition to this for the person. In this regard, I would like to emphasize that this is not only a matter of business development – but also the quality of people's lives and, naturally, the resulting pride in products made in Russia.

Our friends in India and the Prime Minister, a great friend of Russia, Mr. Modi highlighted a whole concept a few years ago – "Made in India". And you know, the effect is real, the effect for the Indian economy is tangible. It is not a sin to repeat what is invented, if not by us, by our friends and works well.

Of course, we need to think about making our products more comfortable and functional, with a modern look and characteristics. Therefore, industrial and product design should become an important resource for the development of domestic business. At the end of May, we discussed this at a meeting with representatives of the creative industry and will definitely think about what can be done here in addition.

I would also like to point out that we also told them that a huge niche has been vacated, and we need to occupy it, occupy it, occupy it: two million square meters and two trillion rubles, a niche of some kind – I don't want to work. I see that very interesting, good things really appear, it's just very expensive to see and, I hope, not only to see them, but also to put them on and use them.

I would also like to note that major retail chains and leading Internet platforms are already using their opportunities to promote domestic brands. It is no coincidence that many large companies supported this competition during this competition. This is not an accident: not because they are so kind or they have extra money, no – they just need you, they need you. And we need to justify this, so to speak, business trust and quickly fill all these niches and, of course, shelves. But we don't have any empty shelves, thank God, and some people were hoping for that.

They also said that Channel One, which provides informational support to the brand contest, is launching a large television project called "Our Everything". And, of course, this is the right approach. I hope that there will be such synergy with the media as well.

I believe that we need a purposeful policy of promoting domestic brands in every possible way, and at all levels: in the mass media, primarily state-owned ones, in social networks and in new media.

And of course, each region should have its own programs for promoting local brands. I want my colleagues in the regions of the Russian Federation to hear me now. This is not some nonsense – this is a very important area of joint work. After all, it is in cities and localities that the path of small businesses and local brands begins, the path to national fame, to projects of federal and, I hope, international scale begins.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the governors of the Novgorod and Pskov regions, the Republic of Udmurtia, the Kamchatka Territory, and many other regions who help promote the products of local enterprises, work in dialogue with entrepreneurs, and see a powerful resource for the long-term development of the territory in supporting active, socially oriented people.

Dear friends!

We have repeatedly seen that support for the regions is of key importance in the course of implementing business, public and, of course, social initiatives.

Let me remind you that at the last forum we discussed a project from the Orel region to create family multifunctional centers. Today, they work in 21 regions, helping families with children to solve important everyday issues, and quickly – using electronic services, in online mode.

Of course, there are many more successful projects implemented thanks to your forum than I can mention right now. I think that not everyone is represented at the exhibition either. They are unique, original, and prove their effectiveness in real life, as they say, on earth. I hope that people are already using it and this practice will expand.

In this regard, I would like to thank all those who help the best ideas gain strength, and these are: Agency for Strategic Initiatives (applause) - stormy long applause, I support, " VEB.Russian Federation, Roscongress, regional leaders-I see some of them here. So we would like to thank all those involved in this process.

These are also colleagues from ministries and departments who provide real support to public and business initiatives, remove all sorts of administrative barriers, although, in my opinion, they have been removing them for decades. It turns out something – all the issues are still unresolved, but they are moving in the right direction.

And with your support, I say without exaggeration, it is with your support that this work should and can be continued, and in the most effective way. Because feedback – after all, the Government has feedback from business, it is necessary that this kind of life is preserved. Because you feel where there are problems, you feel where there are some traffic jams, and it is necessary, including through " VEB.Russian Federation", and through the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, submit these signals and proposals: how to get away from what hinders development, hinders moving forward at a better pace than it is today.

I hope that the mechanisms for selecting and implementing civil projects will continue to improve. And the authors of the ideas that we have just met and will probably listen to again will receive the necessary support at all levels.

We still have a few minutes to tell the participants about your ideas and projects – I will be happy to listen, and if I can help you in any way, I am at your disposal. [My Emphasis]

As you read, the abandonment of the Russian market has generated a huge opportunity for Russians, and they’re taking advantage. If Putin is seen by some readers as Russia’s #1 cheerleader, they would be quite correct. Putin’s entire political-economic philosophy is based on faith in the ability of Russia’s people—Russia’s Human Capital that builds everything else. Within the Outlaw US Empire there are 100 million people that are no longer counted in the labor force; Russia would love to have those 100 million. Indeed, the fact that 100 million exists is proof of America’s massive decline, where in 1946 the Full Employment Act was signed but what followed was a war on labor that’s existed from roughly 1950 onward. In order for Trump to even begin to make his mantra Make America Great Again, he would need to formulate the same sort of institutions and organizations Putin did to make Russia great again, and then run the Money Power out of Wall Street and replace it with people wanting to build prosperity, not dependency—a task far more important than merely draining the swamp, which also needed to be done. Today a vast gap has emerged between Russia and the USA in how they value their citizens. Why that is the case is a very thorny question that is reduceable to values and how those values were forged by the vastly different histories of the two nations. I’m going to close by providing one example of the different history and the values they forged in the form of the history of what eventually became Russia’s Znanie—Knowledge—Society taken from its website that chronicles the rise, fall and rebirth of what is a unique organization:

History and modernity

Back in 1863, the Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography was created at Moscow University, and in 1947 the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge was established, which, together with scientists, included cultural figures, doctors, teachers, engineers and other representatives of the intelligentsia.

The history of the Society began with the fact that on May 1, 1947, the central newspapers of the USSR published "Appeal to all figures of science, literature and art, academic, public and other organizations and institutions of the Soviet Union", signed by the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov, prominent scientists, public figures and artists of the country. The authors called on the intelligentsia of the Soviet Union to create an All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge.

On July 7, 1947, the General Meeting of the members of the All-Union Society was held at the Bolshoi Theater, which was attended by representatives from all over the vast country. The meeting defined the fundamental foundations of the organization's activities: approved the Charter; formed the Board of the organization; defined the tasks and membership in the Society; its structure and financial foundations of activity.

The first article of the Charter stated: "The All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge is a voluntary public political and educational organization and has as its goal the dissemination of political and scientific knowledge among the population of the country."

From the very beginning of its activity, the largest all-Union educational network mass organization (5 million members of the Society) has become a significant factor in public activity in the country. The main provision of the Charter defined the Society as a political and educational organization. During this period, his activities were aimed at supporting the post-war reconstruction of the country. At the same time, during these years, the popularization of the achievements of the natural sciences began to unfold actively: physics, astronomy, chemistry, earth sciences, etc.

1955–1975

The new edition of the Charter of the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge, adopted in 1955, proclaims as its first paragraph: "The Society is a voluntary public scientific and educational organization. It aims to contribute to the strengthening of the state by widely disseminating political and scientific knowledge among the population on the following issues: (a list of 25 thematic areas is given - foreign and domestic policy, all branches of science, activities in the field of culture, concluding with sports and the dissemination of best practices). In 1956, the Society "Znanie" of the RSFSR was separated from the All-Union Society on the rights of conditional autonomy (other republican organizations have been operating since the establishment of the Society in 1947).

The "thaw period" of the life of the country and the Society is characterized by revival and enthusiasm - the ranks of the Society are growing due to the formation of groups of its members in production teams. By 1964, there were already about 90,<> such groups.

Since 1963, the organization has been called: All-Union Society "Znanie". The Charter has been adopted, which provides for the presence of primary organizations at the heart of its structure. The Polytechnic Museum begins to play a special role as a scientific, methodological and educational center of the Society. Its halls host exhibitions and meetings dedicated to achievements and best practices.

Outstanding domestic and foreign scientists spoke in the Great Auditorium of the Polytechnic, which became a "nest of thaw poets of the sixties".

The Znanie Society actively participated in all socio-political and state actions and companies, conducted extensive educational work in the field of scientific and technological progress, space, nuclear and other high-tech industries. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, the Znanie Society was awarded the highest state award - the Order of Lenin.

The All-Union Society "Znanie" was the world's largest public humanitarian organization, which, according to the Charter, had a clear organizational management and hierarchy.

The authority and ability of the Znanie Society and all its structures to organize mass educational work among all segments of the population, especially young people, were especially clearly manifested.

1975–1991

Thousands of the most talented, bright and authoritative scientists, artists and cultural figures, military leaders, administrators, writers, film directors, managers, and outstanding athletes were involved in the scientific and methodological management of the organization and practical organizational work with the population. In the USSR, they gave almost 20 million lectures a year. Meetings with young people were interesting and informative.

The organization was headed by: academicians S.I. Vavilov, A.I. Oparin, M.B. Mitin, Nobel laureates - academicians N.G. Basov, N.N. Semenov, famous designers - academicians K.V. Frolov, V.A. Kirillin, I.I. Artobolevsky, I.F. Obraztsov, S.N. Bagaev and G.I. Marchuk, as well as authoritative state and public figures, such as O.N. Smolin, L.I. Shvetsova, N.I. Bulaev. The Knowledge Society of Russia united the color of the domestic intelligentsia. The organization numbered about 2.5 million people who not only conducted specific educational work, but also took an active life position.

This period is considered to be "stagnating". However, at the same time, the main achievements of the organization - the apogee of quantitative and qualitative indicators - are noted in 1987, when a new version of the Charter of the Society was adopted. Unfortunately, he unnecessarily politicized the activities of the organization. The thematic structure of enlightenment included the following sections: socio-political; scientific, technical and natural science. Much attention is paid to the first of them.

It should be noted that over the past forty years, the lecture form of enlightenment, as the basic one, begins to lag behind the times. The increased cultural and educational level of the population, a wide range of media services required a deep modernization of the Society's activities, for which it was not ready.

The inertia of the thinking of the party curators of the Society restrained its development, directing movement along the knurled track. The basic statutory prescription to the Company is gradually losing its expediency. The attitudes and guidelines given to the Society do not stand the test of the social and life experience of citizens. Under these conditions, the content and meaning of enlightenment begin to be replaced by the cult of ceremonial rituals and protocol forms of its implementation.

The main provisions of the subsequent version of the Charter, registered on February 25, 1991 less than a year before the actual termination of the activities of the All-Union Society "Znanie", are formulated accordingly.

Nevertheless, during the "stagnation" period, work was unfolding to support continuing education, to promote the professional growth of interested groups of the population, to master the knowledge they need from related scientific fields. The society helped the mass of specialists to master the ideology of "computer technology and its application." The first computer club was launched at the All-Union Society "Znanie" at the Polytechnic Museum.

Looking ahead, it is appropriate to note that it was these areas that helped the organization, especially its regional branches, which received full legal and financial independence, to adapt in the turbulent 90s and survive in the conditions of a spontaneous market and structural shocks. People's universities played a worthy role in this activity, which made it possible for specialists to replenish and update their intellectual and professional baggage.

This time was marked by the active development of international contacts, for example, with educational organizations of the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Republic of Germany), which contributed to the computerization of enlightenment and the system of educational structures and institutes under the Znanie Society of Russia.

The role of the Academy of Sciences in the life of the Society is invaluable. The traditions laid down by Academician Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov continued to be preserved until the very end of the activities of the All-Union Society "Znanie". The Society also worked closely with the Academy of Medical Sciences, popularizing medical knowledge and a healthy lifestyle, with the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences on the problems of raising children and family construction, the Academy of Arts and other scientific and professional institutions. Popular events were meetings of leading scientists and cultural figures with the general public in the Great Auditorium of the Polytechnic Museum and the House of Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the cycle "Tribune of the Academy of Sciences", etc.

Unfortunately, the Znanie Society of Russia, for a number of reasons, including the problems of reforming the Russian Academy of Sciences and the internal instability of the organization itself, has not been able to properly continue many of these traditions.

1991–2014

In November 1991, the X Congress of the All-Union Society "Znanie" was held, which actually completed the historical path of this unique educational organization.

The collapse of the USSR - the geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century - did not leave prospects for the future life of the largest and most effective in the history of the educational public mass association. The legal successors of the All-Union Society "Znanie" were the subjects of the republican organizations of the Society "Znanie"; on the territory of the Russian Federation - the Society "Znanie" of Russia.

A number of leaders and activists made attempts and concrete steps to transform the all-Union organization into an international association - in the form of an International Association or another form to consolidate the movement. However, as time has shown, these attempts did not have much success. The inertial development, formalization and bureaucratization that have been accumulating since the mid-80s, as well as the selfishness of national elites and their desire for self-isolation - all that led to the phenomena of stagnation and degradation - have become an obstacle to constructive interaction. The discord of all state systems and structures could not but affect the life of the Russian public association: the schemes, methods, business ties and contacts that had been developing for decades collapsed; Most of the considerable property of the organization was lost, including objects received from the All-Union Society "Znanie".

However, the most significant loss is the degradation of the individual and collective membership base, groups in labor collectives, organizational structures in small and medium-sized cities, municipalities, without which it is impossible to ensure mass educational work with the population in a huge country. All these years, the organization lived in a state of deep crisis and struggle for survival.

It should be noted that the activists of the Znanie Society in Moscow, St. Petersburg, in many regions of the Federation and regions carried out selfless work to preserve the structural structure of the organization, ensuring its functioning as an all-Russian organization. It is important to emphasize that for a quarter of a century, the public organization "Znanie" Society has been working in difficult conditions, mastering modern educational information and distance technologies, overcoming the inertia and misunderstanding of some officials, as well as the growing barriers of semi-market financing and resource schemes.

2014–2016

These are the years of critical and constructive analysis of the state of the organization, the consolidation of the asset around the ideas of the revival of Russia and the strengthening of its sovereignty. The basic positions and content of the mission of enlightenment in modern Russia are being formed in order to justify the need to move to a qualitatively new level of its systematic, organizational and methodological development.

New forms and methods of enlightenment are used using modern information technologies, the search for sustainable sources of financing in the changed economic conditions, the participation of organizations and structures of the Society in the implementation of grant projects under the programs of the President of the country and regional authorities.

However, the traditional forms, methods and basic technologies of the regional and central structures of the organization, which had developed over decades, increasingly lagged behind the processes taking place in the country in the socio-economic, socio-political and legal spheres.

The Znanie Society of Russia, for many, mainly subjective reasons, has lost the bulk of its intellectual and material and technological property. This was the main reason for the inhibition of the necessary modernization of the technological base and personnel system.

Obvious contradictions grew, and in June 2016, the XVII Congress almost unanimously adopted a difficult but reasonable decision on the self-liquidation of the largest educational organization.

The Znanie Society of Russia has made a worthy contribution to the history of Russian enlightenment and its services to our country and the multinational people, despite all the shortcomings of the last period, are great and undeniable.

2016 year

The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of 11.12.2015 No. 617 defines the basic conditions, forms and mechanisms for creating a mass educational organization of a modern level in the country, as well as, which is fundamental, the sources and procedure for its financing and resource support.

Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done on the organizational and structural construction of the new organization, its personnel, highly professional, methodological and technical support. The created organization is an association of a new type in terms of organizational, legal, information technology, regional structure and development.

The organization is intended to become a center for the mass educational movement, generating innovative ideas.

Fundamental changes in the information space have radically transformed the opportunities, tasks and goals of enlightenment.

On June 6-7, 2016, the First Congress of the Russian Society "Znanie" was held at VDNH, where the head of the working group "Education and Culture as the Basis of National Identity", member of the Central Headquarters of the All-Russia People's Front, State Duma deputy Lyubov Nikolaevna Dukhanina was elected Chairman.

The title of its first working group after its resurrection is very Russian, “Education and Culture as the Basis of National Identity.” During the USSR’s existence, every city and village had a cultural center erected that was much more than a library. Well before the 1917 Revolution, Russians realized the great need to educate their populace—all of them—and give as many as possible the chance to show their talent at an early age. Russian reverence for its great artists is well known and the great neglect of Russia’s masses is found as laments in numerous pieces of literature by its famous authors. One of the main cries during the 1905 Revolution was promotion of the people for literacy had become a matter of national defense and thus a strategic issue that could no longer be ignored, an aspect the defeat by Japan in its war with Russia only served to magnify. The lesson that literacy and technical competence were national security issues was recognized by most Western nations and they embarked on different forms of mandatory education for the masses. But recently within the last thirty years or so, it was decided to ration quality education by price of admission and many found it easiest to take soft non-science and math majors as the nature of how wealth was acquired drastically changed and economies become financialized and governments were bought by financial institutions and their oligarchies.

During the years of the Yeltsin Rape, the invading Neoliberals hoped to turn Russian education into a mirror of what was happening in the West—privatizing and downgrading it. Many institutions suffered as a result of that policy plus the collapse of Russia’s economy, although some of the major strategic institutions were saved. I witnessed the downgrading of educational standards within the USA firsthand as a college instructor and formulator of an adjunct educational program at community colleges as well as designing online course work for the just emerging niche of computerized distance learning. And it was those experiences that made me go Wow! when I first learned of Znanie in May of 2022 via the conversation Putin had with its General Director Maxim Dreval, which is what I’m closing this long article with. Of course, for the sort of program run by Znanie, you must have an honest nation as its leaders at all levels interact with the program as lecturers, as President Putin did to start Russia’s school year in 2021 which can be read in Russian here.

With the participants of the meeting with schoolchildren - winners of Olympiads and competitions in the field of culture, art, science and sports.

What Putin’s team and Russia’s people have done is to create institutions and a system of support that makes No Child Left Behind reality instead of rhetoric. It’s no wonder the West wants to eliminate Russia and Russians. But as events ate proving, it seems Khruschev’s decades old vow will be made to stand—We will bury you—when it comes to creating an advanced society. And now, Misters Dreval and Putin:

Vladimir Putin: Maxim Alekseyevich, let's talk about the revived Znanie Society.

M. Dreval: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: How long has it not been operating in this capacity?

Mikhail Dreval: It is symbolic that a year has passed since the reboot, on your behalf.

Vladimir Putin: Are you satisfied with the results of your work for the year?

Mikhail Dreval: You know, to put it mildly, our most ambitious expectations were probably exceeded, and mainly by the response of young people. We knew that there was a request, but we did not imagine that we would be able to reach more than 40 million people in a year. And you know, such difficult developing content about science, technology, about the history of our country, its culture, geography…

Vladimir Putin: It turned out to be a niche.

M. Dreval: Yes, it has collected more than 400 million views, this is only what we were able to count.

And now, for example, today the most popular topic is the topic of new opportunities, new horizons that are opening up in all areas. That is why we held such an event, which now takes place regularly: thousands of experts, scientists, businessmen, cultural figures, artists, and statesmen spoke at schools, shared their knowledge with children, and talked about new opportunities with them. After all, the time of change, the time of challenge is always a time of new opportunities.

And, by the way, speaking about opportunities, we understand that it is very important to rely on history and its experience, lessons. Therefore, the theme of history has always been one of the key ones and remains one of the key ones.

Another project is Peter's Time, which is timed, of course, to the 350th anniversary of Peter the Great. And as part of it, a whole series of events will take place all over the country in parks "Russia – my story", and even see a series of lectures about Peter I, which we are shooting together with your assistant Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky.

It is very important that Znanie not only launches its own lectures and events and tries to reach the whole country, but also that it has worked very systematically with all ministries, large companies, universities, and public organizations. For example, now Znanie appears at all major events that take place in the country. For example, at the St. Petersburg Forum, the Znanie studio works, and at the Eastern Economic Forum. We run joint marathons themed around the world. For example, a marathon was held with Roscosmos on April 12 about space, with Rosatom - on the topic of science and technology.We regularly hold joint events with VK ["VKontakte"] about information technologies.

Returning to the topic of history and new opportunities, we also devoted a huge, already traditional, perhaps the largest educational marathon to be held this year in May to the topic of new opportunities, new horizons and the role of Russia in the world. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you, Mr President, to attend the Znanie marathon again and hold an open lesson for the children. It will be held from May 17 to 19, for three days, all over the country, outstanding speakers would be very grateful if you could hold such an open lesson.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much for the invitation. I'll definitely check it out on schedule.

M. Dreval: Thank you very much.

Returning to the topic of cooperation with ministries, there is one very revealing interesting project. We have launched a competition of educational plays, the best of which Znanie will stage together with a professional director and, moreover, will help school and student theater groups to implement them at home.

You know, we were inspired by 17-year-old Lisa Kochetkova. She put on a play about children's bullying together with the children. Looking at this performance, we felt and realized how much even non-professional actors, children, were able to convey to everyone, very deeply convey a very important topic. And it became clear that such a format should definitely appear in Znanie.

Another new format that young people also suggested to us is the game format, because young people have always wanted an entertainment format of education, a game format. And last year, as such an experiment, we conducted a quiz, an online quiz for the whole country. It became the largest in the history of Russia, even got into the book of records. Inspired by this result, we decided to organize a whole championship that runs all year round, called it the "League of Knowledge". Now we are adding various other formats of competitions and even thinking of introducing the final of such games on television in order to further stimulate participants and once again show that knowledge is one of the key values in our country.

Naturally, the reboot would not have happened without our lecturers, they played a huge role in this work. Now Znanie has more than 8 thousand lecturers, and we expect to increase their number to 15 thousand this year. At the same time, it all started, Mr Putin, with 300 people. I am very grateful to them for their dedication and willingness to share their knowledge.

We actively expanded the lecturer community, adding first of all teachers and lecturers. But, you know, we saw that not only professional lecturers, but also people of various professions are ready to share their knowledge. Moreover, young people also wanted real examples of the experience of professionals from various fields. We have launched the "League of Lecturers" contest, which allows us to find talented educators from all over the country. More than 10 thousand people have already taken part in it. So we found both directors, engineers, and programmers as lecturers. For example, the semi-finalist was the military commissar, who, based on archival materials, reconstructs the stories of the exploits of soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. A variety of lecturers come to us.

Vladimir Putin: On what basis did you hold this competition? What did the winner get?

Mikhail Dreval: They work for six months, because the season of such a competition is held twice a year, they first perform online for an audience of different ages, they are evaluated by the guys, they are evaluated by our experts. Then they perform in the semifinals in their own region on the basis of our partner universities and various venues, and in the final they come to Moscow to perform in the main Moscow universities, they are also evaluated by experts and young people. This is quite a complex selection process.

Vladimir Putin: How many people are there in the final?

M. Dreval: 100 finalists, 50 winners. And all of them receive our grant support, training, and tools for creating and promoting educational content. And we think it's very important not only to find them and give them an audience, but also to really help them develop. In general, we see a lot of talented educators who, and this is very important now, want not only to share knowledge and speak, but also to create content that would be distributed on the Internet to a large audience. It seems to me that this is especially important now, when there are so many fakes, when there is a lot of low-quality information.

Vladimir Putin: Of course.

M. Dreval: We are now trying to find ways to help more, more than fifty, more than a hundred such winners, including financially, so that they create more content and reach out to the audience. We are also looking for it now.If you support us, we will search more actively and find such an opportunity.

Vladimir Putin: Of course, objective, important, in-depth information, and beautifully presented with talent – is very much in demand, because it is impossible to use Wikipedia alone.

Mikhail Dreval: I absolutely agree.

Vladimir Putin: We know the quality of this information ourselves.

When there are talented people who are professionals, whose opinion can be trusted – it is, of course, worth a lot. It's like an encyclopedia, only live.

Mikhail Dreval: I absolutely agree. And, by the way, in fact, within the framework of "Knowledge" such a knowledge base is formed, which in many ways becomes an alternative to Wikipedia. Only with reliable data and very reputable people.

By the way, when we were forming a community of lecturers, young people were asking for real examples of the success stories of people that the country is proud of, the most outstanding people in our country. And this echoes what you said in your address at the first marathon of the Znanie society, when you said that lecturers should include top managers of companies, governors, government members and the most prominent figures in all fields of knowledge.

Here, of course, I would like to thank you very much, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for being actively involved in the work of Znaniya at that time, for holding an open lesson in Vladivostok, and your example really inspired many people. I am glad that today the governors, members of the Government, and prominent figures in all spheres of life have become lecturers of Znaniya. I hope that this will become a good tradition for them, and those who have not yet managed to join will do so very soon.

By the way, it is important that all meetings with such unique people are always a dialogue, not a monologue. We see how important live communication is for children. Therefore, at all "Knowledge" events, students can ask questions, whether it is online or offline events.

Moreover, we give this opportunity even at events that are not held by us. For example, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, moderators asked experts questions that we collected from the guys in advance. In other words, we give children the opportunity to ask questions to leading experts on all forums in our country through Znanie. By the way, experts often share with us that children's questions are sometimes more difficult to answer than those of their colleagues. I understand them, and in fact, when I personally face the questions of the guys, I understand how sincere they are, how smart and talented they are. This is a sense of pride for our youth.

I can even say more that their questions, in fact, make them co-authors of the content that creates "Knowledge". Because they send an expert, a lecturer, and [they] give exactly the knowledge that they need right now.

Another interesting formation of our leading speakers is lectures-excursions. Last year we tried to combine a unique person with a unique place. For example, Dmitry Rogozin talked about space and Roscosmos ' ambitious projects at the Vostochny cosmodrome. Either the guys talked about music with Valery Gergiev at the Mariinsky Theater, or Dmitry Artyukhov talked about the Arctic on an icebreaker in the Kara Sea. More than 50 such various lectures and excursions have already passed, where children can meet both live and online, since all this is filmed and broadcast, all our young people can, in fact, plunge into this place with them…

Vladimir Putin: It's like you've been there.

M. Dreval: Exactly so. We were just thinking about how to surprise the guys again when we held the second marathon at the St. Petersburg Forum and took our audience to the unique places of St. Petersburg. We just happened to be in the Mariinsky Theatre. It works very well and attracts young people. And for us, it is very important not just to show them some video or content about a particular topic, but to really engage them, so that this is the first of many touches, so that they are interested in this topic and go to study it further.

By the way, the continuation of this format of lectures and excursions was the project "More than a journey", which also helps children not only to visit different parts of our country, but also to learn more about the history of the region, about outstanding people from there, about the achievements of this region. I think it is very important for the children, for us, for the country as a whole, so that young people know the country, its achievements and outstanding people.

In total, Znanie shot more than 600 hours of educational content during the year. And this is quite complex, intelligent content. And in order to shoot it more and cover the whole country, we have launched nine studios in all federal districts. This allows us to reach out to interesting people, lecturers from all over the country and show the geography of different regions.

At the same time, because we want to give authors more opportunities to create content themselves and help them, we are launching media laboratories in universities together with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education, which, in fact, become a platform where the author could use the equipment to shoot his own content, receive mentoring from our team and, most importantly, get access to a huge library of content that is filmed by Znanie and transmitted by partners to use it to create their own videos and films. We provide it to them for free, and the main thing is that they also shoot educational content based on it.

And we want several dozen, maybe even hundreds, of such media laboratories to appear this year and next. I am sure that then there will be much more content and it will be created not only by "Knowledge", but also by a huge number of such educators.

We even went into professional content-cinema, and just recently launched a project called "Smart Cinema", within the framework of which there is a competition for documentary scripts. I hope that more than 30 new documentaries will appear this year.

We help aspiring documentarians, including with an educational program. And what is important, in addition to the grant support of partners, thanks to which films are made, we have enlisted the support of platforms and cinemas so that these films really find their audience.

Vladimir Putin: On the basis of what do you do and where do you do it?

M. Dreval: The contest is held all over the country. The best ones come to Moscow, and we introduce them to the leading film studios. Aspiring documentarians go through a training program there and choose for themselves which studio will be used for filming. We have our good partner – Gorky Film Studio. They are always ready to help everyone with the filming of these documentaries. But teams can choose any studio, as long as the script wins and the film is a documentary, educational one. All these films are guaranteed to find their audience, because we have both online and offline cinemas with us.

Vladimir Putin: Who helps you work with studios here?

M. Dreval: The Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, and the studios themselves also responded, and I didn't even have to persuade them. In fact, it turned out to be very popular for them. And it is very important that many companies supported us in terms of grants, including commercial companies, for example, VK was happy to support our initiative, Yandex, Sber and the Internet Development Institute Foundation. A lot of organizations supported this initiative, because, first of all, many of them also own movie theaters, and they are interested in the appearance of such works, and they are not alien to the idea of enlightenment in principle. The leaders of these companies are our lecturers.

Vladimir Putin: I see. What else needs to be done to support this project?

Maria Dreval: Your participation always gives a very strong impetus as a lecturer.

The second most important story, in my opinion, where it is possible and necessary to expand, is grant assistance to lecturers and educators so that they create content, and we are now looking for a tool to expand this grant support.

Another thought, rather, even the audience's request and our thoughts on this matter, they often ask us why our content has not yet appeared on television? Maybe you should really think about making movies, game formats, lectures, and content about geography and the country's history appear more often on TV channels. If you support us, we will also work with our colleagues from TV channels to make sure that our educational content is also available on TV.

Vladimir Putin: Agreed.

M. Dreval: Thank you very much.

Xi speaks of China’s rejuvenation, development and modernization and his team is making that reality. Putin’s doing something very similar. although he mostly uses the term development despite Russia’s very clear rejuvenation and modernization. For example, new housing is replacing dilapidated housing—Putin’s term not mine. Some accuse Putin and his team of wanting to resurrect the Soviet Union, and it somewhat appears that way. But the Soviet Union was much more than just Russia, and Putin nor any other prominent Russian wants to reincorporate all of Central Asia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Baltics; the current relationship suits most everyone that’s Russian. Russia does have an acute demographic challenge because of the four 20th Century calamities—WW1, 1917 Revolution and Civil War, WW2, and USSR’s collapse and the Neoliberal Rape by the West allowed by Yeltsin. That’s close to 100 million deaths and displacements plus at least 40 million people that were never conceived. Without all that, Russia should have a population close to that of the USA at 300 million. All the above should provide the reader with an answer to why Russia is resilient—it’s because of the Russian people and their ability to see the way to betterment is to improve themselves and their fundamental condition, and to have a leadership team devoted to governance that does that and more.

Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a monthly/yearly pledge to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!