concerned. russia. has stunned of the right cause party by quitting as leader of the movement he founded just three months ago he criticized russian politics on his departure from the party he was expected to lead in fighting problem entry elections in december. next how can russia attract money and more investment. of the country's strategic initiatives agency who's taking part in the sochi investment forum a major conference which is underway in the two thousand and fourteen winter olympic host city spotlight next on r.t. . culture is that so much different and there's a huge musician apparently trying to tell a different series growing cycle of violence is this country the state of cause the

civil war or about to start a civil war if this current regime falls from. hello my name is al green and i welcome you to spotlight the interview show on hard to my guest in the studio today is. the city of sochi is not only the future olympic cap it has turned into the main economic attraction these days as hundreds of bankers and businessmen are attending the international investment for like many other countries russia has suffered an investment slump and least in years due to the global recession now the country is trying hard to recover by putting money into startups the gun that has created the specialized strategic

initiatives agencies to help promote new ideas and the young business so what's their input and their mission we're asking the head of the new business department had this to initiatives agency and also one of the saatchi forum participants and this is. the coding to official statistics foreigners invested almost one hundred fifteen billion dollars in the russian economy last year it's only six billion less than before the global recession experts say however of a major developing economies like china a more attractive for foreign investors the soldier forum is one of the measures to improve the investment climate in russia so will the new lease tablet. strategically should you see the most promising start ups can support young businessman. horowitz i want to welcome to the show well first of all you said this will be the first your first ever

interview. my first experience so congratulations thank you take care relax and enjoy it. well first of all e.u. are attending the sochi forum what do you expect from the forum in such. i expect. maybe first of all a tour is about the agency certainly a possibility too to introduce your agency to a wide wide public because it's a first introduction. was started about three weeks ago and its first introduction to investors to. different banks and of all people well and now let's take a look at the evolution of these such investment for zero which is taking place for the tenth time this year spotlights you know the reports. russia's most

popular see signs of resort first became a place to talk business ten years ago it started as a local event with the goal of attracting capital into the region the first i was fourteen vestment for him could boast no more than a deal signed but that was enough to make big business come back for more the next year more and more of russia's regions joined event to complete the investment from big international players ranging from pepsi co to boeing two thousand and six became crucial to the forum dinner putin's visit significantly raised the profile of the van and the you later it was no longer just this sea resort host in an investment for sochi won the bid for the two thousand and fourteen winter. your olympics the region so an investment boost which even the economic downturn could not dampen by two thousand and ten the number of deals signed that the sochi forum was measured in hundreds and their value in billions of u.s.

dollars before is not only about striking deals though it's also place to discuss problems in the russian economy. as a russian businessman you the military he was a guest here in the studio a couple of months ago he for one is supporting many start up projects in the united states in the silicon valley and i i think you are you are aware of his business but. he has many others is reluctant to to invest money into russian projects in the projects here in this country why what's so wrong with the russian economy on the russian vessel climate that even the russians are not investing into the country. there are a lot of different. barriers bear barriers and sort of

administrative barriers commercial barriers and of course. for a medium especially for medium sized business men it's very difficult to implement projects in life i don't know why. mr miller has problems. in investing in projects in russia because for large companies it's much easier to survive it's much easier to find. communication with the government much easier to find financing to attract financing it's much easier to structure projects because they have a lot of serious freshness in their big structures maybe they don't want to be surviving egypt's going to work so when i am firm make business in have fun. maybe we don't know because the reason they are asking is where i ask the same question to mr million and he said i will be investing just watch me in

a couple of months i will be putting money into projects in russia and he's still not doing that well well well this is this is trade ok according to the government's program of innovating development the main task for years two thousand and eleven two thousand and thirteen is i quote to raise the receptiveness of economy and business to innovations does it mean that now russia is not prepared for innovations and what does it look russia as a country what is it like two to two to attract. of course it's very difficult in russia at the moment and when we're talking about innovation. we need to talk about who is going to invest in such innovating projects when we're talking about our edge and see where focusing on the medium business first of all because medium business is a key. is

a key driver of any economy especially the russian economy and to. where tryon are of focusing on finding projects which are attractive innovating projects which can be. replicated all over russia. oh would you say medium business where the small business those large big business media what's what's the criteria of media business for russians in this country in russia russia very big country everything is bigger in russia that many of the countries that's right you know. there is no any exact rules and exec criteria for a medium business for us it's a preliminary preliminary great era medium project or project from ten million dollars more than it more than ten million dollars less than the

billion or one we can say about a. project. with a staff for less than one thousand people. what needs to be doing. how does your agency. in the process of supporting this media business. first of all first of all are the main idea of supporting the leaders of the business the young are into printers self-made. who want to develop fun to create their own business or but it's not just absolutely a startup they already did or did anything it's something and they want to continue their. business intrapreneur career what

is the premise to putin supposed to play as the as the head of the supervisory board of eurasians first to well i would like to say that it was absolutely he's a dear and their idea belongs to mr putin of creating this huge unsee agency and. his role number the role that mr putin and the role of agency would be a breach between into printers' leaders or the business and the government. well we all know that that skolkovo of the in an innovative project is is the favorite toy favorite gadget of present value so would you call this your agency the answer of putin to mitt various projects and skulk of. i won't tell the terse call cover is something separate and it is the answer because what his agency or of the d.

you can usually do i would say it's like a big communicator. with a very very friendly interface so we communicate with all development institutions with banks to raise financing with the government authorities with regional government and. we help to find and to implement. the most exciting the most innovative projects so so so your relations will skolkovo our would you call it competition or rather or rather like health and support. it's first of all cooperation cooperation because if we find a good project we can ask for some grants from scald and make can make it together with with call call on but. agency of that is you can issue to something more

because we. also. define different different barriers and help business to grow and to start up. so out of every t. sound one of the participants out of the saatchi investment forum when i had all the new business department i had the strategic initiatives pages. like will be back shortly right out to break so stay with us joe we'll be back in no time. i. laugh i mean i bring you the latest in science and technology from around the world. we've got the future

covered. i mean i. i i. i. i. welcome back to spotlight i'm al green alvin just a reminder that my guest in the studio today is out of the sound of one of the process up on some of the songs he investment far and then add all the new businesses the point man at the strategic initiatives agency. strategic initiatives agency has recently been founded in russia to support financially young and talented and to printers hoping to bring life to their innovative projects that is meant to win proved if they don't rush is small and

medium business according to the head of precious burbank herman graph over the last decade this sector of the economy doubled in size from ten to twenty percent of g.d.p. . despite the growth. for behind britain france and the usa where at least half of g.d.p. comes from small enterprises from minister putin has recently named support for small and medium business among the country's priorities over the years the federal budget has been increasing the amount of subsidies it has sent out to the regions for the development of small and medium business however the practice has been criticised within the government itself the ministry of finance doubts the fact of mis handouts rather than. another problem is then willingness of russian capital to invest in start ups it's much easier for russian and tipper nurse to find

understanding in my new broad ideas go west as a result they switch to for him looks. for reversing the trend. well. we we we saw you should biography in the beginning of the program you were very young you just over thirty what did you achieve so far you've got a public figure so we don't know a lot about you what have you done which made you. such a high position with only let me put in above you in a certain sense right. after grit and finance academy in moscow in one thousand and seven in one thousand and eight it. organize my own company i had nothing so my first company was consulting company because i didn't have enough money to make. investments and some others here and there i started with consulting

in the valley in structuring projects and i'm now my company is. four hundred people working. in we have affiliates in different regions of russia and. and. when i heard about a dear of a mr putin of creating the edge and see it was. for me a. very interesting because it was what i already did for thirteen years. and it's are you qualified for the job because of how it happened you see your send an email or one open doesn't do email see this mail or if it were. a sort of. untested or was it a tender it was a tender. send by email. dear.

to their all our see the edge and see and etc and then on the twenty seventh of july. put in invited us and told the results tell me tell me what did you write to the prime minister how how did you impress him how you going to improve the investment climate in russia because i have been asking this question here in this studio for more than a year now but in view improving the investment climate what nots new in your approach their idea of agency and the met and the managers for managers who would work in the agency they should be businessmen who all really created their own business because for businessmen to understand other business men is much easier then for government authority for a government official for example that's why. i think they are the

commission saw that i have experience of creating from zero my wrong. medium business you are heading the department of the new businesses within the agency you said that there that the agency is aiming mostly at medium business small business but but new business must be small or not or i'm mistaken you know you you can be medium a business person or you heard can have already. done something and you can have a factory for example but you want to start with something else new means elevated or yellow. when you see it's young or innovative no you can have any idea of a new business resample you want to make something which can be replicated in all regions of russia and you want to make your medium business try to grow up you want to be to become

a very big large company and you come to agency and. agency with different problems and they can be problems over attractive financing find investors they can beef problems of some administrative barriers commercial barriers and all these things we. help you to cope with or what's the criteria according to which you are going to evaluate the the success of the projects. the criteria is. we'll. be divided by two main groups one group. are quality of creating great serious. it's the projects should be innovative the project should be. social

the project should can be a project that can be replicated in different regions and the most important criteria is the project should have a leader. that is the big difference between our sent some other institutions so it was you mean how is it that you make projects without leaders is it possible a new project without a leader with their head and you project can. be organized by big company and. we try to find a leader and we give up that unit is for leaders. still the little boat you're supporting. people rather than rather than just pure businesses number one people because people and their personal ideals because we now have because we know that a lot of businessmen interpreters we. did something in russia some of

them go abroad and we want to motivate people to work in russia and to build country where they would feel comfortable to work in to leave that's why. that is the main purpose of the agency. as long as i live in this country the leaders and putin and medvedev are no exception of the fighting corruption the they haven't been successful yet well there are some some some there is some success bad but not total so russia is a country of corruption not the only one in the world but still so how would you guarantee that corruption doesn't spoil your ideas who will be the experts selecting the business how would you guarantee the transparency of what's going on

within your age if we if we choose if we choose a projects then they go to our expert council extra council would consist about maybe about forty five people are its experts in different spheres afterwards it would good to supervise the council and the head of. as a concert mr putin. could you give an example of any project that you are looking at now maybe maybe maybe you already know. the first project that will get money from you you know only three weeks passed from. thought through through three weeks pass and you know we got our two two thousand projects ideas. and we got it and we have it's now website two thousand in our interest when five days which will which means to be hundred today exactly exactly and these are not only projects these are ideas these are initiatives

because one of the most important things. we are. implementing not only good projects we would implement good initiatives for. making a comfortable medium business environment this is a very important thing with the money coming from what's your resource base for supporting the projects. we are noncommercial than ization and their first the money would come from the michigan bank from the government from the from the michigan i'm betting it's a go it's a state bank. but it will be. none repairable on the number of people basis wilson says since you deal well let's not call it government money but money given by the government close of the government this is once again a base for corruption and a possible

a possible means of corruption so so you see transparency putin being being the had of the advisory council but do you have any special something special in mind which may which may. keep the the greedy hands of the government money. just for understanding this money which are common it's not a big money it's money just for. the structure of agency or for staff of agency and . we don't have money like a bank we're not a minister if. we are you're getting is only paying for for your work and you're only for rick. if it would be sponsor money first maybe from michigan to maine then maybe from big companies. and it's not state money and. money for and for. leaders for projects. and

we would raise money in the reason of that's why they are forming so it is so important for us to show for the investors. that it's very profitable to invest in. agency projects because as soon as a project gets a stamp of agency or over through the you can issue to its. decrees as a resource of implementation projects very seriously and we see strategic you mention strategic on the term what does it mean that somewhere limits limit the area of your work to only strategic projects and. strategic projects and initiatives. initiatives is something which has systematically which are would create these

business environment for if for example find that. serious serious companies has the same problems would try to find this problem it would be a system problem and even if it is connected with the changing of the legislation would do that ok thank you thank you very much for being with us and just a reminder that my guest today was out of the on of itself and that's a full hour from all of us here spotlight who will be back with more of the comments on what's going on in and outside russia until they entirety take place here.

the british and french leaders visit libya to offer support for the new regime their warplanes helped put in power as rebels backed by nato strikes are reported to have entered parts of colonel gadhafi hometown of syria meanwhile russia says it's time to lift the u.n. no fly zone introduced to save civilians as it doesn't help people still trapped in the last remaining khadafi strongholds. poland becomes the third country in the space of a week to confirm its participation in joint missile defense shield plans with us as washington presses ahead despite moscow's deep concern. billionaire. russia's third richest man has done the right cause party by quitting as the leader of the movement he founded just three months ago he criticized russian politics on his exit from the party he was expected to leave.