Western partners believed that Russia would not be able to get off their “technological needle,” but this happened very quickly. Vladimir Putin announced this at the Congress of Young Scientists, TASS reports.

“If a market for selling products has appeared, then there is an economic incentive to produce devices,” he noted, commenting on the words of one of the congress participants that previously Russian researchers purchased foreign equipment, but now they must buy it in the Russian Federation.

In addition, the President of the Russian Federation pointed out that in the scientific field there is a “simple but working” thing – competition. According to him, in science unique objects are created that are produced in single copies, but there must be competition in mass circulation to ensure quality.

The Russian leader also touched upon the issue of increasing scholarships for graduate students, saying that the authorities are now dealing with this issue. Thus, Putin recalled the recent introduction of a payment of 75 thousand rubles for priority research.

Earlier, Putin said that Russia’s development should consist of decent wages for teachers, doctors and talented specialists. In his speech, he noted that the sovereign Russian economy should be based on the principles of justice – these are decent living conditions, qualified, highly paid work, as well as the social prestige of the work of a worker, engineer, doctor, artist and every conscientious specialist.