This Interfax report is so damn incredible that I’m going to quote it in full:
Moscow. May 22. INTERFAX.RU — Anatoly Chubais, the head of JSC RUSNANO, acknowledged shortcomings and mistakes previously identified by the Audit Chamber of the Russian Federation, particularly in the area of oversight of the state corporation’s spending. "Although we argued and fought about it, a significant part of what the Audit Chamber uncovered was indeed our real shortcomings, and that is how we see them. On some points we disagree, while on others we believe the shortcomings were objectively identified," Chubais said on Friday in the State Duma during a meeting with representatives of the United Russia faction. He explained that such shortcomings were found in the area of oversight of the company’s own spending, "which was poorly organized," and that this concerned both updating its own strategy and oversight of raw-material expenditures. "In every area there were obvious miscalculations on our part, which the Audit Chamber was right to point out," Chubais said. He also noted that, in addition to the Audit Chamber’s remarks, RUSNANO’s managers "looked inward and saw our own mistakes, of an even deeper nature." Among them were "mistakes in assessing markets, all over the place—these impossible growth curves that almost never materialize," Chubais said, adding that "investments were made on that basis." "Very often we made mistakes in personnel policy, and we had to renew more than 60 percent of management once we saw our own mistakes," the head of RUSNANO said. According to him, the state corporation virtually lacked any internal control system, "which is impossible in a company like this." "We created it from scratch and have now rebuilt it with all the classic elements," Chubais said. http://www.interfax.ru/russia/443205 *
Just unbelievable. This idiotic Rosnano was created all the way back in 2007, and even then it was obvious that the whole thing was a sham—a budget-looting scheme and a source of cushy jobs for shady people.
Eight years have passed. They now admit they got personnel policy, market assessment, and strategy wrong, and that the internal control system "practically did not exist."
Meanwhile, these "nanotechnologists" receive 30–50 billion rubles from the budget every year, and for their continued existence they are asking for 50 billion rubles in direct budget funding and 100 billion rubles in state guarantees.
For all that money, they achieved absolutely nothing, the money vanished, they apologized, got back into their company Mercedes with a flashing beacon, and went right back to work.
No resignations, no punishment of any kind, no shutting down this whole sham outfit.
Chubais’s income in 2013 was 207 million rubles. Not all of their so-called RUSNANO activity consists of "investments." Maybe he should have spent less time on his own investments and more on his official duties.
And the most astonishing thing is that at every election they hold up Chubais to us as "your liberal Chubais," even though all of this "effective management" exists only under the protection of United Russia.
People