Russian and Belarusian Academic Scientific Cooperation

RUSSIAN AND BELARUSIAN ACADEMIC SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION

UDC 001.83(470+476) © Dedkov S.M., Egorov V.K. Scientific collaboration between Russia and Belarus at the first stage of allied relations: the restoration of a single research area The article characterizes the current collaboration between the scientists from the academic institutions of Russia and Belarus. It shows the stages of this cooperation within the Union State and points out the main directions of the development of its common research space. Russia, Belarus, scientific and technological cooperation, the problems of effectiveness increase, control mechanism.

Sergey M. DEDKOV Ph.D. in Economics, Associate Professor, Acting Director of the Center of System Analysis and Strategic Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus [email protected]

Valeriy K. EGOROV Ph.D. in Historical Sciences, the Head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of Scientific and Managerial Administration of RAS [email protected]

The brief history of integration of Belarus Treaty on the Union between Belarus and and Russia is rich in difficult and contradic- Russia was signed in Moscow 16 years ago, on tory events. Without going into the analysis March 2, 1996. This treaty became the corner- and consequence assessment after the col- stone in the legal foundation of the Union lapse of the Soviet Union, it’s necessary to State, as the main provisions of the treaty, the point out a very important fact from a histori- statements of its purposes and objectives were cal point of view that less than 5 years after kept and developed in the successive bilate- this event Russia and Belarus prepared to ral legal acts adopted by Russia and Belarus, unite in the fundamentally new geopolitical including the Treaty on the Creation of the situation. Union State as of December 8, 1999.

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In order to introduce the discussion of the They were held by turns in the cities of recovery of the common scientific space in Belarus and Russia: in Moscow, Minsk, Veliky Russia and Belarus, we would like to point out Novgorod, Vitebsk, Vologda, Cherepovets. the provision of the Treaty of 1996, which The most distinguished scientists from Rus- stresses that a major function of the Common- sia and Belarus research such acute problems wealth is “all possible assistance to the develop- as a mechanism of Belarus and Russia’s acces- ment of a common scientific, educational and sion to the WTO, the development of common cultural space”. The InterAcademy Council for principles to provide the member-countries of Problems of Development of the Union State the Union State with agricultural subsidies, (IAC) has been operating in this direction for the formation of a single innovative area of eight years. Belarus and Russia, the achievement of sus- This Council as a new form of cooperation tainable anti-recessionary condition of trade between the Russian and Belarusian acade- and economic cooperation between Russia and Belarus, the harmonization of national Belaru- mies was established by the National Academy sian and Russian legislations, the formation of Science of Belarus and the Russian Academy and implementation of scientific and technical of Sciences with the assistance of the Standing programs of the Union State. Committee of the Union State in 2004, based The scientists of both academies have on the Decision of the Council of Ministers of repeatedly stressed that there are highly inte- the Union State as of December 10, 2002. grated components in the long and firmly The Council consists of leading scientists established scientific and technical relations of the Russian and Belarusian Academies of between Belarus and Russia, whose destruction Sciences, as well as the representatives of the is unacceptable. In the period, when the devel- Standing Committee of the Union State. Three opment of global science is moving towards co-chairmen lead the InterAcademy Council; the integration and consolidation of efforts, it they are from the National Academy of Science is absurdly to divide the things that work suc- of Belarus, the Russian Academy of Sciences cessfully. In this case it’s impossible to ignore and the Standing Committee of the Union the fact that our countries should have high- State. tech systems to ensure their own and public The main objectives of the Council include security. It was noted at the joint meeting of the the coordination of the scientific activities of Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences both academies in order to develop the Union of Belarus and the Presidium of the Russian State, studying the development problems of Academy of Sciences in Minsk on April 27, the Union State during individual and joint 2011 that the bilateral collaboration between programs, determining the actual problems of our academies was developed effectively, the science jointly with the government executive themes and geography of this relations were bodies of Russia, Belarus and the Union State. expanded, and the collaboration was one of the The results of the Russian and Belarusian most powerful incentives for the integration of researches devoted to the developmental prob- Russia and Belarus. lems of the United State are discussed regularly In this regard, it was emphasized at the during the meetings of the InterAcademy meeting that, in particular, the InterAcademy Council, as well as during the international Council should play an important role in focu- scientific and practical conferences and round- sing on the priority dimensions of the research- table discussions that are run under the auspices es conducted by scientists from the RAS and of the IAC. There were seven meetings of the NASB and on the expertise of their joint pro- Council over the period of its activity. grams and projects.

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The Standing Committee of the Union In recent years Russian and Belarusian State, the Russian Academy of Sciences and scientists have been interacting closely within the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus the most modern scientific fields: space understood the urgent necessity for the IAC research, nuclear energy, computing machi- to get an opportunity to expertize target and nery, organic synthesis, oil and gas geology, thematic research programs of the Union State. biology and genetic engineering. They achieved One of the most important tasks of the Rus- the results in their joint research that meet the sian and Belarusian scientists is the Concept for highest standards of the world level. the development of the Union State of Russia However, it should be recognized that the and Belarus. The undisputed conceptual nature collaboration in the field of engineering, exact of the problem determines a high level of scien- and natural sciences had the priority growth tific understanding of not only the integration rates during the last few years as compared with experience of two countries, but also the char- social and humanitarian studies. It is a question acteristics of the current integration processes of the pace and level of research. It is obvious in the former Soviet Union. First of all, it will that such objective prerequisites for the stimu- be necessary to carry out a profound analysis lation of the integration processes as common of a qualitatively new character of interstate culture and history, confessional community relations, which are formed in the former Soviet and traditional close relations allow us to bring Union after the Agreement on the Customs up the establishment of research and educa- Union and the Common Economic Space tional space along with common economic officially come into effect. and innovative spaces. So, joint integrated This comprehensive analysis will help to research programs in economics, law, sociology, correlate the integration development within history and literature are necessary to do this. the scope of the Union State and the processes Strengthening of the integration basis requires in the EurAsEC and the CSTO in the context of the development of specific historical, philo- the European and global relationships. There- logical, cultural projects and research programs fore, the Concept for the development of the in the near future. Union State was considered as a priority task Comprehensive analysis of the collabora- at the Presidium sessions of the RAS and the tion between the regions of our fraternal NASB. It is also included in the operating plan nations is very important to stimulate the of the InterAcademy Council. integration processes. For example, in order There is no need to discuss the close rela- to execute the decisions of the 5th meeting of tions between the academies that have common IAC, in 2009 the scientists began to conduct roots, history, scientific schools and traditions. the joint social studies and to research the All this lays the foundation of their coopera- problems of international trade integration tion, which helped to sail through a difficult between the regions of the North-West Federal period of serious transformations in the 1990s. District in the Russian Federation and the The current development stage of the bilateral Republic of Belarus. The Institute of Socio- relations between Belarus and Russia allows Economic Development of Territories of RAS, them to expand and strengthen this foundation. which is located in the Vologda Oblast, is The traditions, which are typical for the col- carrying out a significant part of these studies laboration between Russia and Belarus, can be within the scope of three joint projects funded naturally and logically combined in the present by the Belarusian Fund for Fundamental conditions with modernization and innovative Research and the Russian Humanitarian approaches to the most difficult problems of Science Foundation. In 2011 there was the fundamental and applied sciences. International Exhibition that was devoted to

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the 20th anniversary of the Commonwealth of joint ventures and the organization of produc- Independent States; it had the exposition of tion within the scope of technological park the Union State with the stands that demon- zones, formed in Russia and Belarus. There strated the activity of the InterAcademy are such organizations as the Scientific and Council, including inter-regional coopera- Research Center for Oil and Wood Chemical tion. And the business program of the Union Technology (at the Institute of Chemistry of State Day included the extended meeting of New Materials of NASB and the Boreskov the IAC and a scientific debate – a round- Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch table discussion on the science integration of RAS) and the Russian-Belarusian labora- within the scope of the Union State. tory of electromagnetic and ionizing radiation Academic science has an important social (at the Institute of Radiobiology of NASB and role because it is systematically integrated into the Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics the socio-economic complex of the states. Joint of RAS). Joint studies are conducted in the studies have contributed a lot to the develop- international research centre “Joint Institute ment of computer science, mechanical engi- for Nuclear Research” in Dubna. neering, optics, electronics, metallurgy, energy The expansion of cooperation with the and resource-saving, preservation of natural regions of the Russian Federation mentioned and cultural heritage. They have been appre- above is an important aspect of the scientific ciated internationally. and technical collaboration between Belarus The objectives of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. The National Academy of Sci- and Russia, as well as a lack of visa and customs ences of Belarus is included as an executor in barriers create favorable conditions for the wide the Plans and Protocols of arrangements to research and innovation cooperation between promote the cooperation with 18 regions of the the Belarusian and Russian partners. Russian Federation approved by the Council of The scientific and technological develop- Ministers of Belarus. ment in Russia and in Belarus is carried out The Cooperation Program of NASB and within the statutory priority dimensions. The the St. Petersburg Scientific Center of RAS was similarity and coincidence of some priorities formed. It included 6 projects besides the pro- offer additional opportunities for the integra- jects funded by the Intergovernmental Agree- tion of scientific and technological activities. ment and RFBR BRFFR programs. They are First of all, this applies to such priority direc- planned to be implemented within the scope tions of scientific and technological activities of the Union State program “Heterostruc- in Russia and Belarus, as power engineering tures: microwave radars, lasers, light emitting and energy-saving, biotechnology and pharma- diodes” (Pramen), aimed at the development ceuticals, information and telecommunication of the scientific and technological basis in order systems, nanosystem and new materials indus- to improve geterostructural micro-and opto- try, conservancy and others. electronics devices in the Union State and to Today an innovative component of the manufacture a number of devices that meet the countries’ cooperation is in the forefront: the modern world standards, and that are suitable National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and for the implementation in production. its partners from Russia have increased their A list of 25 joint research issues has been activities in establishing the joint research labo- formed to develop the new technologies in the ratories and scientific and production centers, manufacturing sector in order to implement based on the subdivisions of the RAS and the the Agreement on Scientific Cooperation NASB, working in close and complementary between the National Academy of Sciences of fields; they study the possibility to establish Belarus and the Ural Branch of RAS.

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Active interaction with the Belarusian tive growth of businesses based on the innova- Republican Foundation for Basic Research, tive development and to form new integrated the Russian Foundation for Basic Research research and production structures. and the Russian Humanitarian Science Foun- In our opinion, in order to solve these prob- dation contributed a lot to the development of lems successfully, first of all it is necessary to inter-academy cooperation. understand clearly the essence of two main The cooperation between the Councils of objectives of the CIS countries in their inno- Young Scientists of the RAS and the NASB has vation activity: the creation of the Common been formed. The themes and geography of scientific and innovation space and the forma- scientific and technical cooperation are being tion of the Interstate program for innovation expanded, so the leaderships of the Russian and cooperation between the CIS countries. Belarusian academies must focus on the coor- “Common space” means the common dination of their researches, and they should “rules” in the innovation sphere: tax remissions be oriented to the priority tasks for Russia and for developers and producers, the rules of tech- Belarus. Thus, the preconditions for the forma- nology transfer, the terms of intellectual pro- tion of a common scientific and technological perty turnover, etc. In the end, it is a single con- space in the Union State are being created. figuration of national innovation systems of the The partnership of the National Academy CIS countries. It is believed that the efficient of Sciences of Belarus and the Russian Acad- innovation system in the market competitive emy of Sciences within the scope of scientific conditions will provide inevitably an intense and technical programs of the Union State is stream of innovation, because competitive- also positive. ness is the mother of innovation. In fact, it is a question of harmonious conditions for the eco- 11 programs, funded from the budget of the nomic activity that is inevitably confronted with Union State, have been already implemented the natural differences between the economic and are being carried out now by the National interests of states due to the different structures Academy of Sciences of Belarus. They are: of their economies. “Space BR”, 1999 – 2002; “SKIF”, 2000 – All the problems of the conciliation of the 2004; “BelRosTransgen” 2003 – 2006; “Space interests, as well as some solutions to these SG”, 2004 – 2007; “Triad”, 2005 – 2008; problems can be seen in the complicated estab- “SKIF-GRID”, 2007 – 2010; “Space NT”, lishment of the Union State, the Customs 2008 – 2011; “Nanotechnology-SG”, 2009 – Union and the EurAsEC. In addition, the tran- 2012; “BelRosTransgen-2”, 2009 – 2013; sition to innovation is a very complex process “Stem Cells”, 2011 – 2013; “Standardization that requires systemic changes in the economic – SG”, 2011 – 2014. mechanism that causes a conflict of interest It is obvious that the growth rates of the within the economic system of each country. common scientific and innovation space In this regard, we assume that the creation of between the Republic of Belarus and the Rus- the common scientific and innovation space is sian Federation and other countries of econom- the most important task in future. This space ic integrated unions should be increased under corresponds to the fundamental interests of all the conditions of the intensive development of countries. The most important positive result economic integration, the establishment of the will be the achievement of a synergistic effect that Customs Union and the gradual formation of will allow us to increase significantly innovation the Common Economic Space. So, it will be potential and strengthen the competitive posi- possible to modernize quickly the economies tions of some scientists, scientific societies and of partner countries, to ensure the competi- academies, and, finally, of countries in whole.

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This task solution involves the search for form the basis of science, technology and common interests and the harmonization of innovation programs of the Union State and national legislations on this basis. use their common knowledge in knowledge- Competitiveness is the main motive of inno- intensive industries and technologies. vation activity in economics. But this is a The National Academy of Science of theory. And there are the following questions Belarus includes scientific and practical centers in practice. Is it reasonable to develop the and scientific and production associations, competitiveness between the countries of the which join all the phases of innovative cycle same integrated union? Was the purpose of on the basis on a single organizational struc- the European Union to confront the United ture. The structuring models, implemented in States and South-East Asia in the global com- Belarus, have their analogs in Russia: science petitiveness? Are the duplicative researches and cities, technology parks and others. At the same productions efficient? time, Belarusian scientists are interested in the The obvious answers to these questions lead organization of an innovation process in such to the use of a program-target method of inno- institutions of the RAS as the Ioffe Physical- vation processes management. This dimension Technical Institute of the Russian Academy is efficient in the countries, where the govern- of Sciences that is directed by the winner of ment intervention in their economies is rela- Nobel Prize, Academician Zhores Alferov, or tively high. This tool has proven its effectiveness the Institute of Problems of Chemical Phys- in Belarus. So, the second State Program of ics in Chernogolovka led by Academician Innovative Development of the Republic of S.M. Aldoshin. Belarus (till 2015) was started in 2011. The In turn, in our opinion, Russia would be Belarus-initiated Intergovernmental Target interested in the Belarusian experience in the Program “Innovative biotechnology” was concentration of intellectual resources within developed; it was approved by the Interstate the scope of government complex target scien- Council of EurAsEC in May, 2010. This pro- tific and technical programs. 12 programs of gram was the first one among the interstate pro- such kind have been created since the last five- grams of the EurAsEC that had been decided year period. Nowadays they include 18 Public to be implemented by the supreme bodies of Research Programs and 28 State Scientific and the Commonwealth. Technical Programs. However, a country is one thing, but the One of the key tools for achieving the goals union of the countries with their procedures, can be the public-private partnerships in inno- hierarchy and specificity is something else. vation sphere, whose implementation requires Hence, there are the difficulties in the coor- the special legislative basis. It’s necessary to dination of common documents. And until eliminate the Belarusian lag compared to the now, despite the drafting of a new edition of Russian Federation in the formation of the the Procedure of the program development and market economy (the main institutions, mar- implementation in the Union State, the joint ket relations) as a ground for the increase in projects coordination in the Union State still competitive advantages. takes a long time; the matching system is cum- The first step towards the successful coop- bersome, and it is in the need of simplification. eration between Russia and Belarus in the There is a persisting need for inter-regional sphere of innovation can be the adoption of scientific cooperation, arranged interaction harmonized fundamental law of the Union between young scientists from both countries, State “On Innovation Activity” that should joint implementation of research, which should be followed by a series of normative and legal

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acts governing intellectual property, technology and methodological analysis of the problem of transfer, the operation of innovation infra- space-time dimension. The monograph about structure’s subjects, a single order to form and self-organization processes and systems’ evolu- implement the programs of basic and applied tion, prepared according to the results of these researches. studies, was published two times in Moscow. The most severe situation in the field of The importance of cooperation results in scientific activity, the most important element the humanities is proved by only the titles of of the knowledge economy, is turned out for some joint publications: “The social consolida- the humanities. Today the bad financing of the tion of society: A comparative analysis on the humanities can be explained by the fact that materials of Russia and Belarus” (Moscow, they are generally believed to be useless because Minsk, 2004); “The formation of national they don’t provide for direct value added. At the and state interests in the context of increasing same time, it is overlooked that humanitarian globalization: A comparative analysis on the experts represent the largest part of most public materials of Russia and Belarus” (Moscow, and private administrative structures. Minsk, 2008). The analytical and predictive These people are usually responsible for the model of social transformation of post-Soviet elaboration process of the strategic development societies in the case of Russia, Belarus and programs for companies, society and state. In Kazakhstan was developed in cooperation with this regard, it’s necessary to define the role and the philosophers of the Siberian Branch of RAS practical importance of the humanities in the and the Institute of Philosophy and Political society as the major transmitter and creator of Science of Kazakhstan. the human (socio-intellectual) capital within the The cooperation between Belarusian and scope of integrated innovation system. Russian scientists must rely on the strengths of An important step in the development of its members and minimized parallel high-cost humanitarian cooperation was the establish- operations. It is necessary to create the common ment of the Association of Research Philoso- scientific and technological space of Russia phy Institutes of the CIS countries, Asia and and Belarus based on the principals approved Eastern Europe in Moscow in 2010, which was in the formation of the Customs Union; it’s established by the organizations representing important to coordinate the researches taking Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, into account the specialization of prevailing Russia, Tajikistan and other countries. The scholar schools and their place in the global Executive Committee of the Association was hierarchy, as well as to connect to the sys- formed. The decision to establish the Interna- tem of international scientific and technical tional Institute of Philosophy destined to suc- cooperation (including the projects of the 7th ceed the positive Soviet traditions of scientific EU Framework Program), if there are visible dialogue and cooperation was made. benefits to all participants, and a hidden leak of Joint work of philosophers has already pro- competitive domestic R & D results shouldn’t duced significant results. Scientists from the be encouraged. Institute of Philosophy of the NASB jointly This article is published in the journal “Eco- with their colleagues from the Russian Acad- nomical and social changes: facts, trends, emy of Sciences and the universities of St. forecast” that is a new ground for the Inter- Petersburg, Tomsk and Perm have revealed Academy Council. The journal is published by an innovative potential of synergy methods in the Institute of Socio-Economic Development the diagnosis, synthesis and design of complex of Territories of RAS, located in Vologda, one systems; they have carried out the philosophical of the oldest cities in Russia.

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The journal is published both in Russian the implementation of measures to ensure the and English, and it has an open web-site that work in the Antarctic. The National Academy allows the authors to share their ideas with a of Sciences of Belarus is now in charge of the wide range of experts, who are interested in the Republican Center for Polar Research. It will be development of interregional and international responsible for the study of this little-explored cooperation. At the same time it is an invitation region of Earth. The position of Belarus in the to discuss and work together, because large- Arctic is a political issue, which provides bene- scale practical activities can be common only fits to both parts. in real integration. Scientists from Belarus and Russia will be It is necessary to correct the approaches to able to combine their efforts in studying the the attraction of foreign investments in Belarus unique nature of neighboring countries. So, under the conditions of the common market. there is the largest lake Naroch, the chain of Firstly, it’s necessary to create the conditions Braslav lakes, the forest reserve Belovezhskaya for the multinational corporations that produce Pushcha and the unique wetland of Polesia in high-tech innovative pro-ducts and provide Belarus. Such projects are widely implemented their exports to other countries of the Cus- in Belarus, including the joint projects with the toms Union. Secondly, a special decree should colleagues from Russia. specify that such corporations couldn’t use For example, the Institute of Experimental the usual for Belarus economic management, Botany of NASB, the Kholodny Institute of which consists in the final adjustment of targets, Botany of NASU, the Institute of Ecology of the government regulation of tariff policy, the the Carpathians, the Komarov Botanical prohibition of surplus labour dismissal, etc. Institute of RAS developed the Concept on During the period from 1956 to 1991 more the establishment of trans-boundary protected than 150 Belarusian specialists were participat- areas in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. They have ing in the study and exploration of Antarctica defined the trans-boundary natural complexes with the Soviet Antarctic expeditions. They that are perspective for the biological diversity conducted hundreds of studies and created protection. The biospheric trans-boundary dozens of scientific papers. Today it is necessary reserve “Western Polesia” has been established. to focus on the joint multi-disciplinary com- It will be the fourth in the world and the second plex projects on the geophysical monitoring in Europe trilateral protected area (it is being of Antarctica. Belarusian scientists can offer established by Belarus, Russia and Poland) after unique research tools to study ozonosphere and the creation of a single protected territory. assess the voids in the ice massif, as well as lidar The list of objects and the aspects of col- systems to study atmosphere. It is possible to laboration between the scientists from Russia form a joint project to study the Arctic within and Belarus, mentioned above, isn’t exhaustive. the Union State programs. But it proves that the inter-academy coop- The Belarusians have already made a num- eration between the RAS and the NASB, the ber of concrete steps. The Ministry of Natural expanded and intensified relationships with Resources and Environmental Protection of the research centers is a powerful incentive for the Republic of Belarus and the National the integration of two fraternal nations. The Academy of Sciences of Belarus have approved establishment of a common innovation space of the State Draft Program “Monitoring of the Russia and Belarus could become a model for Earth’s polar regions and maintenance of the modernizing mechanisms in the economies of Arctic and Antarctic expeditions in 2011 – the Eurasian Community, based on their own 2015” on the complex of issues associated with scientific and technological potential.

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