In a continuation of the political and legal troubles that have plagued it over the past few months, last week Skolkovo, the state-sponsored innovation hub nearing completion on the outskirts of Moscow, lost one of its senior managers as well as its main protector in the Kremlin.
At the end of April the Skolkovo Foundation filed a lawsuit against Senior Vice President Alexey Beltyukov, accusing him of misapplication of funds.
Following the lawsuit, Beltyukov was dismissed pending conclusion of the investigation, RIA Novosti reported last Tuesday. Skolkovo claims that Beltyukov illegally transferred $750,000 to Ilya Ponomarev, an opposition deputy in the Russian parliament.
As reported by Interfax.ru, the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor’s Office believes that this transfer was “camouflaged” by two contracts between Skolkovo and Ponomarev, one worth $300,000 and the other $450,000. The former contract covers a series of 10 lectures and seminars that Ponomarev was supposed to give in several Russian regions, and the latter certain “research and development activities.”
In an interview with RIA Novosti Ponomarev emphasized that the fees for his talks were “not only within the bounds of common practice, but on their lower borders – and some even lower than that.”
Skolkovo without patron?
Another blow to Skolkovo came a few days later with the resignation of Vladislav Surkov from the post of deputy prime minister. Surkov was seen as an overseer and patron of the Skolkovo project in the Kremlin.
According to spokespersons for Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and President Vladimir Putin, Surkov handed in his resignation letter on April 26, and his decision was “related to the … fulfillment of presidential decrees.”
The officials also said that the deputy prime minister’s exodus was not connected to Skolkovo, although news of it emerged at the height of Surkov’s public dispute with Vladimir Markin, the official representative of the Investigative Committee.
In a talk at the London School of Economics on May 1 Surkov heavily criticized the approach the Investigative Committee had taken in several ongoing investigations related to Skolkovo.
“Skolkovo is one of the cleanest projects in terms of potential abuse,” Surkov said. “The energy with which the Investigative Committee has been publishing its assumptions makes common people think there were crimes committed. […] First let them prove that these people are guilty of something; we’ll see whether they can prove this or not.”
Markin gave tit for tat in his column in the newspaper Izvestia the next Tuesday, accusing Surkov of trying to spin the situation from the criminal to political level.
Clouds piling up
A tendency on the part of Skolkovo management to fall into Kremlin disfavor has been evident for several months now.
Ironically, among the first signs of Kremlin resistance to Skolkovo’s development were remarks made in October of last year by Surkov himself, who cast doubt on the need for two expensive, monument-scale buildings planned by the Skolkovo Foundation.
The next-level attack came in December from Russia’s president in person. In a rare move, Vladimir Putin vetoed amendments to the federal law on Skolkovo which had been passed by the parliament and submitted to the president for signature and promulgation.
Putin’s move was followed by criticism from abroad. While a report from the EBRD offered mixed appreciations of the tech hub – which it described as an “enclave” – while former Skolkovo Chief Operating Officer Steven Geiger raised several key issues related to the hub’s strategy and management methods.
When asked by East-West Digital News about the future of Skolkovo a few months later, the US specialist warned: “Far too much of Russia’s political capital has been invested for these high-profile projects to fail. Yes, they have problems; but solutions exist. My concern is that political infighting may lead to their scuttling.”
The most recent development came in March, when the Skolkovo Foundation was targeted by an inquiry of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation was triggered by a report by Russia’s Accounts Chamber revealing several cases of questionable financial practices by the Foundation.
The Russian government is investing several billion dollars in the Skolkovo project, setting for it the laudable goal of stimulating innovation across the country.
Even though it has been criticized for its bureaucratic organization and procedures, the giant tech hub has already managed to attract more than 800 Russian and foreign startups as well as an impressive array of Russian and international tech giants, research institutions and investment funds.
Update May 16, 2013
After Surkov’s resignation, the role of the Kremlin’s overseer of the Skolkovo innovation hub will be passed on to presidential adviser Andrey Fursenko, the Izvestia newspaper reported today, citing an unnamed source. Fursenko’s official appointment is expected on May 17, when a Presidential Council on Economic Modernization and Innovative Development will take place. Izvestia’s source also added that a decision may be made at the council to remove Vladislav Surkov from Skolkovo’s supervisory board.
