Interview by Vladimir Nesterov. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
When Ramazan Abdulatipov took the position of the head of Dagestan, he pointed out 10 priority projects which are necessary for the republic: Effective State Management, Safe Dagestan, New Industrialization, Businessmen are the Backbone of Dagestan, the Diaspora is the Power of Dagestan, Attraction of Federal Investments, Anti-Corruption, Effective Territorial Development, Educated Dagestan, and the Brand of New Dagestan. In the current situation, the projects have become even more topical. Dagestan has natural resources, industrial spaces and hardworking people. Ramazan Abdulatipov told Vestnik Kavkaza about Dagestan’s life in the new economic reality.
- Probably the very first topic that everyone is talking about is the economic crisis, the fall in oil prices, changes in the dollar and euro rates. How are these figures reflected in Dagestan?
- I have this principle: do not fall before the shot. In this situation, we shouldn’t panic. The other day I met with Kudrin, he came to Makhachkala, in the evening I had dinner, and I told him: "Alexei Leonidovich, you probably do not remember, but I remember when I was in the Russian government, we discussed that if it would be 11 dollars per barrel, we would resist - if it were less than 9, we'd explode. If it would be 20-22 dollars per barrel, we'd launch the country out of crisis." We must proceed from these things that we have experienced. We experienced, we endured. Moreover, when Vladimir Putin came, the country generally was on the brink. He managed to turn the country in the direction of recovery, towards gaining identity and dignity. With all the contradictions and criticism, this time we were quite decent.
- And oil prices were not really high in that period.
- That’s right. High oil prices made us lazy, we stopped working. The sanctions are a reminder that Russia should work, Russia should make money. Russia will inevitably be a great country, but to be a great country it is necessary to build the economy so that we could ensure maximum security and vitality. Stalin was a smart man, who knew that the attitude toward our country would be difficult to change in the West, so we had to improve our economy.
Today the sanctions allow Dagestan to designate a qualitatively new level of its participation in the Russian market, which is increasingly closed for us. This is the food market and the industrial market. Now on import substitution, we have adopted about 80 kinds of products that we have to produce. We are increasing agricultural production. We have about a million cattle, about five million sheep and goats. When I arrived, we had 10 hectares of greenhouse farms. Today we have 32 hectares, in two years. We planted 4,000 hectares of vineyards in two years.
- Is this the amount of food that is needed, in fact, for the republic, or is there the possibility to export to other regions?
- Sometimes it is necessary for the republic, but sometimes we can deliver it to the Russian market. But one needs to establish the technology of these supplies. There is a need for logistical centers, so it is necessary to assist. We completely forgot about actual production. We completely forgot about science, which has always been strong in Russia in general.
There are 531 PhDs working in Dagestani colleges and universities. Has any one of them been involved in work on industrial development? We need a completely different model of interaction, including the intelligentsia. They should be involved in the development of programs, project planning, the development and introduction of new technologies in management and information systems, and so on. In addition, we have very slow production movement. We are working very long, a long harness, too long. We, in Dagestan, are developing a torpedo which actually works with only our own products inside. This is a replacement for a torpedo for which we used to import almost 80% of components from Ukraine. Ukraine is closed, first and foremost it is generally closed to themselves. And accordingly, we have conducted 24 tests of these torpedoes. Recently, Dmitry Rogozin visited, he was indignant: "How long can you do this?" He gave us clear instructions. Right now, a lot of questions in this regard will also be addressed, because there are a lot of opportunities in Dagestan.
- Which plants and industries can count on support from the federal government within the program of import substitution?
- We work very well with the Ministry of Industry, but here, in my opinion, we also need to identify specific support measures. Recently there was a meeting with Vladimir Pturin, he also spoke with indignation that 22-25% of loans to industry are worthless. So we have to think about credit support for industrial development. Today Dagestani enterprises are operating, indulging in all, investing in industry.
The Kizlyar Electromechanical Plant, where Ibrahim Ahmatov is the director. This man, in the most difficult years of the team, did not give up. He reached out to China in pursuit of orders. Today he has exceeded orders under the new conditions. He has even shared with others. Moreover, he has now begun building production in Kaspiysk, because in Kizlyar he has already used all the human resources. I told him that I would try to find at least 100 million rubles for him. And what is 100 million rubles for establishment of production at a plant? It is a trifle.
In order to establish normal import substitution, we need today up to 2.5 billion rubles. But in 1-2 years we will return 7.5 billion. That means we need to be more mobile, because the world is very dynamic.
The President raised the question of regional development and so on, and the specifics about 40% of our budget being electricity in Dagestan, now about 9%. What have the intermediaries been doing for years in Pyatigorsk, on gas, energy and other issues? Ruining the economy. What is the status of the North Caucasus Energy company today? Worn to the bone. I say again, I do not pose the question of who should be the owner of Dagestan. I do not care. It is important that the state treasury receives more and more taxes. To the state treasury.
- Do you think a public-private partnership in this case might play a role? Or is it necessary to transfer from a federal jurisdiction to a regional one?
- We come up with different words: investment, innovative development, public-private partnership. It is all about demagogy, if we do not update the economic policy, at least in the sense as it is now approved by government decree on the Sustainable Development of the Russian Federation. If these measures are implemented, it is already moving. Today everyone understands that we need a more efficient regional policy. Who are engaged in today's regions with integration potential? There is even a commission headed by Shuvalov. But who really does it? The level of integration between the regions is at the minimum level. This is not right. We have a rich country with a huge potential for integration. What happened to the ministry of regional policy? In this situation, when it is this ministry that should be making orders for many projects on regional development and the integration of our regions, we have created a separate ministry. Yes, we got a good partner in the ministry of the North Caucasus. But we shouldn’t develop the country bit by bit... Russia has always been strong through its unity. If a body is disintegrated, the body is not able to act.
To be continued
