Rush for Innovations: a delayed start

February 20 saw, if not a start, then, a preparation for the start of a new direction in Ukraine’s development. A conference in Kyiv aimed on establishing an “innovation economy model” began with the participation of the country’s leaders. President Leonid Kuchma spoke at the conference about the need to form an essentially new and capable national innovation system (inventive research and development) working on market principles. He noted that at present the most acute problem is the transition of not only the Ukrainian economy, but the whole system of public reforms to the innovation way of development. The president also pointed out that the system of economic relations Ukraine has formed internationally in the last decade functions in a way that virtually rules out the possibility for vertical migration of the country from low technology levels to higher ones. “In fact, for us this means the preservation of the existing status of Ukraine, its place in the framework within the so-called periphery zone of the contemporary global process,” the head of state said. Simultaneously, President Kuchma believes that the current economic situation broadens the opportunities for systemic reform and structural reconstruction in Ukraine. “We are to use [these opportunities] in full measure. Objectively speaking, the question is, today or never,” the president stressed. In response to the president’s directive, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych informed those present that the government intends to implement state order for innovation projects starting in 2004.

Will this and other measures suggested by the government prove sufficient? Answering The Day ’s question, director of the Ukrayina investment company, Herman Shloman, confirmed that there are many ideas in Ukraine, “but there is no demand for our domestic inventors in the Ukrainian market.” In his opinion, this situation is to be changed. However, the expert on innovations stated that the innovation model can find acceptance only in rich countries. A poor country cannot become rich without any help from the outside, he believes. “The existence of an investment climate is a decisive factor,” Mr. Shloman claims. Moreover, he opines that the innovation way of development is possible for Ukraine only if foreign investments first come to our traditional branches of industry: agrarian complex, metallurgy, and chemistry. Only after that can they come to high tech, and only if it is the case that the market develops a demand for them.