There are two troubles in Russia - roads and Skolkovo

I, like most, am extremely skeptical about the idea of ​​creating an analogue of the silicon valley in the Moscow region. But when Medvedev enlisted the support of Steve Jobs himself (which, incidentally, the Russian market does not really favor), I thought. This project seems to have gone too far and is doomed to implementation. The “majority” of the idea of ​​silicon valley is “overlooked”. But over time, skepticism subsides. There are not many reasons to believe in the mythical Skolkovo project, the main ones are the increased interest of those in power, and, accordingly, a huge budget (5 billion dollars). Critics of the project, as a rule, point to the problem of corruption in Russia. Corruption in Russia has a place to be, but it is not worth it because of this immediately wave your hand at any state initiative. I decided to summarize the most powerful arguments of the critics of Silicon Valley. Interest was fueled by rumors that

The main problem, as I said, is corruption. The temptation is too great to grab a piece of such a large pie. Alexey Navalny, a lawyer, minority shareholder of Gazprom and Rosneft, commented: “We need to do something with the greatest show-offs, convenience for our little body and at the same time saw at least 30%. That's all".

The second argument in the arsenal of skeptics is unjustified enthusiasm. From scratch, in an open field, to ward off such a project. Science and technology parks are for the most part an urban phenomenon. 66% of modern science parks are located in the city, and 27% are in sufficient proximity to it, at a distance of up to 50 km.

The third argument was most correctly formulated by Sergey Aleksashenko, former deputy chairman of the Central Bank, director of the HSE for macroeconomic research. “People who know Russian history remember that it was such a way of organizing scientific and technical work that was recognized by the Soviet regime as the most appropriate: first, put the scientists in jail or camp (so that they knew how much a pound of dare), then put them in a heap, put up guards and create working conditions inside the territory fenced with barbed wire. Kurchatov, Korolev, Tupolev, and many others passed through this. ”

Their opinion was expressed at the Massachusetts Technical University, to which Skolkovo representatives went for a consultation. “Without creating normal conditions for the functioning of the entire economy, without developing competition, nothing will work.”

Matt Marshall, founder of the Venture Beat portal, expressed his idea: investing in Russian high-tech is crazy!

Vice-rector of the Russian School of Economics, Alexei Sitnikov, in an interview with Forbes magazine noted: The state should play a key role, but not dominate.

I have been sending a package with Ebay for 3 months already, what kind of silicon valley are we talking about ?!