Uralians will be taught economics

Vice-President of VEO of Russia Margarita Ratnikova told Komsomolskaya Pravda what the awareness-raising Society does and why it is needed in the Urals.

The Free Economic Society, in fact, is the first independent scientific and public organization in Russia. In 1765, when the society was founded under the auspices of Catherine II in St. Petersburg, its full name was "The Imperial Free Economic Society for Encouragement of Farming and House-Building in Russia".

- Why is the economic society free? What does it mean?

- VEO of Russia has more than two and a half centuries of history. On November 11, on the Economist Day, we celebrated 252 years since its foundation. To name society Imperial and free was the idea of Catherine the Great. Catherine II was a wise politician, and she understood that for efficient decisions for the development of the Empire, it was necessary to unite people who represented different views and were free from any dependence on a particular school. In this sense, society is free. And the imperial, because the work in society was only for the benefit of the country.

- That is, free - is it just a tribute to the historical name?

- Of course. We like the word "free" because up to now on our discussion platform representatives of different fields of activity unite. However, they have a common constructive goal - to be useful to their country. By the way, back on her day, Catherine the Great gave the society a motto: the useful society. Since then, our logo says: useful, in the sense that people work for the benefit of their people, society and their country.

- Are you feeling free?

- Undoubtedly. We discuss and represent independent points of view.

- Margarita, you can be often seen at major international economic events. Now you have come from Moscow to Yekaterinburg. What is the reason for your visit to the Urals?

– Today, we are involved in international activity because it is important for us to communicate and attract foreign experts for the exchange of experience. We were invited to Yekaterinburg by the USUE Rector Yakov Silin to take part in the Constituent Conference of the interregional public organization "Ural Branch of the Free Economic Society of Russia".

– Is the Free Economic Society in demand?

- To date, the VEO has 65 regional organizations, 24 of them are leaders. We expect that the Ural branch will become one of the leaders. It is very important that at the Constituent Conference, there was a serious initiative group and its site is famous SINH. They have a strong scientific school and excellent faculty staff. Recently, there is a transition to innovative technologies; the educational process is clearly focused on employers. It is a serious approach to business.

- Are regional branches always established only under the local initiative?

- The process is as follows: a local initiative, an approval of the presidium as the governing body, then, accordingly, a constituent conference is held, then again an approval of the presidium, and only then we begin to function. It is always a two-way work. In this case, the Ural branch will be an absolutely independent regional organization.

– Do they give ear to the Society, to your initiatives at the state level?

- It seems to me that for the last few years there has been a serious turn to consider our opinion. For example, issues related to the digital economy. In principle, the VEO has discussed this topic in different formats since 2014. In particular, our president Sergey Bodrunov spoke about the need to move to the digital economy, that it is a key to the future, and that without a digital economy it would be impossible to ensure the country's competitiveness on the world market. Now the digital economy already exists in some legislative projects. Although this is not the final options, but the beginning is necessary. Recently, we often cooperate with specialized bodies, in particular, with the Control Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation, discussing issues related, for example, to the development of mortgages.

- October 12, our residents for the first time wrote an all-Russian economic dictation. What it is? What is dictated there?

- The economic dictation is a conventional name. This is a dictation more close to a test. Our participants are high-school and university students, pensioners, and some enterprises also took part in the dictation. For each category, the tasks are different. It was important for us to look at the number of participants: this year it was the first action, but it gathered more than 60 000 people across the country! It was important to look at the situation of economic literacy of our population. It is not very good, there is something to work on.

- Thank you for your frankness. Will there be any program to eliminate economic illiteracy?

- There are such ideas. You see, in the economic dictation, for example, some people could not even calculate his/her personal income tax. There is even no understanding of what taxes exist. However, many people like to say that they pay taxes that support the whole country. As for elimination of illiteracy, the Imperial VEO had initiated literacy committees and worked to eliminate illiteracy in villages. There were real results. We, continuing the best traditions of our predecessors, will work to eliminate economic illiteracy among the population. One program, of course, will not be enough: it is necessary to have a comprehensive approach. We will be working. Public lectures also contribute to the elimination of economic illiteracy and we do deliver them.

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Vice-President of VEO of Russia Margarita Ratnikova told Komsomolskaya Pravda what the awareness-raising Society does and why it is needed in the Urals.

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