TOMSK, Jan 15 –
RIA Tomsk. The construction of an
inter-university campus in Tomsk can become a good example of public-private
partnership (PPP) that could be replicated in other regions of Russia, Senior
Vice-President of the State Development Corporation VEB.RF Mikhail Alashkevich
said during the Gaidar Forum on Friday.
Earlier it was
reported that in 2019 the regional administration, VEB.RF and the Ministry of
Science and Higher Education agreed on the implementation in Tomsk of a pilot
project for the construction of an inter-university campus within the framework
of the "Education" national project using the PPP mechanism. The
campus will be able to accept 20 thousand students and will become a joint
facility of the universities of the "Big University" of Tomsk.
The Gaidar
Forum, which has a reputation as a "Russian Davos", has been held
since 2010 in Moscow at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy
and Public Administration. Experts, government officials, public and political
figures, entrepreneurs from different countries of the world gather on its
site. In 2021, the forum is held on January 14 and 15 under the theme
"Russia and the World after the Pandemic".
Both
"public" and "private"...
"The campus
in Tomsk can become an example of good interagency cooperation. And (there
should be) federal co-financing, which everyone expects, (financing) at the
regional level, private investors. If there is a PPP, then there must be both
"public" and "private". The state part is the funds
provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education for the development of
educational and scientific infrastructure", – he said.
Alashkevich
discussed the Tomsk campus during the forum at the meeting with Governor Sergey
Zhvachkin and Rector of Tomsk State University Eduard Galazhinsky. As Zhvachkin
noted during the discussion, the region is taking concrete steps to implement
the campus project.
"We have
included 600 million rubles into the budget of the Tomsk region for the
implementation of this project. Now we are waiting for a reciprocal step from
VEB" , – he said.
Entry and
development point
As RIA Tomsk
previously reported, the campus can be built on the left bank of the Tom – the
authorities plan to buy 52 hectares of land from the
"Karyeroupravlenie" ("Quarry Management") group of
companies in 2021.
© РИА Томск. Андрей Кузнецов
Zhvachkin told
the forum participants that it would not be just a set of dormitories: "We
must build dormitories, classrooms, joint laboratories in which the scientific
and educational complex, academic institutes, IT companies, and state
corporations that are on the territory will participate".
Alashkevich
added that VEB, using the example of the Tomsk region, is working with the
Ministry of Science and Higher Education on a comprehensive project for the
development of inter-university university campuses in other territories. "
I think that by joint efforts we will come to some good result" , – the
expert emphasized.
The rector of
TSU Galazhinsky added, in turn, that the inter-university campus of the
"Big University" is an instrument for implementing the policy in the
field of PPP. "We negotiate between universities and research institutes
on integration at the level of strategy and services. And it turns out that for
companies there are not twelve points of entry into the region, let's say, but
one. The campus is an environment that concentrates people and creates the
necessary capital that is interesting for companies".
As previously
reported, the "Big University" project was launched in Tomsk in 2019
(it is supervised by the Tomsk Consortium of Universities and Scientific
Organizations). All universities and research institutes participate in it,
while preserving autonomy and legal independence.