In 2011, President Medvedev touted the goal of
technology development to diversify the economy so
that it does not rely on the export of natural resources.
Medvedev reaffirmed the government’s commitment
to improve the investment climate and modernize,
including the development of high technology prod-
ucts, though he admitted that efforts to date had not
resulted in tangible progress (Adelaja 2011).
Kremlin priorities for rebuilding the military and
defense establishments have also hit snags. The mod-
ernization effort under Putin and Medvedev-Putin
has required large budget allotments. They gave
even higher priority to reorganizing and modernizing
the military after the 2008 war against Georgia dem-
onstrated its weaknesses. But the results have been
very disappointing, with undelivered equipment,
long delays and repeated test failures on key systems
(NTI, Russia/Nuclear Chronology 2011). Whether the
missed deadlines and systems failures have been the
result of contract delays, and under-estimated techni-
cal complications, or whether money has disappeared
into pockets in this generally corrupt environment, is
not clear. One critic argued that the cost-cutting re-
organization and reductions in the defense industry
eliminated independent government expertise and
threw this sector into chaos (Subbotin 2011). Medve-
dev issued strong rebukes and threats to the top of-
ficials responsible, demanding accountability. Within
several days it was reported that a number of top
defense ministry officials and two industry senior
executives had been dismissed, and others received
warnings. It remains to be seen how far Medvedev
can go in holding top military officials accountable,
especially given that a top official is a rival and Putin
ally (Felgenhauer 2011; Grove 2011).^
sharon
(sharon)
#1