Research Structure

Table 1. Main Science and Technology Indicators:

	2009	2010	2011	2012
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D, million roubles,  before 1998 – billion roubles:
at current prices	485834.3	523377.2	610426.7	699869.8
at constant 1989 prices	6.07	5.86	5.90	6.11
Gross domestic expenses on R&D:
as a percentage of GDP	1.25	1.13	1.09	1.12
as a percentage compared to the previous year at constant 1989 prices	110.6	94.2	101.0	105.7
Federal budget appropriations on civil S&T, million roubles,  before 1998 – billion roubles:
at current prices	219053.4	237644.0	313899.3	355921.1
at constant 1991prices	7.50	7.13	8.15	8.52
as a percentage of GDP	0.56	0.51	0.56	0.57
National R&D personnel, thousand	742.4	736.5	735.3	726.3
Researchers, thousand	369.2	368.9	374.7	372.6
Researchers per R&D institution, head-count	104	106	102	104
Researchers per 10000 employed, head-count	55	55	55	55

201 Science Indicators: 2014. Statistical data book. Moscow, Higher School of Economics, 2014. pp. 17-20.

Research performers

The S&T institutional structure has a number of specific features that distinguish Russia from most of the other developed countries. There are about 3,600 R&D organisations operating in Russia (see Table 2).

Table 2. R&D institutes by type:

	2009	2010	2011	2012
Total	3536	3492	3682	3566
Research institutes	1878	1840	1782	1744
Design organisations	377	362	364	338
Construction project and exploration organisations	36	36	38	33
Experimental enterprises	57	47	49	60
Higher education institutions	506	517	581	560
Industrial enterprises	228	238	280	274
Others	454	452	588	557

2 Science Indicators: 2014. Statistical data book. Moscow, Higher School of Economics, 2014. p. 26.

Russian R&D organisations are divided into four main sectors, depending on their main activity and functions:

• Governmental sector which provide support to government institutions, working for the society as a whole.
• Business enterprise sector which support companies producing goods and services for sale (both privately and publicly owned).
• Higher education sector engaged in highly skilled professionals training at higher education institutions.
• Sector of non-profit organisations, including private companies which do not operate for profit.

The years of reform have brought significant changes to the governmental and business enterprise sectors. Paradoxically for a market economy, one can notice considerable growth in the governmental sector and an equally significant decline in the number of R&D organisations in the business enterprise sector.

Table 3. Number of R&D organisations by sector of science:

	Total	Governmental  Sector	Business Enterprise   Sector	Higher Education  Sector	Sector of   Non-profit Organisations
2009	3536	1406	1446	603	81
2010	3492	1400	1405	617	70
2011	3682	1457	1450	696	79
2012	3566	1467	1362	660	77

3 Science Indicators: 2014. Statistical data book. Moscow, Higher School of Economics, 2014. p. 122

Specific weight of the government sector in overall R&D expenditure in 2012 was 32,2%, which is significantly higher than an OECD countries average (ca. 13.2% in 2012). In 2000-2012, R&D expenditure in the business enterprise sector increased 1.5 times (in constant prices), in the governmental sector – 2.4 times, in the higher education sector – 3.8 times, in the sector of non-profit organisations – 1.5 times.

Research funding system

R&D funding sources in the Russian Federation include the following:

• State funding (all levels, including provision for universities, as well as budget of state organisations, incl. own);
• Business enterprise sector;
• Higher education sector;
• Sector of non-profit organisations;
• Funds from foreign sources.

The state budget remains the biggest source of funding for Russian science. Almost 97% of the funding comes from the federal budget, and only 3% - from all regional budgets put together.

During the last ten years, the structure of sectoral R&D expenditures in Russia has remained practically unchanged. Almost all expenditure is received by the business enterprise (58.3% in 2012) and governmental (about 32.2% in 2012) R&D sectors. The business enterprise sector’s share in the total R&D expenditure in Russia is comparable with the level of other developed countries (e.g. the USA had 68.3% in 2012). However, the composition of this sector in Russia is quite different from other developed countries. In Russia, the business enterprise sector includes many government-owned companies and organisations, while in other countries it mostly comprises private companies.

In 2000-2012, federal budget appropriations for civil R&D grew 2.3 times (at constant 1991 prices), mainly due to increased federal budget funding. In the organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), R&D expenditures financed by the state for the same period increased 2.2 times. The share of RAS in total R&D expenditure grew from 9.7% in 2000 to 10.5% in 2012.

The share of governmental funding in the gross domestic R&D expenditure in 2012 was close to 67.8%, which is much higher than, for example, the average for the OECD countries (about 35.6% in 2012). Expenditure on R&D undertaken in the governmental sector amounts to about 0.36% of the GDP (in 2012).

Source: HSE
Last update: March 2014