In ten to 15 years the world demand for oil will significantly decrease, and unless Russia hurries to diversify its economy, it may get into trouble, a top Russian CEO says.
Russia’s developed raw materials sector is not a problem in itself, according to Igor Agamirzyan, CEO of Russian Venture Company and a member of the Russian president’s Commission for Modernization and Technological Development.“Raw materials will undoubtedly remain one of Russia’s main sources of income for a long time yet. I think we should openly admit that the current economic modernization in Russia would have been impossible without raw materials, because this sector pays. It earns the funds which state and private business invests in modernization projects and innovative economic development,” he said.The problem is the short time that this sector has got to live.“The thing is that those responsible for economic decisions understand only too well that we have quite a short time left to continue living off natural resources. In the next ten, 15 or 20 years the world economic architecture will change so much that the raw materials sector will simply lose the significance it has today.” “This year… for the first time in 50 years, America’s Tesla – a company that brought the first electric vehicle to the market – has gone public. This is a very significant event, because it means that the market believed in the idea so much, that it was ready to invest money into a project which would have been considered crazy and unthinkable just a few years ago,” he pointed out.“It also means that in the next ten to 15 years a considerable part of the automobile fleet will operate totally differently. It will be electrical, environmentally clean etc. Who will then need us and our oil, if the world stops consuming oil as an energy resource in such huge amounts? And if we fail to diversify and reorganize our economy and introduce innovative development, then Russia will turn out to be uncompetitive in the world market,” he added.