Vision
As an international business leader, Oleg Deripaska regularly addresses key issues relating to Russia and the global economy. He has recently commented on:
- Climate change
- The environment
- Energy security
- Nuclear power
- The aluminium industry
- The lessons of the economic crisis
- Russia’s economic growth
- Modernisation
- Small business
- Russian and emerging economies
- China
- Hong Kong
- Russia-US relations and cooperation
- Entrepreneurship
- Employment
- Education and combating poverty
"Far from being a trade-off between prosperity and the Planet, the move to a low-carbon future can help us kick-start economic growth, provide new opportunities and spread prosperity. I am encouraged that in Russia - and across the world - there is now a much greater awareness of the health of Planet Earth. But we have a great deal more to do to meet the goal of passing on our Planet to our children in a healthier state. Getting this right will create jobs, increase prosperity and improve quality of life. We will all be losers if we fail to rise to this challenge."
"Tackling global environmental problems requires a wholesale shift in people’s attitudes about preserving resources. They must have a sense of responsibility for environmental wellbeing of the planet and be willing to change their behavior. It can’t all be left to governments to handle. In the business community, we must play our part and implement environmentally sound practices to pave the way to a clean and sustainable environment. We must work with governments to make being "green" economically viable."
"Concerns about a global energy deficit have more to do with increases in demand than supply problems. We now see new engines powering the world economy. Once these motors were just the developed economies in Europe, the USA and Japan. Now they have been joined by emerging countries like Russia, China, India and Brazil. It is the growth of industrial production and improved living conditions in those countries that is pushing up demand for energy."
"We are looking very closely at the technologies which will drive our business over the next 50 years. We are talking about the increased role of nuclear power, particularly through the use of new small reactors. This technology can realistically emerge in the next seven or eight years and could be key to developing remote regions industrially. These small reactors, of between 50 to 150 megawatts, would be much safer and with longer fuel cycles. Their potential, for example in running de-salination plants to allow agriculture on now unproductive land, could be immense."
"Aluminium is the metal of the future. Its great advantage is that it is environmentally friendly in a number of ways. It is 100% recyclable and processing aluminium requires half as much energy as steel. Using aluminium instead of traditional steel reduces the weight of an automobile and results in a significant fuel consumption saving. For example, reducing the weight of a car by 100 kg saves 0.6 liters of petrol per 100 km."
The lessons of the economic crisis:
"The global crisis has taught us that the most far-fetched scenarios can happen. We all now know that companies have to devote more time to risk-management. The crisis has caused great hardship and set us new challenges. But I think there could be long-term benefits for our country as well. We have begun to think again about how divided our society has become socially and how prosperity was not evenly shared between people or regions. And that is important for our long-term future."
"A host of Russian industries now compete on the global scale, including successful companies in the automotive, nuclear power and aerospace sectors. If we intend to lead our economy away from over-reliance on natural resources, we must boost home-grown manufacturing capacity, invest heavily in R&D, modernise the Russian education system and introduce no-waste technologies. It is virtually the only way that Russia will become a diversified and thriving economy."
"We can’t as a country continue to rely on oil. It won’t last forever. We need to diversify and modernise our economy. The government can help kick-start modernisation by cutting taxes on investment in the high-tech manufacturing and IT sector to attract capital and companies to Russia."
“Small businesses offer diversity to local economies, which is especially important for the Russian towns where one large business or factory provides the majority of jobs. Small businesses play a critical role in stimulating the entrepreneurship necessary to sustain and boost employment in these communities."
Russian and emerging economies:
"China, India and the other emerging economies will continue to expand. They will need more power to fuel their industries. With an abundance of natural resources, Russia stands well placed to become the cornerstone of the economic development across Asia and the Pacific Region. But we must find the right way of how to meet that demand while at the same time scaling down the environmental impact."
"China today is the ultimate driver in Asia and is a key player in the global economy. In coming years it will play an even more significant role and provide increasing opportunities for international business. The key is to find the right ways to take advantage of those opportunities."
Hong Kong is the gateway to Asia and the rapidly growing Chinese economy. To build a long-term economic relationship we need to develop a range of business, cultural, and scientific links. The first steps in this direction have already been taken. There is a visa-free regime between Hong Kong and Russia, and the flow of visitors has quadrupled in the past year.
Russia-US relations and cooperation:
"The results of Russia-US Summit meeting should be measured not in the number of agreements signed, but by a change in atmosphere, the increased volume of exchanges between students, teachers, researchers, professionals, and business people. We need to join together to tackle problems such as energy, food, water, climate and sustainable development. I believe both countries, and the wider world, will benefit if we combine to achieve breakthroughs in nuclear energy production, resource saving and waste reduction. But this needs us to remove the remaining restrictions in technology exchange, in access to markets and in business travel. We must distinguish between true national interests and those decisions and policies which are a product of bureaucracy, special interests and outdated attitudes. I see the Russia-US Summit as a chance for a fresh start."
"A culture of entrepreneurship is critical for the health of any economy, but it is not just small businesses where this attitude is important. The spirit of entrepreneurialism – innovation, transformation and dynamism – should be the core values of any business, large or small. Business people must continually challenge themselves to find new approaches and possibilities if they are to achieve lasting success."
"Businesses are only as good as their people, from the leadership to the shop floor. I am proud of the quarter of a million people my companies employ. Management of our companies works with the employees to make sure they have a sense of purpose and accountability in their work, and are consistently upgrading their skills through training."
Education and combating poverty:
"Poverty in Russia differs considerably from poverty in other developing countries, where the poor are largely uneducated and unemployed. In Russia, more than half of all poor people are salaried workers. Fair access to education is vital to help overcome social inequality and poverty. In principle, free and fair publicly-funded education exists. But the reality is that, even if your child is a genius, low income parents from the Russian provinces cannot send their children to study in Moscow. A variety of measures are needed to make education accessible including the expansion of the student loan system. We have to make these loans accessible to those who need them most."