Speaking at the “Unicorns in the markets of the future” session of the “Made in Russia” International Export Forum, Sberbank President and Chairman of the Board of Directors German Gref noted that the enterprise sector as a whole is largely underdeveloped.
Everything related to innovation and new technologies is the fate of the state in agreement with large companies, says the head of Sberbank. According to him, the Russian government has done a lot in recent years to create favorable conditions: small businesses, the startup industry and high-tech enterprises have developed.
“Probably for the first time, we began to consider high-tech enterprises and industrial production in general as a development priority,” Gref emphasized.
He described it as a problem that small and medium-sized businesses are now dominated by trade and services. According to the head of Sberbank, to change this situation, we need infrastructure and a change in people’s behavioral patterns. Without this, there is no need to wait for the emergence of unicorn startups worth more than $ 1 billion in Russia.
“The work of awakening the entrepreneurial spirit should start at school,” Gref explained. — We must introduce the subject of “entrepreneurship” in schools and significantly expand the subject of “technology”. Then, of course, universities and then the creation of the entire infrastructure that will support entrepreneurs.”
He believes that it should include the entire cycle of supporting entrepreneurs in finding investment. These are seed funds that support startups at the initial idea level, venture funds that invest in more advanced stages, accelerators, technology parks and public offering supports.
“We still have obvious gaps here that need to be closed,” said the head of Sberbank. Gref said that 2022 was a difficult year for the startup industry worldwide, with investments in startup projects falling by nearly 30%. If in 2021 the investment volume amounted to about 750 billion dollars, last year it was about 500 billion dollars. And the number of transactions dropped by more than 2 times. However, Gref stated that it is clear that a fairly rapid recovery has begun in the market this year, both in the world and in Russia.