Ozersk has a special place in the nuclear map of Russia and in the history of the creation of its nuclear weapons complex. It is the home
of Russia’s first, and one of the World’s largest, nuclear industrial centres – MAYAK. The Head of the Ozersk Municipality, Sergei Chernyshev,
spoke to us about the City and about his first hand experience of the CNCP Programme in the following interview.
Sergei, an interview with you appeared in one of the first issues of the Newsletter. Three years have passed since then. What new
developments have occurred in terms of Ozersk’s involvement in the Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership?
Above all, I would point to the dynamism, the tempo with which we, together with our British partners, have been able to deliver support
to Ozersk entrepreneurs. I am delighted with the response of the leaders of our enterprises, who expressed their feelings of partnership, not
just in words but in deeds, and with the pride with which they showed off the equipment which we have been able to provide through the
Programme. Of course they also contributed resources of their own, but the support from CNCP was very appreciable. And, of course, it achieved
its aim: the creation of workplaces - a matter of current concern and need.
Clearly, I cannot refrain from pointing to the opening of the Business Development Agency in the City of Ozersk, which thanks to joint
efforts, marks a big step in terms of results. We began discussions on creating the Agency two years ago during a CNCP study tour to Great
Britain. Today, practically everything is ready – all that remains is completing the final touches of the building, and then it will be ready
to function and to receive its first visitors.
How did the idea of creating the BDA arise, what was the impulse behind it?For us, MAYAK is the fulcrum, it is a colossal intellectual resource, both in terms of information and, because of its focus on people. It is a wonderful school
of production, of discipline, and of a conscientious attitude towards work.
Returning to the subject of the BDA, what problems arose in the course of its establishment?
A part of the problem, which delayed us somewhat in building Agency, was the issue of finding suitable premises. Despite the existence of
Federal law 131 regulating these issues, there turned out to be no obvious way to change the legal and regulatory status of the building which
had been designated from the start to be the home of the Agency. As a result we ended up by having to design another scheme, based on a
different building, but we managed to do this in the end.
I would also like to stress one important point – we reached a common understanding almost immediately with Patrick Gray concerning the
creation of conditions for cooperation between the Agency and the business incubator, which was being organized at the same time. The prospect
of creating a business incubator in our City arose thanks to the fact that Ozersk won a Regional competition for the best business incubator
proposal, and that gave us the funding to create it. I am convinced that the collaboration between these two structures will both facilitate
and improve the quality of the work concerned, and will expand the scale of activities.
How do you see the future of the BDA?
For one simple reason, I am convinced that the business community will put a very high level of trust in it – and that is that the founders
of the Agency include organisations which are held in great respect. This undoubtedly will help to ensure that people will trust the Agency and
will work with it closely. The experience described in the Conference relating to the attraction of investors to Closed Cities, linked to
particular obligations and needs, pleased me greatly. It is essential that this experience is applied in Ozersk.
The success of the BDA will depend on us conscientiously addressing the task of realising the aims for which it was established. Above all,
the Agency brings together a range of resources: the people with manufacturing experience to be “released” from MAYAK, investment resources
appropriate for projects which have their roots in the bowels of the city's main enterprise – and perhaps not only of MAYAK. A data base of
potential projects in one Closed City could throw up projects not currently of interest in the city concerned, but which might be appropriate
in the different circumstances of another city. A third factor is the financial resources of the CNCP Programme, and, finally, the resources of
our own administration. Bringing together these four elements creates a very substantial resource. If we can work in a focused way, we will
achieve the result which CNCP exists to achieve – the creation of workplaces. And that, after all, boils down to trust between people – which
is a precious thing.
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