Mark Galeotti: Russia needs its brains
Fireworks are seen over Moscow's Kremlin complex during New Year celebrations in Moscow, on Jan. 1.
At January’s Gaidar Forum, Sberbank chief and former minister German Gref said what everyone knows but officially no one wants to admit: that “downshifter” Russia is losing its best and its brightest to Europe and the US. “Our most terrible export, and our largest export, which we must stop, is the export of brainpower,” he said. “We don't count how many we export each year, but I fear that in terms of losses it is the biggest of our exports.”
