Medvedev seeks modernized Russian economy

MOSCOW, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Russia will focus on civilian nuclear energy and information technology in its efforts to modernize the economy, President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday.

Speaking to the state-owned Russian TV network Channel One, Medvedev said the Kremlin would also place an emphasis on energy efficiency and developing its pharmaceuticals sector in a bid to diversify the economy beyond its oil and gas industries, RIA Novosti reported.

"I have formulated top five priorities. ... They include energy efficiency because we waste too much energy; information products, both ground- and space-based; nuclear energy, which has always been our trump card and can change life for the better; and pharmaceuticals, as we must produce our own medicinal drugs qualitatively and at affordable prices," Medvedev said.

The news agency said the president also is seeking to modernize other sectors as well, including the country's pension system and Russia's "social sphere and political system."

"Maybe 10 to 15 years is quite a foreseeable horizon, beyond which we should see already a new economy," Medvedev told Channel One. "An economy that is able to compete with the world's largest economies."