REUTERS
Era of hydrocarbons is over, and Russia has found itself among the losers, "the downshifter states,” said German Gref, Head of Sberbank of Russia speaking at the Gaidar Forum. He called to change all state systems, including the system of education.
Gref spoke of the crisis in the oil market, which, as he believes, was caused by the "radical shifts in consumption." "The era of hydrocarbons is over. Just like the Stone Age was over not because there were no stones left, the Oil Age is now over as well," Gref said.
"The future has come sooner than we expected. We are already living in this future today,” the head of Sberbank said, adding in English: “Welcome to the future!”
As RBC reported, Gref believes that the future price of oil does not really matter: "We will really lag behind if we don’t change the concept of our popular approach."
"We lost the competition, ending up among of countries that are losing, "the downshifter states." The winners are the states and individuals, who were able to adapt and invest in it in due time. Those who weren’t, are going to lose big time," he said. According to Gref, Russia is facing "a huge income gap" with "the winner states.”
In order to adapt to new conditions, Russia must "change all the national systems, particularly education - from kindergartens to universities," Gref believes. The CEO of Sberbank of Russia said in the world of new technology, "big problems" arise from "the people at the medium level," those who fail to engage in either qualified or low-skilled labor.
Read alsoSberbank chief urges Russians to prepare for "less sweet" lifeIn an early January’s interview with The Financial Times Gref called the falling oil prices, Western sanctions and lack of structural reforms the main problems of the Russian economy.
In April 2015 Gref said that the primary reform Russia needs is that of an "absolutely inefficient system of governance." "Russia is not ready to any reform ... As soon as we carry out this reform, then we can implement all the rest," said Gref.