Russian dep econ minister sees huge potential for creative economy

MOSCOW. July 3 (Interfax) - The creative economy in Russia has huge potential and projects in this sector could become a driver of growth in the country's regions, Deputy Economic Development Minister Tatyana Ilyushnikova said.

"According to the latest data, our creative sector's revenue already totals about 7.6 trillion rubles, and small and medium businesses generate about 4 trillion rubles of this figure. In other words, the potential is huge," Ilyushnikova said in an interview published in Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Thursday.

The "creative economy is genuinely a new field, and we are just starting to develop it," she said.

"First we need to understand what to include in the creative economy. Actual creative industries are, for example, production of video games, animation. Secondly, we have sectors that are inextricably linked to creative industries. This is, for example, specialized education or production of designer fabrics for the fashion industry, specialized software, specialized equipment," Ilyushnikova said.

The third component is "traditional sectors of the economy where there are creative components," she said, citing the example of "elements of industrial design" in "manufacturing, production of vehicles or furniture."

"At this point the creative economy does not easily lend itself to econometrics. We have now started working on compiling clear designations and support institutions for the creative economy. We're discussing how to ensure that creative projects generate tangible added value and become a driver of growth in the regions. This could be development of designer clothing, games or furniture design, anything where there is an intellectual product with its own code," Ilyushnikova said.

The "main thing right now is to build the infrastructure and fine-tune support - assistance for people to learn how to create such a product, provide the opportunity to receive targeted grants or subsidized loans for creative projects," she said.

"I am confident that with growth creative sectors will have an ever greater impact on the country's economy," Ilyushnikova said.