Foreign cos exiting Russia have lost this market for a long time - Dvorkovich

MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) - Foreign companies exiting Russia have lost this market for a long time to come, with Russia prepared to respond to sanctions with technological breakthroughs, said Arkady Dvorkovich, chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation.

"Russia today continues to live under tough but senseless sanctions. But we will rise to this challenge. We are ready to respond with technological breakthroughs and with our own development. That's how it's always been," he said in a statement, seen by Interfax.

Dvorkovich said that when he worked in government he did all he could to ensure that sanctions were not hindrance but an opportunity for Russia to build its own economy. "And the results of this work in many sectors have made it possible to create the foothold to ensure national security that we have today - in agriculture and construction, in energy and petrochemicals, in infrastructure development," he said.

He said he could not hold those foreign companies that have left the Russian market in high regard. "Some of them have lost it for a very long time, perhaps forever. Our main task is to get rid of technological dependence. This can only be achieved through teamwork, in which everyone who is capable of being a leader will be involved, everyone in their own place," Dvorkovich said.

He said Skolkovo had "always been at the forefront of innovation in Russia and is ready today to make every effort to build a competitive economy of our own in our country."