Question NW1580 to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation

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25 May 2022 - NW1580

Profile picture: Mabika, Mr M

Mabika, Mr M to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation

Whether (a) his department and/or (b) entities reporting to him concluded any commercial contracts with (i) the government of the Russian Federation and/or (ii) any other entity based in the Russian Federation since 1 April 2017; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, for each commercial contract, what are the (aa) relevant details, (bb) values, (cc) time frames, (dd) goods contracted and (ee) reasons that the goods could not be contracted in the Republic?

Reply:

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

a) South Africa has a bilateral science and innovation partnership agreement with the Russian Federation in science and technology signed in October 2014. The partnership is of mutual benefit to both countries which advances internationalisation of science and innovation.

b) Regarding the question on commercial projects with the Russian Federation –the Department of Science and Innovation has no known commercial contracts with the Russian Federation and to the best of the Department’s knowledge, its entities also do not have commercial contracts with the Russian Federation.

(i) None.

(ii) None.

(aa) n/a

(bb) n/a

(cc) n/a

(dd) n/a

(ee) n/a

c) Should there be commercial contracts of mutual interest the general government procurement and contract management processes will be followed also informed by our national interest and foreign policy imperatives.

DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The Department of Higher Education and Training does not have any commercial contracts with the Government of the Russian Federation or any entity based in the Russian Federation. The Department mainly cooperates with the Russian Federation in human capital development in the form of scholarships. Tuition and accommodation is paid by the Government of the Russian Federation. The Department covers return flight tickets and top-up stipends provided by the Russian Federation. The monies are disbursed to students by the South African Embassy in Moscow.

A consolidated response for both the Department and the Public Entities accordingly reporting to it is also attached for convenience.