Russia came in fourth globally for the number of citizens employed in the scientific field, after China, the United States and Japan, Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Mikhail Kotyukov told a forum in Moscow on Tuesday.

"Today Russia is rated fourth in the world for the overall number of people employed in this sector, after China, the US and Japan," Kotyukov pointed out. Russia focuses on scientific performance, in particular publications, patents and researches, he noted.

According to the minister, though Russia is among the world’s leaders for the number of science workers, it has "modest figures" when it comes to expenditures on research and development. "However, science is a rather complicated sphere. It may have long-term effects, if we talk about fundamental research, and rather immediate results, when scientific groundwork must provide answers and opportunities for creating new technological solutions," the minister stressed.

The Fifth International Financial University Forum "How to Break into the Top Five of the Leading World Economies?" is being hosted in Moscow from November 27-29. The forum is a venue for discussions on recent changes in the Russian and the global economy, structural transformations in international trade and the development of the social sector. Russian and foreign experts from 32 countries are taking part in the event.