- 27.01.2026 12:02
Open Dialogue with Ministers
Meetings with heads of regional executive authorities continue at Tula State University.
On January 27, Alexey Stepanovich Stepin, Deputy Chairman of the Tula Region Government and Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment of the Tula Region, spoke with students of the Institute of Natural Sciences.
After graduating from school in 2000, the guest explained, he entered the Russian State University of Trade and Economics. He graduated with honors.
He began his career at an agricultural enterprise. In 2013, he joined the Ministry of Agriculture as deputy head of a department, later becoming director of the department. In 2019, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture of the Tula Region. In 2024, he joined the new government as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Environment.
Alexey Stepanovich admitted that he enjoys being a minister. He certainly understands the importance of the tasks facing him and strives to make every effort to achieve them.
Tula Region is an industrial region. More than 50% of the gross domestic product comes from the defense, chemical, metallurgy, and automotive industries. Here, the minister emphasized, it is crucial to maintain a balance between industry and the environment, ensuring comfortable living conditions for our residents. These goals are served by the environmental monitoring system, which is constantly being improved in our region.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Alexey Stepanovich explained, is interested in specialists with a good knowledge of chemistry and biology, and they need to be trained starting in kindergarten. Everything needs to be explained to children in an accessible manner so they understand and show interest and this interest needs to be nurtured in school, and then in university. After all, today's agriculture and agro-industrial complex are not just a shovel and horse-drawn transport, but a highly robotic, high-tech industry.
Alexey Stepanovich said that the ministry he heads places a significant emphasis on career guidance for schoolchildren and students. The Ministry of Agriculture has a Youth Council. The minister emphasized that the views of young people, their ideas, and suggestions are extremely important. The ministry actively invites students for internships both within its own structure and in subordinate organizations. The region has implemented measures to support young specialists in agriculture, natural resources, and the environment.
During the meeting, one of the students raised the issue of government regulation of invasive plant problems. Alexey Stepanovich told the students about the region's efforts to combat hogweed.
Head of the Biology Department, Elena Mikhaylovna Volkova, asked the minister about expanding the Tula Region's specially protected natural areas.
At this stage, Alexey Stepanovich responded, existing specially protected natural areas are being analyzed. Based on this, an approach to creating new nature conservation areas will be developed.
Olga Nikolayevna Ponomaryova, Head of the Biotechnology Department, in turn asked the guest about other employment prospects available to biotechnology graduates.
Alexey Stepanovich spoke about the construction of two plants in the Uzlovaya special economic zone: one for processing peas into protein concentrate and one for producing citric acid from corn starch products.
When asked what competencies a specialist should possess, the minister responded that knowledge is, of course, necessary but he believes perseverance and responsibility also play a key role. Everything else can be learned.
The meeting between Vitaly Yuryevich Prokudin, Minister of Digital Development and Communications of the Tula Region, and students of the Institute of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science was lively and engaging that day. The students simply bombarded their guest with questions.
Vitaliy Yuryevich is a graduate of Tula State University. After graduating from school, he studied programming at the Nikita Demidov Mechanical Engineering College. Later, as he himself admitted, he had some doubts and even considered becoming a lawyer but programming prevailed.
The meeting participants asked the guest about his student years. He responded, "It was marked by friendship with students with whom I shared common interests." This friendship not only persisted but also manifested itself in joint projects.
One of the students asked the minister how he envisioned the development of the IT sector in the region.
Currently, the guest reported, there are over 500 IT organizations and 1,500 individual entrepreneurs in the Tula Region. Over the past two years, IT specialists' salaries have doubled, which is certainly a good indicator but there is room for improvement. Our goal, Vitaliy Yuryevich emphasized, is to ensure high-quality growth for the IT sector and increase its share of the regional gross domestic product.
The minister noted that it's important to understand that IT is a special field. It doesn't offer easy entry. Specialists are needed! The support to stimulate the industry and increase the number of companies is required from Tula State University. Students should be involved in this work, holding career guidance meetings with schoolchildren and organizing events for them.
When asked about the direction the IT industry is heading, Vitaliy Yuryevich responded that there are several options. These include import substitution, the development of artificial intelligence, the creation of domestic products, and market expansion.
The students also inquired about the widespread use of artificial intelligence technologies in the Tula region.
The implementation of artificial intelligence in the region, Vitaliy Yuryevich explained, began with medicine—from X-rays to CT scans. Artificial intelligence analyzes cardiovascular patients` records and generates treatment plans. The range of diseases for which AI will perform this analysis is expected to expand.
Vitaliy Yuryevich continued that artificial intelligence also controls the city's traffic lights. It has also been implemented in agriculture, helping to determine planting sites.
Officials are being trained to use artificial intelligence in routine work. The robot on the Tula Region Governor's helpline is an artificial intelligence tool. It is widely used in public administration.
The meeting participants also touched on the topic of copyright. The discussion centered on works created using artificial intelligence.
If AI, Vitaliy Yuryevich explained, writes or draws something under human guidance, it acts as a pen or brush. It's merely a tool. The idea, however, belongs to the human, and therefore, the human owns the intellectual property rights.
The students told the guest about the School of Sports Programming, which operates at the Institute of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, as well as the TulaHack hackathon, which has been held at the university for many years.
Vitaliy Yuryevich emphasized that it's important to popularize the IT sector and foster the creation of an IT community in the region.
The guest told the students about targeted recruitment for government agencies in IT fields and support measures for young professionals.
Tatyana Krikunkova
Photographs by Ilya khodakovskiy
