President Dmitry Medvedev has familiarized himself with youth innovative projects during his visit to the Seliger 2010 National Youth Education Forum on July 8.

The forum is held in a camp at Lake Seliger in Tver Region, halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. It kicked off on July 2 and will last until July 29. About 25,000 young talented Russians and guests from 89 countries are expected to participate in the event.

This annual forum has been held since 2005 and now has state status. Most of the funds allocated for this years event - 97 million rubles ($3.1 million) - were raised by investors, RIA Novosti reported.

Medvedev arrived at the camp by helicopter from Tver, where he conducted a meeting of the presidential council on the development of an information society.

Among the projects shown to Medvedev was one envisioning the production of heat-resistant concrete. The author, 24-year-old Anna Bukhalo, told Medvedev she had obtained a patent for the project and had signed a protocol with the State Corporation for Nanotechnologies (Rosnano), Itar-Tass reported.

The president also viewed a project for converting associated gas into electricity and heat energy. The problem this project concerns is important, Medvedev said, adding that he had spoken about it in his annual address.

Medvedev also watched the work of "Air Monitor", designed for making presentations in a new water-evaporation based format, and the demonstration of a turbine bearings control sensor, which is installed on unmanned aircraft.

Speaking with the participants of the forum, Medvedev expressed hope that Russia would be open, well-developed. and a powerful country. It may have been his second visit to the forum, but it was the first time during the period of modernization, he noted. "We are changing our economy and hence we have launched many new projects," he said.

"You are the ones on whom this country's future depends," Medvedev told the youth. "You are the people with the most up-to-date brains, unbridled energies, huge working abilities, and the reluctance to bridle your emotions," Itar-Tass quoted him as saying.

The event shows that Russia is "an open society and we are ready to learn," Medvedev said. Addressing foreign participants, he said they would be able to understand "what Russia is in reality."

"As the president and a citizen, I can tell you it is a beautiful land," the president said. "We would like this country to be open for everything that is new."

Photo: RIA Novosti / Vladimir Rodionov