Without the use of specialized equipment, it is extremely difficult to achieve results in modern science. Unfortunately, the situation regarding scientific equipment in our country is far from perfect. This concerns not only the quality of instrumental resources in our research institutes and universities, but also the process of purchasing scientific equipment. The vice-chancellor of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Alexei Khokhlov, in an interview with Konstantin Kiselev, the director of the project Science and Technologies in the Russian Federation, speculates on this eternal problem of the Russian research and design sector.