VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Mr Gayevsky, we were discussing the problems of the North Caucasus in general. The Stavropol Territory is certainly the largest entity in this region. It is developing fairly well, on the whole, though it has many problems - agriculture in particular. What is the situation in the fields like?
Valery Gayevsky: Harvesting is well underway. That's the main piece of news regarding agriculture. Two and a half million tonnes of grain are already stocked in silos, even though drought and hail destroyed almost 50 hectares of crops. Also, the crop area has shrunken by 80,000 hectares after we shifted emphasis to maize, soy and colza. However, the grain yield has stayed at last year's level, so we expect the same six or seven million tonnes as last year, which brought the third largest harvest in local history. I think we will manage, because we have already passed the halfway mark in our work.
Your recent instructions regarding insurance could not have come at a better time. Weather does create problems. I'll admit that insurance was of little use till quite recently. Federal and regional subsidies helped much more. Now, I gave the order to deal with all inefficient insurers in the territory and to get insurance on a practical footing. This will be a great help to farmers.
Vladimir Putin: How many of the companies in your territory are insured?
Valery Gayevsky: Less than a quarter currently.
Vladimir Putin: How much less?
Valery Gayevsky: Less than a quarter of the total number of farms ...
Vladimir Putin: What is the precise figure?
Valery Gayevsky: All told, 483 major farms and 12,000 private ones.
Vladimir Putin: Less than a quarter means 24%. That's a decent number ...
Valery Gayevsky: Yes, quite decent. But insurance premiums are rarely paid. Most often, the insurer and the client merely divide up subsidies.
Vladimir Putin: You need to deal with this problem.
Valery Gayevsky: We do. I've alerted the prosecutor's office about it, and I think they will help. Regardless, the territory will have a good harvest, and we will give farmers a hand. The territory exported 4.5 million tonnes of grain last year. Now, I hope, we will sell our grain in Russia. That's how things currently stand.
Livestock farming is making good progress. Meat and milk yields are increasing. We are coping with the national programme, and Ms Skrynnik, the agriculture minister, has no reason to be displeased. She approved our work when I met with her today, and made only one request - to harvest all crops down to the last grain. I know things are hard all over Russia with the drought, especially in the Volga Region, but I don't think Stavropol farmers will let you down.
Vladimir Putin: What is the social situation?
Valery Gayevsky: Demographic indices are still positive. I have figures for the last four months here. The birth rate has gone up 3%, though the population is still shrinking - but migration to the territory compensates for it. Migrants have increased the territory's population by roughly 1,500.
Vladimir Putin: Still, the birth rate is going up compared to last year?
Valery Gayevsky: The rate has gone up 0.3% over the last five years. The increase was 0.9% in 2005, and is currently 1.2%. There is only one problem - kindergarten shortages. Forty-one thousand children are on the waiting list. True, we have adopted a targeted programme and earmarked 112 million roubles for it. But we need at least 150 new kindergartens within the next three years. So we are imploring the federal government for grants or joint funding. We can't do it on our own. Mothers have believed our promises and are having babies - but here we are with 41,000 kids waiting for spots to open up in kindergartens.
Vladimir Putin: We'll see what we can do for you, but remember that this is mainly your responsibility and the responsibility of individual municipalities.
Valery Gayevsky: Yes, we are working to address the problem. According to our estimates, we need roughly 40 billion roubles to properly address it throughout the territory - but our entire budget is just 70 billion.
Vladimir Putin: But there are ways to raise money. For instance, have you tried to obtain a soft budget loan?
Valery Gayevsky: We are constantly borrowing from the Finance Ministry, but they don't give us enough...
Vladimir Putin: Why not?
Valery Gayevsky: Mr Putin, I have drafted a letter to you requesting a budget loan.
Vladimir Putin: How much do you need?
Valery Gayevsky: At least a billion ...
Vladimir Putin: And how much have you borrowed already?
Valery Gayevsky: About a billion and a half last year, and at the beginning of this year ...
Vladimir Putin: What was the interest rate?
Valery Gayevsky: Half the Central Bank rate, if I'm not mistaken. It's a very soft loan, really ...
Vladimir Putin: But the Central Bank rate is a mere 2% ...
Valery Gayevsky: I have drafted a letter to you, because I was forced to borrow four billion from Sberbank at the end of last year. It's a commercial loan, and the annual interest rate is 13%.
Vladimir Putin: And what about employment?
Valery Gayevsky: The improvement is evident. Unemployment exceeded 3% last year and now it's 2.2%.
Vladimir Putin: You mean overall unemployment?
Valery Gayevsky: Yes.
Vladimir Putin: It's far below the national average - or do you mean only registered unemployment?
Valery Gayevsky: I think the national average for registered unemployment is 2.8%.
Vladimir Putin: But I mean total unemployment.
Valery Gayevsky: It does not exceed 8% if calculated according to ILO standards.
Vladimir Putin: Same as the national average ... What about the gross regional product?
Valery Gayevsky: Over 300 billion roubles.
Vladimir Putin: How are things going compared to last year?
Valery Gayevsky: I cannot say for sure, because reliable figures won't come before September 1 due to statistical calculation methods. I can only say that industry, investment and housing construction in our territory were all doing well last year, and we are doing even better now judging by the trends of this past six months.
