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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets with Chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions Mikhail Shmakov

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Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: What can you say about the labour market?

Mikhail Shmakov: It has changed for the better. Seasonal factors have certainly influenced this, but the rate of unemployment has decreased nonetheless. I am referring to both the registered rate and general unemployment as calculated by ILO methods. Still, we would like this trend to be permanent rather than seasonal.

Vladimir Putin: Did it decrease by a million compared to the previous year?

Mikhail Shmakov: Yes, by a million, but during the previous year and this year the government has carried out a programme supporting the labour market. We think it should be continued next year as well. Maybe we should shift the emphasis to retraining workers or preparing people for new professions. Our research shows that this is the most effective way of dealing with unemployment. More than 90% of the retrained workers found new jobs.

The main point is to prevent people from getting stuck without jobs, to give them an opportunity to work. This is why we believe that this programme must be continued. We have discussed this at the Russian Tripartite Commission and we will consider this issue at the commission meeting in September. I think that our approach will be understood.

In effect, employers support it because it is helpful to them. Of course, they would like to put more emphasis on public works at their enterprises. This is also important, but I still think we must think about the future - how we will work in business and how the economy will perform after the crisis because it is important to prevent it from generating crises according to some cycle.

Vladimir Putin: I agree with you that this programme must be continued and its emphasis shifted. You are absolutely right in that the emphasis should be shifted from public works. We must put more funds into retraining workers and preparing people for new professions. The government will consider the trade union's position on this when drafting the budget.

Mikhail Shmakov: We'd like to hope that the budget for 2011 will provide for this.

Vladimir Putin: We'll allocate the necessary funds.