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 Gryzlov, in accordance with the budget code, the Government has drafted a package of laws on the budget. There are four main laws - on the budget and three funds - pension, mandatory medical insurance, and social ones.
I must say that in drafting the budget, the Government set itself the task of primarily funding education, health care, innovation development of the economy and infrastructure, and, of course, the security of our citizens.
Compared with this year, in 2009 the funding of education will be increased by 26%. Expenses on healthcare will be increased even more, by 35%. Appropriations for pensions will go up by 21% to reach 2.9 trillion roubles ($117.98 billion, or €80.04 billion).
Thus, we will resolve the task which has been announced before, and will bring the social pension to the pensioners' cost of living.
I would also like to stress a substantial growth of investment into the national economy. For the first time, we will spend more than a trillion roubles to this end. This will be 35% more than last year.
Apart from four budget bills, the Government will submit to the State Duma its bill on insurance tariffs on mandatory industrial injury and professional diseases social insurance, as well as a number of other documents required for the budget's formation and implementation. All this applies to 2009, 2010 and 2011.
The budget was drafted in close contact with all parliamentary parties of the State Duma. Deputies from the United Russia Party took a most active part in this work. One of our main common tasks is to maintain macroeconomic figures and keep down inflation.
I am hoping for constructive work with the deputies of the State Duma during the budget's discussion. I am counting on their support.
Boris Gryzlov: Thank you, Mr Putin. Today is the start of our fall session. We held the first plenary meeting. On opening it, I emphasized that the law on the federal budget will be the most important law during the fall session. We will discuss the three-year budget. This is not the first year. We have a very responsible attitude to the discussion of the budget in the first and second reading.
Indeed, starting in April, the Government has been working with deputies in a most constructive way. We defended some of our positions, and the Government agreed with us, and met us halfway on some points. Mostly, these were social issues, such as healthcare and education.
I expect that in September, we will adopt the budget in the first reading, and will be ready to discuss it in the second and final, third reading by October.
Vladimir Putin: You know that in the past few months, and probably, even in the past year or two we have done very much to change the situation in education and healthcare. We have been thinking of how to guarantee the stable work of the pension system for many years to come. I hope very much that the deputies of the State Duma will be as active as before in decision-making on the budgets for 2009, 2010, and 2011, and in the discussion of the development of the social and economic sphere as part of the development programme up to 2020. We are all interested in reaching the most important goals. And the most important goals are to guarantee the growth of the nation's prosperity, and ensure stable growth of the economy and the defence potential.
In 2003, I spoke about the need to double the GDP growth, but then very many people thought that this aim could not be reached. I have just been given the analysis of what has been taking place in our economy. This task will be fulfilled by the end of 2009, or, at the latest, in the first six months of 2010. There is no doubt about it, regardless of how experts count - either from 2000 to 2009, or from 2003 to 2012. In both cases, this task can be fulfilled. In this context, professional, economically sound work in the budget sphere is very important, and I hope for out effective cooperation.
