VLADIMIR PUTIN
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VLADIMIR PUTIN

Working Day

14 august, 2009 16:08

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired a Presidium meeting of the Presidential Council for the Implementation of Priority National Projects and Demographic Policy

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired a Presidium meeting of the Presidential Council for the Implementation of Priority National Projects and Demographic Policy
“I am determined that our main goal today is to bolster the positive developments that have been achieved thanks to the national projects, and to use an active social policy both as a tool to improve the living standards of our citizens and an effective anti-crisis measure.”
Vladimir Putin
At the meeting of the Presidential Council for the Implementation of Priority National Projects and Demographic Policy

Vladimir Putin's introductory remarks:

Good afternoon,

Today we are going to analyse the progress on the implementation of the goals set out within the framework of national projects for the first six months this year. In addition, we will look at issues related to additional measures of support for and protection of orphans and children with disabilities.

As we have said on numerous occasions, despite the known financial and economic challenges, everything related to the social development and human resource investment policy will remain a priority for the government.

This year, some 450 billion roubles has been allocated for the national projects. These are considerably large funds, and I would like to highlight that we did not economise in this area. I would also like to add that a number of new programmes have been launched within the framework of the national projects. Indeed, we debated for a long time on whether it is sound to launch new programmes within the national projects given the present financial difficulties. I personally believe that we did the right thing; some of the issues I am going to cover today cannot be postponed. The most critical of them include the promotion of healthy living, remote schooling for children with disabilities, upgrading cancer care facilities and a number of measures in combating tuberculosis.

I am determined that our main goal today is to bolster the positive developments that have been achieved thanks to the national projects, and to use an active social policy both as a tool to improve the living standards of our citizens and an effective anti-crisis measure.

Demographic indices bear testimony to the effectiveness of our efforts. For example, birth rates rose 4.7% within the first half of the year, which is the result of last year's measures; last year, as you know, birth rates grew as well. Death rates fell 3.7%, with infant mortality dropping 10%. As a result, natural population decline diminished by 30%.

Education and healthcare are undergoing an all-round transformation to improve their service quality and to encourage the best specialists. These programmes are under way. The average salary for teachers in the regions - I'd like to note: not in all regions, but only in the regions where complex education modernisation projects are being implemented - have increased by 30%.

The creation of the national research university system is under way as well. Russian higher education establishments have been recently given the right to set up innovation companies for R&D purposes. United Russia has been promoting this initiative; it drafted bills and brought them towards a reasonable and practical conclusion. I would like to ask Government members to consider to what degree universities take advantage of these opportunities.

Next, in 2009, two federal centres for advanced medical care and research were opened in Russia, with equipment being set up in four more centres. I would like to once again remind you that we discussed at length the need to create them, debating whether it would be more reasonable to concentrate efforts in the federal centre. Practice has shown that the creation of such facilities in the regions is justified. The level of service improves, more high skills specialists are employed in specific areas, and more complex operations are carried out.

Generally speaking, the service culture improves significantly in the areas where these centres are created, with local, regional and municipal clinics having to catch up with these advanced medical centres.

The Government has prepared a series of resolutions to bolster the healthcare and social assistance system. A total of 12 billion roubles is to be allocated in order to offset a shortfall in revenues of territorial healthcare insurance funds. Another 2.2 billion roubles will be allotted for high-tech healthcare, with 2.3 billion roubles earmarked for rehabilitation equipment for disabled people. I met with the heads of organisations for the disabled, and agreed with them on the said measures. This decision has been made.

Now I would like to talk separately and in more detail about the Housing Project. As you know, both in Soviet times and in our recent history the problem of housing has always been most urgent and critical. A total of 21.6 million square metres of housing have been commissioned in the last half year. This is approximately the same amount as this period last year. But it goes without saying that we shouldn't rest on our laurels. Apparently, this figure was reached largely through the construction planned in 2007-2008, and we are simply witnessing its completion.

Unfortunately, today the scale of construction has decreased by almost 20%. Mortgage has abruptly fallen by six times.

The construction industry is going through hard times. Let me recall that so far in 2009 we spent about 450 billion roubles on the government housing policy. We would have wished to spend more, and it might have been worth it, but it was simply impossible. This audience is competent and everyone understands the value of 450 billion roubles. This is huge money which should be used effectively to maintain demand, and to encourage mortgage and housing construction.

I would like you to step up your cooperation with the banks to promote both purchase loans and development loans. It is also necessary to work at reducing the barriers to construction such as the absence or poor quality of master development plans in municipal developments.

In effect, the government is acting as the key player in the housing market, and hence, is capable of actively influencing pricing and supply structure, and of encouraging the construction of low-income housing, especially low-rise dwellings.

We have been talking about this issue for a long time, but now we have a real opportunity to use the budget funds to promote the latest energy-saving and environmentally-safe technology in the construction of affordable housing. In this context, we should streamline all housing programmes and reorient them using a common strategy.

I would like to emphasise that the cost of one square metre of low-income housing should not exceed 30,000 roubles. This can and should be achieved, and not at the expense of the quality of the housing or the comfort. Importantly, we should proceed from the premise that no less than 40% of our citizens should be able to purchase such flats.

I believe that the regions should show more interest and take a more active role in developing the infrastructure for low-rise housing, and use other strategies for bringing down the costs of housing and making it more comfortable.

Needless to say, we will carry out our commitments to our military personnel. Let me recall that I have said more than once that in 2010 military service people should receive permanent housing. We have talked about this many times. It is admittedly not easy to resolve this task in these deteriorating economic and financial conditions. There is a budget shortage, but this important and comprehensive task should be resolved by any means.

The government's credibility depends on this. If we make a statement, we should honour our promise. Our defence capability depends on this, because our service personnel should feel the state's concern. This is a major social task and an important economic goal, because it is bound to encourage construction.

I would like to ask the members of the Government, financial and economic experts, and all those who are engaged in organising construction, to pay special attention to this objective. All housing programmes will be important in 2010, but the provision of permanent housing for military personnel is a number one priority.

Every veteran of the Great Patriotic War in need of housing will receive it by May 2010.

The country's agriculture is generally stable. Output in the sector grew by nearly 1% over the first six months of this year. Over the same period, agro-businesses drew nearly 345 billion roubles worth of loans, which enabled them to complete their spring sowing.

However, the recent drought has shown once again that many market tools such as harvest insurance are underused in farming, or are used in a very limited and ineffective manner. So I would like to hear your detailed comments on this issue now.

I would also like to ask the Government to begin grain interventions without delay. It is high time we completed the work on measures to support the producers whose harvests were damaged by the drought. We recently discussed this at a meeting with several directors whose farms were hardest hit by the disaster. There is no other word to describe it. We know what we should do. I am asking you now to draw up and submit your proposals without waiting for another day.

Colleagues,

I would like us to discuss support for orphaned children and children with disabilities. This year's federal allocation for this purpose is 70 billion roubles. Orphans have regular compulsory medical check-ups, and the number of medical centres providing high-tech medical services to children with disabilities is growing.

As I have said, a programme has started this year to provide long-distance training for children with disabilities, giving them the opportunity of receiving a high-quality modern education. This is essential for their integration in society as adults, for successful careers and reasonable incomes and high living standards.

In the first half of 2009, over 2,500 children with disabilities enrolled in long-distance education programmes, including those involved in the pilot projects. This number sounds fine unless you consider that as many as 35,000 children need this special long-distance training. I believe that each of them should be given the opportunity by 2012.

One problem here is providing them all with free access to information resources and libraries; another is to develop the training programmes and to train personnel.

Also, there is another ugly problem, absolutely unacceptable in a civilised society. I would like to draw your attention to it now. Unfortunately, child abuse is still quite frequent in Russia, and orphans sometimes fall victim to it. There have been flagrant and ugly child abuse cases reported in orphanages and sometimes even in adoptive families.

I am asking prosecution authorities and social services to keep an eye on the issue, put additional effort into it and submit additional proposals on legal protection against child abuse.

I also think that adoptive parents should be selected and prepared with more discrimination. It is not a question of arranging just any adoption for a child, but to give the child a real family and a safe and happy life.

Civil society is an important resource that should be tapped. My proposal is to promote a nationwide campaign against child abuse. I think the parties represented in the State Duma and in public associations could support the initiative. The Russian Children in Need Fund could be coordinating this work.

Now let us get down to discussing the issues on our agenda.

* * *

Vladimir Putin's concluding remarks:

I would like to get back to the issue we started with today. All due decisions have been prepared, as is befitting. If we go back to the first agenda item, namely, the support for orphans and children with disabilities within the framework of the priority national project Education, we envisage the bolstering of measures to prevent and respond to child abuse in families and in establishments for orphans and children without parental care.

Furthermore, a proposal will be drafted to introduce compulsory preparatory courses for people who would like to adopt children, become foster parents and so forth. Additional preventive measures vis-à-vis social orphaning will be envisioned.

As far as remote schooling, it is necessary to create a remote schooling system for children with disabilities by 2012 with all due infrastructure in place, including ensuring access to Russian international library stocks, as well as other information sources.

There are also additional measures to create a safe and friendly environment for people with disabilities, as well as to ensure accessibility for the disabled into social infrastructure facilities. Indeed, we have repeatedly highlighted this critical issue, and it would be false and erroneous to lose sight of it.

Viktor Kress has voiced an initiative to provide housing for college and orphanage leavers. This issue requires considerably large funds, and as we all know, it is a regional governments' domain according to the law. Governor Kress said that a corresponding programme could be drafted and launched as soon as the major national projects are completed.

I think it is possible. Anyway, we must give it a thought. I suggest including in the final protocol a point featuring a directive to consider this initiative. Ministries and agencies will receive corresponding directives to work out and submit a joint action plan.

As far as the national project Education, I would like to draw your attention to another point we discussed today, specifically the law of August 2, 2009 to introduce changes to the separate legal act of the Russian Federation for setting up companies by science and education establishments to apply intellectual activity results. It is necessary to try our best for the law to become really effective.

We discussed at length the need to give education establishments an opportunity to use intellectual resources accumulated in recent years and those resources that will emerge in the future so that they will get involved in scientific work, as well as the education process and education services, which will bring in extra profits, attracting lecturers, students and young scientists.

We must take additional measures to reach our objectives in assisting ex-servicemen to enrol at preparatory courses of higher educational establishments. This applies to those who served in the Armed Forces for no less than three years under contract as soldiers and sailors - that is, our citizens who served as sergeants, warrant and petty officers.

We have talked about this more than once. I would like to return to this subject, and to encourage you to continue this work.

I consider it possible to accept the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science. Together with the Ministry of Finance, it will be necessary to submit to the Government a draft normative act on increasing federal support for the training of workers and specialists for high-tech production in the institutions of primary vocational education by 1 billion roubles in 2009.

This proposal is absolutely legitimate. As of late, we have often discussed this topic in one way or another. Indeed, if we want this sphere to develop, we need to train personnel for it. What we have today is clearly inadequate, but we can do better. Let's earmark more funds for it in 2009.

I also agree to the proposal of the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development to conduct, together with the executive authorities of the regions with a high infant mortality, or relevant unfavourable dynamics of development, an additional inquiry into the reasons for this situation, and to draft the required additional measures to improve medical aid to women during pregnancy and childbirth, and also to toddlers during the first year of life.

We have indicated to you and said that dynamics are overall positive across the country. The infant mortality rate is evidently going down, and this is of course good. However, as we have noted, regrettably we do not see these positive trends in all regions. We must find out why they do not have them, and what should be done to improve this.

An additional 2.2 billion roubles will be allocated from the federal budget for high-tech healthcare.

As for the housing programmes, I have already spoken about them and would like to repeat that they are one of the major directions of our concerted efforts. Our attention to this issue must be constant, while we should establish permanent control of what is taking place in this sphere.

I would like to speak again about the provision of army servicemen with housing - both service and permanent housing. We must start monitoring what is happening this year. I would like you to report to the Government on progress of this work on a monthly basis starting September 1.

It goes without saying that we must fulfil our promise to servicemen in 2010. Let me emphasise again that we have promised to provide servicemen with permanent housing, and we must do this by all means. The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Finance know about this. We are concentrating our administrative and financial resources for 2010 on this direction. We are reducing some other programmes for the Defence Ministry and other departments in order to achieve this goal unconditionally. Please bear this in mind. We must make a note of that.

Let me sum up the proposals that have been voiced here by the colleagues. It will be necessary to analyse the question of factories building prefabricated homes, and with possible participation of the state in the relevant programmes. In any event, we should consider an opportunity of public-private partnership in this direction, and see what can be done. We should also think about subsidising mortgage loans.

I do not want to anticipate anything, or mention any figures, but this is a movement in the right direction. This sector should be prodded up. This is an important social task, and it will help the economy in the current conditions. Promoting construction is the least expensive task for the state, and this may become the most effective undertaking on the whole.
As for the agricultural sector, we mean expanding the efficiency of meat and dairy farming. The protocol will also include a number of other measures to implement the previous decisions taken. Also, though it is not related to our meeting's agenda, I should say I cannot but agree with Mr Zubkov that it is highly important to consider providing assistance to the farms affected by the drought. Ms Skrynnik has just said that in sum the decisions have been taken. I request you to promptly submit the corresponding resolution draft to the Government.

As for credit prolongation, we discussed the issue not so long ago. I will not go into details on one and three-year prolongation periods. These issues are pressing, so it is necessary to implement them in due course.

I also urge the Ministry of Agriculture to start grain interventions in a timely manner, as agricultural producers in certain regions are awaiting your decisions on next year's estimated prices.

I would like to thank you all for your active participation and emphasise that implementation of the priority national projects will remain our key issue. Thank you for your attention and joint work.

As for the agricultural sector, we mean expanding the efficiency of meat and dairy farming. The protocol will also include a number of other measures to implement the previous decisions taken. Also, though it is not related to our meeting's agenda, I should say I cannot but agree with Mr Zubkov that it is highly important to consider providing assistance to the farms affected by the drought. Ms Skrynnik has just said that in sum the decisions have been taken. I request you to promptly submit the corresponding resolution draft to the Government.

As for credit prolongation, we discussed the issue not so long ago. I will not go into details on one and three-year prolongation periods. These issues are pressing, so it is necessary to implement them in due course.

I also urge the Ministry of Agriculture to start grain interventions in a timely manner, as agricultural producers in certain regions are awaiting your decisions on next year's estimated prices.

I would like to thank you all for your active participation and emphasise that implementation of the priority national projects will remain our key issue. Thank you for your attention and joint work.