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
"We need to seriously improve people's quality of life. And therefore, we need to develop and implement plans for the prosperity of cities and other communities in the North Caucasus. To begin with, we need to require the renovation of municipal housing, repairs, road building and transport improvement".
"We need special solutions for improving the investment climate. We only recently talked about this for the entire country and it is no less important for the North Caucasus. We need to work through the issue of establishing special economic zones in the federal district with regional industrial parks in every one of the constituent entities of the North Caucasus. And at that, I emphasise that the industrial parks, special zones and other instruments must be built on the basis of understandable and transparent procedures to eliminate the possibility of abuse and the repetition of past mistakes".
"Create a systematic strategy for the development of the federal district as a whole. Based on this strategy, prepare specific action plans for each constituent entity in the newly-formed federal district. How, what, in what timeframe and what resources will help solve what problems".
"Therefore at present, as never before, it is important to launch job-creation mechanisms and create conditions for launching new projects, stimulating small and mid-sized businesses, local industry, agriculture, construction and infrastructure in the broadest sense of the term. It is essential, finally, to learn to fully use the competitive advantages of the North Caucasus and its one-of-a-kind environmental assets. To do this, we have to improve the investment climate in the region by putting in order the regulatory agencies, the power structure in general and the social and budgetary authorities".
"The Gazprom programme has also made considerable progress. The level of gasification in Chechnya, North Ossetia-Alania and Ingushetia is at more than 90%, which is to say that a normal infrastructure system will gradually facilitate the regions' potential to make steady economic progress which in turn will enable the entire area to develop more consistently".
"Our goal is to strengthen those positive processes that, regardless of all of the problems, nevertheless have their place and have been in progress for more than a year in the North Caucasus thanks primarily to our efforts. Three federal programmes are currently being implemented - these are the South of Russia, Development of the Chechen Republic and Development of Ingushetia. Scores of public facilities have been built and renovated within the context of these programmes - schools, hospitals, athletic facilities and kindergartens. Water supplies have been improved for many communities".
"It is obvious that we need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government policy in the region by a considerable amount. This is the rationale behind the decision to create the new North Caucasus Federal District, and the appointment of a new leader, Alexander Khloponin, who will perform the duties of both the presidential envoy and deputy prime minister".
"The government must prove that it is capable of guaranteeing security, justice and the rule of law. It must provide stability, strengthen interregional accord and interfaith relations. We need to achieve a decisive watershed in the economic and social development of the North Caucasus".
"Today, I can say that two attractive investment projects worth about $700 million will be implemented in the Primorye Territory. Russian financial institutions will contribute 75% of the grand total. This implies construction of a new shipyard that will manufacture drilling rigs in Chazhma Harbour. We will cooperate with our Singaporean partners there. Second, a dry dock and auxiliary production facilities will be constructed at Zvezda Shipyard in Bolshoi Kamen. They will be used to build tankers and gas carriers. This project will be implemented together with our South Korean partners and Daewoo company".
"Сonstruction of a number of important transport and social infrastructure facilities will receive additional funding before the year is out. This will make it possible not to delay their commissioning. Mr Sergei Darkin confirms that the Primorye Territory alone has received 8.5 billion roubles today. Of this sum, 5 billion will be spend on construction of hotels. The remaining 3.5 billion will be spent on creating the required social infrastructure in the city's new residential areas. The Primorye Territory will receive another 2.5 billion roubles for its hotel programme in the 1st quarter of 2010".
"We have drawn up a highly important policy document called the Strategy for Developing the Far East and the Baikal Region Until 2025. In the long run, the strategy aims to create a sustained economy and comfortable living conditions here. <…> The strategy determines long-term transport, energy and other infrastructure requirements of Far Eastern regions, as well as the Irkutsk Region, the Republic of Buryatia, the Trans-Baikal Territory, and contains specific proposals for creating areas of ahead-of-schedule economic growth. This primarily implies major cities".
"Next year we will launch a federal programme for the Republic of Ingushetia. We are trying to solve the most pressing problems for this Russian region, which entails the construction of new hospitals, kindergartens, school, technical schools, a theatre and a sports complex, as well as providing cities and towns with the sufficient water supply and rebuilding the local infrastructure. Certainly, these are not tasks that cannot be solved in one year. Yet I am confident that we will achieve positive and considerable results together with the republic's administration. Step by step, we will create the conditions in Ingushetia for people to work and have a good life, bringing the region up to par with Russia's other regions. The total amount of funding for the program is 32.2 billion roubles, including 29 billion from the federal budget."
"I think that a specific programme for improving the quality of services must be implemented in each municipality. Methods for resolving this problem - from applying unified standards and administrative regulations to establishing centres with multiple functions that operate in the "single window" mode - have been identified more than once. Other proposed measures such as using advanced electronic technologies are promising, and this is what I would like to direct your attention to."
"The regions formerly complained there were no federal regulatory system or established programmes and methods for such reforms. Such complaints were justified, but we cannot accept them any longer, now that all the appropriate programmes have been worked out and tested in pilot projects as part of the national priority projects."
"Now is the time to be thrifty, improve the performance of agencies funded by the government, implement new ways of financing, and remove administrative obstacles. It is the time to learn to develop on the basis of domestic resources and potential, and to implement cutting-edge technologies. You can rely on federal support for all of this-provided regions fulfil their basic social obligations toward citizens."
"A majority of the Russian regions made significant progress last year-life expectancy and birth rates grew, while death rates decreased, especially among people of working age. A majority of regional leaders managed to deal with the unfortunate situation. Timely steps prevented snowballing unemployment, and regional employment services promptly concentrated on stabilising the labour market."
"I would like to remind you that a law affecting local government took effect on January 1. This law holds mayors personally responsible for providing quality services to people. <...> I believe that federal ministries must provide assistance to local governments on this issue, assume responsibility for coordinating our efforts and making them more methodical, and ensure close cooperation with education institutions that train personnel for municipal authorities. I would like to ask that we pay special attention to training local government employees in towns that rely on a single industry, where the effectiveness of municipal authorities' performance is especially critical, and where competent and well-educated people are needed to deal to apply fresh approaches to new challenges. We all understand that it is especially relevant today, during the crisis."
"Since 1998, the Programme for State Medical Care Guarantees has been renewed annually. In essence, this legislation specifies the parameters of medical care provided for free, regardless of the recipient's place of residence. This will be the first opportunity at a Government meeting to review the results of this Programme for 2008."
"The federal budget will continue to support the development of town infrastructure and improve its quality, including within the framework of the Affordable and Comfortable Housing national priority project. Today we need to arrive at a final decision on the distribution of subsidies to build new highways in the areas with large-scale construction of housing. In 2009, a total of three billion roubles from the federal budget will be allocated to the 18 constituent entities of the Russian Federation that are actively participating in the Housing national project."
"We must also consider including in the Yamal project the construction of a gas liquefaction plant and related infrastructure, such as a seaport and ice class ships. In this connection, I would like to spotlight one of the key elements of the Yamal development programme - the creation of a new LNG centre in Russia."
