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
“I believe the performance of regional and local government agencies should be assessed using indices such as investment, tax revenue, and job creation. And decisions on the co-funding of regional development projects should be made based on that kind of assessment.”
“Our main task is to create jobs in the North Caucasus. Small and medium companies can and must play a big role in this effort. The traditions of entrepreneurship and the ambition to start one's own business are very strong in the North Caucasus. If implemented properly, this potential will certainly yield tangible results.”
“In order to turn around the situation in the economy of the North Caucasus and to change people’s lives for the better, we need to strengthen the real sector of the economy and provide favourable terms for investors. Such points of growth should include investment projects, and we will focus particular attention on supporting them.”
“I'm convinced all our projects in the North Caucasus must be measured primarily by the new jobs they create, and this means that we must form a modern and effective employment structure and increase the demand for qualified labour and business initiatives. Regional employment programmes have been effective. <…> Therefore, next year we will continue implementing programmes to reduce tensions in the labour market and we will introduce a new direction – certification of the professional skills of job seekers.”
“Please note that Sochi is receiving an unprecedented amount of federal funds, not exclusively through the Olympic construction programme. We haven’t cancelled subsidies that have been allocated to Sochi in previous years, before it was announced that Sochi would host the Olympics. These federal funds that go towards supporting Sochi and its residents continue to do so.”
“We should accelerate the process of reviewing the system of inter-budget relations and establish additional incentives for the regions. It is important for maintaining the so-called points of growth and ensuring the balanced development of the regions around the country, creating additional opportunities for using individual professional potential and increasing the standard of living for people.”
“We created the stimulation fund for the successful regions, which was only the first step towards supporting our colleagues in the regions. <…>There is a simple logic to it: regions that are being developed actively, building up their economic strength, should receive more money and should be allowed to keep more money.”
“We'll be able to breathe new life into the Russian countryside, making our rural communities powerful and prosperous, only if we ensure high social standards. All discussion about the accessibility of public services in rural communities, including health, education, libraries, and arts and sports facilities, must begin with roads. The lack of rural roads has been one of Russia's main problems for centuries, and it's still the case.”
“We're committed to supporting all forms of entrepreneurship in the countryside, primarily small and medium-sized businesses. A programme for start-up farmers will get underway as early as next year. It will provide state grants for new farms, as well as long-term loans.”
“As of today, members of the intelligentsia constitute about one half of the deputies in local legislatures. <…>We see you as like minds and allies with whom we can solve shared problems, building strong and prosperous rural communities, with access to quality healthcare services and education, so that people could have confidence in their future and a sense of belonging. We should work together to make the Russian countryside full of opportunities for people seeking self-realisation.”
“One of our priorities is the creation in rural areas of efficient companies and of interesting and prestigious jobs. The idea is to provide local inhabitants with a source of decent and steady income while at the same time forming a solid economic and financial basis for sustainable development. Economic success underlies welfare, in the town as in the country.”
“It's clear that our system of approaches must also be changed. Requirements of the municipal authorities need to be formulated more clearly, and performance evaluation criteria should be introduced. This should be done by the people themselves in the first place. We are introducing these criteria to evaluate the performance of regional authorities and government institutions. These kinds of criteria for municipal authorities should also be in place. It is for this reason that the government has drafted major amendments to the existing legislation. In fact, for the first time ever, we are introducing a clear legal definition of such a concept as urban amenities and accountability of municipal authorities for the quality of work.”
“In 2012, the facilities of the Far Eastern Federal University will host the APEC summit. We are also entering the final stage of preparations for the World Student Games in Kazan, as you know, and for the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Russia will also host the World Football Cup and the World Ice Hockey Cup. Why am I pointing this out? Because we will try to hold these events in the same way that we have handled things here, to ensure that the legacy of these events is not simply worthy, but that it serves our people for many years to come. This is investment in development, in the new face of our cities and regions, in the quality of our people’s lives, in infrastructure and construction.”
“Today, the Northwestern Federal District plays as important a role in the country’s life, promoting Russia’s integration with the global economy. Suffice it to say that in 2010, the northwestern regions, with their logistics potential, accounted for one-third of Russia’s trade. I believe that these regions can be national leaders in transport and modern logistics development, setting high standards in this industry.”
“But on the whole the trend is positive because investments are flowing into industry – Rosneft has some plans there, new industrial clusters are being created. They are even thinking of creating tourist and skiing clusters and so on. If this trend continues – and I think there is more reason to think that it will than to think the opposite – then the number of people out of work will decline. I have no doubt about it”.
“This year alone 16 new schools are going to be opened, the teacher training university is expanding and a new academic building will be opened at Grozny State University. This year nine hospitals, a maternity centre and a lot of social welfare facilities will open for which there is a great need in Chechnya, of course. The amount of new housing built in the country as a whole increased by 0.8% in the first half of this year, and in Chechnya it increased by 7.2%. <…> The budget has a surplus of six billion in the first half of the year, that is, the revenues exceed spending by six billion. This shows that the economy is properly managed”.
“We must substantially increase the potential of the railway transport in the Urals Federal District. Organising interregional and commuter passenger carriage is a priority. Train stations have already been refurbished in Chelyabinsk, Yaketrinburg and Kurgan. <…> By 2013 Yakterinburg’s transport hub will become a major international logistic centre.”
“It is necessary to significantly expand the economic base of the Urals Federal District, to ensure its stability by creating promising innovative centres, industrial clusters to support small and medium businesses, developing new sectors, for example, tourism, the nanoindustry, pharmaceutics and the services.”
“The Agency [Strategic Initiatives Agency] must closely cooperate with the regions. In the autumn we must begin creating the regional network, which includes the establishment of the Agency’s offices in the Russian regions. The Agency must control the situation in the regions as well as select projects and people that deserve our support. We must provide equal conditions for self-realisation to talented people, especially young ones, and support interesting projects throughout the country.”
“Our common task is to make people feel comfortable in any part of Russia, to make them proud of the cities, towns and villages they live in. That’s the only way to establish a solid basis for the steady development of the country, and we have everything we need for this today.”
“The municipalities must become a springboard for attracting young, committed people to politics. This practice is applied all over the world, let’s help young people fulfil their potential, demonstrate their abilities, and implement their projects and ideas.”
“It is the general plans that provide a balanced accounting for economic, ecological and social factors. We must consider every small detail. Actually, there are no small details. Mistakes made during the initial phase, or the planning phase, may lead to problems as far as ten years ahead as they will hardly be corrected. If a plan is approved, it is expected to be a good document as there were experts working on it.”
“One of the ways to boost the efficiency of local governments is to assign them professional managers. Nearly half of the administrative centres can do so. They enlist the help of so-called city managers. This system is working, and it is working well. Representative officials hire professional executives on behalf of the people. This situation must, of course, be kept under strict control. Their duties must be fully performed. I would like to emphasise that this issue is regulated by the law.”
“What we need is strong and competent local government. It is essential to Russia’s successful development and to opening the vast potential of all its territories.”
“We’ve decided to create six special economic zones for tourism and recreation in the North Caucasus Federal District and the Southern Federal District. Some 60 billion roubles in federal allocations will be channeled into their development. <…>In order to build a powerful tourism industry, we should raise the quality of hospitality services, train competent personnel, develop effective marketing techniques, create a comfortable environment [for operators and tourists], and improve the accessibility of the region.”
“We should pool our resources and capitalise on newly available opportunities. We should build a solid foundation for subsequent sustainable development. Just as in the rest of Russia, we intend to make a genuine infrastructural breakthrough in the south and secure the area's effective integration with regional and international trade and investment projects. <…>We will build coal, grain, oil, container and passenger terminals, retrofit the Novorossiysk and Rostov transport hubs, and construct new ports, such as Taman on the Azov Sea and Olya on the Caspian Sea. The latter will become an important link in the North-South continental transport corridor.”
“It is necessary to make the most of the development institutions that have been set up expressly for the North Caucasus. They are designed to attract domestic and foreign capital to the region and to render expert assistance to the business community in implementing investment projects.”
“The federal programme for the North Caucasus development should become one of the main instruments of development in the region. It integrates major federal programmes that are already operational – such as the “Southern Russia,” “Development of the Chechen Republic,” and “Development of Ingushetia” programmes – along with new sub-programmes that are to be drafted for each region of the North Caucasus Federal District. In other words, after the adoption of this federal programme, all territories of the district will have their own development plans and will receive adequate federal support for their implementation.”
“It is necessary to create incentives to those Russian regions that foster entrepreneurship and competition in the regional markets, and strengthen regional innovative, economic and tax potential. It is important to strengthen the stimulating role of federal budget support: successful regions must get additional funding for innovative activity.”
“We will continue to implement our plans for the development of the Far East. We will build new residential neighbourhoods, new seaports, new airports, roads, lay pipe systems, build new industrial clusters and educational centres, and this means that the Far East will have a wonderful future.”
“We have to provide greater freedom for leading regions. The stimulating role of federal budget support should be strengthened and financial autonomy extended for those entities that succeed in developing the local economy and modernising the social sector.”
“I'd like to emphasise that during the downturn in 2009 the government provided substantial support to regional budgets. Even though their revenues fell drastically, expenses remained as high as they were before the crisis in 2008. In 2010 the regions received 1.365 trillion roubles from the federal government. In 2011 we plan to allot another 1.262 trillion roubles to them. This amount is slightly smaller than in 2010. This is because we have completed some of the anti-crisis measures already, the economy is picking up and regions are taking advantage of additional financial opportunities.”
“Our objective is to radically change the situation in the North Caucasus, primarily by improving the quality of life of the people, ensuring their security and giving them the opportunity to work and leave in peace. We must eradicate the roots of terrorism and extremism, first of all poverty, unemployment, ignorance and inadequate levels of education, and corruption and lawlessness. We must create a modern social infrastructure in the North Caucasus, which is another priority, and an effective economy based on the region’s advantages and natural growth factors.”
“We are gradually integrating the Far East into our country’s common economic space, removing obstacles that impede the region’s normal development and laying a stable base for future growth. What is the main objective and what priorities will we focus on in our work? First of all, we must create a transport infrastructure that will be comfortable and affordable for the public and efficient for business and operation.”
“Huge funds will be invested in the modernisation of Norilsk Nickel, in the city's housing and utilities sector and in the construction of new childcare and sports facilities. Additional allocations have been approved for moving pensioners into regions with a more favourable climate, including in southern Siberia.”
“The government drafted and approved a development strategy for Siberia through 2020. We also agreed to monitor its progress. I'd like to remind you that the document was approved after serious consultations with the regions and with the regional branches of the United Russia party. We worked together to determine the priorities and to choose the key investment projects for the Siberian district.”
“On the whole, an analysis of the situation in Russia's regions has shown once again that we have managed to maintain key positive trends in the country's development despite the difficulties caused by the crisis. Death rates are continuing to decline in the overwhelming majority of regions. There are more births, and life expectancy is growing. It has reached 69 years now. Many regions have succeeded in raising real wages, reducing poverty and curbing unemployment. The number of people working in small and medium-size businesses has for the first time exceeded 25% of the total economically active population. This is a very good sign, in my opinion.”
“In the past 10 years, the federal government has invested 800 billion roubles in the North Caucasus. In 2000, federal support amounted to 15 billion roubles; now the regional governments will receive some 180 billion roubles through subventions and inter-budgetary transfers. Allocations have grown twelvefold. Three large-scale federal targeted programmes are underway in the North Caucasus Federal District. These are the South of Russia programme and the federal targeted programmes to strengthen the economies and social services in Chechnya and Ingushetia. A total of 20 billion roubles will be allotted for these programmes in 2010 alone. As you can see, we are investing significant money and effort in the North Caucasus, which is allowing us to resolve acute social problems, gradually increase people's incomes and improving the region's infrastructure.”
“We now have enough effective mechanisms facilitating compliance with the law and coordinated work at all levels of state administration. We have prosecutors' offices and financial control mechanisms. A system for assessing the effectiveness of state power bodies and of local governments is in operation. As a last resort, the president of Russia has the right to voice his distrust in a regional leader. At the same time, I would like to stress that federal control is not and cannot be comprehensive. Regional administrations should assume responsibility before citizens. The people assess the performance of government bodies through elections of legislatures and through partisan preferences. I believe that this feedback mechanism is no less effective than any control from above.”
“The federal targeted programme for the Russian South and the programme for Ingushetia's development will require more than 43 billion roubles through 2016. In particular, 2.1 billion roubles will be allocated this year. This is a modest sum, meant to build the foundation for future comprehensive work. Seven billion roubles will be allocated next year, and funds will come in equal instalments after 2012. All told, the programme entails 130 projects.”
"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".
