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 would like to note that support for music will always be one of the government's top priorities in culture. A total of 6.4 billion roubles will be allocated from the federal budget for musicians and choreographers in 2010."
"I have recently visited Vladivostok and announced the transfer of yet another facility, a convent, to the Russian Orthodox Church there. I want to tell you that we plan to completely release the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow throughout 2010 and to transfer it to the Russian Orthodox Church."
"As you know, we now rely on the Law on Religious Organisations. However, such legal regulation is not enough. The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Culture have now drafted another bill on transferring previously owned property to religious organisations. This is the first thing. Second, the Ministry of Culture has drafted yet another bill and has submitted it to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development. This implies the restoration of those religious facilities having artistic and historical value but which are already owned by religious organisations. It is common knowledge that the state is now unable to directly finance restoration projects in this respect. Nonetheless, we have stipulated over 2 billion roubles for restoring facilities currently owned by the Church."
"Along with the restoration of monuments of historic and architectural interest, the Institute of the National Languages and Culture of the Finno-Ugric Peoples will be established at the University of Mordovia in Saransk. This institute is intended to become the centre of Finno-Ugric research and educational projects."
“Our strategic objective is to create the conditions in Russia, in particular in the Republic of Mordovia, that will allow the Finno-Ugric languages and culture to flourish, their rich legacy to be studied, and their friendly contacts with related ethnicities in other countries to be expanded.”
"The last decade has made obvious the importance of direct government participation in the development and promotion of domestic film making, supporting film studios, and securing contracts for related organisations. We have managed not only to preserve the cinematographic personnel and industrial infrastructure, and all those present know how difficult it was to achieve this in the early and middle 1990s and the early 2000s, but we have done this, and also managed to elevate our film industry to a new level, primarily in sales revenues and in production capacity."
"We have a great cinematographic legacy. Our films traditionally receive prestigious awards at international festivals. However, our films have not yet won a mass foreign audience. In other words, we are still unable to exert in full measure economic and cultural influence, which is one of the most important and serious tasks of national film making."
"Needless to say, the financial crisis has had an adverse effect on the development of the film making infrastructure, or in simpler terms, the construction of new movie theatres and other facilities. However, the growth of box-office revenue from Russian films is a positive change. It has reached 15% in the last nine months. Other industries have been in decline, but box-office revenue has increased by 15% in the last nine months. The Government can render financial aid, help acquire equipment and build the infrastructure. It can help streamline the educational process, as we are doing at VGIK. But the Government cannot force spectators see what they are not interested in. This is what creativity is all about."
"So-called thick or literary magazines have traditionally played a major role in Russian literary life. The writers at the meeting repeatedly brought up the idea of supporting these thick magazines. Let me point out that these magazines must be available to general readers, both directly through subscription and in our libraries."
"It is still a government priority to encourage literature and writers. Accordingly - as I understood it - you proposed a Russian Federation Government resolution that would increase the number of Russian Government awards for arts and culture from 20 to 25. Unfortunately, in previous years there were no writers among those who received awards. But this increase of five awards will enable additional support of talented writers, and these additional five awards will be given exclusively to writers. Let me remind you that a laureate receives one million roubles with his or her award. In addition, grants for creative initiatives in the arts will be doubled from 25 to 50 million roubles, which also means an increase in funding for literary projects. We will allocate the necessary funds from the federal budget for 2010."
"Next year we will conduct the Year of the Chinese Language in Russia. Together with our Chinese friends, we are planning a large number of joint events at the same level, notably youth and student exchanges, meetings of professionals and fans of Chinese culture, as well as a competition of Chinese songs. In a word, we have very interesting and embracing plans."
"It's common knowledge that Russia has always been a reading nation; we often mention this fact. Russia has even surpassed the Soviet Union in terms of the number of titles published. At the end of the 1980s, the number of book titles published stood at some 80,000, while it reached 123,000 in 2008."
"I would like to draw your attention to another item of our agenda, the expanded intra-CIS cultural ties. In May 2006, we signed an agreement with our CIS colleagues on establishing a special Cultural Cooperation Foundation. I would like to note that the Foundation has become an outstanding aspect of CIS cultural life in the past three years. Dozens of publishing and museum projects have been implemented. The Foundation has some interesting ideas on education, science, support for the media, sports, tourism and youth policies."
"In the long run, our countries are mostly united by a shared history and cultural heritage, a common information space, science and sports ties. This is why Russia has invariably supported and will continue to support expanded contacts between CIS nations and is ready to create the most favourable climate for the successful performance of the Cultural Cooperation Foundation."
"It is therefore vital that, in accordance with the current law, a new competition be held to select the architectural concept and subsequent design work. The fundamental condition of this competition must include maintaining the current construction schedule, since we already have an established budget and a 2011 deadline. Further, the new design will have to be built using the foundation currently under construction."
"In my opinion, Chechen Muslims and all Muslims in Russia can rightfully be proud of this mosque. It is a truly great gift to the Muslim community".
"I would like to add that we have started developing a unified federal system called the Electronic Ticket. I have already discussed this with Mr Mikhalkov. In fact, he suggested this idea, referring to some problems with film distribution. We hope that this system will give us full information about film distribution in the country."
"It is clear that organization of the system of public participation in the production and distribution of domestic films will require a new approach. In this context, we have already made decisions on the allocation of considerable funds to support our filmmaking industry.This applies to films which are aimed at promoting a value system that meets the interests of Russian society and facilitates the strategic task of national development. The Government will spend as much as $2 billion rubles a year for this purpose. We will pay great attention also to the development of films for children, art films, and documentaries."
"Be that as it may, cinema has always been one of the most popular forms of art. We are pleased that in the last few years, the Russian film market has been markedly on the rise. In the last seven years, the number of Russian films more than doubled, and their share in the total box-office takings has gone up nine times."
"At the same time, cinema's potential as a major instrument of education and building up society's values is not being used in full measure. And this is a subject for serious discussion."
