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
“Support from Russian citizens has always helped us, and I’m confident that the government’s future line-up will rely on the people. We must never forget about the needs of ordinary people. We must always remember how government-level decisions influence the lives of all ordinary Russian citizens.”
“We may have different approaches to problems, but our common goal is to improve the quality of life in Russia, to make it more decent, comfortable and prosperous, to create conditions for resolving demographic problems so that we can have more children and more happy children, and to help people in trouble, people with special needs.”
“Global transformational processes go on as we speak, so when forming our economic policies, we should be mindful of the whole array of internal and external factors. We need to develop an effective and reliable long-term planning and forecasting system which would help us identify growth trends and lay out the steps to be taken in each of the priority areas, which include enhancing living standards, poverty reduction, creating millions of new modern jobs, economic modernisation, increasing the share of innovative industries and high-tech exports, as well as developing industrial and transport infrastructure.”
“Russia’s economy must have higher growth rates than the global GDP in the next decade. In addition to growth volumes, we need a new quality of economic growth, which I have mentioned on many occasions.”
“Ahead lies a new stage in Russia’s development – the stage that will see the creation of state, economic and social order and a social structure that can ensure prosperity to our citizens for decades ahead.”
“Russia has the world’s largest territory. We must preserve and protect our territory from external threats and provide modern living and working conditions in all the country’s regions. We must pay a great deal of attention to the development of the Far East and Eastern Siberia. This is an essential geopolitical task. We need to ensure higher growth of the gross regional product in Siberia and the Far East as compared to the growth of the national GDP. This trend needs to continue for at least 10 to 15 years.”
“We need to go beyond simply disbursing the colossal amounts of funding that we have allocated towards achieving our purported goals. What we need to do is achieve new levels of quality in education, healthcare, defence and other crucial areas of the national economy. The money should be used for reform and to improve effectiveness.”
“We need to modernise all public and social services including hospitals, outpatient centres, preschools, schools and social welfare centres. They should comply with modern standards of comfort, design, energy efficiency, safety and accessibility, including for people with special needs.We need to look closely at both national and international experience and use the best practices as the basis for standard projects to be introduced across Russia.”
“We must create harmonious conditions for the development of our human resources as the main guarantee of national success and progress. And one more point – our economic and social policy should be fair and should be in line with advance the interests of our entire society.”
“We must start making specific plans of action now, without any delay, and not only for us but also for the future government.”
“We must reverse this situation in this decade. Each rouble spent on the social sphere must «produce justice». A just society and economy are the prerequisites of our sustainable development during these years.”
“I see our goal in years to come as sweeping away all that stands in the way of our national development, completing the establishment in Russia of a political system, a structure of social guarantees and safeguards for the public, and an economic model that together form a single, living, ever-changing organism of state that is, at the same time, resilient, stable and healthy.”
“The country was able to weather the global crisis precisely because of the fact that, in recent years we all, the people of Russia, went such a long way to solving the most pressing and top priority issues. And now we are even in a position to speak about strategies and prospects. <…> All the prerequisites for progress are in place, with new foundations and at a qualitatively new level. Incidentally, all this -- in the harsh foreign policy and foreign economic conditions. Nevertheless, the inexorable global transformation offers us a tremendous opportunity.”
“Russia must develop a system of social mobility that allows people to climb out of poverty, a system appropriate to a modern society. We must learn to compensate for the negative social consequences of a market economy and the inequality engendered by it. <…> Our society will become successful only when our citizens become convinced that it is a fair society.”
“Individual initiatives should be the real drivers of growth. We will fail if we rely exclusively on government decisions and on a limited circle of investors and state companies. We are certain to fail if Russians at large remain passive. Therefore, strong growth in Russia over the next decade implies greater freedom for each of us. Wealth sourced from others, without conscious decision-making and responsibility is out of the question in the 21st century.”
“Russia’s future economy should also meet society’s needs. It should ensure higher incomes and create broader opportunities for professional growth and social improvement. All the above should become the key growth criteria in the next few years, and not just figures such as GDP, international reserves, rating agencies’ assessments and Russia’s high rank among the world’s leading economies. It is of primary importance that people feel some positive change, mainly growing opportunities.”
“We all want Russia to be a strong and stable state with a powerful economy, a dynamically growing social sphere -- a country that is comfortable to live in and is securely protected. The main thing for all of us is to stay the course of steady and dedicated development, social and civil and ethnic harmony. In doing so, I am convinced that Russia will be able to face even the biggest challenges.”
“It is clear that the ambitious goals we are setting for ourselves can only be achieved under a new economic growth model propelled not by the commodity sectors, but by powerful high-tech industrial production businesses. <…> The key issues here are the costs and resources for building an innovative economy. According to our estimates, fixed investment needs to be increased to nearly 25% of the GDP by 2015, and then to 30%. Almost 43 trillion roubles are expected to be invested in Russia’s economy within the next three years.”
“We need to strengthen our political system, first of all. We need to expand the foundations of democracy in the country so that people begin to feel their direct connection with the authorities at the municipal, regional and federal levels, so that trust in the authorities grows and the political system becomes self-sufficient and resistant to external shocks and to all kinds of impostors that are trying to get in here from the outside and to influence our domestic political processes.”
“We need, of course, to diversify the economy, to modernise and renew it. We need innovation and modernisation to penetrate the brain of every citizen, for innovation to become part of our general policy. And, of course, we need to improve and develop our social sphere, so that no one feels neglected by the government.”
"The spirit of innovation and modernisation should permeate our entire society. It should become a new phase in the development of our nation and our government."
“Today we all see that a new stage in the development of our country is being launched. We have prepared for it and it is realistic. In implementing our strategy we must heed the people and have a sense of their problems. The most important thing is to preserve and fulfil our social obligations, promote the interests of the majority, combat injustice, protect human rights and dignity. Only then will we have the trust of our people.”
“If Russia is to be strong and successful we must guarantee truly equal opportunities to enable every person to fulfil his or her potential. That means creating conditions for prosperous life not only in the capitals but throughout the country, in every region, village and city.”
“It is obvious that what Russian citizens want above all is justice in the broadest sense of that word. The country must develop for the people and not at the expense of the people. Every decision we make and every step we take must meet the interests of the absolute majority of our country’s citizens. The fundamental principle of any transformations and reforms is to take care of the people, which means preserving and fostering Russia’s future, creating Russia’s future. We must ensure not only the growth of the country’s population, but an improved quality of the human potential. There must be more of us, and we must be strong, efficient and competitive in everything. I am convinced that this formula should be the basis of Russia’s strategy for the coming decades.”
“Creating the conditions for comfortable and unobstructed business activities, our focus on entrepreneurial initiative, and predictable and responsible economic policy – this is our choice and it represents the unified position of the Russian government. We seek to work together with everyone who wants to do creative work and achieve success in our country.”
“We will proceed carefully, strengthening the fundamentals of our political system and refining it. We will not tread water, and we will make sure that the Russian people and our partners – our economic partners above all, but also our political partners – see the continuity of our course and understand that they are dealing with a stable and solid country, which is safe for investment and can be a reliable partner.”
“Our strategic goal is to diversify the economy. However, to change its structure, we must open the way for thousands of new projects and business ideas, and we understand this. First of all, what we need is state-of-the-art manufacturing and modernised, quality jobs, new technology, and a dramatic increase in performance. Moreover, we intend to carry out large projects in bio- and nanotechnology, communications, energy-saving, and space exploration. We are going to establish a network of powerful hi-tech companies.”
“The country is entering the long and critical period of the election campaign, debates and elections to various government bodies and structures of the highest level. This is a crucial moment in the life of the country and society. Much depends – in the economy and the social area – on the effective performance of the Russian Government.”
“No place in the world has so many opportunities for creative endeavours as Russia. No place in the world has such vast opportunities for hard work, knowledge, energy and talent - no place but Russia. No place in the world has such resources and such spiritually strong people as Russia. Russia has everything it needs to achieve truly great aims, to achieve success. And our guiding principle is to keep moving forward. Our strength lies in the trust of our people! Together we will win!”
“Russia has repeatedly achieved breakthroughs worthy of its greatness, strengths and talents, its cultural wealth and shared values that hold together the united and indivisible Russia. I am confident that we have sufficient energy and determination to achieve even greater objectives and goals.”
“I have no doubt that working together, we can change Russia and make it a stronger and more prosperous state, a friendly neighbour, a country that protects human rights and dignity and has reliable private property guarantees. I'm confident that acting in this manner, we are bound to achieve success.”
“High moral standards, which must be continuously introduced and maintained in society, are indispensable for the effectiveness of all our efforts. People will only work hard if they know that the state is constantly thinking of them, taking care of them and will never abandon them.”
“We want to be appraised of every possible perspective. Even if at first glance they seem incompatible and diametrically opposed, I believe that we should be aware of all possible approaches to these issues. Only by holding a broad professional dialogue will we be able to find balanced solutions and eventually guarantee an effective programme of national development.”
“We should strive to be a leader among world economies. Leadership would give us a sense of security. To gain and keep a leading position, we need to look to breakthrough ideas in science and technology. <…> We can gain a leadership role in the major sectors if we make the most of our past achievements as well as innovate proactively. This is how we can progress. So let’s make the necessary adjustments in our roadmap and go from here.”
“It is our common task to turn Siberia, the Far East, and the Baikal area into a leading investment centre. We need not just dynamic development, but rather accelerated development here.”
“We need real economic and social breakthroughs, and most importantly, we need to improve the quality of life in every region of Russia. For that, each region needs to uncover its potential, to use every competitive advantage it might have. We pay special attention in this respect to the Russian Far East and the Baikal area.”
“Today the country faces major challenges. We need a new industrialisation and millions of modern jobs, a technological breakthrough and a growth of economic efficiency, rapid development of the social sphere, improvement of Russian people’s living standards as the ultimate result and the main goal that we must work for. Improving the well-being of Russian families.”
“The way the nation is developing depends primarily on its citizens, their initiative and desire to improve life in their home village, town, district, city and country, on the quality and effectiveness of the local governments, which are directly involved in the people’s lives. Russia begins exactly here, at the local level of government”.
“We must pave the way for thousands of new business ideas, companies and production facilities, so that new enterprises and production platforms grow quickly inside all non-oil and gas sectors. Consequently, we must do our best in order to enable everyone to bring to life his or her business and production dream here in Russia, so that it is profitable and comfortable to channel labour, efforts and investment into the new industrialisation.”
“We must consolidate the economic foundation of our political sovereignty and make our economy technologically independent. This is why we are talking about the need for its qualitative growth and are placing our bets on the domestic market and modern production.”
“We would like the Agency [Strategic Initiatives Agency] we are creating to be as open to society as possible and to become an effective instrument for supporting in-demand projects, projects directed at the confident and sustained development of this country. <…> Genuine economic modernisation and the complete renewal of the social sphere will eventually grow out of thousands and thousands of separate successful projects in Moscow, St Petersburg and all over Russia, projects backed by leaders full of initiative, competent and interesting individuals with promising new ideas and unorthodox approaches to tackling national objectives.”
“Throughout its history, our engineering industry has proved its ability to guarantee our technological superiority in key areas of development. <…>We have brilliant examples of triumphs in science and design in the missile industry, the defence sector, the nuclear power industry, and power engineering. I have no doubt that the current potential of the engineering industry and the ability of our engineers, designers, and workers give us the right to hope for new triumphs and breakthroughs in the future. I’m sure we will not be disappointed.”
“I believe that the auction arrangements for purchasing Russian or foreign-made equipment should also be improved. If Russia makes something that complies with international standards, then there should be no preference for foreign companies or suppliers with regard to such equipment. That doesn’t mean we should squeeze them out of the Russian market. All I’m saying is that, regrettably, they enjoy greater preferences in comparison to domestic producers.”
“We are absolutely convinced that Russia should have a complete technological and production chain, from research and design to components and the large-scale manufacture of finished goods.”
“Over the next decade, Russia should join the ranks of the world’s five largest economies by GDP. I am, of course, not talking about a numbers race but about the need to achieve qualitative development through innovation and increased efficiency in both conventional and so-called new industries and sectors of the economy.”
“The year 2011 should become a year of major construction projects and of the completion of large-scale transport and energy projects. In fact, we will have to lay the foundation for Russia’s new infrastructure in the next decade. We need to ensure a breakthrough in the fuel and energy sector, and it should be a quality breakthrough based on greater efficiency and the deep processing of raw materials.”
“We are to find the kind of solutions that will give Russia the opportunity to go forward confidently and build a strong innovative economy, and each year of this development must bring real and palpable improvement in the life of people, for the absolute majority of Russian families. This is the thrust of our policy.”
“The strategic goals we set for longterm development through 2020 will remain unchanged. These goals are to improve living standards, make the economy innovative, and form effective market and government institutions. Why did we address the period after 2012? We had in mind not only the political calendar but also the premise from which we proceeded in the programme for long term development through 2020 (and it is mentioned there in no uncertain terms) that 2012 marks a new stage in Russia's socio-economic development.”
“As you know, leading economies are developing their post-recessionary strategies. Russia also needs one. Our growth strategy should take into account the new reality and provide solutions to the challenges of economic modernisation and an overhaul of the social security system and public administration. It is important to get the general public and experts involved in the discussion of this strategy.”
“The world today is completely open. A country that withdraws into itself loses its positions. Only an open country with an open employment market, education and sports can succeed. In an open country that kind of nationalism is impossible.”
