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 have always provided considerable assistance to this sector because of its economic and social importance. Last year it was granted over 180 billion roubles, compared to 103.2 billion roubles in 2009. This allowed the railways to set lower prices for passenger and cargo transportation than initially planned. Railway traffic grew by over 10% in 2010, which is fresh evidence that the country’s economy is recovering from the crisis. This is one of the main and best indicators of recovery.”
“State support for the automobile industry was timely and effective. More than 44 billion roubles were spent in 2010 to stimulate domestic demand. Incidentally, we were just now talking with the workers and I think that if one takes into account all the channels of support for GAZ, it amounts to 8 billion roubles. I mean stimulation demand, scrapping, subsidizing credit, state guarantees for certain enterprises, procurement of cars and vehicles for state needs and so on. As I said, 13 billion was spent under the scrap and reduced cost credit programmes.”
“We must fundamentally modernise our pharmaceutical and medical industries. Basically, we'll have to develop a new industry that will attract investment, generate innovations, create efficient jobs, and, most importantly, that will produce competitive, safe, high-quality and affordable products for our people and our health care system. We must reach a strategic goal – meeting domestic requirements in pharmaceuticals and equipment ourselves.”
“I'd like to say a few words about the VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation. You visited it seven years ago. Do you remember the condition it was in? The involvement of Rostekhnologii changed everything. The support of the local authorities changed the situation beyond recognition. They have invested almost $700 million in reconstruction and are planning to spend as much in the next two to three years. This will fundamentally change production. Major changes will also take place here, at the Locomotive Plant. AVISMA launched new production with American partners; the Locomotive Plant is cooperating with German partners, whereas the Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant is a strictly Russian enterprise. All three enterprises are paying a great deal of attention to the prospects for creating an entirely new technological foundation, and they deserve support.”
"The Russian government has invested a decent amount of money into AvtoVAZ: 75 billion roubles. In addition, we have continued the programme for exchanging used cars, and AvtoVAZ is also receiving a substantial amount of money under this programme. We have allocated several billion roubles to decrease the burden the company bears in dealing with social issues: four billion roubles. And all of this has yielded results."
“The Russian car market is potentially the largest in Europe. In addition, it has good prospects for exporting products to neighbouring countries. This is why we need large production facilities, not just mid-sized. This is what we need to create an efficient network of supplier plants and to pursue our own engineering solutions. Obviously, one of these manufacturers is our traditional manufacturer, AvtoVAZ, which is capable of producing up to 700,000 cars a year and is planning to form an alliance with the Renault-Nissan corporation, which is already a shareholder in AvtoVAZ.”
“We have drawn up a big programme to support the Russian automobile industry. It envisages not only car scrappage but also subsidised interest on private loans for car purchases. It also includes customs tariff regulation to protect the market from imports, in a way, after we encountered competition that was unfair to our manufacturers as surplus stock flooded our market at dumping prices.”
“Our strategic goal is well-known - we must create a strong and competitive nanotech industry, whose products will be in demand domestically and on global markets. Russia has the necessary academic potential, specialists and technology to meet this goal. The government has provided substantial support to the nanotech industry. To mention just one example, it contributed 130 billion roubles to the corporation's authorised capital when it was established.”
“We see the advancement of the fishing industry as one of our key priorities. Despite the federal budget limits, we've decided to maintain spending on the federal targeted programme in the industry at the original level (over 32 billion roubles) and to extend (the programme) for one more year, through 2014. As you know, we subsidize loans taken out by enterprises to build and upgrade vessels as well as to develop processing and storage infrastructure for the fishing industry. Funds are also being spent to set up special fish markets in Russian regions. By the way, it would be interesting to hear from you today about where the first such markets are going to appear. The industry's top management has its own plans for this.”
"I am convinced that the Russian steel industry has everything it needs to become one of the world leaders in effective production and management, energy efficiency and environmental friendliness quite soon… Much remains to be done. You know it better than anyone else, because your production facility still lags behind its competitors in labour efficiency and consumes 15% to 20% more electricity. All this, of course, is a legacy of the past, a legacy that is difficult to get rid of. You can't undo everything in one fell swoop, but we are moving in the right direction. We need to start manufacturing the products where we still rely on imports."
