“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 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.”
“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.”
“Russia continues to see growth across all key industries. By 2012, we should fully offset the effects of the crisis. <…> We will need to adopt our first genuinely post-crisis budget and shift our focus to long-term goals.”
“The 2012 budget should provide for drastic increases in payments to servicemen and the implementation of a national armament programme. Let me reiterate: budget funding should invariably reach specific enterprises of this sphere in full and in due time. Please monitor these issues at all times.”
“When we make provisions for such major spending, it’s important to follow a stringent and responsible budget policy. We cannot stray from our course on compensating for the budget shortfall. We should strive to keep a balance of revenue and expenses.”
“We must finish forming administrative regulations by July 2012; these regulations will specify all the details for providing municipal services, covering everything from the filing of documents to deadlines. We must convert them into electronic format to post them on a unified portal of state services. And we definitely need to establish full service centres, where people will be able to get all the services specified by law without waiting in long queues and paying money to different intermediaries.”
“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.”