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.”
"At the same time, we have to acknowledge that we cannot do anything effective in certain fields-the steel industry, for instance. I have quoted it as an example before. We largely oriented it on exports. Now, the foreign market has shrunken, and there is redundant supply. As for the Reserve Fund, it cannot cope with such an amount. It does us no good to pile up plate slabs until they reach the sky. The external markets have shrunken or even closed. Other countries, too, have to cut production and employment along with it. In this situation, it is up to us to give people in their plight a helping hand."
“At the same time, considerable allocations must be re-channeled to anti-crisis measures, pensions, public-sector wages, other social commitments to the population and financial aid to Russian regions in line with inter-budgetary relations. State defence contracts and high-priority national projects will be funded ahead of schedule.”
"The very same budgets are a source of numerous social benefits. Such budgets must therefore be amended in such a way as to rule out any wage and benefit arrears in any, even the most unfavourable situation as regards revenues. I am also asking you to prioritise sufficient regional and local budgetary allocations for implementing employment programmes. This implies mandatory co-financing on the part of regions and additional measures that can be implemented by them."
“In March, all of us will have to make a responsible decision and approve a new version of the federal budget. As has already been said, there are no plans to reduce overall expenditure volumes. In fact, budgetary expenditure will increase by a small margin.”
“We have to say that the crisis is not over yet and has not even peaked. The efforts by the Governments of the most developed global economies have not yet produced any tangible results. This means that this situation may persist for a long time.”
“The draft programme [on enhancing the seismic resistance of housing, essential projects and vital service systems in earthquake-prone areas] envisages a six billion rouble federal allocation in 2009 for urgent works to enhance project seismic resistance in Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. In that, we need not only to renovate old buildings, but should pay ever greater attention to new housing and social infrastructural projects that are up to the latest standards of seismic resistance and comfort.”
“There is another step to promote the development of the market infrastructure, and that step is the passing of a bill on financial instrument taxation. It will remove many formidable obstacles to developing open trade in the traditional key Russian exports-mainly oil, its derivative products, and natural gas.”
"What we need to do is remove the reasons for the monopolisation of particular commodities and service markets. The competition development programme aims at settling just such structural problems."
“We have not cut social expenses in adjusting the budget. On the contrary, in absolute figures we are increasing it, although only slightly. In relative figures there is no reduction, either, as compared with other areas of government activity. Moreover, there is even an increase. I'm referring to the special character of measures needed in the circumstances. I know that the majority of European Governments share this approach and are taking active measures to alleviate the consequences of economic turmoil for their citizens.”
“In conditions of the crisis, we should pay more attention to social problems and to preventing unfavourable developments in this field.”
"On the whole, we are convinced that a fall in social standards, a kind of "social dumping" should not be used as an anti-crisis measure because it will not only fail to improve the situation but will also complicate steady economic recovery."
“We are planning to stabilise the numerical strength of the population and secure its steady growth with active demographic policy. <...> I'm pleased to say that recent measures in this area have created a positive trend in Russia.”
“We are also planning to enhance the quality of the social environment and public health, to make housing more affordable and comfortable, and to create an effective system for ensuring personal security of citizens and protecting them against crime and emergencies. To implement these tasks, we drafted a number of special programmes six years ago. We called them priority national projects. <…> In general, the Government's close attention to these areas has proved very effective even despite small additional funding.”
“The draft law on the ratification of the Russian-Lithuanian agreement on navigation in the Curonian Bay and the Neman River. It envisages the freedom of Russian vessels to navigate in Lithuanian inland waters and, reciprocally, Lithuanian vessels' freedom in the Kaliningrad Region waterways-a decision that fully complies with Russian national economic interests.”
“Our strategic goal is to raise domestic social standards to the best European and global levels. Therefore, we in Russia are attentively studying practical proposals on social development. We are actively using the experience of European experts in law making.”
“It is necessary to invigorate the efforts to provide school children with high quality sound nutrition. This problem will help improve their health during study and shape a healthy lifestyle. Under the plan, 21 regions are supposed to adopt modern school catering standards this year. In the future, their experience should be spread to other regions.”
“School gyms and stadiums could be open to children not only during classes but also after them. It goes without saying that children should be supervised. Coaches and teachers should watch and help them, and be paid for that. Sports facilities at places of residence should also have a convenient time schedule. As I've already said, funds for remuneration of PT teachers and sports organisers should have special incentives for improving students' health and promoting a healthy lifestyle.”
“Sports facilities should become accessible to all children and teenagers regardless of how much their parents earn. Incidentally, their construction is not very expensive, and nothing particularly special is required for their operation. I'd like to stress that every child should gain an opportunity to participate in sports for free.”
“We all realise that a healthy lifestyle does not come about on its own. It goes without saying that young people should display a strong will for regular sports activities and renunciation of bad habits primarily of their own accord. At the same time, however, our society should create favourable conditions that will allow our children to develop harmoniously. I'd like to emphasise once again that this is a task for all of society rather than simply for Government authorities.”
