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 have published a list of strategic enterprises recently, which will receive additional assistance if needed.<…> The Governmental Commission on Sustainable Development of the Russian Economy will monitor the operation of these strategic enterprises.”
“The Russian economy and social sphere will finish the year in the black despite negative dynamics in the fourth quarter. GDP is expected to grow 6%, and many other key socio-economic indicators will also be positive. In particular, growth in agriculture has been even higher than expected. The latest data show a 10% increase. Investments in the economy were also 10%, which is higher than we had expected. The average monthly wage will grow, despite the 13.5% inflation, by 10%-12% in real terms. Pensions have increased by a third.”
“I can tell you that the Central Bank and the Government have reserved huge funds, trillions of roubles, for the anti-crisis package, notably for maintaining banking liquidity and compensating huge income shortfalls. Even if we don't need to spend all of them, the scale of planned allocations points to our greatly increased possibilities. I must say, though, that the Government does not intend to use all of its reserves to fight the crisis regardless of the effect of such measures. The priority goal today is to increase the efficiency of budget spending and to maintain macroeconomic stability.”
“We will consider other measures to maintain railways investment potential. Analysts estimate it would take more than 100 billion roubles to implement the current investment programmes, and another 100 billion roubles to refinance Russian Railways debt. How should we do that? I think it is possible to place Russian Railways bonds to the tune of 150 billion roubles, and then see what the budget can afford in the beginning of the year, and before February 1 make a decision on possible direct government investment in the company's capital stock. I feel obliged to stress that the matter demands the utmost accuracy and circumspection.”
“We need to implement large investment projects - those that guarantee demands for high technology. Now that traffic volume is shrinking, Russian Railways and independent traffic companies have the opportunity to inventory equipment and to discard obsolete and worn-out cars and other equipment. At the same time, they should consider purchasing new, state-of-the-art cars, which are far more efficient. This is a chance to become more competitive. These acquisitions can also give a new lease of life to Russian transport manufacturers.”
“The decision to phase in the tariff increase over the next year was made to promote the entire economy - in particular, to facilitate the business activity of the railways' primary clients.”
“The Government does not intend to force the railways to bear the brunt of the burden. Federal allocations, up to 50 billion roubles, will compensate for Russian Railways' lost revenues. We will also compensate student travel discounts. We have directed the relevant instructions, as you know.”
“Freight traffic volume is on the decline. That is the railways' main concern. This is due primarily to shrinking demand for steel and fertiliser and for mined coal. The market is on the decline and taking Russian Railways' revenue with it. As you know, we have decided on a more gradual increase in raising tariffs of natural monopolies. This was done in the interests of the entire economy. For example, railway freight transport rates should increase 12% at most in 2009, as opposed to the expected 18.7%. January 1 will see only a 5% rise - less than planned previously.”
“This year, we have earmarked 1.7 billion roubles for the centre's [Federal Scientific Clinical Centre for Child Hematology, Oncology and Immunology] construction, and will allocate another 500 million roubles before the year expires. The year ends a few days from now, but we will wire the money. Next year, we will allot 2.6 billion roubles. This is big money on a national scale, and even bigger on the scale of healthcare funding.”
“This will indeed be one of Europe's largest centres [Federal Scientific Clinical Centre for Child Hematology, Oncology and Immunology], which will support 78 national health clinics and help them master the methods of treatment. This centre will accommodate 400 children simultaneously; it will offer from 250 to 300 ward beds. Children will be able to stay with their parents, and feel almost at home. Experts believe that this will have a positive effect on their treatment.”
“The tightening of the global economy is certainly another important issue affecting each of our countries. Each EurAsEC country is currently working on its own plan to deal with the financial crisis. And it is especially important that we coordinate our efforts and are ready to deal with the consequences of the crisis cooperatively.”
“I firmly believe that dialogue between producers should be encouraged consistently. The key role in this process should belong to an organisation such as the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. I want to stress that such actions are fully compliant with international law.”
“In our opinion, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) should become a permanent organisation, with a charter and a headquarters, representing the interests of gas producers and exporters in the international market, or at least upholding their interests and encouraging civilised market relations with consumers. It must express the cohesive position of its member states on key current issues and on development prospects in the gas sector.”
“Consumer countries also have responsibilities. They should make long-term commitments to buy specific amounts of these commodities on predictable terms. In addition, "transit" countries play a special role in global energy security, as they are responsible for the stable operation of the transport infrastructure, and for controlling risk during natural gas shipments. These are purely economic issues which should remain unaffected by politics.”
“The interests of energy producers, consumers and transit countries can be balanced only if we establish transparent and long-term market relations, with principles that are clear and understandable to, and applied by, all parties. An energy security system will be viable only if it helps maintain the necessary production levels.”
“Energy resource supplies aren't evenly distributed around the world. Therefore, it is extremely important to uphold global energy security. Russia was one of the countries to raise this issue for discussion during Russia's presidency in the G8.”
“However, certain countries' vocal concerns over energy security are nothing but political manoeuvring to cover efforts to gain preferential access to others' resources, while saving their own for some or other reasons, or because they simply do not have any. Therefore, while discussing energy security, we should have a very clear idea what each of the discussion participants means by the term. We believe that energy security includes the following aspects. For oil and gas producers, it primarily means the guarantee of sovereignty over their national energy resources, as well as a responsibility to ensure stable supplies to their consumers.”
“The financial distress followed by a broader economic crisis is a serious trial for the global oil and gas industry. Oil prices plummeted to a quarter of the summer level August through November. This naturally affected the gas market, as gas prices are linked with oil. However, since the gas market is more inert, it is bound to be more severely hit by the crisis than even the oil sector, and may require more time to regain pre-crisis operation levels.”
“The next proposal will have a direct effect; I am referring to our plan to renew municipal vehicle fleets. We will allocate 20 billion roubles from the federal budget for this purpose, and expect regional and municipal governments to provide an additional 10 billion, as has been agreed. I hope people will see how municipal fleets of passenger transport vehicles and special machinery will be replenished with new cutting edge equipment.”
