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.”
“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.”
“Russia’s main challenge is learning to exploit the “educational drive” of this younger generation, to mobilise the middle class’s enhanced demands and its readiness to assume responsibility for its own welfare in order to guarantee economic growth and the country’s continued stable development.”
“People should not have to adapt themselves to the existing economic and labour market structure – it is the economy that must change so as to enable people with a high educational standards and high requirements to find a worthy occupation.”
“Let me remind you that it was the results of the analysis conducted by your department, the Prosecutor’s Office, which underpinned the most important decisions amending the underlying principles of how the oversight and supervisory agencies and services work. I want to note that all spot-checks of businessmen are now under the Prosecutor’s Office jurisdiction, and that this has produced definite results.”
“Nowadays the Russian Prosecutor’s Office has great powers, playing a most important, co-ordinating role in guaranteeing the rule of law and fighting crime. But you carry a very significant responsibility, because you must advocate and defend the interests both of the state as a whole and of each individual, every single Russian citizen, their rights, personal security and dignity, and all this places very stringent requirements on your work.”
“The assessment of our people is precisely the fundamental criterion of the results of the work both of the government and of the regional administration teams on all territories of the Russian Federation.”
“The new assessment mechanism for regional executive bodies should be developed in close cooperation with the public opinion, the business community and trade unions. I would like to emphasise once again that this country’s development and improvements in the quality of life depend on the coordinated efforts of all levels of government, and in large part on the work of regional administrative teams and heads of constituent entities that are personally responsible for the situations in their respective regions.”
“We have already taken a number of steps to change the system for evaluating the performance of regional authorities. We have introduced new assessment criteria such as attraction of investments, consolidation of the regional tax base and provided additional financial support for regions carrying out development projects. We have several strong regions.”
“It is necessary to design a comprehensive appraisal system that will encourage the regions to work for balanced development. <…>The development of the regional economic potential should take into account people’s needs above all else. Certainly, clearer and better criteria should allow us to objectively assess the work performed by the Russian regions, and to support the leaders and those seeking to be among the best regions.”
“The situation in a particular region is not determined solely by the availability of mineral resources or support from the federal centre; however, it is to a large extent determined by the enthusiasm and performance efficiency of regional officials. As you know, we have worked out a system of criteria to assess the work of regional authorities, and this system is currently in place. But a comparison of paper reports to actual results proves that the system is not very effective.”
“A 2.5 billion-rouble loan is to be issued for the «Film Club: Culture, Education, Communications» project involving the creation of a cluster of such clubs as part of the KinoCity project. At least 250 multimedia cinemas are to be built, above all in small and medium-sized towns. There is not enough social infrastructure of this kind in our small and medium-sized towns, and everything must be done to get this project up and running.”
“A 25 billion-rouble credit line is to be opened for the construction of the middle part of the Western High-Speed Diameter highway in St Petersburg. <…> Without a doubt, it will mark a step forward in developing our infrastructure and giving second wind to that part of our country, giving it a new character that is up to European standards, and it will spare this city of five million the burden congestion with heavy vehicles, many of which still pass through central parts of the city even after the ring road around Petersburg was built.”
“We have agreed on long-term contracts for the delivery of gas to Turkey until 2021 and 2025. I would especially like to thank the Turkish government for its decision to give its final authorisation to Gazprom to build the South Stream gas pipeline system on the Black Sea bed in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone.”
“Today I want to say that we will certainly continue to strengthen the system of the Emergencies Ministry. This year we will receive new equipment: aircraft, fire engines and other special equipment. By 2015, the share of new equipment in the Emergencies Ministry will reach 80%.”
“When I talk about the need to ensure transparent elections, I want you to remember that it is above all us who need transparency, because we must be confident of people’s support. This is a fundamental issue, for it is impossible to implement such challenging plans without people’s support.”
