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.”
"A great deal has been done in recent years to strengthen Russia's position in the world market, to give our foreign trade a modern, civilised look. I am referring to the rapid development of foreign trade infrastructure, increased capacity of Russian seaports, the inauguration of new routes for transporting Russian hydrocarbons - the Baltic Pipeline System, the Blue Stream. A number of similar major projects are in progress, notably the pipeline towards the Pacific, the North European gas pipeline, and the Southern Stream which is being considered with an eye to the future."
"At the same time, we should proceed with the conviction that Russian money-both corporate and government money-should work within the Russian economy. Everyone involved-whether in mining, steel or machine production-should consider the current situation when formulating cost parameters, and should not forget imports as an alternative."
"I consider it vital to protect domestic producers in the metallurgy, coal mining, engineering, aircraft building, shipbuilding, and general building industries. In the current situation, this is especially relevant. We must ensure that Russian companies maintain a heavy workload. Of course, they should work in the market environment without dictating high monopoly prices, because this would be inherently wrong. At the same time, however, protecting domestic producers is the Government's priority".
"It is crucial to create a national transport system, integrate various means of transport into a single logistic network, and introduce new technological compatibility standards."
"First of all, it is important to seek to realise the essential social task - ensure access to high-quality and reliable transport services for all people wherever they live. As of now, 10% of Russians live in villages that have no stable connection to the federal motorway network."
"In the wake of those meetings, high-priority decisions were made to ensure the transport system's development. A corresponding federal target programme has been adopted, with funds invested in the industry until 2015 amounting to 13.5 trillion roubles; almost 5 trillion roubles of this total will be allocated from the federal budget. In addition, other federal target programmes, as well as the programme for building Olympic facilities, suggest allocating quite large sums towards transport development."
"The special federal university network is a separate issue motivated by our plans to promote innovative development of certain regions. In this sense, Novosibirsk has a privileged status because you already possess a major scientific centre, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Nonetheless."
"We are introducing insurance principles into the pension system and we are increasing the insurance premium to 26%. These insurance premiums will be deduced from wages under 415,000 roubles. All the people whose salaries are above that sum will not be entitled to insurance pensions. Those with salaries below that sum will have insurance pensions, those who have higher salaries will not. Why? The whole purpose is that we don't want to see people with smaller incomes pay for the pensions of people who earn big salaries. But the citizens with high salaries, 400,000 roubles plus, the figure subject to be adjusted every year, will be able to make additional savings towards their pensions voluntarily through the mechanism of the pension funds that has been created."
"Beginning from 2010 we have the following plans. First, all the pension rights acquired prior to 2002 will be raised by 10%. As someone who deals with these problems you surely know that the most vulnerable group of pensioners are the people who acquired their pension rights in the Soviet times. So everyone who earned his seniority before 1991 will have their pre-2002 pensions raised by 10% with an extra 1% added for every year of seniority. Those who will retire on pension since 2010 will get pensions amounting to 40% of their wages if they have a length of service of 30 years, and the 40% of the wage must fall on the period when insurance premiums were paid."
"We plan two increases of the basic part of the pension in 2009, in March and in early December. The basic part of the pension is to increase by 37.1% across the board. The ensured part of the pension will be raised by 15.5-16% as of April 1. Under the law, if inflation exceeds the target we will raise the ensured part again. So at the end of 2009 the social pension will not be less than the pensioner's living minimum."
"Some time ago we decided to set up a housing and utilities fund from which the regions will draw corresponding resources provided they match them with their own outlays. It is a large fund, 240 billion. The Novosibirsk Region received around 1.1 billion roubles out of that fund. That is a large amount. I must give credit to the regional leadership for their quick work because only the regions that prepare corresponding programmes will be entitled to grants. The Governor and his team have submitted such a programme promptly. But that means that part of that money can and must be used to build social facilities."
"The Single Social Tax used to be 6%, now the insurance deductions stand at around 26%, and the overall tax burden increases to 34%. We are very well aware of it. In this connection the mechanisms that will balance the tax burden on the economy as a whole will be put in place. This above all concerns small and medium enterprises. But not all of them. It will apply to the enterprises in the high technology spheres. There are other spheres such as retailing, services and so on. But we single hi-tech spheres as a priority. The small and medium enterprises working in this sphere will enjoy tax benefits over a transitional period that will last several years, enough for them to get adapted to the new taxation system or, more precisely, to operating under the newly created insurance system. The same applies to agricultural enterprises."
"Now as regards direct government support for small and medium-sized businesses. As I said, we have earmarked 3.4 billion roubles for this year. The Government is discussing the possibility of increasing that figure several-fold. I am not going to mention the final figure, but we are talking about an increase by several times. Much of that money will most likely be channeled through the Sberbank system, because it has a large network of branches across the country and it will be easier to work through it."
"In my opinion, Chechen Muslims and all Muslims in Russia can rightfully be proud of this mosque. It is a truly great gift to the Muslim community".
"We have decided to set aside another 21 billion roubles for the Defence Ministry's housing programme. I am proceeding from the premise that this measure will help solve numerous social problems and will also support the national construction sector".
"In mid-2008, we decided to allocate another 50 billion roubles for the sector, including 30 billion roubles for the Agricultural Bank's statutory capital and 20 billion roubles to support farmers and implement various programmes involved with beef and dairy cattle-breeding, poultry-farming and fertiliser production".
"It is important that we all fulfill our obligations punctually. I am referring to birth certificates, assistance to mothers in raising children to a year and a half, and grants through the age of three. “Mother’s Capital” must then be kept within the agreed upon budget, and indexed regularly. We have every facility for doing that, despite any global financial crises".
"3.2 billion roubles was allocated to the regions that lacked funds to buy fuel oil. These are the Astrakhan Region, the Murmansk Region, the Kamchatka Territory, and the Primorye Territory. The majority of territorial power grids have undertaken the necessary measures to prepare for the winter season. Coal reserves already exceed the required quota by 20%, and fuel oil reserves, by 35%".
"The transitional period of the final phase of RAO UES reorganisation must not cause interruptions in power supplies. Neither people nor the economy should suffer. Now the Energy Ministry is responsible for coordinating all relevant issues. In addition, the Government has set up the Federal Staff for Energy Supply. Similar bodies have been set up in the Russian regions."
