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.”
“As of today, members of the intelligentsia constitute about one half of the deputies in local legislatures. <…>We see you as like minds and allies with whom we can solve shared problems, building strong and prosperous rural communities, with access to quality healthcare services and education, so that people could have confidence in their future and a sense of belonging. We should work together to make the Russian countryside full of opportunities for people seeking self-realisation.”
“One of our priorities is the creation in rural areas of efficient companies and of interesting and prestigious jobs. The idea is to provide local inhabitants with a source of decent and steady income while at the same time forming a solid economic and financial basis for sustainable development. Economic success underlies welfare, in the town as in the country.”
“First, we should make the most profitable use of the existing stockpiles because old weapons and ammunition contain rare metals and other valuable raw materials that must be competently used. <…>Secondly, and this is particularly important, it is necessary to ensure safe storage and utilisation of old weapons in order to avoid environmental risks, any emergencies, let alone human casualties.”
“First of all, we need to ensure that there are no disruptions in the implementation of long-term running contracts, because any delay in supplies is unacceptable. Secondly, defence-industry companies need to have a clear idea of the requirements that their products must meet, and of how the funding of contracts is going to be arranged. Thirdly, we should ensure efficient spending, trying to avoid extravagant expenditures and overblown estimates. All expenditures should be meticulously justified.”
“Some 750 billion roubles has been allocated this year for the purchase and upgrading of arms and military hardware, as well as for defence-related R&D. This is one and a half times as much as last year. In 2012, we are planning to increase this amount to 880 billion roubles. Never before has the rearmament of Russia’s Army and Navy been financed so liberally.”
“Openness, democracy and transparency are not only mechanisms for more efficient government but also strengthen the tradition of civic responsibility and create new opportunities for developing social initiatives. They are the most important tools for feedback and tapping into energetic, caring people who want to contribute to the nation's development. This is the logic underpinning our work, friends and colleagues.”
“The government formulates the vast majority of bills and initiatives. In order to improve the quality of the legislative process and make it more open, we strive to bring citizens, community organisations and the business community into the discussion, development, and review of key government initiatives. This is our principled stance. We are convinced that government resolutions that in one way or another concern the rights of people are in need of transparent public examination. Only then will they be met with understanding and support and will work effectively.”
“I would like to point out that new management approaches are also essential for the government in the development of key resolutions in the formation of long-term programmes and legislative initiatives. I must say that in practice, we in the government of the Russian Federation are beginning to implement such models more and more. I am talking about working with the personnel reserve and the creation of open peer groups.”
“Of course we think how expand the contacts between the people and the municipal, regional and federal authorities, how to increase their influence on the authorities and how to ensure feedback. Our system is certainly far from perfect. We know it, and we know criticisms of, say, the leadership system President Medvedev and I offered to this country in what is known as our tandem. However, please note that I don’t know a single government system that is perfect.”
“The abundant quantity of bills and motions does not always reflect a high degree of efficiency, especially if it does not go beyond eloquent rhetoric and unsubstantiated intentions, however noble. Every decision that is to become a law or a by-law should be worked through in-depth and thoroughly calculated, and all the possible implications of such decisions, including for regional and municipal public finances, should be taken into account.”
“We should help to polish regional legislative initiatives, to unify proposals that may come from different provinces but that all have to do with some systemic problems of the nation as a whole. <…>Government experts, [Duma] deputies and members of the Federation Council should work more proactively with, and provide assistance to, regional legislators.”
“First of all, penalties for electricity underuse are now to be scrapped. This issue is a particularly sensitive one to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as to agrarian enterprises. It is from them that we most often hear legitimate complaints about the take-or-pay principle. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that this principle has been holding back entrepreneurial activity in electrical engineering and other industries while also bringing undeservedly high proceeds to distribution companies. This issue has now been resolved, and consumers will not have to pay for electricity that they don’t use. Small and medium-sized businesses will be given an opportunity to build their work, including in electricity consumption, on a long-term basis and without having to bear the burden of additional costs.”
“The improvement of working conditions is a policy we are pursuing for our people’s sake. It’s aimed at raising the safety level, minimising industrial risks, and creating quality jobs, so feedback from trade unions and the business community is of special importance. The government’s job will be to introduce such a system of assessing and managing professional risks that measures up to the highest international standards, those of the International Labour Organisation and of major European nations. And, of course, it’s essential to ensure the efficient, targeted use of funds allocated for labour protection.”
“Our main stake, of course, is on Russian enterprises. Our shipbuilding industry should be prepared for the serial production of advanced models of equipment and armaments that conform with all modern requirements and objectives of the Russian Navy. We need the best available equipment at prices that are cost-effective.”
“I am confident that the implementation of this armaments programme, which is unprecedented in terms of its objectives and its allocated resources, will help us carry out a full-scale retrofitting of the Army and the Navy, fundamentally renovate the Naval infrastructure, create strategic Naval nuclear forces comprising fourth-generation submarines, purchase modern surface ships and conduct upgrades and repairs of the existing equipment.”
“Obsolete equipment must be replaced by efficient high-tech vehicles. I am referring to new rail locomotive models, commercial vehicles, buses, trolleybuses, trams and shuttle minibuses, which should meet the modern requirements of safety, comfort and environmental protection.”
“What we actually need is an efficient and transparent market of railway operations that would be immune to such artificially created problems as a shortage of rail cars. <…>We need a system that can ensure the coordinated work of the carrier companies and the availability of trains for customers. The transportation fares must be adequate – on the one hand, they should provide operators with enough resources for investment and development, and on the other hand, they should not constrain economic activity in other industries, and across the country.”
“I can tell you that we plan to attract 1.5 trillion roubles of private investment into the building of new roads by 2020. We should use leasing more actively, issue bonds to finance projects and use other investment tools. We will sign concession agreements and life-cycle contracts in road-building, when the contractor is economically interested not only in building a road, but also in doing so at reasonable prices and with a high quality of work so that the road will last for decades.”
“We will continue developing the infrastructure of the Russian railways. In the past four years over 50 complicated tunnels and bridges have been built or renovated. Access routes to key sea ports have been expanded, high speed passenger trains have been launched. Dozens of railway stations have undergone a complete renewal. <…>And I think we should develop a state programme on high-speed rail operations. Given the size of our country, this would be a highly popular project, and very important for the development of our economy.”
