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.”
“Next year, we will continue with our project to support Russian schools and will allocate another 60 billion roubles towards this purpose. Our goal is to bring teachers’ wages to the level of the average wage in all regions of Russia already in 2012. In the next three years, the federal budget will allocate 10 billion roubles to support pre-school education.”
“In 2012, we will provide additional 195 billion roubles to renew the material resources of medical institutions and raise the standards of medical assistance. We will also increase financing of the Healthcare priority national project to 145 billion roubles. The money will be used for additional payments to medical personnel, to purchase modern diagnostic equipment and medications, to improve prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and cancer – in other words, towards priority areas.”
“One of the most important goals of the federal budget over the next three years will be ensuring the country’s post-crisis development, creating conditions to modernise the Russian economy, building a stable infrastructure and improving Russia’s defence capabilities and security.”
“If we do not want to sequester the budget tomorrow, as some developed market economies are currently doing, which would deprive people of the most necessary things, would require us to take painful measures and to reject those citizens who are entitled to government support – if we do not want to do this, we should not inflate our spending today. We need to be very careful about this.”
“Undoubtedly, the establishment of the Popular Front also helped reinvigorate the United Russia party. I hope very much that our colleagues in the party understand this and will promote this process, because, on the whole, this new organisation is becoming more viable. We have used the Popular Front venue to discuss a wide range of issues related to all areas of life in the country. In point of fact, we have created a network of direct ties between the authorities and civil society institutions. It was a very important period in our work, and we will definitely continue to promote these initiatives and mechanisms.”
“The idea of the Russian Popular Front is to give a fresh impetus to Russia’s political and economic life, to ensure that new ideas burgeon at the regional, municipal and federal level and unconventional solutions are found to problems facing cities, regions and Russia as a whole.”
“I have no doubt that working together, we can change Russia and make it a stronger and more prosperous state, a friendly neighbour, a country that protects human rights and dignity and has reliable private property guarantees. I'm confident that acting in this manner, we are bound to achieve success.”
“The Export Insurance Agency will soon be launched in order to support the ambitions of small and medium-sized businesses that want to enter foreign markets. We expect to have more than $14 billion worth of export loans insured from 2012-2014. We will primarily provide support to domestic high-tech products that, I'm sure, are capable of competing in the world market.”
“In general, we will assist our scientists, engineers and innovation business by providing them with orders from major government corporations. In other words, we will create a market for them. This year 46 state companies will launch innovation programmes worth a total of 700 billion roubles, and will double their funding after two years.”
“The Russian Direct Investment Fund was founded to support big programmes of both foreign and Russian businesses. Leading representatives of the global investment community have agreed to join its international expert council. The fund has already received over $2 billion; its capital is projected to reach $10 billion in five years.”
“Russia needs to create all the necessary conditions for smart investments both in manufacturing and in high-tech development, so we need to expand freedom for bona fide entrepreneurial activities and to support those with clear and useful initiatives, which seek not to make a one-time profit, but to improve the quality of life of individual towns, cities and entire regions, while at the same time making profit from their economic activities, of course.”
“It is an excellent ground for arts enthusiasts and theatre lovers, in particular. <…> The theatre was joined by people with both the talent and enthusiasm necessary to take charge of this work and push through it. It is a real pleasure to see this enthusiasm”.
“What are we trying to achieve, after all? We want our children, no matter where they attend school, to receive a high-quality education and a chance to enrol in a university or college. Generally, this means they should be in a position to decide their own fate, as they and their parents see fit. For this purpose, a proper level and good quality of training in schools should be guaranteed, and there are modern facilities that can make this possible.”
“The United Russia group in parliament will be significantly renewed. <…> This country’s legislature needs an infusion of new people who have innovative ideas about the current situation, future development, and solutions, that is, people who are ready and know how to solve these problems.”
“Russia has a special relationship with China, and not only because it is a close neighbour. We share many tasks and have common problems and common views on many processes under way in the international community. China is Russia’s strategic partner in the true and direct sense of this word.”
“We must eliminate any superfluous administrative obstacles. We have talked about this before. The endless registration procedures must be pruned down. The unsubstantiated requirements, burdensome duties and limited access to infrastructure hold back the initiative of entrepreneurs and may become an insurmountable obstacle for new companies – and, therefore, new goods and services – entering the market.”
“We need a well-balanced, logical policy to support competition, with clear targets and a functional system that assesses the competitive environment as well as a system of fair rewards and punishments for those market players that break rules and laws. I would like to emphasise that any serious decision must be based on the analysis of the real state of the competition in the country. We must not manufacture artificial competition on paper. The purpose of the government is to create the conditions for fair competition and, most importantly, the solution must be consistent and clear for everybody and for businesses first and foremost.”
“I should note that rates in Russia always increase on January 1. This creates expectations of inflation, and drives inflationary pressure from the very beginning of the year. That is why I propose to cap the increase in Russian Railways’ rates at 6% as of January 1, 2012. <…>All other increases will not take effect on January 1, 2012, but on July 1, 2012 – these include a maximum increase of 15% in gas prices and increases to keep pace with inflation on electricity, which includes grid maintenance and heating. This is in light of the fact that energy consumption declines in the warm season and consumers will find the higher prices easier to bear than in winter.”
“When we began to draft the federal budget, we decided that it should be a development-oriented budget. We therefore prioritised government spending for the years to come. Our top priorities will be future-oriented research, introducing innovations, infrastructure support to boost economic growth, and promoting small and medium-sized businesses. Certainly, we will focus on investments in development and in the wellbeing of Russian families. The state will meet all of its social obligations to the nation.”
