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.”
“At one of our earlier meetings, we said that at least 150 unaffiliated candidates nominated by the Popular Front would be put on the United Russia ticket. In assessing this year’s primaries’ results, I wish we had set that upper limit even higher, because there proved to be so many truly interesting people among those independent and non-party candidates. Our election ticket will be finalised at a United Russia congress in late September, but we will be posting this list for public discussion one month in advance. It’s important that voters be in a position to make an informed decision when the election takes place in December”.
“We have been able to open up new possibilities for Russian civil society to form a national agenda, and I consider this to be extremely important. <…> The number of candidates running in this year’s primaries is three times higher than in 2007. More than 60% of these candidates ran independently or as nominees of public organisations. Some 220,000 electors were present to assess them and their programmes. Half of the electors represent public organizations”.
“We have four official religions that coexist under the law. Islam is one of the official religions. It is not something imported from abroad; Islam is one of the traditional religions of the peoples of Russia, and the people who preach Islam are the citizens of this country, they have no other country. <…> We should ensure that irrespective of faith every citizen abides by the law whether he is Christian or Muslim, Russian, Chechen, Tatar, Bashkir, or whatever. If he breaks the law he must answer for it under the law”.
“But on the whole the trend is positive because investments are flowing into industry – Rosneft has some plans there, new industrial clusters are being created. They are even thinking of creating tourist and skiing clusters and so on. If this trend continues – and I think there is more reason to think that it will than to think the opposite – then the number of people out of work will decline. I have no doubt about it”.
“This year alone 16 new schools are going to be opened, the teacher training university is expanding and a new academic building will be opened at Grozny State University. This year nine hospitals, a maternity centre and a lot of social welfare facilities will open for which there is a great need in Chechnya, of course. The amount of new housing built in the country as a whole increased by 0.8% in the first half of this year, and in Chechnya it increased by 7.2%. <…> The budget has a surplus of six billion in the first half of the year, that is, the revenues exceed spending by six billion. This shows that the economy is properly managed”.
“I would like to ask our colleagues from the Russian regions, and the municipal authorities to have all administrative buildings immediately outfitted with means of accessibility so that people with disabilities will feel comfortable in and around these buildings. This can and must be done immediately.”
“We need to support (and we will continue to do so) public organisations of disabled people. This year, we increased the amount of support to 950 million roubles. As I said, we will support related public organisations, not just organisations of disabled people, but also those that directly work with disabled people, volunteer organisations, and so on.”
“I estimate that by 2016 the number of schools equipped to deliver education to children with disabilities alongside children without disabilities will increase more than eightfold – from 1,200 to 10,000.”
"By expanding access to opportunities for work and increasing the mobility of disabled people, the state is in no way relieving itself of its commitment to provide them with comprehensive support <…>. We have increased disability pensions by 8.8% since February 1, and social benefits by 10.3% since April 1."
“The government will continue to support our aerospace complex, which is an absolute strategic priority for us. From 2009 to 2011 the government allocated more than 270 billion roubles towards programmes in the aviation and space industries. Our country has become fourth in the world in annual expenditures on space exploration. Even <…> during the crisis we have not cut a single air and space programme. We financed all programmes in full, and without missing a beat”.
“In developing the Russian aviation and space industries, we fully understand that our achievements in this sphere do not merely reflect the prestige of our country, important though this is. They also ensure our defence capabilities and our national security, and create the conditions necessary for the country’s modern economic growth and technological advancement. <…> The key here is to create new opportunities for the self-realisation of the people”.
“We are willing to introduce the so-called integration coefficient – that is, decreasing coefficient for energy. This is direct assistance and support, though it isn’t a gift. This coefficient improves Russian businesses’ position in the Belarusian market, so they are willing to meet their Belarusian partners halfway. This position has been coordinated at the political level. The Russian government and president support it”.
“Our key task is to ensure high practical returns on the use of union budget money. I am referring above all to the implementation of joint programmes. I think that we should place more emphasis on projects involving innovation. <…> In the final analysis, the joint work of research, engineering centres and industrial enterprises will enable us to form a common scientific and technological space in the Union State, and that, as you know, is the key aim that we set ourselves in our joint work”.
"The construction industry is one of the most important to our economy, and to the economy of any developed nation. There are huge challenges before you – to build new industrial facilities, new roads, tunnels, bridges and other infrastructure. There are huge challenges in housing construction. In the near future we must double the number of housing built across the nation (up to 140 million square metres a year)".
"We should focus <…> on interactions between the state and business. I am talking about state guarantees. This instrument is all about the commitment of the government and of the country, and it is an important factor for attracting funds to major infrastructure, high-tech and export-oriented projects".
"We see positive dynamics in demography. At stake here is not only an increase in birth rate but also reduction of the mortality rate. I believe there has been a decline in the number of deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases, 4.5%; cancer, 1.1%; road accidents, 5.7%; and tuberculosis, 6.3%. Overall, the dynamics are positive".
"Both the charter and the composition of the supervisory council of the Strategic Initiatives Agency have been approved <…>. The supervisory council includes representatives of the business community and public organisations, as well as heads of regions with experience of supporting entrepreneurship and the modernisation of the social sphere; they've been selected and appointed. I would like to call on everyone <…> to support the Strategic Initiatives Agency in every way".
"In my mind, what matters most is the realisation of our roots, the awareness of our identity. When we have this awareness, it is easier to get our bearings today and acquire a vision for the future. That really matters".
"I want to reiterate that this work and its finds show how deep our nation’s cultural roots reach. Look, Greeks lived here. Khazars came next. Adygs and Circassians appeared later on the borders of this land, and then it was conquered by Turkey. Then Russia incorporated it. But peoples did not just come and go – each left traces of its culture, and a culture’s soul is realised in the artefacts you find. It is always present in traditions. <…> Your work opens our eyes to the deep sources of our present-day culture".
