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.”
“Our country has another distinctive feature, as compared to other countries, where many peoples and nationalities reside. Our country was originally formed as a multiethnic state. <…> In today's world, there are things that have become shaky and have started to burst at seams. But we simply cannot allow anything like this to happen on our soil. If we let this happen, it will be disastrous for the future of Russia.”
“We should treat migrants like full-fledged citizens of Russia regardless of where they live. They should be protected by law and public morality, which is equally or even more important. We should teach our citizens to treat each other respectfully, and if someone moves outside the territory of ethnic residence, he or she should also respect the language, traditions and culture of the people among whom they are going to live.”
“The Popular Front, was established for the exact purpose of uniting people of different faiths and ethnicities so as to be able to identify the problems that are facing us and come up with the best ways to address them in an open and honest discussion. The name itself – the Russian Popular Front – emphasises the idea that every man or woman of any religious or ethnic background should realise that he or she is part of a single multi-ethnic Russian nation, is a citizen of Russia, and should be proud of it.”
“We are introducing the most up-to-date environmental standards. Quite possibly, such standards are even more stringent than those in other countries. By no means can Russia be considered a leader in terms of emissions. <…>Russia does not damage the global environment to the same extent as other countries. At the same time, we understand our responsibility, but we will never place the national economy in a worse situation compared to other states. When we had signed and ratified the Kyoto protocol, Russia had assumed sufficiently tough obligations with regard to emissions. We are observing all of these commitments. We must promptly modernise production to reduce the burden on our ecosystem.”
“I’d like to see the agency become not a short-lived or opportunistic structure, but rather an effective instrument for broadening your opportunities, for those who want to promote their ideas, who are willing and eager to carry out and accomplish what they consider important for themselves, their business and the country in general.”
“High moral standards, which must be continuously introduced and maintained in society, are indispensable for the effectiveness of all our efforts. People will only work hard if they know that the state is constantly thinking of them, taking care of them and will never abandon them.”
“As the overall economic situation stabilised and post-crisis growth began, it started to pay greater attention to long-term goals rather than emergency support measures for specific sectors and enterprises. First and foremost, I have in mind projects for modernisation and re-equipment and, naturally, for promoting small and medium-sized businesses.”
“I am confident that the plan of events to celebrate Stolypin’s birthday anniversary should cover as many aspects of his professional, social and political activities as possible, so that society will learn more about them. This primarily concerns young people, who certainly need positive examples of personal service to the country and the nation.”
“We will mark the memorable date of Stolypin’s 150th birthday anniversary in 2012. We must do it in a befitting manner, showing respect for our history and ensuring that the celebration evokes a positive public response.”
“We intend to create a powerful association that can and must become a pillar of the global economy, and we are not exaggerating or getting on our high horses. It will indeed enable us to take part as equals in the industrial and technological process, to compete for investors, to create new, high-quality jobs. I am convinced that our countries have all that is needed for that.”
“As a troika, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan can offer promising topics for further dialogue with the European Union and with individual countries and regional associations. Consultations are already underway on a free trade zone with the European Free Trade Association, and further down the road we plan to start negotiations on a free trade zone with the united Europe, with the EU.”
“In lifting the barriers within the Customs Union we will be careful to prevent any insurmountable barriers from being erected on the outer borders of the Customs Union. On the contrary, our main task is to ensure that by pooling their efforts all our countries would become integrated in the global economy more effectively and harmoniously – I stress, to become integrated with and not to fence itself off from the global economy.”
“This business forum of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan was timed to coincide with a momentous date – the formation of the common customs space, the common customs territory which was completed on July 1. Customs offices on the borders between our three states have been removed. This is not just a formal lifting of administrative procedures. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union the first real step has been made towards restoring the natural economic and trade ties in the post-Soviet space.”
“We want to be appraised of every possible perspective. Even if at first glance they seem incompatible and diametrically opposed, I believe that we should be aware of all possible approaches to these issues. Only by holding a broad professional dialogue will we be able to find balanced solutions and eventually guarantee an effective programme of national development.”
“It is very important to scrutinise what happened in the world economy – to study the circumstances in which the crisis unfolded, find a cure, and draft measures to preventing such adverse developments in the future. We must make our national economies reliable and productive, and protect them against all kinds of negative factors, risks, and potential pitfalls.”
“I would like to emphasise that the shortages of petroleum products and unstable prices should not stand in the way of economic growth or cause problems for the Russian people. We need a clearly understandable material balance of production and consumption for the main types of fuels and petroleum products.”
“We should seriously think about increasing refining volumes, specifically secondary processing, including such processes as isomerisation, reforming and cracking. We have taken a careful look into the latter here in Kirishi. All these processes make it possible to produce high-quality products that enjoy market demand. They ensure deep conversion levels and the world-class quality of our petroleum products.”
“As for our tax policy in general, we will not be increasing the fiscal burden. The government’s goal is to ensure a fairer distribution of the tax burden. This is why tax changes will concern, above all, the industries that work in a favourable foreign policy environment.”
“We have to accomplish a number of highly important objectives in the sphere of defence and law enforcement. Interior Ministry divisions will be financed completely from the federal budget starting with 2012. <…> Pay grades will be raised in two stages. First, this raise will encompass Defence Ministry military personnel, Interior Troops and Interior Ministry operatives. The pay grades of other security agencies personnel will be raised subsequently. Retired military personnel will see a one-time increase in pensions in 2012, regardless of their departmental affiliation.”
