“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.”
“Only the existence of several space centres will guarantee Russia's complete independence in space exploration and will allow it to fully utilise the potentialities of space equipment. This is why we will continue paying so much attention to the modernisation of the existing space centres in Plesetsk and in Baikonur where, as I've already said, we will work with our Kazakh friends and colleagues.”
“In 2012, the federal budget allocated about 150 billion roubles for our space programmes, including more than 40.5 billion for space centres. The bulk of this money – about 30 billion roubles – will be spent on the Vostochny space centre.”
“The construction of the centre will serve as a catalyst for the development of the entire Far Eastern Federal District. It will help us fully utilise the industrial potential of the Far East and Eastern Siberia and attract highly skilled personnel to these regions.”
“Our long-term goal is to ensure that Russia is a leader on the global energy markets, to guarantee the growing domestic economic demand for hydrocarbons and to consolidate our positions on the world markets.”
“In 2012-2013 all servicemen should be given permanent residence. In the near term we will also completely solve the housing problems of Chernobyl veterans. The numbers of housing certificates to resettled people will increase several times over.”
“Very soon a system of early detection of drug addiction among schoolchildren will be introduced. We will subsequently have to consider introducing a similar practice among college and university students. Also, legislation should be amended to make punishment tougher for drug dealing and trafficking, for violations in the sale of alcohol, for getting minors involved in drug and alcohol use.”
“I am convinced that our WTO membership will provide a long-term powerful impulse for the dynamic and innovative growth of our economy. Its openness and increased competition will benefit the Russian people, and our manufacturers will receive the necessary impetus for further development. Our WTO membership is also about new markets and new prospects that we are not yet accustomed to seeing and assessing properly. Finally, membership in the WTO provides the possibility to defend our interests in a civil and legal manner.”
“The completion of negotiations on our accession to the WTO will create the conditions necessary for Russia to join another multilateral structure: the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. We are already conducting such work. Accessing the OECD would mean stamping a global mark of quality on our economy, both in general, and in terms of individual manufacturers.”
“Education and science should become top budgetary priorities. We are well aware that these two areas define the intellectual and technical strength of Russia and the quality of our human capital. Approaches to developing the long-term fundamental research programme will be improved. This programme should combine work performed at state-run academies of sciences, research centres and institutes of higher education. This programme should focus on those designs that will help Russia become a technically and scientifically advanced country.”
“Creating sound jobs is essential to meet the demands of our human resources. An extensive middle class is a key for victory over poverty. This is an opportunity for millions of people to fulfil their dreams and it is a way to a true diversification of the national economy.”
“The natural solution to the problem of low productivity is creating brand new jobs. <…> Our strategic goal is to launch the mechanism of constant renewal of jobs and the economy on the whole. Jobs are created through direct investment, primarily private investment. We need to bring the investment level up to at least 25 per cent of the GDP by 2015, and later by up to 30 per cent.”
“Millions of people are now employed in outdated, ineffective workplaces with low wages and zero prospects. We must provide them with other jobs, interesting and well-paid, which can give them high living standards, good pay and the opportunity to support a large family. The average real wages in Russia need to grow by at least 37-41% by 2020.”
“Ahead lies a new stage in Russia’s development – the stage that will see the creation of state, economic and social order and a social structure that can ensure prosperity to our citizens for decades ahead.”
“Russia has the world’s largest territory. We must preserve and protect our territory from external threats and provide modern living and working conditions in all the country’s regions. We must pay a great deal of attention to the development of the Far East and Eastern Siberia. This is an essential geopolitical task. We need to ensure higher growth of the gross regional product in Siberia and the Far East as compared to the growth of the national GDP. This trend needs to continue for at least 10 to 15 years.”
“According to our overview of the past four years, we can state with confidence that Russia has not only recovered from the crisis but has also made a significant step forward. We have become stronger.”
“Every Russian citizen counts today. <…> We need to take new decisive steps to maintain and raise our population numbers. However, unless we revive the traditional attitude to basic moral values, no socio-economic policy will produce stable results. The efforts of the state, society, religious, educational and cultural organisations should be aimed at promoting a close-knit prosperous family with many children.”
“It goes without saying that the crisis was a trial for us, and a difficult one. We lost time and pace in implementing some reforms, but we have kept up the forward momentum. Yes, the decline was tangible. We know and remember this, but we recovered much faster than many other countries. Today we have the highest economic growth rates in the G8 and one of the highest among the world’s major economies.”
“Affordable, comfortable housing also means high quality utility services at clear and fair prices. The housing sphere should be turned into a modern efficient branch that is open for competition and attractive for private investment. The cost of utilities should be reasonable and predictable for residents and investors.”
“About 1.5 million people have received housing with the direct support of the state, including more than 200,000 veterans of the Great Patriotic War, in the past four years. In addition, maternity capital has helped more than one million families to improve their housing conditions.”