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.”
"I would like to emphasize that we are not after a perfunctory merger or consolidation. In effect, we will introduce entirely new elements into the formation of Russia's innovative infrastructure. We will adopt modern methods of management and scientific research to form a single chain based on fundamental groundwork and ending in technology, resulting in real prospects for high-tech science-intensive markets. These centres will receive the most advanced research and development facilities with a view to attracting both Russian and foreign scientists".
"I have made it clear that apart from the current funding, we will allocate an additional 10 billion roubles for KI's development in the next three years. In addition to this, the departments concerned should finalize the coordination of a special bill on its legal status very soon. The Kurchatov Institute is designed to serve as a model for organising all national research centres. As you may recall, we plan to set up five to seven such centres".
"I have recently visited Vladivostok and announced the transfer of yet another facility, a convent, to the Russian Orthodox Church there. I want to tell you that we plan to completely release the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow throughout 2010 and to transfer it to the Russian Orthodox Church."
"As you know, we now rely on the Law on Religious Organisations. However, such legal regulation is not enough. The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Culture have now drafted another bill on transferring previously owned property to religious organisations. This is the first thing. Second, the Ministry of Culture has drafted yet another bill and has submitted it to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development. This implies the restoration of those religious facilities having artistic and historical value but which are already owned by religious organisations. It is common knowledge that the state is now unable to directly finance restoration projects in this respect. Nonetheless, we have stipulated over 2 billion roubles for restoring facilities currently owned by the Church."
“The state provided significant support to defence companies during the challenging economic situation. As for Energomash, we decided to allocate two billion roubles from the budget to boost the association's share capital. <…> We will increase this allocation to 2.25 billion roubles for the construction of the block of flats. Experts estimate that the cost of building the block of flats will amount to 240 to 250 million roubles.”
"In 2010, we will develop detailed plans for the improvement of the system of compulsory medical insurance. This is a very important, large-scale and complicated task. Apart from that, we need not only to adopt, but also implement a new law on pharmaceutical products, which is now being discussed at the State Duma."
"We must thoroughly address the issue of creating effective and well-paid jobs. For this reason, special employment programmes and support of one-industry towns will be continued. Togliatti will be one of the first cities to receive support. This year, 43.7 billion roubles were allocated for special employment programmes. In 2010, the amount allocated will be slightly smaller - 36.3 billion roubles, but this sum is large enough to cope with our problems."
"Small businesses will receive about 100 billion roubles in loans through VEB partner banks in 2010. I repeat, we discussed this topic recently: the mechanism has yet to be finalized, but we have the money and the opportunities to implement these large-scale plans of supporting small business. The opportunities for this are there. We still have to work out effective mechanisms that bring quick results. Small business must get about 80 billion roubles through the mechanism of guarantee funds. In supporting small business, preference should be given to productive and innovative companies. Let me add that in 2009 support for small businesses amounted to nearly 50 billion roubles, compared with 3.5 billion in 2008.
"We have managed to stabilise the labour market and prevent unemployment from spiralling out of control. During the recent televised question and answer session, I said that people's real disposable incomes would be much the same as in 2008, or decrease by only 0.4%. And now that we have the data for the whole year, it turns out there even was some growth. People's real disposable incomes will increase by about 0.7-1%."
"In 2010, 44.4 billion roubles have been allocated for the construction and purchase of more than 45,000 flats for service members. I would like you to know that until very recently this was thought to be an impossible task. People are weary, but they are resigned to waiting for years for their housing problem to be solved. I am referring to service members. Some thought that it was an impossible task. We should complete it in 2010."
"In 2010 the challenge will be even tougher; we set the inflation target at 7.5% or lower. We must pursue a balanced monetary policy and above all reduce the budget deficit. This is a difficult task, but we must try hard to bring the budget deficit down to 3% by 2012."
"We must meet all the housing construction targets and continue to move people out of old housing that is no longer safe. I would like to repeat that it is our challenge and our obligation to the people who still live in slums to clear these slums and enable people to live in normal, modern conditions. All World War II veterans and Defence Ministry servicemen should be provided with housing. While making use of market mechanisms, we should lower the interest on mortgage loans. You will remember that we are committed to providing 250 billion roubles for these purposes through Vnershekonombank. The mortgage rate should be cut to 10-11% at the first stage. In the longer term - and I have just been discussing this with my colleagues - we should seek to bring it down to 7% and less. This will address people's housing problems and stimulate construction and related industries."
"Our efforts to boost internal demand, especially in such industries as automobile manufacturing and construction, will be critical. Thus, the pilot project aimed at disposing of used cars should be launched early in the year. The total cost of the programme is close to 10 billion roubles. Those who turn in their old car for scrap will get a 50,000-rouble subsidy."
"It is important to expand the base for economic growth, above all by supporting free enterprise and creating conditions for new companies to enter the market. The notification-based procedure of starting up businesses will be spread to all types of activities, with few exceptions. And these exceptions must be specified and listed."
"There are still risks. First, the growth has not yet become sustainable. Second, it is largely based on replicating the old, raw-materials-based model of development. This means that we should change our priorities and concentrate on the goals mapped out in our plan for long-term development, namely building new industrial capabilities and establishing an innovation-based economy."
"In Russia, salaries fell somewhat in the commercial sector. At the same time, the salaries of state-employed workers grew by a little over 5%, to be exact, by 3.8-5%, thanks to boosting the funds allocated for salary payments by 30% in December 2008. The effect was felt in 2009. Pensioners' revenues also surged, compared with what they received before. Salaries dropped by 10-12% in the commercial sector, but there was a slight increase in other economic sectors. Taken altogether, these factors resulted in real disposable incomes being down -0.4%, which is virtually the level of 2008".
"There is a problem with short-term investment. Russia currently offers favourable conditions for speculative capital, which eagerly flows in and works well, but soon flows out again, causing us problems in these straightened times. What we need to do is change the rules so as to make Russia a less attractive destination for short-term speculative investment, which flows in for a very short time and flees at the slightest sign of danger. On the other hand, we need to create a more favourable environment for long-term direct investment in Russia".
"According to recent reports, in the first quarter of this year, Russia had around $35 billion of accumulated foreign investment, probably less than last year by a small margin, but this is only natural given the market contraction due to the recession. Shrinking investment is normal in this situation, it is nothing special, and I repeat, 35 billion for three quarters is not bad".
"Strategically, we should establish oil refineries in Russia, to process oil here and sell refined oil products. But today this strategy, and this objective reality, as I have said, sometimes clashes with the economic logic. Therefore, this issue should be analysed carefully; we need to determine what and where to build, and to whom we should sell. After this scrupulous in-depth analysis, we will be in a position to make a decision about the construction of oil refineries, including for the oil pipeline we commissioned yesterday".
