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 think it is a fact of fundamental importance that in spite of the problems caused by the crisis we have not renounced our strategic line of investing in man, in the quality of life or the well-being of Russian families. About 70% of budget spending in 2010 will have a pronounced social character."
"We have already embarked on a systematic effort to modernise science, including at higher education institutions. In this we will support and strengthen all that is the best and most advanced. The Government recently approved five-year programmes that would create 14 research universities. They will be financed with approximately 50 billion roubles, with at least half of the money to be disbursed from the Federal Budget. After assessing the available resources we came to the conclusion, very recently, just two or three days ago, that some additional steps need to be taken. Therefore I propose to direct over the next three years a further 90 billion roubles to support the country's leading universities (30 billion roubles every year). That money will be spent to renovate the research and laboratory base, the programme of scientific exchange, to bring the best scientists from abroad, including our fellow countrymen who are currently working elsewhere."
"The Housing Construction Fund must work more effectively. This year alone it has prepared 1,500 hectares of federal land for development on which 6 million square metres of housing will be built."
"We must fulfil our commitments to individual categories of citizens to make housing more accessible and promote buying with mortgages, the most universal instrument used throughout the world. Every effort will be made to maintain the current pace of housing construction. Modern housing standards should be introduced. The outdated prefabricated "boxes" should be replaced with comfortable, energy-efficient and environment-friendly homes, including low-rise houses. Unfortunately, we have not been paying enough attention to that topic. What we need is essentially a programme of large-scale construction of inexpensive housing. Its share in the total housing stock is now about 5%. It should be brought to 25%, let me stress, not less than 25%."
"Traditionally the defence industry complex has been one of the drivers of technological progress in Russia. That role should be greatly strengthened and Russia should be guaranteed independent access to critically important defence technology. The Government has identified support of the defence industry complex as a key element among anti-crisis measures. The steps that have been taken have proven effective. I mentioned the overall slump in the economy, which is regrettable, but the defence industry has registered a growth of about 4% during the year. This is the result of Government support more than anything else. In 2010 the state defence order will be increased by another 8.4% to 1.175 trillion roubles."
"Construction norms and standards need to be updated very soon. We cannot afford to carry out multibillion rouble infrastructure projects based on 1970s standards which are unreasonably costly. That amounts to squandering resources."
"To save money and do away with corruption it is necessary to introduce electronic tenders in concluding state contracts for infrastructure development. Objectively, we are prepared for it; there is nothing that stands in the way. All we need to do is to do it. Some regions are already doing it: in Tatarstan Sberbank is doing it and Moscow is doing it. We should move forward more vigorously."
"It is time for business to start working in a different way. Unfortunately, many are used to following a simple rule of thumb: squeeze everything out of outdated equipment and incur debt in the hope that the government will come to the rescue and eventually pull them out of this pit. This mentality - the mentality of time-servers - is not one that can build a modern economy. At the legislative level it is necessary to formulate requirements that would induce business to seek to improve its effectiveness day in and day out."
"We should come to terms with the premise that the key factors of development in the coming years will be internal resources: the optimisation and retrofitting of industry, increasing labour productivity and an effective employment structure. Infrastructure monopolies and major companies with government participation must adopt internal programmes aimed at achieving an international level of efficiency and standards of transparency that shed the risk of corruption."
"We will continue implementing targeted measures aimed at further reconstruction and post-crisis development of the economy. We propose to concentrate on the following key areas: First, we must ensure the stable operation of systemically important enterprises, driving forward the programmes of their technical renewal and modernisation. Second, stimulate hi-tech exports. Third, develop housing construction. Fourth, support internal demand, including the most important and embattled industry, the automobile industry. And of course, there is the challenge of unemployment and the problems of single-industry cities."
"In order to move forward we must clean up the economy of hopelessly outdated and wasteful production facilities, identify and support a genuinely competitive nucleus in the real sector of the economy. We have such a nucleus."
"Of course, 14.5% - an average interest rate on mortgage loans - is too high for many people. Incomes in Russia are not high enough to meet these loan requirements. For mortgage to become affordable for a broad range of people, we should lower the interest rate to 10%-11%."
"You know that pension funds are used in all countries as an instrument and a source of long-term loans, which is crucial for mortgage lending. Given the volume of saving, including the funds managed by Vnesheconombank, we could think about using these instruments in Russia, although very carefully and with maximum guarantees. VEB is currently managing 690 billion roubles ($24 billion) of pension accruals. A month ago, the Government approved a new strategy for investing pension accruals managed by VEB. Up to 20% of these funds, or some 100 billion roubles ($3.5 billion), can be invested in mortgage bonds of Russian banks."
"Since the beginning of the crisis, we have allocated ample funds to the defence industry, one of the government's top priorities for support. In 2009, the defence industry received a total of 970 billion roubles, an unprecedented sum in the history of modern Russia."
"The defence industry has grown by 3.8% since the beginning of this year. this was made possible because the Government properly honoured its commitments, primarily its contracts to purchase weapons. I would like to remind you that according to our plans, the share of cutting-edge weapons and equipment in the military must be significantly increased, reaching 70-80% by 2020."
"You [ the Russian Geographical Society] can do much to teach the younger generation to protect and respect Nature and Russia's cultural and historical heritage. The experience and knowledge of geographers can be used to draft educational programmes and to help youth associations."
"We have made the first steps to the so-called green economy and sustained development. We have formulated strict energy efficiency guidelines. The government's development guidelines until 2012 and for the period until 2020 stipulate a series of nature protection and other environmental initiatives. Our goal is to fight pollution, rehabilitate land, and protect water and forest resources."
"Support must be provided primarily to well established and competitive companies as a part of anti-recessionary measures and other government support programmes. We should avoid keeping inefficient production facilities afloat at all costs. It is necessary to prevent companies in this industry from taking advantage of their position as a monopoly as early as possible. This applies mainly to production facilities that became infrastructure monopolies back in the Soviet times and then developing as integrated production facilities."
"However, the Russian petrochemical industry has one great competitive advantage: It has a unique resource base. Russian and foreign investors see significant potential in the industry. Modernising it will not require massive government support. It is true that infrastructure support and legal maintenance are required, with state guarantees sometimes needed as well. But these are cost-effective measures, and it is easy to find financial resources in the market."
