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.”
"As for Opel, I hope the contract is one of the first steps leading to European economic integration. Every cloud has a silver lining, and the crisis has laid bare many of the problems of mismanagement. This concerns many Western companies, among others, and General Motors is no exception."
"It might be easier today, however, to settle problems with countries with which Russia has lasting economic and political ties. Germany is Russia's principal partner in Europe and the world. Our number one partner in many respects. Exports to Russia have helped Germany retain several hundred thousand jobs. The fact is worth repeating: because Russia consumes German commodities and services, several hundred thousand Germans kept their jobs due to our partnership."
"Our main objective in the development strategy of the country is to diversify the economy and to enhance labour productivity and investment in the so-called human capital, that is, in education, healthcare, and so on. These key priorities have not changed, despite the crisis. Moreover, while trying to overcome the consequences of the crisis, we are paying more attention to these issues as our key priorities."
"We will continue our efforts to diversify the economy, to encourage the development of high-tech and science-intensive industries. We are already doing this, while at the same time tackling a two-sided problem, as I have said above, which includes measures to prevent increases in spending. However, we have not cut state investment in high-tech projects that rely on government involvement in these industries - in aircraft manufacturing, in space exploration, or in shipbuilding."
"I would like to say that we will honour all of our social commitments this year, regardless of the crises. We have indexed social allowances, just as we planned to do before the crisis, within the framework of legislation we adopted during the good years. We will index pensions four times this year."
"One of our tasks this year is to restore macroeconomic indices, lower inflation, and prevent the strengthening of the national currency to the levels we saw in previous years.<...> First of all, we must pay attention to macroeconomic parameters. Using this as the groundwork, we will try to ensure that long-term loans are available in the economy and at the lending institutions, so that we will be able to use internal financial resources."
"Our second task is to strengthen the financial system. This is an incontestable objective. We have made a decision to increase the authorised capital of national banks. We expect the number of banks to decrease in Russia. It will be a gentle, positive process that will strengthen people's trust in our financial institutions and will allow the economy to use these resources more effectively."
“The crisis has affected Russia very seriously. However, we see nascent stabilisation in the country, beginning in June, and economic growth, even if modest, of 1% monthly since June."
"In the realm of social policy, we have adopted a very important law called the Labour Code. I spoke about it with several of my counterparts from developed European countries, and they told me they would also like to have such a code in their countries. Their laws in this area are much more socialized. I think this was a great achievement on Russia's part. The current system protects workers' interests while keeping the labour market flexible, and at the same time makes demands on the workers themselves."
"On the whole, the situation on the labour market remains stable. Positive trends in industry and other spheres, and resumed production growth, even if minor, have had a positive effect on employment. In the last four months, the number of unemployed registered at the employment centres has decreased by almost 200,000 people."
"I am referring to the allocation of 4.9 billion roubles worth of subsidies from the federal budget to four major defence enterprises, which will help them to pay their debts, and keep their production lines and, I hope, their personnel. These enterprises are Uralvagonzavod, the Kalinovsky chemical plant in the Sverdlovsk Region, the Soyuz design and experimental bureau in Kazan, and the Krasnozavodsk chemical plant in the Moscow Region."
"A total of 150 billion roubles will be allocated for additional capitalisation of banks. Another 142 billion roubles will be spent on the resolution of other urgent problems. Out of this sum, 28 billion roubles will be spent on building and buying housing for servicemen. All in all, 71 billion roubles have been allocated for projects in the nuclear industry and aircraft building. In addition, 6.3 billion roubles have been appropriated for the conduct of purchasing and trade interventions in the markets of agricultural produce with a view to creating conditions for their work. These are not only additional expenses but also the funds that could be redistributed without prejudicing the implementation of the programmes for which they had been initially reserved."
"Without a strong, cutting-edge machinery manufacturing industry Russian economy will never be full-fledged, competitive and based on innovations, will never overcome its excessive dependence on raw materials. That was why we made decisions to develop and upgrade the industry even before the crisis. We have established major integrated shipbuilding, aircraft-building and military industrial companies."
"We should not forget the goals we must reach, notably, to maintain macroeconomic stability, keep the deficit at an acceptable level, reduce borrowing and preserve our reserves. We must pursue responsible social and economic policy. The Finance Ministry has drafted the appropriate proposals."
“In the last few months, we have been registering positive signs both from world markets and from the domestic economy. Starting in June, industrial production has grown by about 1% per month. Prices on our export commodities are also standing at a high enough, acceptable level.”
"Our economic (Russia and India) ties have been developing dynamically. Each year, the bilateral trade turnover expands by one third. Although the overall trade turnover does not yet match our potentials, we have succeeded in expanding it throughout January-June 2009 in conditions of the global financial and economic crisis. This is a rare occurrence in present-day conditions."
"I would like to once again underscore the special nature of bilateral relations which have evolved in this format for many decades. And we are very happy to note their current level. This particularly concerns the coordination of our positions, which coincide on numerous foreign policy issues."
"The automotive industry ended up being one of the sectors hit the hardest by the economic crisis. Sales of new cars dropped significantly not only in Russia, but all over the world. Only now have markets in individual countries started to recover.<.....> The transition to modern standards must be gradual. Russian auto plants must have enough time to upgrade their manufacturing capabilities and technology. And of course consumers have to be ready for this."
"Regarding imports, as I've already said many times, we will strive to have all import vehicles fully meet Russian standards. The new set of technical regulations is based on these specific principles, and I hope that its coming into effect will allow, among other things, improved traffic safety on our roads."
