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.”
“In order to really improve this country’s defence capability, we need the world’s best state-of-the-art military equipment, not spending billions and trillions of roubles. It is unacceptable for the army to become a market for morale-sapping obsolescent weapons, technologies and research and development, especially if it is being paid for out of the public purse. That is why we have made our defence plants and design bureaus comply with stringent requirements, have been encouraging competition and investing heavily in the modernisation of the defence industry, advanced technologies and training of specialists.”
“The defence industry, our pride, boasts powerful intellectual and scientific capabilities. But we must also be honest in speaking about the problems that have built up. Russia’s defence research centres and production facilities have been slow to modernise over the last 30 years. In the coming decade, we need to close this gap. We must regain the technological lead in the entire spectrum of modern military technologies. I would like to stress once again that we will put the task of re-equipping the armed forces firmly in the hands of Russia's defence industry and scientific infrastructure.”
“Military Police will be introduced to oversee discipline among the personnel. Public, veteran, religious and human rights organisations should be actively involved in the education of the servicemen and the protection of their rights and interests and for forming a healthy moral environment.”
“Serious changes are planned for military strength acquisition. Currently, 220,000 officers and 186,000 soldiers and sergeants serve under contract. An annual increase of 50,000 service personnel is expected within the next five years. They will serve as sergeants, sergeant majors and military equipment specialists.”
“The rationale behind these changes clearly shows that our objective is to create a fully professional army. At the same time, we need to be aware of the fact that a professional army is expensive. If we continue manning the armed forces with contract personnel and conscripts, we will be compromising between this objective and our national capabilities.”
“The goal for the next decade will be to equip our armed forces with advanced armaments, which have better visibility, higher precision, and faster response times than similar systems used by any potential enemy.”
“We have begun a large-scale programme to re-equip the Army and Navy and other national security forces. Our number one priorities are nuclear forces, aerospace defence, military communications, intelligence and control, electronic warfare, drones, unmanned missile systems, modern transport aviation, individual combat protection gear, precision weapons and defence capabilities against such weapons.”
“We must restore the lost authority of our military institutions and integrate them into the system of military education, just as we are doing in the civilian sector of the economy. Military science must have a decisive influence on the formulation of the goals of the defence industry. Competent procurement mechanisms and the Defence Ministry departments responsible for military orders must ensure the efficient development of technical specifications for the design and production stages, as well as the specifications of weapons and military equipment.”
“Dilapidated and hazardous housing in earthquake-prone areas is a separate issue as we realise that it poses the greatest threat to people. We should develop a set of long-term measures. I mean the introduction of a control and continuous monitoring system in earthquake-prone regions – both at infrastructure facilities and in residential areas, towns and villages. At the same time, we need to create an emergency broadcast system. In this regard, I ask the Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief jointly with the Academy of Sciences to submit proposals on the establishment of an interregional Centre for the Forecast, Monitoring and Prompt Response to Emergencies on the Altai-Sayan Plateau.”
“For electronic government to be useful, people should know everything about it. <…>By July 1, this information must be placed on all bulletin boards in federal and municipal institutions, on departmental websites and, of course, in the media.”
“Broad introduction of information technology will make interactions between the authorities and people simpler and more transparent and spare people the need to visit all kinds of offices. And, finally, I’d like to emphasise that this is a real and very effective anti-corruption measure.”
“A huge proportion of our cities are still in bad shape, with about 40% of our urban population living in cities with polluted air. <…> We must achieve a sound balance between the challenges of economic development and the requirements of environmental protection. The document we are going to discuss and adopt today is aimed at properly regulating this sphere, with due account of modern requirements.”
“The most important aspect for the government is establishing infrastructure for the stable and long-term development of sport. As I mentioned, a huge amount of work has been done recently to build modern training grounds of federal and regional status. Moreover, many facilities that were built before 2008 are being renovated and equipped.”
“In 2011, for the first time in the history of modern Russia, we provided financial assistance to particular organisations that are responsible for athletic reserves for national teams. <…> The budget expenses for the entire calendar of sport events have increased. In 2009, we allotted around two billion roubles for these purposes. In 2012, we will allocate 3.5 billion. There is a system for motivating athletes and coaches who have achieved significant results from the budgets of all levels, as well as extra-budgetary sources.”
“Let me stress that solving our demographic goals depends to a large extent on the activities of the regional governing teams, their commitment to creating improved conditions for people’s lives and for fulfilling their ambitions. Ultimately all economic achievements must have a tangible human dimension.”
“We must prioritise those regions where the experts record a negative demographic trend for several years in a row. <…> People of any ethnicity who live in the demographically stagnant areas and need support from the government will receive this help regardless of their ethnic origin.”
“What we need to do is not only to continue these programmes but expand them and put forward additional measures to boost the birth rate, which means supporting families with children as our top priority. Multi-child families should be the most valued, and families with two or three children the preferred social norm. We have to end the situation where the birth of a child causes a family financial difficulties or pushes it to the edge of poverty.”
“Without question, the positive trend in the birth rate is connected to the overall improvement of the situation in the country, the better quality of life for Russian families, and the wider planning horizon. Our support measures have also had an effect – in the form of federal subsidies for maternity capital, birth certificates, as well as the construction of regional perinatal centres and high-technology medical centres.”
“As you know, we have been introducing a system of grants for researchers and instructors. One such programme is called Megagrants, under which a grant of up to 150 million roubles is given to an individual researcher, as opposed to a university or a research institute. <…> So, the idea is to establish a similar grants programme for young instructors and researchers so that our young and talented specialists can work at universities across Russia.”
