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 am convinced that the contribution of SMEs to Russia's development, to the diversification and modernisation of its economy will grow in the long run. They will become more prominent not only in the traditional spheres of their operation, but also in high-tech spheres such as engineering, science and telecommunications. To preserve and develop this creative potential, we should create the utmost favourable and comfortable environment for enterprise. This approach has been laid down in the Government's anti-crisis plan and long-term strategy until 2012."
"As for the former Soviet republics, we are offering them loans. You have mentioned Belarus. Russia has special contacts with this country. We are trying to set up the union state. Russia has lent Belarus more than $3 billion on intergovernmental credits since 2004. We are thinking about another loan of $500 million to Belarus. The credit burden on Belarus has reached critical levels."
"The energy infrastructure development has a highly positive growth effect on related industries, through the creation of new jobs. It has been estimated that every employee working in a nuclear power plant construction project creates jobs for 10 employees working in related industries. Here, we have also discussed that large projects of this kind have a highly positive effect on the construction industry. As a result, through NPP construction financing, we are actually making investments in several industries at the same time and supporting them in the time of crisis."
"And finally, I want to state that the nuclear industry has always been one of Russia's greatest assets. I am convinced that if we organize our efforts efficiently and set our priorities correctly, the nuclear industry will remain an important source for the country's development, whether it is in energy production, defence, economy, or science. I would like to wish all of you every success."
"As you know, we have already approved the project list for realisation of the Main Government Policy Areas Until 2012. The list consists of about 60 projects. The nuclear energy and nuclear weapons development areas have been included into one of the four "pilot" projects that will be implemented on a priority basis. The project will result in increased energy output at the existing facilities, ensure and strengthen Russia's leadership in nuclear fuel production, and allow us to introduce the most advanced radioactive waste utilization technology and accomplish a series of other environment protection measures."
"As you know, we have highly ambitious, and yet quite realistic, goals in this sphere. By 2030, nuclear power plants should account for 25% to 30% of electricity produced in the country. The current figure is 16%. The relevant figure exceeds 25% and even 30% in many European countries, so we will have to catch up with industrialised states. <...> There are no minor details in this sphere, a sphere that needs a corresponding financial backing. At the same time, we also need to develop a modern grid infrastructure and ensure the solution of many other problems, which have always been important in this sector whatever their scale, even if it is minuscule."
"I know that Mr Schroeder, and the executive management of Nord Stream, are working very hard to move this project forward. The project is becoming ever more international and pan-European in scale. We are well aware of this, and have discussed this on several occasions. The European shortfall in energy supply will grow. That's why we must explain our position calmly and work on implementing this very important European project."
"In 2008, 421 billion roubles were allocated to transport from the federal budget, which is one and a half times as much as in the previous year. As a result of this increased investment, more than 2,200km of motorway were built, 296 towns were provided with year-round links to existing road networks, and several major transport facilities have been brought into use."
"We must resolve the task in hand in order to make sure that citizens, as well as the economy, are served by a modern transport system; avail of Russia's unique geographical location to ensure the maximal use of our transit potential; and offer new, alternative routes for the high-speed, secure movement of people and goods. All these strategic tasks are mentioned in the Transport Strategy in the period up to 2030."
"This year, irrespective of all the difficulties we have experienced, we are not introducing cutbacks; instead, we are increasing the resources allocated to the development of the transport system. We consider this approach to be one of the most important anti-crisis measures, which will allow us not only to create more jobs, but will also lay down the fundamental infrastructure for the post-crisis development of our country. By comparison with 2008, how does the outlook for 2009 appear? The volume of investment has been significantly increased, by 100 billion roubles, which brings it to 550 billion roubles, including 312 billion roubles for the construction and major repair works on roads (up from 294 billion roubles last year). As a whole, the financing for the sector, combined with the anti-crisis measures, has increased by 30%, and if you take highway repair and construction, then this increase stands at 15%."
"We will make sure that the regions follow the demands of those laws that have been introduced: a faster transformation of the housing sector, co-financing from the regional and local budgets, and focussed and effective use of the resources allocated. We will focus on resource and energy saving, which implies the installation of water, gas and heat meters in houses and flats, because the people must pay only for what they really use, not for what the bills say. Only by doing this will we develop civilised relations between producers and consumers in the housing and utilities sector, raise the quality of service and ensure an affordable level of the tariffs in the sector."
"In medical terms, this problem can be described as a chronic disease of the economy and social sphere. I am referring to the housing and utilities sector. It would seem that these problems are better left as they are, because the people's complaints are legitimate, and the sector has improved, but not much, at first sight. On the other hand, unless we address these problems and discuss them publicly, we will never solve them. We should act in accordance with the Russian proverb, "What the eyes fear, the hands do." We must keep working on these problems, and the more complicated a problem, the more publicly we should discuss ways to solve it."
"Much has been done in the past few years to transfer the sector's enterprises to new operating conditions and introduce modern mechanisms of managing the housing stock and providing social assistance to the people. <...> As many as 79 regions are taking part in the programmes of the Fund for the Housing and Utilities Reform, with 7 million people to improve their housing conditions within these programmes. As of now, 120,000 people have received or will soon receive new flats. By doing this, we will quickly advance toward implementing the goal stipulated in the guidelines for the Government's operation until 2012, when we are to liquidate dilapidated housing."
"The resettlement of people from dilapidated housing and more active efforts to overhaul other buildings implies the creation of over one million jobs in construction and related industries. This is a major anti-crisis measure in the current conditions aimed at combating unemployment."
"Much has been done in the previous years in the sphere of training personnel for Iraq in diverse areas. We also discussed it today. Many thousands of Iraqi specialists had been trained in the Soviet Union and Russia. Today too Iraqi students study at our higher education institutions. Cooperation in that sphere can and undoubtedly will expand."
"Iraq has been our reliable partner for many years, and we have a good history of relations. The last decade has seen a great amount of mutual work between our two countries. We are keen on seeing Iraq flourish, becoming a strong, independent, sovereign and united country. There is much we can do to develop our bilateral economic ties. Our companies have sound experience of working with our Iraqi partners. This cooperation is a very good asset for the future."
"Regarding business and investment links, I think it is clear to everyone that the emphasis was above all on cooperation in the oil and gas field. Here, just as in the power sector, considerable positive experience of cooperation has been accumulated. We have noted the interest of our Iraqi partners in resuming military and military-technical cooperation. These negotiations are already at the stage of practical contacts and I believe that full-scale negotiations may well be resumed."
"We are going to allocate 2.9 billion roubles to one of the largest engine building companies, the Chernyshev Moscow Machine Building concern, which will allow it to retain its workforce of 7,000 people, and ensure the completion of major export orders."
"The electricity shortfall was one of the obstacles to industrial development and the realisation of a series of major projects. The cost of connection to the grid was prohibitively high, and that, in turn precluded the realisation of many long-term investment projects, as I have already said. This issue is particularly sensitive for small and medium sized businesses. In today's crisis conditions, demand for electricity has fallen slightly, and many regions of the Russian Federation are forming reserves. But this is clearly a temporary phenomenon. The restoration of sustainable economic growth is impossible without the development of the energy systems, without deep-rooted modernisation of the aging equipment, without the construction of new power stations and the development of the grid. In 2008 we added two GW of capacity, which is as much as was introduced during the previous two years, 2007 and 2006, together. It is very important that this pace is retained in the coming three years. This requires something in the order of 1.8 trillion roubles of investment."
