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.”
“The way the nation is developing depends primarily on its citizens, their initiative and desire to improve life in their home village, town, district, city and country, on the quality and effectiveness of the local governments, which are directly involved in the people’s lives. Russia begins exactly here, at the local level of government”.
“We should join our efforts and help people in rural areas expand their operations and stand firm on their feet, so that they don’t have to sell their products under the table but instead have direct access to farmers’ markets and can work in a civil manner. This goes beyond agriculture and also applies to non-farming businesses, such as services, motor transportation, manufacturing of building materials, and the recreation and tourism industry.”
“We will also help rural entrepreneurs. Next year, we plan to launch a special federal programme for new farmers. Anyone willing to start a business in rural areas will be issued a government grant, a soft investment loan and a one-time settling-in allowance. In addition to that, we will expand the programme for family-run dairy farms.”
“We will draft a new law assigning special status to complaints made against the government authorities or local government and will also introduce a special investigatory and decision-making procedure. <…>It is proposed to establish a special type of complaint against the authorities – an administrative complaint. The deadline for its consideration will be set at 10 days beginning from the date of its registration. Failure to comply with the deadline or the established procedure to consider such a complaint, or refusal to register an administrative complaint, will result in a fine of 10,000 to 30,000 roubles.”
“The fee for public services will be charged only in accordance with the Tax Code or the list of paid services approved by the Russian government. Anything more is illegal and arbitrary and should be precluded. The service fees should be determined and posted on the common portal for public and municipal services and on the websites of these organisations by September 2011. Specifically, all federal, regional and municipal authorities must finish drafting the public service administrative procedures by July 1, 2012.”
“Russia's entry to the WTO does not mean completely and automatically opening our markets to foreign products. We will certainly protect sensitive positions with higher customs tariffs. We will do this in strict accordance with the World Trade Organisation's regulations. <…> Russia will retain the ability to use all possible tools for supporting domestic producers. I am referring to special protective anti-dumping and compensation measures, which are widely used by WTO countries.”
“Naturally, Russia's entry into the WTO will improve the access of our national goods – traditional goods and high-tech exports, which we have expanded year after year – to foreign markets.”
“We propose the introduction of administrative liability for federal officials who violate the standards and procedures governing the provision of public services. Subsequently, this liability should apply to regional and local government officials as well. We will introduce personal liability for requesting documents or fees that are not set forth in the administrative regulations for the provision of services. This sanction will equally apply in the case of the unjustified refusal to accept documents or the untimely provision of public services.”
“Already today Russia largely operates and conforms its legislation with the norms and principles of the World Trade Organisation. This helps us eliminate unnecessary administrative barriers and creates a more attractive, competitive investment climate.”
“No doubt, the transport industry is a major national area of activity because the transport industry, similar to the energy industry, has a direct effect on the viability and vitality of the state and all sectors of the economy.”
“Today we have made an important step toward expanding our bilateral partnership: we signed the ambitious Russian-Ukrainian Economic Cooperation Programme for 2011-2020. We intend to base it on the most promising areas of cooperation. The implementation of these plans will not only strengthen long-standing trade and economic ties but also create new science-intensive high-tech industries.”
“Ukraine is one of Russia's principal trade partners in the CIS. Russian businesses are investing ever more in Ukrainian industries. I regard the increase of mutual investment as the key indicator of our joint achievements.”
“Russian and Ukrainian companies are carrying out joint high-tech projects in the nuclear power industry, aviation, shipbuilding, and space technology. Obviously, the implementation of such ambitious projects requires different systemic conditions. I’m convinced that Ukraine’s more active involvement in multilateral integration projects, primarily the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, would create new opportunities for our business communities.”
“The Russian government and the business community are planning to carry out a fundamental modernisation of national railways. We will tailor our development plans to growing demand for shipment and create the foundation for economic growth.”
“We intend to closely link our efforts to upgrade railway infrastructure with our integration processes, such as the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space. <…>On the whole, our railways must become a powerful integrator of the entire Eurasian market, and we are ready for partnership and cooperation in this respect.”
“We are working together on plans to restore Abkhazia’s economy and social capability. <…>I’m confident that we’ll do all this and travel together along this road of economic recovery and the restoration of the infrastructure and the social sphere. I’m convinced the Abkhazian people will feel safe. They can be sure that Russia, as a close ally and loyal friend, will stand with them and will help them overcome past problems. We will help Abkhazia get on its feet. Everything that I know makes us confident that we’ll carry out our joint plans.”
“I am truly pleased today, not only because we have completed a major construction project but also because we have established an innovative institution to combat serious diseases and help patients affected by cancer.”
“The completion of such a large-scale project in Russia <…> is just a small part of what we are doing for healthcare, including the treatment of cancer. But that is a very important step because it is here that high technology aid needed by hundreds and perhaps thousands of people across the country will be rendered.”
“By 2016, the number of schools with this barrier-free environment must be increased by more than eight times – from 1,200 today to 10,000, and this work must be continued in the future. We must also actively introduce distance learning for children with disabilities because that may open up opportunities for self-fulfillment.”
“Let me inform you that we decided to create a new position: the teacher librarian. <…>It will improve the status of school librarians. Their average salary should increase, just like teachers’ salaries, and reach the regional economic standard.”
“We will absolutely preserve free general education. This is one of the fundamental provisions of our Constitution and nobody is going to relinquish it. The state must and will pay in full for the entire educational process and the upkeep and development of schools, including repairs, the purchase of equipment, and the remuneration of teachers.”
“Its goal [Unified State Exam] is to provide a more accurate assessment of the quality of both curricula and teachers and, most importantly, to considerably broaden the opportunities for children from the countryside and remote parts of the country to continue their education in the best national centres.”
“We have carried out comprehensive programmes for modernising education in 31 regions. In the process, we have accumulated unique experience and streamlined the key mechanisms for developing the Russian school. Most importantly, we have attracted public attention and focused the efforts of the authorities at all levels on the problems of schools and education in general, which is very important as it is.”
“Now we must look ahead, relying on the foundation that has already been created and upgrade the general educational standards in the country. We must make quality, modern education accessible to all children regardless of their family's social status, their place of birth or residence. The government must ensure an equal start to all of its young citizens.”
“All children should study and grow up together regardless of their physical health. Communication with their peers will help them get on their feet; this should be the norm and we must start this work at school. <…> Our primary task is to mainstream them – enable them to study in common educational establishments and not to feel isolated from society beginning in their early years.”
“Russia has tremendous historical experience in preserving the ethnic and cultural identities of the peoples who inhabit its vast territory. Our longstanding experience of mutual cultural enrichment is no less important. We must preserve and consolidate these traditions and pass them from one generation to another. We must always remember that one of the biggest causes of inter-ethnic conflict lies in illiteracy, poor education, and the lack of knowledge about one’s culture and that of one’s neighbours.”
“We need a real and significant breakthrough here: not just big, one-off projects but steady development and drastic renewal across the country’s road networks – on federal, regional, rural, and city roads.”
“To be the true masters of our own Russian market, our factories should renew their product ranges, do more to modernise their production, and introduce high-tech solutions and standards. <…>We cannot allow foreign producers to dump on our market. Yes, fair competition is possible and, indeed, necessary, but dumping cannot be tolerated.”
“You know that we have completed the Chita-Khabarovsk highway. <…>For the first time in its history, Russia’s territory from the Far East to Kaliningrad is linked by a single road network. That provides a great impetus to the development of our Far Eastern and Siberian territories.”
“Almost 150 public organisations officially expressed their wish to take part in the Russian Popular Front. And I’m pleased by that because it means that it really is possible to achieve the goals that I set in making this proposal. Using the structure of United Russia, we would like to bring new people out of the woodwork who have fresh ideas that are relevant to today’s Russia and our near future.”
“As for the Right Cause, I think that any legal party – any legal political force – may and should compete with its political rivals. Can it compete with United Russia as an equal? No, it cannot, at least for now. But I don’t rule out that this may change, and if the Right Cause proves to its voters that it has adopted the right approach to national development, it will win increasing support.”
“I want to stress this again – the development of small and medium-sized businesses has an undeniably tremendous significance for the country. This means new jobs and improving the efficiency and sustainability of the national economy and, ultimately, the well-being of millions of people, to build a strong middle class.”
“We intend to draw up a ranking of the most attractive regions from an investment standpoint every year. The ranking will be based on the number of jobs created, the number of new enterprises started, the amount of investments brought in. These objective figures ought to become one of the key criteria for assessing governors' performance. And I believe that we need to introduce such assessment criteria at the municipal level as well.”
“It is crucial to break the vicious circle where, in place of some eliminated barriers, other ones arise. Therefore, the Ministry of Economic Development must examine all the drafted legislation to assess the regulatory impact in the area of state monitoring and establish mandatory requirements for products, safety of production processes and conformity assessments.”
“The procedures for starting businesses and implementing investment projects have been simplified; the number of different inspections has been reduced; unlimited licenses as well as modern security systems and quality control systems (for goods and services) have been implemented; technical regulations and standards have been updated. We are steadily removing various administrative barriers. And it’s important that bureaucracy creates no new barriers. <…> We need an administrative culture alongside technological culture, we need to develop it, but this requires time and constant attention to these issues.”
“I suppose that expanded vocational education, primarily secondary and primary education, is a priority task facing the state and the business community. We must see to it that this kind of education meets the demands of modern production. We must renew the technical base for training specialists. <…> All of us need to work to raise the prestige of industrial careers and to enhance the public significance of skilled labour.”
“We must give priority to the development of all non-oil and gas sectors. I’d like to emphasise that I’m referring to the modern industry capable of producing the competitive products required in Russia (and primarily in Russia) and the rest of the world. This economy must be based on such basic market notions as profitability, demand and return on investment. Therefore, business, and in fact only business, can become the driving force of this project. The government can only help it by creating the right conditions.”
“We are setting ourselves an ambitious goal – to make Russia one of the world’s top five economies in a decade and to increase the GDP per capita from a little over $19,000 today to $35,000 and a bit more. The living standards of our people, as well as the quality of education and healthcare must be comparable to those in the leading world economies.”
“We must pave the way for thousands of new business ideas, companies and production facilities, so that new enterprises and production platforms grow quickly inside all non-oil and gas sectors. Consequently, we must do our best in order to enable everyone to bring to life his or her business and production dream here in Russia, so that it is profitable and comfortable to channel labour, efforts and investment into the new industrialisation.”
“We must consolidate the economic foundation of our political sovereignty and make our economy technologically independent. This is why we are talking about the need for its qualitative growth and are placing our bets on the domestic market and modern production.”
“We would like the Agency [Strategic Initiatives Agency] we are creating to be as open to society as possible and to become an effective instrument for supporting in-demand projects, projects directed at the confident and sustained development of this country. <…> Genuine economic modernisation and the complete renewal of the social sphere will eventually grow out of thousands and thousands of separate successful projects in Moscow, St Petersburg and all over Russia, projects backed by leaders full of initiative, competent and interesting individuals with promising new ideas and unorthodox approaches to tackling national objectives.”
“The Agency [Strategic Initiatives Agency] must closely cooperate with the regions. In the autumn we must begin creating the regional network, which includes the establishment of the Agency’s offices in the Russian regions. The Agency must control the situation in the regions as well as select projects and people that deserve our support. We must provide equal conditions for self-realisation to talented people, especially young ones, and support interesting projects throughout the country.”
“Russia continues to see growth across all key industries. By 2012, we should fully offset the effects of the crisis. <…> We will need to adopt our first genuinely post-crisis budget and shift our focus to long-term goals.”
“The 2012 budget should provide for drastic increases in payments to servicemen and the implementation of a national armament programme. Let me reiterate: budget funding should invariably reach specific enterprises of this sphere in full and in due time. Please monitor these issues at all times.”
“When we make provisions for such major spending, it’s important to follow a stringent and responsible budget policy. We cannot stray from our course on compensating for the budget shortfall. We should strive to keep a balance of revenue and expenses.”
“We must finish forming administrative regulations by July 2012; these regulations will specify all the details for providing municipal services, covering everything from the filing of documents to deadlines. We must convert them into electronic format to post them on a unified portal of state services. And we definitely need to establish full service centres, where people will be able to get all the services specified by law without waiting in long queues and paying money to different intermediaries.”
“Our common task is to make people feel comfortable in any part of Russia, to make them proud of the cities, towns and villages they live in. That’s the only way to establish a solid basis for the steady development of the country, and we have everything we need for this today.”
“The municipalities must become a springboard for attracting young, committed people to politics. This practice is applied all over the world, let’s help young people fulfil their potential, demonstrate their abilities, and implement their projects and ideas.”
“It is the general plans that provide a balanced accounting for economic, ecological and social factors. We must consider every small detail. Actually, there are no small details. Mistakes made during the initial phase, or the planning phase, may lead to problems as far as ten years ahead as they will hardly be corrected. If a plan is approved, it is expected to be a good document as there were experts working on it.”
