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.”
“We will devote considerable attention to creating a full-fledged Customs Union in Eurasia and facilitating integration processes between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. In 2009, the Government plans to expedite the creation of modern market institutions. Notably, it will implement measures stipulated by the Competition-Incentives Programme and the Financial Markets Development Strategy.”
“As regards the housing policy, we must finalise a system of regulatory documents promoting competition in the construction industry. We have approved modern technical regulations making it possible to build top-quality and much cheaper housing than it is today. We must also involve additional land resources now being misused by numerous federal agencies in the economic process. The relevant Housing Construction Promotion Fund has been established. We are expecting tangible results from its work.”
“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the existence of the gold and currency reserves, the Government's reserve funds, enables us to address these problems - and I would like to stress it - with due regard for the interests of the population. Unlike in the former crises, we are not acting on impulse, we are not making abrupt decisions like other countries have to do in order to cope with the negative phenomena. We consciously use the sovereign wealth fund, the Government's reserve fund, so that people may decide without undue haste what to do with their savings, so that they do not wake up tomorrow to discover that all their savings have been devalued. We act thus so that people understand the development trend and can independently decide what to do. We will always show this sort of responsible attitude to the country's citizens.”
“As far education is concerned, we plan to focus on creating a system of national research universities, to support the introduction of modern pre-school education models and to implement advanced training programmes for schoolteachers.”
“Today we must look at unproductive and ineffective spending and the actions we made in the comfortable conditions when petrodollars were plentiful and flowing in. Today, we must be more effective and economical. If we speak about such areas of our activity as energy-saving, it is clear that we are talking about high technologies. Clearly, our work in this area in the short term will make the Russian economy and the country as a whole more competitive.”
“Starting on December 1, federal public sector agencies will switch over to new remuneration forms aiming to provide better services to the population and incentives for the best doctors and teachers. Despite all the manifestations of the crisis, the wage fund for budget-dependent employees has swelled by 30%.”
“In all, the Government is set to implement 60 high-priority projects until 2012. We have selected project managers and stipulated specific deadlines and funding sources. First of all, this concerns reforms in the human resources sectors. I have repeatedly noted that current investment in education, healthcare and the social sector will become our competitive advantage tomorrow.”
“We hope that these measures will prove effective in 2009 and will help to prevent plunging standards of living and rising unemployment, and will facilitate the sustainable performance of the financial system and the industries.”
“In November, the Government approved a long-term national development programme until 2020. This implies that Russia must assert itself as a global leader in terms of economic development levels and key quality of life indices by the end of next decade. We are not going to scrap our plans. On the contrary, we have been working hard to implement them.”
“We have taken measures to maintain business activity in the economy, slashed taxes, and drafted measures to support the key sectors of the real economy, above all engineering, transport, defence enterprises, fuel and energy, construction, agriculture, retail trade, and small businesses. Of course, we know that the real economy has been pressured by high banking interest rates, which is exactly why we have drafted special measures to support individual sectors.”
“We have published a list of strategic enterprises recently, which will receive additional assistance if needed.<…> The Governmental Commission on Sustainable Development of the Russian Economy will monitor the operation of these strategic enterprises.”
“The Russian economy and social sphere will finish the year in the black despite negative dynamics in the fourth quarter. GDP is expected to grow 6%, and many other key socio-economic indicators will also be positive. In particular, growth in agriculture has been even higher than expected. The latest data show a 10% increase. Investments in the economy were also 10%, which is higher than we had expected. The average monthly wage will grow, despite the 13.5% inflation, by 10%-12% in real terms. Pensions have increased by a third.”
“I can tell you that the Central Bank and the Government have reserved huge funds, trillions of roubles, for the anti-crisis package, notably for maintaining banking liquidity and compensating huge income shortfalls. Even if we don't need to spend all of them, the scale of planned allocations points to our greatly increased possibilities. I must say, though, that the Government does not intend to use all of its reserves to fight the crisis regardless of the effect of such measures. The priority goal today is to increase the efficiency of budget spending and to maintain macroeconomic stability.”
“We will consider other measures to maintain railways investment potential. Analysts estimate it would take more than 100 billion roubles to implement the current investment programmes, and another 100 billion roubles to refinance Russian Railways debt. How should we do that? I think it is possible to place Russian Railways bonds to the tune of 150 billion roubles, and then see what the budget can afford in the beginning of the year, and before February 1 make a decision on possible direct government investment in the company's capital stock. I feel obliged to stress that the matter demands the utmost accuracy and circumspection.”
“We need to implement large investment projects - those that guarantee demands for high technology. Now that traffic volume is shrinking, Russian Railways and independent traffic companies have the opportunity to inventory equipment and to discard obsolete and worn-out cars and other equipment. At the same time, they should consider purchasing new, state-of-the-art cars, which are far more efficient. This is a chance to become more competitive. These acquisitions can also give a new lease of life to Russian transport manufacturers.”
“The decision to phase in the tariff increase over the next year was made to promote the entire economy - in particular, to facilitate the business activity of the railways' primary clients.”
“The Government does not intend to force the railways to bear the brunt of the burden. Federal allocations, up to 50 billion roubles, will compensate for Russian Railways' lost revenues. We will also compensate student travel discounts. We have directed the relevant instructions, as you know.”
“Freight traffic volume is on the decline. That is the railways' main concern. This is due primarily to shrinking demand for steel and fertiliser and for mined coal. The market is on the decline and taking Russian Railways' revenue with it. As you know, we have decided on a more gradual increase in raising tariffs of natural monopolies. This was done in the interests of the entire economy. For example, railway freight transport rates should increase 12% at most in 2009, as opposed to the expected 18.7%. January 1 will see only a 5% rise - less than planned previously.”
“This year, we have earmarked 1.7 billion roubles for the centre's [Federal Scientific Clinical Centre for Child Hematology, Oncology and Immunology] construction, and will allocate another 500 million roubles before the year expires. The year ends a few days from now, but we will wire the money. Next year, we will allot 2.6 billion roubles. This is big money on a national scale, and even bigger on the scale of healthcare funding.”
“This will indeed be one of Europe's largest centres [Federal Scientific Clinical Centre for Child Hematology, Oncology and Immunology], which will support 78 national health clinics and help them master the methods of treatment. This centre will accommodate 400 children simultaneously; it will offer from 250 to 300 ward beds. Children will be able to stay with their parents, and feel almost at home. Experts believe that this will have a positive effect on their treatment.”
“The tightening of the global economy is certainly another important issue affecting each of our countries. Each EurAsEC country is currently working on its own plan to deal with the financial crisis. And it is especially important that we coordinate our efforts and are ready to deal with the consequences of the crisis cooperatively.”
“I firmly believe that dialogue between producers should be encouraged consistently. The key role in this process should belong to an organisation such as the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. I want to stress that such actions are fully compliant with international law.”
“In our opinion, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) should become a permanent organisation, with a charter and a headquarters, representing the interests of gas producers and exporters in the international market, or at least upholding their interests and encouraging civilised market relations with consumers. It must express the cohesive position of its member states on key current issues and on development prospects in the gas sector.”
“Consumer countries also have responsibilities. They should make long-term commitments to buy specific amounts of these commodities on predictable terms. In addition, "transit" countries play a special role in global energy security, as they are responsible for the stable operation of the transport infrastructure, and for controlling risk during natural gas shipments. These are purely economic issues which should remain unaffected by politics.”
“The interests of energy producers, consumers and transit countries can be balanced only if we establish transparent and long-term market relations, with principles that are clear and understandable to, and applied by, all parties. An energy security system will be viable only if it helps maintain the necessary production levels.”
“Energy resource supplies aren't evenly distributed around the world. Therefore, it is extremely important to uphold global energy security. Russia was one of the countries to raise this issue for discussion during Russia's presidency in the G8.”
“However, certain countries' vocal concerns over energy security are nothing but political manoeuvring to cover efforts to gain preferential access to others' resources, while saving their own for some or other reasons, or because they simply do not have any. Therefore, while discussing energy security, we should have a very clear idea what each of the discussion participants means by the term. We believe that energy security includes the following aspects. For oil and gas producers, it primarily means the guarantee of sovereignty over their national energy resources, as well as a responsibility to ensure stable supplies to their consumers.”
“The financial distress followed by a broader economic crisis is a serious trial for the global oil and gas industry. Oil prices plummeted to a quarter of the summer level August through November. This naturally affected the gas market, as gas prices are linked with oil. However, since the gas market is more inert, it is bound to be more severely hit by the crisis than even the oil sector, and may require more time to regain pre-crisis operation levels.”
“The next proposal will have a direct effect; I am referring to our plan to renew municipal vehicle fleets. We will allocate 20 billion roubles from the federal budget for this purpose, and expect regional and municipal governments to provide an additional 10 billion, as has been agreed. I hope people will see how municipal fleets of passenger transport vehicles and special machinery will be replenished with new cutting edge equipment.”
“In 2009 we plan to support Russians who buy cars worth up to 350,000 roubles by co-financing their loans. We'll help them repay two-thirds of the Central Bank's refinance rate. The current rate is 13%, which means that the government will provide slightly over 8% of the interest rate of a car loan, provided the car costs below 350,000 roubles.”
“We have vastly supported agricultural engineering by changing our tariffs and customs policies to protect domestic manufacturers. We have allocated an additional 25 billion roubles to Rosagroleasing, the state agricultural leasing company, and implemented a set of measures to support domestic agriculture. The most important decision was without a doubt subsidising between 60% and 80% of agribusinesses' loan interest, and even up to 100% for specific times of investment loans.”
“We have made tariffs and customs regulatory changes to protect domestic producers, supported Rosagrobank's capitalisation with 35 billion roubles in mid-2008, and approved the additional allocation of 45 billion roubles for purchasing grain, making interventions, and other operations.”
“We have recently provided extensive support to the national automotive industry. The support included a 60 billion rouble bond issue and loans to leasing companies worth 43 billion roubles at the Central Bank refinancing rate. We plan to set up, or assign to the Transportation Ministry, an existing leasing construction machinery company, where the ministry will have to concentrate at least 40 billion roubles. We also plan to increase vehicle purchases for state needs by 12.5 billion roubles.”
“The Government has drafted the state defence order. The funds should be transferred to manufacturing companies as soon as possible, while the Military-Industrial Commission should strictly monitor compliance with deadlines and quality of work.”
“In the past few years, we have significantly improved supplies to our armed forces, including components, fuels and lubricants, and other important combat materials and equipment. We have made major plans to equip the army with advanced weapons and hardware, and have set a goal of ordering bulk deliveries rather than unique samples. As a result, the troops have gained an opportunity to engage in fully-fledged combat training, become more mobile, and better prepared to repel potential threats. These gains should be preserved in the future.”
“In the last few years, defence companies often had to co-finance the state defence order either with export revenues or from sales of civilian produce. However, the world economic and financial crisis is fundamentally changing this situation. Today, the state defence order is a major source of funding for these companies, allowing them to maintain production at a proper level, keep manpower, and continue technical re-equipment.”
“Let me remind you that we have increased monthly unemployment benefits to 4,900 roubles, channelled additional 50 billion roubles into the employment service to provide volunteer public works for the unemployed if necessary. The list of such works could be extended, too, but it is extremely important that the schemes really reach the target companies and people - in short, that they work.”
“Employment services must thoroughly analyse employers' layoff plans, so that they don't lay off more workers than is necessary. I am aware of this problem, and I want you to focus on it.”
“I propose abolishing railway transportation charges for Russian cars manufactured in any part of Russia to the Far East. The Russian Railways' foregone income will be compensated by the state budget.”
“The federal authorities will earmark an additional 12.5 billion roubles for the purchase of vehicles. Allow me to recall that in a tentative estimate, the federal bodies already have about 10 billion roubles at their disposal. Hence, the final figure will be around 22 billion-23 billion roubles.”
“The government has already submitted budget amendments to the State Duma to provide state guarantees for loans attracted by key companies in nationally vital industries. Auto industry enterprises are undoubtedly among these. We intend to compile a list of several hundred strategic enterprises. At first, I spoke about 300 companies. Government analysts are drawing up this list now, and it may include up to 400 or 500 companies. On the whole, this system must cover as many as 1,500 enterprises. I repeat, this includes auto industry as well. It is expected that these enterprises will be able to attract up to 70 billion roubles using state guarantees.”
“In 2009, the Government will also help the producers to float bonds worth up to 60 billion roubles to make these bonds more attractive. They will be issued under state guarantees, and the Central Bank will open refinancing for the banks that will buy out these bonds.”
“A major task is to restore consumer demand. We must support the people. We proposed the following measures: subsidise interest payments on three-year loans to citizens for new car purchases. I want to underline that those who want to buy a car, should do it in 2009 because this regulation will apply only in 2009. If one buys a Russian car - meaning cars produced in Russia, especially those in high demand which cost no more than 350,000 roubles - the subsidy will equal two-thirds of the Central Bank's refinancing rate. This means that if a person buys a car in 2009 with a three-year loan contract, we will help him to repay this loan by refinancing interest payments at two-thirds of the Central Bank's rate.”
“Credit lines in the amount of 43 billion roubles will be opened to leasing companies. We know that they are in a difficult situation now. I repeat: we will provide 43 billion roubles for this purpose. It is important that the loans will be contracted for a term of three years and at interest rates not higher that the Central Bank's refinancing rates. This will allow a resumption of operations.”
“It is now necessary to stimulate investment demand for commercial vehicles. Let me remind you that several days ago the decision was taken to increase Rosagroleasing's authorised capital by 25 billion roubles. We have agreed with the sector's representatives that 5 billion roubles out of this amount will be spent to buy vehicles for agricultural producers.”
“We need to put state auto acquisitions up for tender as soon as possible, so that state contracts can provide timely assistance to the ailing domestic industry. If possible, upfront payments under those contracts will be made to producers as early as the first quarter of 2009. Moreover, upfront payments under state contracts will be raised to 50% of the contract amount from the current 30%. We'll also cancel all requirements to ensure the fulfilment of the contract - bank guarantees, insurance or other guarantees, in cases where vehicles are purchased directly from the manufacturer. We'll have to eliminate distributors and other intermediaries, too.”
“We must provide subsidies to help local self-government bodies to acquire new vehicles for the needs of public transportation, housing and utilities services, hospitals, schools and all other areas managed by the municipal government. As you know, several years ago I initiated the idea of priority national projects. They are making good progress today. I want to put forward another initiative now: a programme to replace the municipal public transport fleet. The federal budget has earmarked an additional 20 billion roubles to finance this progrramme, with regional and municipal authorities to provide another 10 billion roubles as co-financers.”
“We agreed with representatives of municipal governments and some regions to jointly implement this project [acquire new vehicles for the needs of all areas managed by the municipal government.]. Seventy percent of the funding will come from the federal budget and 30% from the local and regional budgets. In all, we must channel about 30 billion roubles into this programme.”
“Significant amounts of vehicles are bought for state purposes annually. I believe the Government should boost state acquisitions in 2009. I know that the auto pools of our social services are in bad need of renovation, along with those of the Interior, Defence and Emergencies Ministries. The federal ministries planned to allocate 15 billion roubles for this purpose next year. We'll channel an additional 12.5 billion roubles to the ministries, departments and other federal bodies for fleet purchases. The additional funds should be distributed in a way to both meet the agency's goals and to support domestic manufacturers. The purchases should be evenly distributed across the industry.”
