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 are in the midst of changes in the Armed Forces. We want our weaponry and training level to be up to current challenges, so that our military personnel could use modern methods of warfare, if, God forbid, it happens. They are constantly changing in connection with the development of military equipment.”
“Our national legislation provides for the protection of the working people in the event of their employers' bankruptcy. The same applies to delayed salary payments. These debts must be paid off to the working people first and foremost. Our international commitments will buttress our domestic legislation's guarantees. In the past few years, we have signed a whole package of ILO legal documents. This will benefit our labour legislation, consolidate the rights and guarantees of the working people and give labour unions more opportunities to enforce these guarantees and uphold employee rights.”
“We must give preferences to qualified foreign workers that are compatible with our culture and customs. This practice exists in all civilised countries and Russia must not be an exception. Russia must not be a country that anyone can enter whenever and however he likes. We must coordinate the work of the migration service, law enforcement (primarily the Ministry of the Interior and the FSB), the regions and, last but not the least, business in order to have a clear idea of how many people and with which skills are required in this or that region. We must primarily employ guest workers in those jobs for which it is difficult to find Russian citizens.”
“First, we must refuse entry to Russia (for five to 10 years and maybe more) to those who have been caught on repeated flagrant violations of migration legislation or have been expelled from the country by a court decision. Second, we must toughen penalties against those who encourage illegal immigration.”
“We must implement several railway development projects in northwestern and southern Russia, as well as in the far eastern parts of the country. In addition, a self-regulating organisation similar to the Market Board in the power engineering industry needs to be established in order to coordinate work and balance the interests of market participants. I believe we must revise the transport strategy immediately. This issue holds back implementation of our plans to develop natural resources and create new industrial centres.”
“Safety is our top priority. For this reason, we have decided to allocate some 500 million roubles more from the federal budget directly for research and development in this area. The money will be spent on development of personal protective equipment, rescue aids and comprehensive mine safety systems.”
“I would firstly like to point out the need to be very careful about exploring the stocks of both existing and newly discovered fields. I am talking about traditional mining areas such as Kuzbass, Eastern Donbass, Vorkuta, and prospective areas in Tuva and Yakutia. Second, we need to step up the implementation of the latest coal production, processing and enrichment techniques, which significantly increase the added value. <…>Third, we will need skilled employees and scientific research if we want to bring the coal industry in line with the highest international standards. <…>Fourth, we need to remove all infrastructure limitations that stand in the way of the further development of the industry.”
“In 2011, Russia produced a total of 336 million metric tons of coal. The results of the Russian coal industry were quite good last year. Profits increased by more than 50%, reaching 122 billion roubles. A solid financial foundation allows us to invest in the development and modernisation of new fields, and the re-equipment of the currently operating facilities. This all pays off in the form of a modern and competitive industry.”
“Now for the future prospects. Experts predict that the demand for coal will grow in the coming decades, both in Russia and in the global market, which is particularly important. Our coal industry, related industries and transport infrastructure must be ready to respond to this demand. We must be able both to maintain and to significantly extend our presence in the market, including the highly promising Asian and Pacific markets.”
“We see fewer and fewer literary publications in the languages of small ethnic groups of Russia. This cultural diversity that we often mention and that we take pride in could be lost unless we recover this system of support for cultures and languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation. Quite simply, it is necessary to extend funds.”
“We must eradicate the fundamental causes behind corruption, and we must make sure that every act of corruption is punished. For our part, we will continue to improve the performance of law-enforcement bodies, courts of law, and authorities at all levels. Public and other human rights organisations and the media must react to any instance of corruption or any attempt to abuse one's position or turn a profit at the expense of the people. Your voice and the position of civil society are a crucial component in our common fight against corruption.”
“I believe that the federal government should set up a special agency responsible for ethnic development, inter-ethnic accord and interaction. <…> Rather it should be a collegial body with certain powers to work directly with the president and top government officials. <…>We also expect the traditional religions to be actively involved in these policy consultations.”
“Although very different, each of them – the Russian Orthodox Church, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism – has the same basic and universal underlying moral and spiritual values: compassion, cooperation, truth, justice, respect for elders, the ideals of family and work. These moral targets cannot be replaced, and must be strengthened. I am confident that the government and society should welcome and support the efforts of the different faiths in education, social welfare and in the Armed Forces. At the same time, Russia should remain a secular state.”
“Any individual living in this country should be keenly aware of their faith and ethnicity. But above all they must be citizens of Russia – and be proud of it. No one has the right to place ethnic and religious concerns above state law. The law, however, must take account of ethnic and religious concerns.”
“In 2011 over 1.7 million children were born and the death rate decreased by 5.6%. I’m pleased to say that these figures are the best Russia has seen in the last 19 years. Overall, the population loss also decreased 1.8 times, and the average life expectancy increased one and half years to 70.3 years in 2011 in the Russian Federation. These indices are absolutely comparable with European indices.”
“The infant mortality rate decreased, too. Including immigration, the total Russian population grew by 160,000 to 143 million. <…>I also want to point out that it is necessary to do much more than has recently been done. The demographic problem remains one of the most sensitive problems in Europe and in Russia, in particular. Meanwhile I am glad to note that our efforts have not been in vain. It is necessary to intensify our efforts in this area.”
“We are currently carrying out intensive work in preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This large-scale project must pool together the efforts of the state, the business community, public organisations and, of course, fans and football supporters. I have no doubt that we will hold this event in a befitting manner, that we will host one of the most outstanding FIFA World Cups in the history of this wonderful sport, in the history of football.”
“I would like to note that football in Russia has always been more than just a sport. It would be no exaggeration to say that this spectacular, exciting and captivating game has become a way of life for many generations of this country's citizens. We are rightly proud of the achievements of our national team, whose achievements include Olympic gold medals and victory at the UEFA European Football Championship. We are proud of our wonderful clubs, who have won numerous continental cups.”
“Russia will host the FIFA World Cup for the first time. I would like to stress once again that we are grateful to FIFA and all the representatives of the world football community for making this choice. As we see it, it is an acknowledgement of this country's achievements in the development of sport and football and an assessment of the new Russia in general as an open and successful country, setting itself the most ambitious goals and capable of holding such large-scale events.”
“We have been investing quite heavily at the federal level in sports and physical fitness lately. Regional spending is also on the rise. Unfortunately, the number of people engaged in athletic activities is not as large as, say, in Finland, but it’s steadily growing. We are getting close to international standards. As a matter of fact, such events as the World Cup and the Olympics promote sports in the country.”
“I see our goal in years to come as sweeping away all that stands in the way of our national development, completing the establishment in Russia of a political system, a structure of social guarantees and safeguards for the public, and an economic model that together form a single, living, ever-changing organism of state that is, at the same time, resilient, stable and healthy.”
“The country was able to weather the global crisis precisely because of the fact that, in recent years we all, the people of Russia, went such a long way to solving the most pressing and top priority issues. And now we are even in a position to speak about strategies and prospects. <…> All the prerequisites for progress are in place, with new foundations and at a qualitatively new level. Incidentally, all this -- in the harsh foreign policy and foreign economic conditions. Nevertheless, the inexorable global transformation offers us a tremendous opportunity.”
“Russia must develop a system of social mobility that allows people to climb out of poverty, a system appropriate to a modern society. We must learn to compensate for the negative social consequences of a market economy and the inequality engendered by it. <…> Our society will become successful only when our citizens become convinced that it is a fair society.”
“Individual initiatives should be the real drivers of growth. We will fail if we rely exclusively on government decisions and on a limited circle of investors and state companies. We are certain to fail if Russians at large remain passive. Therefore, strong growth in Russia over the next decade implies greater freedom for each of us. Wealth sourced from others, without conscious decision-making and responsibility is out of the question in the 21st century.”
“Russia’s future economy should also meet society’s needs. It should ensure higher incomes and create broader opportunities for professional growth and social improvement. All the above should become the key growth criteria in the next few years, and not just figures such as GDP, international reserves, rating agencies’ assessments and Russia’s high rank among the world’s leading economies. It is of primary importance that people feel some positive change, mainly growing opportunities.”
“Russia’s main challenge is learning to exploit the “educational drive” of this younger generation, to mobilise the middle class’s enhanced demands and its readiness to assume responsibility for its own welfare in order to guarantee economic growth and the country’s continued stable development.”
“People should not have to adapt themselves to the existing economic and labour market structure – it is the economy that must change so as to enable people with a high educational standards and high requirements to find a worthy occupation.”
“Let me remind you that it was the results of the analysis conducted by your department, the Prosecutor’s Office, which underpinned the most important decisions amending the underlying principles of how the oversight and supervisory agencies and services work. I want to note that all spot-checks of businessmen are now under the Prosecutor’s Office jurisdiction, and that this has produced definite results.”
“Nowadays the Russian Prosecutor’s Office has great powers, playing a most important, co-ordinating role in guaranteeing the rule of law and fighting crime. But you carry a very significant responsibility, because you must advocate and defend the interests both of the state as a whole and of each individual, every single Russian citizen, their rights, personal security and dignity, and all this places very stringent requirements on your work.”
“The assessment of our people is precisely the fundamental criterion of the results of the work both of the government and of the regional administration teams on all territories of the Russian Federation.”
“The new assessment mechanism for regional executive bodies should be developed in close cooperation with the public opinion, the business community and trade unions. I would like to emphasise once again that this country’s development and improvements in the quality of life depend on the coordinated efforts of all levels of government, and in large part on the work of regional administrative teams and heads of constituent entities that are personally responsible for the situations in their respective regions.”
“We have already taken a number of steps to change the system for evaluating the performance of regional authorities. We have introduced new assessment criteria such as attraction of investments, consolidation of the regional tax base and provided additional financial support for regions carrying out development projects. We have several strong regions.”
“It is necessary to design a comprehensive appraisal system that will encourage the regions to work for balanced development. <…>The development of the regional economic potential should take into account people’s needs above all else. Certainly, clearer and better criteria should allow us to objectively assess the work performed by the Russian regions, and to support the leaders and those seeking to be among the best regions.”
“The situation in a particular region is not determined solely by the availability of mineral resources or support from the federal centre; however, it is to a large extent determined by the enthusiasm and performance efficiency of regional officials. As you know, we have worked out a system of criteria to assess the work of regional authorities, and this system is currently in place. But a comparison of paper reports to actual results proves that the system is not very effective.”
“A 2.5 billion-rouble loan is to be issued for the «Film Club: Culture, Education, Communications» project involving the creation of a cluster of such clubs as part of the KinoCity project. At least 250 multimedia cinemas are to be built, above all in small and medium-sized towns. There is not enough social infrastructure of this kind in our small and medium-sized towns, and everything must be done to get this project up and running.”
“A 25 billion-rouble credit line is to be opened for the construction of the middle part of the Western High-Speed Diameter highway in St Petersburg. <…> Without a doubt, it will mark a step forward in developing our infrastructure and giving second wind to that part of our country, giving it a new character that is up to European standards, and it will spare this city of five million the burden congestion with heavy vehicles, many of which still pass through central parts of the city even after the ring road around Petersburg was built.”
“We have agreed on long-term contracts for the delivery of gas to Turkey until 2021 and 2025. I would especially like to thank the Turkish government for its decision to give its final authorisation to Gazprom to build the South Stream gas pipeline system on the Black Sea bed in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone.”
“Today I want to say that we will certainly continue to strengthen the system of the Emergencies Ministry. This year we will receive new equipment: aircraft, fire engines and other special equipment. By 2015, the share of new equipment in the Emergencies Ministry will reach 80%.”
“When I talk about the need to ensure transparent elections, I want you to remember that it is above all us who need transparency, because we must be confident of people’s support. This is a fundamental issue, for it is impossible to implement such challenging plans without people’s support.”
“We all want Russia to be a strong and stable state with a powerful economy, a dynamically growing social sphere -- a country that is comfortable to live in and is securely protected. The main thing for all of us is to stay the course of steady and dedicated development, social and civil and ethnic harmony. In doing so, I am convinced that Russia will be able to face even the biggest challenges.”
“After the drought of the past year and a serious decline in agriculture, we have not only restored the performance of the agro-industrial complex but have even improved the figures from the pre-drought year of 2009. Our tentative estimate is that the industry has grown by 17.8% in 2011 but some experts believe that the final average for this industry will be about 20% when all additional figures are considered. The grain harvest is 93 mln tonnes after processing. And the export grain potential has been restored in full.”
“The level of general unemployment has decreased as compared with the beginning of the year. It was at 7.8% early this year, and now it is a bit over 6% (6.3%). The number of people who are officially registered as unemployed has decreased by 400,000.”
“The most important achievement of this past year is the consolidation of the trend towards steady growth. The Russian economy has overcome the effects of the crisis and has reached its pre-crisis figures in key parameters.”
“Our tasks are modest: we want 25% of our total energy to come from nuclear power, but even that is a challenge. It means that in the coming years we must build as many nuclear reactors as were built during the whole history of the nuclear industry in the Soviet Union. That will be sufficient and necessary to ensure a balanced structure for the Russian power industry.”
“I firmly believe that our tax system should ensure the interests of the state. <…>The interests of the state consist not only of collecting taxes but also ensuring comfortable working conditions for taxpayers. Our fiscal instruments should stimulate economic activity, not suppress it. And we certainly need to (I believe some things are just obvious) move toward reducing the number of required reporting documents.”
“With regard to rural health posts, certainly, there are universally accepted standards. <…> We should strive to ensure that people have access to the same standard of medical care regardless of where they live in the Russian Federation, in the countryside or in big cities. Clearly, we have a long way to go, but we should strive to get there and we need a body to oversee this work.”
“We need to make sure that young people are able to see the promise of a vocational training and of the new economy. They should be able to see that the meaning of occupations is changing. <…>Our project to create 25 million modern jobs is designed to create an entirely new level of employment, raise the demand for skilled labour and, at the same time, raise its social prestige.”
“Now, given the growing national economy and the forthcoming modernisation of all spheres of our life, especially production, it has become abundantly clear that our lack of highly-qualified workers presents the same obstacle to development as restrictions related to infrastructure, such as a lack of roads, electricity and communications.”
“That by using federal support and funds provided by businesses, we will be able to promote primary and secondary education. I have mentioned this already, but I want to emphasise that Russian regions should intensify their focus on this issue, and they should do so not only because it falls under the issues overseen by the regions. Above all, they should do so because a good vocational training system serves the interests of the regions themselves and is a prerequisite for their socio-economic prosperity.”
