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 natural solution to the problem of low productivity is creating brand new jobs. <…> Our strategic goal is to launch the mechanism of constant renewal of jobs and the economy on the whole. Jobs are created through direct investment, primarily private investment. We need to bring the investment level up to at least 25 per cent of the GDP by 2015, and later by up to 30 per cent.”
“Millions of people are now employed in outdated, ineffective workplaces with low wages and zero prospects. We must provide them with other jobs, interesting and well-paid, which can give them high living standards, good pay and the opportunity to support a large family. The average real wages in Russia need to grow by at least 37-41% by 2020.”
“Ahead lies a new stage in Russia’s development – the stage that will see the creation of state, economic and social order and a social structure that can ensure prosperity to our citizens for decades ahead.”
“Russia has the world’s largest territory. We must preserve and protect our territory from external threats and provide modern living and working conditions in all the country’s regions. We must pay a great deal of attention to the development of the Far East and Eastern Siberia. This is an essential geopolitical task. We need to ensure higher growth of the gross regional product in Siberia and the Far East as compared to the growth of the national GDP. This trend needs to continue for at least 10 to 15 years.”
“According to our overview of the past four years, we can state with confidence that Russia has not only recovered from the crisis but has also made a significant step forward. We have become stronger.”
“Every Russian citizen counts today. <…> We need to take new decisive steps to maintain and raise our population numbers. However, unless we revive the traditional attitude to basic moral values, no socio-economic policy will produce stable results. The efforts of the state, society, religious, educational and cultural organisations should be aimed at promoting a close-knit prosperous family with many children.”
“It goes without saying that the crisis was a trial for us, and a difficult one. We lost time and pace in implementing some reforms, but we have kept up the forward momentum. Yes, the decline was tangible. We know and remember this, but we recovered much faster than many other countries. Today we have the highest economic growth rates in the G8 and one of the highest among the world’s major economies.”
“Affordable, comfortable housing also means high quality utility services at clear and fair prices. The housing sphere should be turned into a modern efficient branch that is open for competition and attractive for private investment. The cost of utilities should be reasonable and predictable for residents and investors.”
“About 1.5 million people have received housing with the direct support of the state, including more than 200,000 veterans of the Great Patriotic War, in the past four years. In addition, maternity capital has helped more than one million families to improve their housing conditions.”
“The coming decade offers everything we need to make fundamental progress in solving the eternal housing problem. Most Russian families should have an opportunity to get a house with government support, with an affordable mortgage, through the development of private and cooperative construction and by launching a segment of affordable rental housing.”
“The Russian Geographic Society’s wildlife conservation programme is also very important. The creation of a new nature reserve of federal importance, Pozarym, combining specially protected areas in Altai, Tuva, Khakassia and southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, resulted from the Snow Leopard Programme. <…> I can’t help mentioning the volunteer campaign to clean up the banks of Siberia's largest river – the Yenisei – attended by over 1,000 people. In addition, members of the Russian Geographic Society suggested that local authorities make this campaign an annual event and establish the Day of the Yenisei. The initiative found fertile ground, and we now have in Russia the first environmental festival launched at the regional level upon the initiative of a public organisation.”
“The new generation of the Russian Geographic Society members and trustees should be worthy of their predecessors by preserving and maintaining the society’s traditions and expanding the scope of its work. You should act in meaningful ways and bring young, talented and caring people onboard.”
“Since its inception, the Russian Geographic Society has borne a powerful patriotic charge. The society’s initiatives brought together the most prominent and educated people, selfless enthusiasts and hard workers truly devoted to our Motherland.”
“There’s one more problem that has to do with the Defence Ministry’s service housing. <…> The infrastructure issues should be addressed in the same way here, and the towns should be consistent with the latest standards. Of course, we need to take inventory of existing service housing stock and see what needs to be done to bring it up to standard.”
“Social infrastructure and public utilities should also be in place, so that people can live a comfortable life in their new flats. <…> All land plots, including the ones owned by the Defence Ministry, should go to municipal authorities so that they can build the infrastructure and housing for servicemen. This land could also be used to build kindergartens, schools, roads, public utilities and so on.”
“Housing was the most painful problem in the Armed Forces. <…> As you may be aware, only 8,000 – 10,000 new flats for servicemen were built or purchased in the 1990s and the early 2000s. About 20,000 servicemen were placed on municipal waitlists in the 1990s meaning that they didn’t have a place of their own at all. They are still waiting. Following our conversations with the military district commanders, we began a large-scale housing programme for servicemen of the Defence Ministry and other related departments.”
“I would like to emphasise that we need a modern information and communication environment for our administrative, including government, agencies and society, an effective system of interdepartmental communication that will rid us of excessive paperwork and red tape. I would like to ask the Ministry of Communications to prepare proposals on introducing common algorithms for computerisation of our ministries and departments within the next month and provide a performance evaluation system for each particular department within the next two months.”
“I would like to praise the responsible and comprehensive policy of our large federal museums, which are trying to ensure access to their collections to as many people as possible, opening branches in other cities, organising exhibitions in Russia and abroad, and using modern methods like online virtual tours.”
“Sponsorship and patronage of the arts have increased in recent years, as you know. Many businesses are on the board of trustees of state theatres, libraries and museums. We need to think together about what we can do to encourage their activity and make it more attractive.”
“I would like to draw your attention to the following. First, our market must be protected against various kinds of motor junk, against the import of used cars at giveaway prices. <…> Second, we should provide additional support to national producers. I think all producers will be happy to hear the following news – both those who operate 100 percent Russian capital and our foreign partners. I believe that all government and municipal agencies, contractors and enterprises financed out of the federal budget soon will only have to buy motor vehicles produced in Russia and in the common economic space, i.e. Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. ”
“It is not by chance that our foreign colleagues and national investors are taking an interest in the Russian automotive industry. Even the crisis has not cancelled the projects on the establishment of new car production enterprises in Russia and the modernisation of the existing technological platforms. Major car clusters are successfully developing here – in Togliatti, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Tatarstan. AvtoVAZ is implementing major re-equipment programmes in partnership with our friends and colleagues from Renault and Nissan.”
“According to the strategy for the development of the automotive industry through 2020, the plans are to increase the production of all vehicles up to 4 million, and the production of passenger cars up to 3 million cars a year. We must make every effort to ensure the sustainable development of the national automotive industry. It should meet the demand of the domestic market and enhance its export potential, create new jobs and orders for related industries, and certainly, maintain its competitiveness.”
“I must say that the country’s automotive industry has shown positive dynamics in the last few years. The qualitative changes are obvious: large-scale investment is poured into the industry and new technologies are used. I would like to repeat that this is a positive trend. And all of us need to work together to strengthen it.”
“Let me note that in 2011 growth was obvious in every segment of the automotive industry: the production of passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks and buses. The production of passenger cars totaled over 1.7 million cars, which is a record-breaking figure in the history of Russia’s car industry. <…> The Russian market, with sales of about 2.8 million cars (as of 2011), is becoming one of the world’s largest. In terms of market size Russia ranks 2nd in Europe after Germany and 4th in the world after China, the United States and Germany.”
“I am confident that the front can and must play a positive role in the development of our political system. It will exert its influence on the formation of parties and the election of governors in the regions. It will also play a role in changing the rules for the formation of the upper chamber of parliament.”
“So I believe that the Russian Popular Front will hold on to its influence on the work of the parliament. It must influence it directly, by helping to prepare and draft decisions which will be sponsored by United Russia as well as other parliamentary parties. This is our first goal. Another area for cooperation between us involves the auditing of bills the State Duma is working on. <…> Finally, the third important area involves working with municipal governments.”
“It is possible to give the front the status of a public organisation or movement because we have not registered it legally in any way. This is simply an association and a movement of like-minded individuals, but we can register it and its status would then be defined in charter documents.”
“I assume that the Popular Front will not cease to exist after the election, but will continue working. Secondly, the main political force in parliament, the United Russia party, has fulfilled its promise to the Popular Front: it had promised to include at least 25% of the Popular Front representatives in its election ticket, but in fact it included even more”.
“The implementation of major system-wide innovation and infrastructure projects has always been a priority. I would like to point out the important projects that were implemented through Vnesheconombank, such as the construction of Tobolsk-Polymer, Russia's largest polypropylene production complex, the creation of the Sukhoi Superjet-100 passenger aircraft, the creation of the Kaluga Automotive Cluster, modernisation of the Tikhvin Carriage Works and the reconstruction of the Khabarovsk Oil Refinery. <…> In addition, Vnesheconombank has established new institutions aimed at supporting and improving the competitiveness of the national economy. The Russian Direct Investment Fund, which began operating this year, is designed to expand the flow of direct investment in the country's economy.”
“In fact, Vnesheconombank has become an important integrated institution promoting the development of the national economy. The bank considerably increased its participation in financing major investment projects in the last four years, which means the creation of new jobs and the development of new technology”.
“We have ever more opportunities together with our Norwegian partners. I am referring to delimitation agreement in the North. The decisions taken at the political level should proceed to the stage of commercial implementation.”
“Construction investment projects in Russia remain one of the most complex problems in the world. The number and duration of Russian licensing procedures is unfortunately greater and longer than in other countries. According to the data of international organisations, a Russian license requires 53 procedures or 540 days, while an average OECD license requires 16 procedures or 166 days. The difference is clear.»
“I’d like to focus on one more issue on the agenda, which is an extended term of technical conditions for connecting to the utility facilities of new residential buildings. <…>It is necessary to maximally simplify the existing procedures and rules at every stage, from the registration of a land plot as a building site, approval of a project, to the connection of a new home to the utility facilities. I mean the whole range of issues connected with simplification and lifting of administrative barriers in construction.”
“Today we will discuss amendments to the law that will simplify access of this associated gas to gas pipeline systems. We have an extremely important objective: it is clearly unacceptable to undermine the options and economic opportunities of major gas producers, but it is necessary to use the associated gas, too.”
“I would like to say that 170 billion roubles will be allocated from the federal budget to support the agro-industrial complex in 2012. A portion of this amount – 136 billion – will be used to carry out the state programme for promoting agriculture in Russia. Our goal is to use these funds with maximum effectiveness, have our agricultural producers strengthen their positions and make the agricultural industry one of Russia’s leading economic drivers.”
“According to expert estimates, winter crops are in normal condition. This is a good foundation for the future harvest. Now we should effectively conduct the spring sowing campaign and prepare properly for harvesting grain.”
“As before, agricultural producers will buy fuel at reduced prices. This support measure has a very good track record. Of course, it benefits greatly our agricultural producers. <…> We agreed that wholesale fuel and lubricants prices established in each particular region on December 31, 2011, will be discounted by another 30 percent.”
“On the whole, the agriculture support programme will continue. Now, as you know, we are developing a state programme of agricultural development, and it will provide for financial issues, agricultural equipment development issues, agricultural equipment leasing issues and issues of social development of rural areas.”
“In recent years the situation in agriculture has radically changed. <…> This country (I mean the Soviet Union) had always been a net importer of wheat and cereals, and now we have become the world's third largest exporter following the United States and Canada; our country has definitively gained the third position in the world.”
“I want to stress that we need to work out a comprehensive strategy for implementing the federal targeted programmes. We should increase the accountability of the individuals and agencies involved in implementing the projects. We also need to review the selection criteria and the system of objectives and indicators for the federal targeted programmes.”
“I think it makes sense to introduce one additional requirement on the energy companies in order for them to obtain certificates for their facilities regarding their readiness for coping with the autumn and winter peaks. This new requirement should be to have long-term contracts for the delivery of alternative types of fuel so that any problems that arise can be solved quickly and without any fuss.”
“First, we need to increase the industry’s capabilities, enhance its infrastructure, resolve the bottleneck problems in the gas distribution system and build new gas storage facilities. This will ensure that we have room for maneuver and can meet the demand both on the domestic and foreign markets. Secondly, an intense gasification of Russian regions is a priority.”
“We need to take a closer look at the opportunities offered by the LNG market. So far there is only one big project operating on Sakhalin-2. New liquefaction plants are due to appear in the coming years as a result of the exploration of the Yamal and Shtokman deposits. Russian liquefied natural gas should occupy a large niche in the global energy markets.”
“Our task is to meet the Russian consumers’ growing demand for gas, which this includes utility services, industry, agriculture and household consumers, as well as to consolidate and expand our presence on the global markets. It is also clear that the future of the gas sector lies in its technological modernisation, the reduction of costs and enhancing the production and cost effectiveness.”
“Russia has always been a reliable partner on the global energy markets. We highly value this reputation and are open for mutual cooperation with all our foreign partners, including investment projects and joint participation in the development of production and infrastructural assets.”
“In fact, Yamal will become a new oil and gas region in Russia comprising production centres, transportation, a sea port, and gas processing and liquefaction enterprises. This is a large industrial project, which is unique in terms of its complexity and the projected returns. In the long term, it will ensure an increase in gas production to 140 billion cubic metres per year.”
“We need to go beyond simply disbursing the colossal amounts of funding that we have allocated towards achieving our purported goals. What we need to do is achieve new levels of quality in education, healthcare, defence and other crucial areas of the national economy. The money should be used for reform and to improve effectiveness.”
“Today we will be discussing the establishment of the organising committee of the Moscow International Innovative Development Forum, which will be held later this year. The responsibility for this mission lies with the Moscow City Hall, business associations and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This is a good initiative and one we can support.”
“We should convert to a modern logic of state allocations for the development of science cities, replacing per capita funding with project collaboration. I believe that budget allocations should be granted to projects that win tenders, and to practical programmes for the comprehensive development of the research and production centres and infrastructure of science cities. These programmes are to be drafted by the municipalities with the assistance of leading academic specialists and businessmen.”
