Vladimir Putin met with Russians who have been made redundant
Yesterday Russia's unemployment figures fell - by two people at least. The Minister for Healthcare and Social Development, Tatyana Golikova, set the precedent. She spent Wednesday morning at the Federation Council (see page 12) but in the afternoon she found herself in Podolksk, near Moscow. Having met an unemployed cook, Mikhail Vershinin, in the town centre, the minister got him a job at the ZiO-Podolsk Machine-Building Factory loading cargo.
Vershinin is one of 200 lucky new employees at ZiO. In these difficult times the company, which has never gone bankrupt and is now part of the state enterprise RosAtom, is not cutting back. Instead it is growing its production base, the factory head Boris Vasilyev reported to the head of RosAtom Sergei Kiriyenko just that as they were waiting for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to arrive.
The Prime Minister arrived at the factory at 2pm, met with the workers and interns from the local Technical University toured the machine-assembly department, the size of two football pitches, and assessed production at the factory, which makes equipment for nuclear power plants.
In the two-storey building that houses Podolsk's job centre, the Prime Minister was told how the struggle with unemployment was "operational and effective". In 2008 there were 8,700 jobseekers in the city, of whom 2,500 found work. In January-February 2009, 1,100 people registered as unemployed, and only 45 of them were able to find new jobs.
These dry statistics can never beat real life interaction. This was brought home to the Prime Minister himself personally, when he spoke to one unemployed woman, Lyudmnila Budarova. Crying, she told him her story: In December she lost her third tier disability status, thus losing 4,200 roubles in benefits. Her son hasn't been paid since December. She has less than 10 roubles in her pocket. She said her friend yesterday lent her two bags of food. Mr Putin took her address and promised to help her.
The head of the Federal Service for Employment and Labour Yuri Gertsy proved his agility in answering journalists' questions. For example, when they asked how his agency could help that woman who was having such serious problems, he answered, "It's not our department, her problem is with healthcare."
Then following Ms Golikova's example, the Prime Minister found a job as a cargo loader driver for Artyom Chizhov, an unemployed man from Podolsk. An unemployed businessman was promised help finding financial assistance to set up a business. Mr Putin discussed the wider economic situation with former telephone operator Elena Romanova, who asked:
"When will things get better?"
"I think in the beginning of 2010. We've got good reserves. We'll get through it."
"Will the rouble get stronger?"
"Certainly."
"So it won't fall?"
"No it shouldn't, even if the oil price falls for a short time."
"They say by summer there'll be a new world currency?"
"That's not true. Whatever else happens, America will never turn its back on the dollar. During the Great Depression production in the US slumped to 40%, whereas now it's only 2%. In the medium term the American economy is sure to recover."
And finally a woman found the courage to ask, out of curiosity, why in France the minimum employment benefit is 500 Euros, but in Russia the maximum is 4,900 roubles. The Prime Minister advised her not to compare the incomparable since, he said, consumer income and spending levels in the two countries were radically different.
Maxim Tovkailo
