“Komsomolskaya Pravda”: “I ask the members of United Russia to take an active part in the full-scale ‘revision’ of the Russian bureaucracy”
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took the floor after President Dmitry Medvedev. In the beginning of his address he recalled the speech he prepared for the past year's United Russia (UR) congress.
"The situation was very tense and nervous, I would say, complicated. At the time the crisis was gathering momentum. The number of uncertainties in the world economy was rapidly multiplying. There was a surfeit of gloomy forecasts.
United Russia declared that it was assuming political responsibility for combating the crisis. We promised to do everything to prevent a recurrence, in our country, of the collapse of 1991 and 1998...today we can confidently say we have kept that promise."
The party leader spoke in detail about the anti-crisis measures that the government had enacted. He quoted an example of recovery:
"The banks are again vying for clients. Such competition is a sure sign that the credit system is recovering."
THE POPULATION WILL NOT DECLINE THIS YEAR
"Perhaps the best indicator of how the nation feels is demographics. This is a litmus test of the state of society.
January through September 2009, 1,321,000 children were born in Russia, 3.7% more than last year. The death rate has dropped by 4.2%. By way of comparison, during the 1998-1999 crisis the birth rate dropped by 5.5%, while the death rate, on the contrary, spiked by 8%.
The dynamics we have witnessed recently make it safe to say that as many people will celebrate the New Year in 2010 in our country as on January 1, 2009."
DEVELOPING SINGLE-INDUSTRY CITIES
Putin spoke about the car industry in particular detail. He said that he hoped the shareholders of Avtovaz, including foreign investors, "would display responsibility about the future of the enterprise and its employees." Putin announced that Togliatti will be the first city where the pilot projects of a comprehensive development of single-industry cities will begin. He suggested that the development of single-industry cities should be included in the list of UR priority projects.
Putin described a programme of used car trade-ins as a measure of supporting the domestic car industry: "Any citizen who brings a car older than 10 years to a junk yard will get a check for 50,000 roubles to use for the purchase of a new car. It won't matter if it is a Russian or a foreign car, as long as it is assembled in Russia."
ON PENSIONS AND VETERANS
Putin emphasised that the decision to sharply increase the incomes of pensioners has been made and will be strictly carried out:
"As a matter of fact, in ten days, beginning from December 1, the basic part of the pension will be increased by 31.4%. In 2010, pensions will grow by an average of 46%. As a result of the re-evaluation of the pensions of those who earned these entitlements back in the Soviet times, the average pension will exceed 8,000 roubles. We will no longer have elderly people whose incomes fall short of the subsistence level."
Putin told UR members to help war veterans in the regions collect documents for receiving assistance with housing if they find it difficult to do so themselves.
"You have enough measures to cut down to size any bureaucrat," Putin said.
"I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT WE WILL SUCCEED"
Putin instructed his party to relieve businessmen of "the bureaucratic press."
He said that the Prosecutor General's Office recent inspection "revealed that the issue of permits, various certificates and chits has become a lucrative business involving questionable firms and all sorts of crooked companies." Putin promised that the government would shortly approve an exhaustive list of paid services and prohibit private companies from collecting documents.
"As early as 2011 it will be forbidden to require citizens to present any documents if the data needed is already available in some federal or municipal information banks... I ask the members of United Russia to take an active part in a full-scale ‘revision' of the Russian bureaucracy."
At the same time, the prime minister recalled that the party also has some shrewd members: "I would like to warn those who have come to see the party as an elite and prestigious club, membership in which paves the way to furthering one's ambitions and making one's career."
Putin ended his speech with an optimistic remark: "It is our duty to achieve success in the interests of Russia and the millions of its people. I have no doubt that we will succeed."
Larisa Kaftan
