Finance Minister reports to Putin on G20 meeting.
The economy has recovered from the problems created by last summer's wildfires and resumed growth, medicine prices are going down, and the IMF has redistributed quotas in favour of developing countries, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was told during a meeting of the government presidium.
It was the first presidium meeting at which the chair of Sergei Sobyanin, former government chief of staff and recently appointed mayor of Moscow, was occupied by Vyacheslav Volodin.
"I would like to introduce to you a person you all know well – Vyacheslav Volodin. But I want to introduce him in a new capacity – as deputy prime minister and chief of the government staff," Putin said, introducing his new deputy.
He handed Volodin a brand-new ID and said he hoped he would "honestly and efficiently fulfil all the duties imposed on him."
The ministers gave a welcome applause, after which Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin took the floor. He said a major reform was overdue at the International Monetary Fund and that the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors decided at their recent meeting to increase the share of developing countries in IMF capital. More than 6% has been redistributed to more dynamically developing countries. Russia increased its share by 0.22% to 2.71%.
"The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors met in Gyeongju, South Korea, last weekend," Kudrin said.
"Do finance ministers ever have days off?" the prime minister cut in, smiling.
"The finance ministers have too much on their plate at home, so we meet on weekends," Kudrin replied.
"Poor guys," Putin said.
Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said the Russian economy resumed growth in September and that the GDP increased by 3.4% over nine months. The anomalous heat wave spurred the prices, but the development forecasts will not be reviewed; the annual inflation should not exceed 7.3%, the minister said.
The government has learned to keep prices in rein, focusing primarily on the prices of essential medicines.
"The prices [of such medicines] fell by 6.2% at outpatient clinics and by 2.4% in hospitals," said Healthcare and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova.
She said that the expense of medicines had been cut over different price groups as well. For example, the prices of medicines costing between 50 and 500 roubles were cut by 4.1% and those above 500 roubles by 6.8%.
However, the situation is not positive in all Russian regions. The ministry is monitoring medicine prices in the Kamchatka Territory and the Sakhalin, Chelyabinsk, Arkhangelsk, and Penza regions.
"Competent agencies should promptly react to price hikes," Putin said, rounding off the discussion.
By Anastasia Savinykh