At a government meeting last Tuesday, Putin began by addressing the problems of fruit growers. He first reflected on his visit to the 2nd National Forum of Rural Communities in Saransk last week. He reminded everyone of a question posed by Vera Suchilina, a forum participant and the director of the Mordovsky state farm. She complained that gardeners are not registered as agricultural producers and, hence, are not entitled to certain forms of state support.
"As I understand, there are several groups of gardeners," Putin said. "Some have just two or three apple trees and vegetable patches for their own consumption, while others have many more. In this case, we are dealing with rather large enterprises producing fruit and vegetables to sell and their number is growing. Could you please explain what the problem is there?"
The question was addressed to First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, who was ready with a response. Zubkov admitted that an above mentioned state farm, a major horticultural business, is indeed an agricultural producer. And such agricultural producers in actuality receive substantial support. Last year, the farm in question received 1.26 million roubles in state support as drought relief money.
"I want you to clear this up," Putin said. "Do the enterprises that definitely produce for the market have the same status as agricultural producers, or are there some exemptions? If there are, they should be eliminated because this is unfair."
Zubkov promised to make "a full review of the current situation".
"If some regions need assistance, we will allocate credit to the regions for such gardeners' enterprises, so that they can be disbursed in the form of subsidies," he said.
However, Agriculture Minister Elena Skrynnik explained that not all fruit growers will be eligible for state support, but only enterprises that produce for the market.
Culture Minister Aleksandr Avdeev talked about the top prize at the Kinotavr Film Festival, which was awarded to a film made 20 years ago.
"As for the films, it is for the experts to decide which films are awarded prizes," the prime minister observed. "But, of course, we would like to see new filmmakers and new films addressing current problems."
In his defence, Avdeev talked about two new films that were shown at Cannes. As a result, he said, they could not enter the Kinotavr festival. In his words, those are the rules.
"Change the rules," Putin said. "What difference does it make is they were shown at Cannes?"
While discussing cultural issues, they spoke about problems associated with animated films. Last week, renowned animated filmmakers wrote a letter asking for support. The prime minister promised to organise a meeting with animated films producers.
"I have asked Aleksandr Zhukov to have a preliminary meeting with these colleagues before meeting at my place to see what we can do to support them," Putin said.
Labour market issues were also discussed.
"Labour mobility must be encouraged," Putin explained, obliging the ministers to create an effective system of employment forecasting. "The programme will reveal future labour needs in the real sector of the economy – how many specialists, the level of skills, and so on, and then commission the training of personnel for professional education establishments."
Putin also spoke about unemployment problems in the North Caucasus. He noted that these regions used "on average only 3% of the budget funds allocated this year to relieve tensions on labour markets. Setbacks in implementing employment measures cannot be tolerated!" he reminded to the officials.