Byline: Vera Kuznetsova, Novosibirsk
The Prime Minister has approved the transport strategy through 2030 and convinced the people of Novosibirsk that there is no crisis in the country.
The second day of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's trip to Siberia (after Krasnoyarsk, he visited Novosibirsk yesterday) turned out to be very fruitful. He held a meeting on the Russian transport system development strategy through 2030, met with depositors and the President of Alfa-Bank, and visited an exhibition of innovative developments by transport higher education institutions in Russia put on at the Siberian State Railway University and a United Russia public reception office, one of the many known across the country as Mr Putin's reception offices. Wherever he went, he went to painstaking lengths to convince people that there is no crisis in Russia.
During his visit to the Siberian Railway University, a student engaged the Prime Minister in a conversation on the transport strategy through 2030, which the government was to approve within hours. The student said he had assessed the investment risks in the light of the crisis that is "sweeping the country". "No, Putin responded. We have no crisis." The student chose not to challenge the authoritative opinion. "We have some difficulties," the Prime Minister told another student at the Novosibirsk public reception office of the United Russia. Apparently, the student found it hard to believe, because he asked the Prime Minister if education loans would still be available next year. "Thank God, we have no crisis and I hope we will solve the problems," Vladimir Putin pressed on.
The Prime Minister's meeting at an Alfa-Bank branch in Novosibirsk was a small masterpiece of propaganda work. Mr Putin, by mere chance, discovered not people lining up to withdraw their money, but on the contrary, those who were depositing their money. A middle-aged woman seemed to hesitate before asking the distinguished guest, "I wanted to open a deposit for six months, and they are trying to persuade me to make it a year. What should I do?"
Vladimir Putin nodded encouragingly, saying, "They are telling you the right thing. Now you will be their exclusive client," he said, hinting that he was a mediator in the deal and looking over his shoulder at Alfa-Bank president Pyotr Aven, standing timidly by his side. The woman could not believe her good luck, exclaiming, "I am going to faint". "No need to faint," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister continued to demonstrate his determination to conquer the world crisis in Russia in conversation with a small businessman who dropped by Mr Putin's public reception office. The businessman complained that he could not obtain a loan. Mr Putin waved his hand to somebody and began to lay out the government's plans to increase support for small business by multiples, compared with the 3.4 billion roubles under the 2008 budget. He said the loans should be issued through Sberbank. And then, again by mere chance, a purple-faced Pyotr Aven burst into the reception room. "You see, a small enterprise cannot obtain a loan," the Prime Minister said smilingly. "Really?" Mr Aven wondered. "We have a credit portfolio of $20 billion, 20% of which is for small businesses." "Well, give him a loan," Mr Putin advised. "If it's a reliable firm..." the banker began, but then stopped short. The Prime Minister's look told him that he had tried the wrong tactic. Mr Aven realized that he had better issue a loan. "True, the rates have been high," he stammered, trying to justify himself, "but I think they will start going down."
Perhaps only the participants in the transport conference failed to appreciate the Prime Minister's anti-crisis PR campaign. Discussing the draft strategy of transport development through 2030, the Ministers, Governors, and representatives of transport monopolies kept telling him about the losses they were suffering due to the crisis and what losses they would sustain in the future. They were obviously frightened. However, the scale of the strategy, which will cost a staggering 170 trillion roubles, 60% of which will come from off-budget sources, did not seem to frighten anyone.
Transport Minister Igor Levitin, who presented the project, spoke as if he were reciting a poem. "We have chosen an innovative scenario," Mr Levitin claimed. The length of Russia's railways will double by 2030 while construction costs will be cut by a third. Freight delivery time will be cut by a quarter. "We already have some innovative ideas and more will be developed as we go along. I urge you to approve the strategy," he pleaded. Mr Putin decided, however, to open the floor for discussion. He had something to say. "The strategy for the period through 2030 prepared by the Russian Transport Ministry is a comprehensive document that brings together the plans for the development of individual types of transport and allows us to ‘peep beyond the horizon", to determine the future look of the domestic transport system," he said. "Of course, adjustments will be made as necessary, but the fundamental decisions must be made now." In the Prime Minister's opinion, "it is necessary to solve the key social task: to provide access to high quality and reliable transportation for all citizens, regardless of where they live. So far, 10% of the population lives in communities and villages that have no year-round link to the road network."
"I think that in the foreseeable future, we will be able to get rid of these 'sticks'. We will build hard-surface roads to viable communities," the Prime Minister said. Mr Putin added that the draft strategy would reduce the share of people living in communities that have no access to public roads from 10% to 2% by 2030. The draft project envisages a drop in the products share of transportation costs from 20 to 13%, and an increase in transit haulage from 28 million tons to 100 million tons by 2030. The draft strategy would diminish the environmental impact of motor transport by half and the energy consumption of the transport sector by 30%, the Prime Minister said.
The Minister of Economic Development, Elvira Nabiullina, assured those present that all the economic indicators of the Strategy have been thoroughly checked out.
The President of RAO RZhD, Vladimir Yakunin, brought a note of discord to the generally optimistic discussion. He said that since October, producers have been cutting supplies of cement, metal, and other critical products by more than 20%. "All this is the result of financial problems and not problems of our own making," Mr Yakunin said, and warned about the consequences, "We will have to slash our investment plans".
"The markets are 40% idle," Kemerovo Oblast Governor Aman Tuleyev said, echoing Mr Yakunin's words. The problem can't be solved without you, Mr Putin. The coal miners won't let you down. All they need is the chance to export coal, and I thus urge you not to impose restrictions."
"The volume of freight and the tariffs is falling because of the global problems," Mr Putin responded, seeming to agree. "But although revenues will decrease, spending will have to diminish, too. We are aware of the turmoil in the world, but it will only last until the end of the year at most, and we are adopting a strategy through the year 2030."
...The most candid dialogue took place with the woman who is the HR director at the public reception office. It had never occurred to anyone that this nice-looking lady would ask the trickiest question for Mr Putin to answer. She spoke about pensions and then suddenly sprung a question: "You have raised the Single Social Tax. What about cutting taxes on small and medium-size enterprises?" The Prime Minister seemed to have forgotten about medium-size enterprises. Regarding small businesses, he said that in the transitional period, those who engage in innovative activities and in agriculture would fare better. Apparently, the woman was not happy with the answer, replying, "Aren't you afraid that all the rest will go into the red?" "We assume that they won't," Vladimir Putin responded, and then delivered an aphorism of his own, concluding, "We had to make a balanced and well thought-out decision."
