VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
At a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said that between December 31 and January 13, the number of people officially registered as unemployed has increased by 30,000.
Between May 15 and September 15, the flight from the Far East to European Russia will cost 10,000-14,000 roubles. The remainder will be subsidised by the government, as Transport Minister Igor Levitin reported to Vladimir Putin yesterday.
Giving a pep talk to his fellow United Russia party members, Deputy Head of the Government Staff Vladislav Surkov said: "You cannot overcome the crisis by forming a feeble army of number crunchers to fight it. New creative decisions are needed." This call for creativity turned out to be provocative. Some reckoned that it was a veiled attack on the main number cruncher, Alexei Kudrin, especially since the conference was attended by Mr Kudrin's Deputy, Anton Siluanov. Others dismissed Surkov's words as intrigues intended to test Mr Siluanov's mettle and provoke him into revealing what the Finance Ministry really thought.
A stall in the underpass near the Kremlin is piled high with tin figures portraying ... Putin and Medvedev. 5.4 centimetre-high miniatures sell for 400 roubles apiece. The miniatures represent Lenin, Stalin, Khruschev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin, though, truth be told, the figures bear only a faint resemblance to the national leaders.
The Government is trusted less and less, hopes are pinned on Medvedev. Vladimir Putin's rating hit its lowest point since he became Prime Minister. People see no improvements as a result of the Cabinet's anti-crisis measures.
An unpretentious amateur's painting of a frost covered window fetched a fabulous 37 million roubles at an auction last week. The price is on a par with museum canvasses by Kustodiyev and Konchalovsky or installations by Ilya Kabakov. The reason is not just that the auction that took place in St Petersburg on Saturday was a charitable event - the money will go to a children's hospital, a cancer centre and restoration of a church. The value of the picture has more to do with the man who painted it. The author, as an authentic signature attests, is none other than Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
A mother of a large Ufa family complains to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about the Republic's Law On Education
The Government decided to accommodate the world's largest nickel producer Norilsk Nickel and has abolished export duties on nickel and copper cathodes. Other manufacturers, the Urals Metallurgical Company (UGMK) and the Russian Copper Company (RMK), will also benefit from the Government's decision. The total savings for nickel and copper exporters in 2009 will amount to about $300 million.
The new movie Faust by Russian director Alexander Sokurov premiered in St Petersburg on January 21 as the final part of his tetralogy, described by the acclaimed filmmaker as “the work devoted to history and people”.
At the end of 2008, Prime Minister Putin promised that the Government would partially cover consumers' car loans. "Regardless of the interest rate on the loan, we will cover a portion of the rate," the Prime Minister said. "Those planning to buy a car made in Russia will be better off buying it in 2009," Putin said. Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) has verified how the promise is being realised.
