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
Yesterday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held a government meeting on ensuring fuel supplies to electric power industry facilities. Mr Putin ordered the Energy Ministry and Russian Railways (RZD) to develop monthly schedules for fuel delivery to electric power plants.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with the former Minister for Regional Development Dmitry Kozak (he has since been appointed to a new position; see article on page 7) and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin. Mr Putin instructed the Ministers to urgently allocate an additional 50 billion roubles from the Housing and Utilities Fund (HUF) to support the construction industry. "The most important goal for HUF is to support the elimination of the housing stock unfit for living. Under the current circumstances, it is necessary to rapidly allocate extra subsidies for the Russian constituent entities to buy housing for resettlement of people from apartment buildings unfit for living," Mr Putin said.
The grandiose preparatory work for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi now has a manager. Yesterday saw another sharp turn in the career of Dmitry Kozak, the Minister of Regional Development and one of the people closest to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister "in charge of the Olympics". In the morning President Dmitry Medvedev conferred with Mr Putin shortly before the meeting of the State Council for Sports. They decided that a Government member should be put in charge of implementing the Olympic dream. "If you recall the 1980 Olympics, a Deputy Prime Minister was in charge of these issues," the President said.
Mr Putin began his cabinet meeting with preparations for heating season in the regions with a thorough questioning of ministers on all sorts of subjects. The discussion first turned to things not connected with winter preparations.
Of course, crisis is to blame for everything. The dishes coming out of the political kitchen have an increasingly strange taste. Last week we were presented with two dishes. As the first course, Dmitry Medvedev addressing a conference on world politics at Evian (France) lamented the unipolarity of the world which he saw as the root of all evil. The second course was the suggestion that Putin was overstaying his welcome in the Prime Minister's seat and that a search was underway for a new candidate for Premier. We have asked political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky to comment.
The funds earmarked by the Government for Russian companies and banks to repay their foreign debts will hardly be enough for all those wishing to use them. By now, Vnesheconombank (VEB) which, by the Government's decision, will help borrowers repay their debts, has received applications for a total amount exceeding the declared limit of $50 billion, said Vladimir Dmitriyev, VEB's head, on October 13. According to him, the Government is not planning to increase this amount, despite increased demand for funds. A special meeting of VEB's supervisory board, held on October 13, endorsed the criteria to be used in granting loans to Russian companies.
On October 13, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a package of new laws. On the basis of these laws and the government's decisions, the Cabinet of Ministers will switch over from support of the banking system to direct financing of the "most important," or, as we call them here, strategic companies. The state is unprecedentedly boosting its role in regulating the market, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does not seem to be afraid of this. In criticising the United States for the umpteenth time, he said recently that during the crisis, governments in all countries without exception returned to state regulation of the economy. He neglected to mention, however, what this often leads to.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia's Vnesheconombank (the state Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs) would be the government's agent in placing state money in Russian stocks and bonds this week. There are plans to invest up to 250 billion roubles of state funds before year's end, which, as analysts say, should be enough to stabilize the struggling market. The government said it was also considering investing part of the pension savings to revive the market.
President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov renamed Victory Prospekt in Grozny into Putin Prospekt in time for the Russian Prime Minister's birthday. Putin admitted that he "does not particularly like" such renaming.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in accordance with the tradition formed during his presidency, will conduct a live televised question-and-answer session with the people following the United Russia conference in November. The public reception offices of the Prime Minister will help organise the event, and have already begun collecting questions for the party leader.
Saturday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the "Golden Autumn" exhibition at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre (VVTs), where he was educated in the problems of tractor and other agricultural equipment producers. Kommersant special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov noticed that the Prime Minister deliberately avoided the word "crisis".
On Friday, the Government of Russia approved the purchase of two strategic companies by foreign investors. Diamond giant De Beers will acquire a 49.99% stake in a diamond subsidiary controlled by oil giant LUKoil, and World's Wings of Switzerland will buy a 25% blocking stake in Sukhoi Civil Aircraft.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Saturday visited the country's largest exhibition of agricultural achievements "The Golden Autumn", which is held annually at the All-Russian Exhibition Centre by the Ministry of Agriculture with support from the Moscow Mayor's Office. The exhibition opened two hours before Mr Putin's arrival. Farmers, businessmen and producers of agricultural equipment were the first to arrive at the brand-new pavilion. They discussed methods of increasing the milk and crop yield, and who was planning to buy new equipment, where they were planning to buy it and how many machines they needed, as well as the advantages of Russian and foreign equipment.
The government will fully guarantee individual bank deposits under 700,000 roubles, and will provide 10-year subordinated loans to reliable banks at 8% interest rate.
On Thursday, journalists from the Prime Minister's pool were told they would see something special at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence: Vladimir Putin was going to share "a pleasant surprise" with them, one that was "not related to economy." No one knew what to expect, and there was a lot of guesswork about it. The most popular version was that Labrador Retriever Connie had birthed a litter of puppies. Members of the Prime Minister's circle cut it short, however, saying, "You've almost got it, but you haven't guessed right yet."
The 77th session of the International Criminal Police Organization's General Assembly opened in St Petersburg on October 7 - the first session of the assembly held in Russia. Officials from the interior ministries of 185 countries - members of Interpol, the UN, European Union, and other international organisations - took part in the session.
As is his tradition, Vladimir Putin marked his 56th birthday in his native St Petersburg - but he did not rest on that day. "This is a personal holiday, and Tuesday is a workday," Putin said at one of the meetings he addressed. "We must each plough our own furrow every day, like St Francis."
Vladimir Putin arrived in St Petersburg late on Monday night, a couple of hours before his birthday. The presentation of the film "Let's Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin" began at the Konstantinovsky Palace, right after midnight on Tuesday on the Prime Minister's birthday. "Shall we say that we have gathered too early or too late?" Putin asked the assembled guests.
Vladimir Putin turned 56 yesterday. He spent his birthday in his native St Petersburg and started his birthday party shortly after midnight, though he admitted that he was born in the early hours of the morning. He had spent a very busy day launching a film about judo, visiting the Trade Union Humanitarian University and a film studio, and then talking with Interpol.
The pension reform talked about by Kremlin officials for years has failed miserably. Since its inception, the Pension Fund budget has been increasingly unable to make both ends meet. Addressing a monthly Government meeting, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin outlined a new pension system.
