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During his Address to the Federal Assembly, Vladimir Putin gave the government instructions relating to economic, social and environmental issues. The main ones are in the RBC review
Russian President Vladimir Putin (center) before delivering his annual Address to the Federal Assembly of Russia in the Kremlin (Photo: Mikhail Metzel/TASS)
Accelerating economic growth
“I instruct the government, with the participation of leading business associations, no later than May next year, to develop a substantive action plan until 2025, the implementation of which will allow us to reach economic growth rates higher than the world ones at the turn of 2019-2020, and therefore increase Russia’s position in the global economy "
Changes to the Tax Code
“We must orient our tax system so that it works for the main goal: to stimulate business activity, to grow the economy and investment, to create competitive conditions for the development of our enterprises. It is necessary to streamline existing fiscal benefits, make them more targeted, and abandon ineffective instruments. I propose that over the next year, we carefully and comprehensively consider proposals for setting up the tax system, and be sure to do this with the participation of business associations.<...>We need to prepare and adopt all relevant amendments to legislation and the Tax Code in 2018 and put them into effect from January 1, 2019.”
Ensuring budget sustainability
“I ask the government to work on improving the mechanisms for ensuring a sustainable budget and public finances, fulfilling all our obligations, regardless of external factors, including hydrocarbon prices.”
Launch of the digital economy
“I propose to launch a large-scale system - a program for the development of the economy of a new technological generation, the so-called digital economy. In its implementation, we will rely specifically on Russian companies, scientific, research and engineering centers of the country. This is a matter of national security and independence of Russia and, in the full sense of the word, our future.”
Reducing the number of business inspections
“I would like to draw the government’s attention to the fact that in the work of control and supervisory authorities it is necessary to accelerate the introduction of an approach based on risk assessment, which will significantly reduce the number of inspections and increase their effectiveness. Increasing the transparency of control and supervisory authorities will make it possible to quickly respond to abuses, to every fact of violation of the rights of entrepreneurs by controllers.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin during his speech with the annual Address to the Federal Assembly of Russia in the Kremlin (Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/TASS)
Extension of benefits for the IT industry
“We must admit that tax benefits played a significant role in supporting IT companies. This measure allowed them to effectively realize their intellectual innovative potential.<...>To maintain this momentum, I propose to extend these benefits until 2023. I am confident that in the next decade [it will be possible] to make the IT industry one of Russia’s key export industries.”
Support for self-employed citizens
“I have already given a direct instruction to exclude the interpretation of the work of self-employed citizens as illegal entrepreneurial activity. There is no need to cling to them for far-fetched reasons. To ensure that there are no such reasons at all, I ask you to clearly define the legal status of self-employed citizens over the next year and give them the opportunity to work normally and calmly.”
Increasing the share of civilian products in the defense industry
Support for volunteer and charitable organizations
“A special sign of our time is the widespread involvement of citizens in a variety of charitable events, calls on social networks and the media to raise funds for the treatment of patients and to help children quickly receive a response. People do this sincerely, selflessly in response to the dictates of their hearts. “I ask the Public Chamber and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives to substantively engage in supporting volunteer and charitable movements of non-profit organizations.”
Formation of a regulatory framework for NPOs
“I instruct the government, together with legislators, to complete the formation of a clear legal framework for NPOs - performers of socially useful services, to establish requirements for their competencies, without adding additional bureaucratic barriers.”
Improvement of Russian cities
“In 2017, 20 billion rubles. will be sent to the regions for improvement, including single-industry towns.”
Creation of programs for the conservation of natural symbols of Russia
“Next year has been declared the year of ecology. I instruct the government to prepare programs to preserve Russia’s unique natural symbols, such as the Volga and Baikal.”
Road repair
“Starting next year, we will begin such projects in other large cities and urban agglomerations, where about 40 million people live. In two years, at least half of the roads need to be put in order. The decision has been made, the appropriate means have been allocated, we just need to work effectively.”
Support for agricultural cooperation
“In order for our farmers to have new opportunities to enter the market, it is necessary to pay special attention to supporting agricultural cooperation. I instruct the Ministry of Agriculture, Rosselkhozbank, Rosagroleasing and the Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises to deal with this issue. Next year we will replenish its capital by almost 13 billion rubles.”
Creation of competence centers in universities
“Next year, centers of excellence will be created at leading universities, including regional ones. They are designed to provide intellectual and personnel support for projects related to the formation of new industries and markets. Fundamental science should serve as a powerful factor in the accumulation of scientific and technological reserves for economic growth and social development.”
Cadets of the Faculty of Secondary Military Special Training of the Pacific Higher Naval School named after S.O. Makarov in Vladivostok watching the broadcast of the speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin with his annual Address to the Federal Assembly of Russia (Photo: Vitaly Ankov/RIA Novosti)
Support for young scientists
“It is fundamentally important to support our talented young Russian scientists, and there are many of them, so that they create their own research teams and laboratories in Russia. A special line of grants will be launched for them, designed for a period of up to seven years. For these purposes, as well as for the development of scientific infrastructure and the opening of new laboratories, an additional 3.5 billion rubles will be allocated for science in 2017 alone.”
Support for programs to create new school places
“By the way, you and I know very well that this (program to create new school places . — RBC) is primarily the responsibility of the regional level, but we decided to support the regions in this most important area. In total, 187,998 new school places are planned to be created between 2016 and 2019.”
Creation of child support centers in the regions
“The educational center for talented children “Sirius” has already declared itself successful. I believe that we need a whole constellation of such platforms. And I would recommend that the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation think about creating centers for supporting gifted children in the regions on the basis of the best universities and schools.”
Providing hospitals with high-speed Internet
“I propose to connect all hospitals and clinics in our country to high-speed Internet within the next two years. This will allow doctors, even in a remote city or village, to use the capabilities of telemedicine and quickly receive advice from colleagues from regional and federal clinics. This task is absolutely realistic and achievable.”
Ensuring financing of high-tech medical care
“Next year we need to introduce mechanisms for sustainable financing of high-tech medical care. This will make it possible to further increase its availability and reduce waiting times for operations. Hundreds of thousands of complex operations are performed not only in large federal centers, but also in regional clinics. In 2005, 60 thousand people in Russia received VMT; in 2016 there will be 900 thousand. We need to move on, but the difference is significant.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, March 1, delivered a message to the Federal Assembly. This year the event was held in an expanded format and turned out to be a record length one. In his annual report to parliament, the leader of the state touched upon a wide range of issues on the economy, social aspects, as well as domestic and foreign policy. In addition, during his speech, the president presented several of the latest models of domestic weapons.
The iz.ru portal has collected key quotes from the leader of the state.
About the main challenges
“Changes in the world are of a civilizational nature, and the scale of the challenge requires us to respond equally strongly. And we are ready to give this answer. We are ready for a major breakthrough. We can do this using the cohesion of Russian society and the colossal potential of our talented, creative people.”“The lag is our main enemy. It's like a tireless disease that undermines the body from the inside. We need to ensure such creative power that no obstacles will prevent us from moving forward. We ourselves must and will determine our future.”
“In order to move forward and develop dynamically, we must expand the space of freedom, in all areas: strengthen the institutions of democracy, local self-government, civil society structures, courts, and be a country open to the world, new ideas and initiatives.”
“Sustainability is the basis, but not a guarantee of further development. We have no right to allow the achieved stability to lead to complacency.”
“Whoever harnesses the technological wave will be able to get ahead. Anyone who cannot use it will simply be overwhelmed and drowned.”
On increasing the minimum wage, pensions and salaries
“For the first time in modern history, we were able to equate the minimum wage to the subsistence level. This norm will come into effect on May 1, 2018, which will have a positive impact on the incomes of about 4 million people.”“We need to seriously update the employment structure, which today is largely ineffective and archaic, to give people good jobs that motivate, bring prosperity, allow them to realize themselves, and create modern, decently paid jobs. On this basis, we must solve one of the key tasks for the coming decade - to ensure confident, long-term growth in real incomes of citizens, and to at least halve the poverty level in six years.”
“We must achieve an increase in pensions and ensure their regular indexation above the rate of inflation.”
“The size of salaries in the public sector should continue to grow, as well as the quality of work and the level of training of specialists in healthcare, education, and other areas that determine people’s well-being.”
About the people of Russia
“From the point of view of the most important task of ensuring the quality of life and well-being of people, we, of course, have not yet reached the level we need. But we must do it and we will do it. The role and position of the state in the modern world is determined not only and not so much by natural resources, production capacities, but, above all, by people, the conditions for the development, self-realization, and creativity of each person. Therefore, at the heart of everything is the conservation of the people of Russia and the well-being of our citizens. This is where we need to make a decisive breakthrough.”On increasing GDP
“By the middle of the next decade, GDP per capita should increase 1.5 times. This is a very difficult task. I'm sure we can solve it."About demographics
“In 2017, the working-age population decreased by almost 1 million. In the coming years, this downward trend will continue, which could become a serious limitation for economic growth; there are simply no labor resources. In the coming decade, it is necessary to ensure sustainable natural growth of Russia’s population.”“Over the next six years, we will need to allocate at least 3.4 trillion rubles for demographic development measures and for the protection of motherhood and childhood.”
“By the end of the next decade, Russia should confidently become one of the 80+ countries. These are countries such as Germany and France, where life expectancy exceeds 80 years. I’m sure this goal is achievable.”
About urban development
“I propose to start a large-scale program for the spatial development of Russia, including the development of small towns. And at least double spending on this in the next six years. It is clear that this implies an increase in health care and transport costs.”“I propose to launch a program for creating cultural, educational and museum complexes in the regions. They will include concert halls, theater, music, choreography and other creative schools, as well as exhibition spaces where the country’s leading museums will be able to display their exhibitions.”
About mortgages and housing
“Over the next six years, mortgages should become affordable for the majority of Russian families, for the majority of working citizens, for the majority of young professionals.”“Last year, dear colleagues, about a million mortgage loans were issued. In December, the average rate in rubles dropped below 10% for the first time. Of course, we know this too well; in each specific case, the cost and other terms of the loan are individual. But in general, we need to further reduce the average rate - to 7–8%"
“In 2017, 3 million families in Russia improved their living conditions. Now we need to steadily, I draw your attention, for the first time in the history of modern Russia, reach a level where annually at least 5 million families improve their living conditions.”
“I also propose returning to the property tax on individuals. It must be fair and feasible for citizens.<…>It is necessary to clarify the mechanisms for calculating tax, as well as determining the cadastral value of real estate. In any case, it should not exceed the real market value.”
About employment
“We need to seriously update the employment structure, which today is largely ineffective and archaic. Give people good work that motivates, brings prosperity, and allows them to realize themselves. Create decently paid jobs.”About transport
“In six years, half of interregional flights will be direct.”“In total, in the next 6 years it is necessary to almost double the costs of construction and improvement of Russian highways. Direct more than 11 trillion rubles from all sources for these purposes.”
About digital technologies
“By 2024, we will provide almost universal fast Internet access. The construction of fiber-optic communication lines to most settlements with a population of more than 250 people will be completed. And remote small settlements of the Far North, Siberia, and the Far East will receive stable access through the network of Russian satellites.”About healthcare
“In 2019–2024, an average of more than 4% of GDP will need to be spent annually on the development of healthcare from all sources, but we must certainly strive for 5%. In absolute terms, this would mean that total health care spending would have to double, while additional funding opportunities would need to be found that would not constrain economic growth.”“Russia needs a special nationwide program to combat cancer.”
“In recent years, the network of medical institutions has been optimized. This was done in order to build an effective healthcare system, but in a number of cases they clearly got carried away with administrative changes.<…>They left people practically without medical care, offering nothing in return. There is only one piece of advice: go to the city and get treatment there. This is absolutely unacceptable."
About ecology
“Today in Russia, government authorities and social activists have identified about 22 thousand landfills. We need to solve this problem and, first of all, reclaim landfills within cities.”“It’s difficult to talk about a long and healthy life if millions of people are still forced to drink water that does not meet standards, if black snow falls, as in Krasnoyarsk, and residents of large industrial centers do not see the sun for weeks due to smog, as in Chelyabinsk , Cherepovets, Nizhny Tagil, Novokuznetsk and other cities. We have tightened environmental requirements for enterprises, which will certainly reduce industrial emissions.”
On economic development
“The share of small businesses in the Russian economy should be 40% by 2025.”“The volume of non-resource, non-energy exports to the Russian Federation should reach $250 billion by 2024.”
About business
“The number of various types of inspections formally seems to be decreasing, but during meetings with businesses we hear that fundamental changes have not yet occurred. It is necessary to make sure that the appearance of controllers at enterprises becomes an exception,” the president said, noting that, in turn, he expects that business will “increase its contribution to the breakthrough development of the country.”On reforming the civil service system
“Officials at all levels should be interested in increasing their efficiency and strictly aimed at obtaining a specific result.<…>We need to rebuild the entire civil service system.”About the May decrees
“A lot has been done during the implementation of the May 2012 decrees. I can say that there are some shortcomings, but in general, no matter how high the standards of these decrees were, if they had not been there, then there would not have been the results that we have achieved today. Ambitious goals should always be set.”About the army and defense
“Across the perimeter of Russia’s borders, and this is very important, a continuous radar field of a missile attack warning system has been created. After the collapse of the USSR, huge holes appeared in it, but now everything has been restored.”“The new Sarmat complex has no range restrictions and can attack the enemy both through the South and North Pole.”
“Russia has begun developing strategic weapons that are invulnerable to all existing missile defense and air defense systems.”
“At the end of 2017, the latest Russian cruise missile with a nuclear power plant was successfully launched at the central test site of the Russian Federation. The completed launch and a set of ground tests allow us to move on to the creation of a fundamentally new type of weapon - a strategic nuclear weapons complex with a missile equipped with a nuclear power plant.”
“No one in the world has anything like the new Russian missile weapons. Perhaps someday it will appear, but during this time our guys will come up with something else.”
About Russia as a guarantor of security in the world
“I would like to especially emphasize: Russia’s growing military power does not threaten anyone, we did not have and do not have plans to use this potential for offensive, much less aggressive purposes. We are not threatening anyone, we are not going to attack anyone, we are not going to take anything away from anyone at gunpoint.<...>The growing military power of Russia is a reliable guarantee of peace on our planet, since this power maintains and will maintain the strategic balance and balance of power in the world, which, as we know, remains the most important factor in international security after the Second World War and to this day.”On relations with Western partners
“We are interested in normal constructive interaction with the United States and the European Union. We hope that common sense will prevail and our partners will make a choice in favor of fair, equal cooperation.”About future
“We walked, we walk and we will follow our confident course. We have been and will be together. Challenges and big tasks fill our lives with special meaning. We need to be bold, take the initiative in decisions and actions. Change the life of the country for the better. To create the Russia we dreamed of.”Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, March 1, delivered a message to the Federal Assembly. This year the event was held in an expanded format - for the first time it was moved from the St. George's Hall of the Kremlin to the premises of the Moscow Manege due to the number of guests - and it turned out to be a record-breaking duration. In his annual report to parliament, the leader of the state touched upon a wide range of issues on the economy, social aspects, as well as domestic and foreign policy. In addition, during his speech, the president presented several of the latest models of domestic weapons.
The portal site has collected key quotes from the leader of the state.
About the meaning of the message
“Today’s message is of a special, milestone nature, just like the time in which we live, when the significance of our choice, the significance of every step and deed is exceptionally high.”
About the main challenges
“Changes in the world are of a civilizational nature, and the scale of the challenge requires us to respond equally strongly. And we are ready to give this answer. We are ready for a major breakthrough. We can do this using the cohesion of Russian society and the colossal potential of our talented, creative people.”
“The lag is our main enemy. It's like a tireless disease that undermines the body from the inside. We need to ensure such creative power that no obstacles will prevent us from moving forward. We ourselves must and will determine our future.”
“In order to move forward and develop dynamically, we must expand the space of freedom, in all areas: strengthen the institutions of democracy, local self-government, civil society structures, courts, and be a country open to the world, new ideas and initiatives.”
“Sustainability is the basis, but not a guarantee of further development. We have no right to allow the achieved stability to lead to complacency.”
“Whoever harnesses the technological wave will be able to get ahead. Anyone who cannot use it will simply be overwhelmed and drowned.”
On increasing the minimum wage, pensions and salaries
“For the first time in modern history, we were able to equate the minimum wage to the subsistence level. This norm will come into effect on May 1, 2018, which will have a positive impact on the incomes of about 4 million people.”
“We need to seriously update the employment structure, which today is largely ineffective and archaic, to give people good jobs that motivate, bring prosperity, allow them to realize themselves, and create modern, decently paid jobs. On this basis, we must solve one of the key tasks for the coming decade - to ensure confident, long-term growth in real incomes of citizens, and to at least halve the poverty level in six years.”
“We must achieve an increase in pensions and ensure their regular indexation above the rate of inflation.”
“The size of salaries in the public sector should continue to grow, as well as the quality of work and the level of training of specialists in healthcare, education, and other areas that determine people’s well-being.”
About the people of Russia
“From the point of view of the most important task of ensuring the quality of life and well-being of people, we, of course, have not yet reached the level we need. But we must do it and we will do it. The role and position of the state in the modern world is determined not only and not so much by natural resources, production capacities, but, above all, by people, the conditions for the development, self-realization, and creativity of each person. Therefore, at the heart of everything is the conservation of the people of Russia and the well-being of our citizens. This is where we need to make a decisive breakthrough.”
On increasing GDP
“By the middle of the next decade, GDP per capita should increase 1.5 times. This is a very difficult task. I'm sure we can solve it."
About demographics
“In 2017, the working-age population decreased by almost 1 million. In the coming years, this downward trend will continue, which could become a serious limitation for economic growth; there are simply no labor resources. In the coming decade, it is necessary to ensure sustainable natural growth of Russia’s population.”
“Over the next six years, we will need to allocate at least 3.4 trillion rubles for demographic development measures and for the protection of motherhood and childhood.”
“By the end of the next decade, Russia should confidently become one of the 80+ countries. These are countries such as Germany and France, where life expectancy exceeds 80 years. I’m sure this goal is achievable.”
About urban development
“I propose to start a large-scale program for the spatial development of Russia, including the development of small towns. And at least double spending on this in the next six years. It is clear that this implies an increase in health care and transport costs.”
“I propose to launch a program for creating cultural, educational and museum complexes in the regions. They will include concert halls, theater, music, choreography and other creative schools, as well as exhibition spaces where the country’s leading museums will be able to display their exhibitions.”
About mortgages and housing
“Over the next six years, mortgages should become affordable for the majority of Russian families, for the majority of working citizens, for the majority of young professionals.”
“Last year, dear colleagues, about a million mortgage loans were issued. In December, the average rate in rubles dropped below 10% for the first time. Of course, we know this too well; in each specific case, the cost and other terms of the loan are individual. But in general, we need to further reduce the average rate - to 7–8%"
“In 2017, 3 million families in Russia improved their living conditions. Now we need to steadily, I draw your attention, for the first time in the history of modern Russia, reach a level where annually at least 5 million families improve their living conditions.”
“I also propose returning to the property tax on individuals. It must be fair and feasible for citizens.<…>It is necessary to clarify the mechanisms for calculating tax, as well as determining the cadastral value of real estate. In any case, it should not exceed the real market value.”
About employment
“We need to seriously update the employment structure, which today is largely ineffective and archaic. Give people good work that motivates, brings prosperity, and allows them to realize themselves. Create decently paid jobs.”
About transport
“The Arctic fleet was and remains, will be the most powerful in the world.”
“In six years, half of interregional flights will be direct.”
“In total, in the next 6 years it is necessary to almost double the costs of construction and improvement of Russian highways. Direct more than 11 trillion rubles from all sources for these purposes.”
About digital technologies
“By 2024, we will provide almost universal fast Internet access. The construction of fiber-optic communication lines to most settlements with a population of more than 250 people will be completed. And remote small settlements of the Far North, Siberia, and the Far East will receive stable access through the network of Russian satellites.”
“Today, the most important competitive advantage is knowledge, technology, and competencies. This is the key to a real breakthrough, to improving the quality of life. “As soon as possible, we need to develop an advanced legislative framework, remove all barriers to the development and widespread use of robotics, artificial intelligence, unmanned vehicles, e-commerce, and big data processing technologies.”
About healthcare
“In 2019–2024, an average of more than 4% of GDP will need to be spent annually on the development of healthcare from all sources, but we must certainly strive for 5%. In absolute terms, this would mean that total health care spending would have to double, while additional funding opportunities would need to be found that would not constrain economic growth.”
“Russia needs a special nationwide program to combat cancer diseases.”
“In recent years, the network of medical institutions has been optimized. This was done in order to build an effective healthcare system, but in a number of cases they clearly got carried away with administrative changes.<…>They left people practically without medical care, offering nothing in return. There is only one piece of advice: go to the city and get treatment there. This is absolutely unacceptable."
About ecology
“Today in Russia, government authorities and social activists have identified about 22 thousand landfills. We need to solve this problem and, first of all, reclaim landfills within cities.”
“It’s difficult to talk about a long and healthy life if millions of people are still forced to drink water that does not meet standards, if black snow falls, as in Krasnoyarsk, and residents of large industrial centers do not see the sun for weeks due to smog, as in Chelyabinsk , Cherepovets, Nizhny Tagil, Novokuznetsk and other cities. We have tightened environmental requirements for enterprises, which will certainly reduce industrial emissions.”
About education
“We need to build modern career guidance. Here universities and successful companies should become partners of schools. I propose starting next year to launch an early career guidance project for schoolchildren “Ticket to the Future” - an opportunity to try themselves in business with leading companies. We are allocating 1 billion rubles for this initiative.”
“We will continue to strengthen the holistic system of our children’s creative abilities and talents. Such a system should cover the entire territory of our country, integrate the capabilities of such platforms as Sirius, Quantorium, additional education and children's creativity in all regions of Russia.”
On economic development
“The share of small businesses in the Russian economy should be 40% by 2025.”
“The volume of non-resource, non-energy exports to the Russian Federation should reach $250 billion by 2024.”
“We need to clearly set priorities and increase the efficiency of public spending, and more energetically attract private resources to finance large projects. The new government will have to create new tax conditions - they must be stable and fixed for the coming years. Let me emphasize that we need fiscal decisions that will ensure the replenishment of budgets at all levels, as well as the fulfillment of all social obligations, and at the same time will not restrain, but stimulate economic growth.”
About business
“It is important to support beginning entrepreneurs, to help people take the first step so that they can open their own business with literally one click, make mandatory payments, and receive services remotely via the Internet.”
“The number of various types of inspections formally seems to be decreasing, but during meetings with businesses we hear that fundamental changes have not yet occurred. It is necessary to make sure that the appearance of controllers at enterprises becomes an exception,” the president said, noting that, in turn, he expects that business will “increase its contribution to the breakthrough development of the country.”
On reforming the civil service system
“Officials at all levels should be interested in increasing their efficiency and strictly aimed at obtaining a specific result.<…>We need to rebuild the entire civil service system.”
“We need not only to build modern services for business, but also in general to make the system of interaction between the state and society, between the state and the citizen clear, convenient, and comfortable.”
About the May decrees
“A lot has been done during the implementation of the May 2012 decrees. I can say that there are some shortcomings, but in general, no matter how high the standards of these decrees were, if they had not been there, then there would not have been the results that we have achieved today. Ambitious goals should always be set.”
On the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty
“We spent a long time trying to persuade the Americans not to violate the ABM Treaty and not to upset the strategic balance. Everything is in vain. The United States unilaterally withdrew from this treaty, but even after that we tried for a long time to establish a constructive dialogue with them and proposed to establish joint work in this area to relieve concerns and maintain an atmosphere of trust. At some point it seemed to me that a compromise could be found, but no - all our proposals were rejected.”
“Despite our numerous protests and calls, the American machine started working, the conveyor belt started moving,” the president continued. - The missile defense system is already in operation in Alaska and California. As a result of NATO’s expansion to the east, two missile defense areas appeared in Eastern Europe - it has already been created in Romania, and its deployment is being completed in Poland.”
About the army and defense
“All these years after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the ABM Treaty, we have been working hard on promising equipment and weapons. This allowed us to take a rapid, big step in creating new types of strategic weapons.”
“Across the perimeter of Russia’s borders, and this is very important, a continuous radar field of a missile attack warning system has been created. After the collapse of the USSR, huge holes appeared in it, but now everything has been restored.”
“The new Sarmat complex has no range restrictions and can attack the enemy both through the South and North Pole.”
“Russia has begun developing strategic weapons that are invulnerable to all existing missile defense and air defense systems.”
“At the end of 2017, the latest Russian cruise missile with a nuclear power plant was successfully launched at the central test site of the Russian Federation. The completed launch and a set of ground tests allow us to move on to the creation of a fundamentally new type of weapon - a strategic nuclear weapons complex with a missile equipped with a nuclear power plant.”
“No one in the world has anything like the new Russian missile weapons. Perhaps someday it will appear, but during this time our guys will come up with something else.”
About Russia as a guarantor of security in the world
“I would like to especially emphasize: Russia’s growing military power does not threaten anyone, we did not have and do not have plans to use this potential for offensive, much less aggressive purposes. We are not threatening anyone, we are not going to attack anyone, we are not going to take anything away from anyone at gunpoint.<...>The growing military power of Russia is a reliable guarantee of peace on our planet, since this power maintains and will maintain the strategic balance and balance of power in the world, which, as we know, remains the most important factor in international security after the Second World War and to this day.”
On relations with Western partners
“We are interested in normal constructive interaction with the United States and the European Union. We hope that common sense will prevail and our partners will make a choice in favor of fair, equal cooperation.”
About future
“We walked, we walk and we will follow our confident course. We have been and will be together. Challenges and big tasks fill our lives with special meaning. We need to be bold, take the initiative in decisions and actions. Change the life of the country for the better. To create the Russia we dreamed of.”
V. Putin: Good afternoon, dear colleagues! Dear members of the Federation Council! Dear deputies of the State Duma! Citizens of Russia!
Today, as usual in Messages, we will talk about our tasks in the economy, social sphere, domestic and foreign policy. This time we will pay more attention to the economy, social issues and domestic politics.
We have to solve all these problems in difficult, extraordinary conditions, as has happened more than once in history. And the people of Russia have once again convincingly proven that they are capable of responding to difficult challenges, defending and defending national interests, sovereignty and the country’s independent course.
But here is what I would like to say, dear colleagues, in this regard. I’ve already said this publicly several times, but I’d like to repeat it today.
Citizens have united - and we see this, we must say thank you to our citizens for this - around patriotic values, not because they are happy with everything, that everything suits them. No, there are enough difficulties and problems now. But there is an understanding of their reasons, and most importantly, confidence that together we will definitely overcome them. Willingness to work for Russia, cordial, sincere concern for it - this is what underlies this unification.
At the same time, people expect that they will be provided with ample and equal opportunities for self-realization, for implementing entrepreneurial, creative, and civic initiatives; they expect respect for themselves, for their rights, freedoms, and for their work.
The principles of fairness, respect and trust are universal. We firmly defend them - and, as we see, not without results - in the international arena. But to the same extent we are obliged to guarantee their implementation within the country, in relation to each person and the entire society.
Any injustice or untruth is perceived very sharply. This is generally a feature of our culture. Society decisively rejects arrogance, rudeness, arrogance and selfishness, no matter who all this comes from, and increasingly values such qualities as responsibility, high morality, concern for public interests, willingness to hear others and respect their opinions.
This year's election campaign also showed this. You know that the initiative to return to the mixed model of elections of State Duma deputies was supported in the 2012 Address. This was a fundamental step towards public opinion.
I believe that the course towards developing the political system, institutions of direct democracy, and increasing the competitiveness of elections is absolutely justified, and we will certainly continue it.
The people of Russia have once again convincingly proven that they are capable of responding to difficult challenges.
The role of the State Duma as a representative body has grown. In general, the authority of the legislative branch has strengthened. It must be supported and confirmed by deeds. This applies to all political forces represented in parliament.
But, of course, the United Russia party, which, by the way, is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary today, has a special responsibility. The party has a constitutional majority in the State Duma and is the main support of the Government in parliament. And we need to organize our joint work in such a way that all promises and obligations made to citizens are fulfilled.
It was the citizens who determined the outcome of the election campaign. We have chosen the path of creative development of the country. We have proven that we live in a healthy society, confident in its fair demands, in which immunity to populism and demagoguery is strengthened and the importance of mutual support, cohesion, and unity is highly valued.
We are not talking, of course, about some kind of dogma, about ostentatious, false unity, much less about coercion to a certain worldview - all this, as you well know, happened in our history, and we are not going to go back to the past.
But this does not mean that by juggling with beautiful words and hiding behind arguments about freedom, someone can offend the feelings of other people and national traditions.
You know, if someone considers themselves more advanced, more intelligent, even considers themselves smarter than someone else in something - if you are like that, but treat other people with respect, this is natural.
At the same time, of course, I consider a counter-aggressive reaction unacceptable, especially if it results in vandalism and violation of the law. The state will react harshly to such facts.
Tomorrow we have a meeting of the Council for Culture - we will definitely discuss issues that cause broad discussion, we will talk about the principles of mutual responsibility of representatives of civil society and artists.
But I want to especially emphasize: in culture, in politics, in the media and in public life, in polemics on economic issues, no one can prohibit free thinking and openly expressing one’s position.
I repeat, when we talk about solidarity and unity, we mean the conscious, natural consolidation of citizens for the sake of the successful development of Russia.
Is it possible to achieve meaningful strategic goals in a fragmented society? Is it possible to solve these problems with parliament, where instead of effective work there are competitions of ambitions and fruitless bickering?
Is it possible to develop with dignity on the shaky ground of a weak state and a weak-willed government controlled from the outside that has lost the trust of its citizens? The answer is obvious: of course not.
Recently we have seen many countries where such a situation opened the way to adventurers, coups and, ultimately, anarchy. Everywhere the result is the same: human tragedies and sacrifices, decline and ruin, disappointment.
It is also of concern that in the world, even in the seemingly most prosperous countries and stable regions, more and more new fault lines and conflicts are emerging on political, national, religious, and social grounds.
All this is superimposed on the acute migration crisis that, for example, European and other countries are facing. We know well the consequences of so-called great upheavals. Unfortunately, in our country in the last century there were many of them.
The coming 2017 is the year of the 100th anniversary of the February and October revolutions. This is a good reason to once again turn to the causes and very nature of the revolution in Russia. Not only for historians and scientists - Russian society needs an objective, honest, in-depth analysis of these events.
This is our common history, and we need to treat it with respect. The outstanding Russian and Soviet philosopher Alexei Fedorovich Losev also wrote about this. “We know the whole thorny path of our country,” he wrote, “we know the agonizing years of struggle, lack, suffering, but for the son of his Motherland, all this is his own, inalienable, dear.”
I am sure that the absolute majority of our citizens have exactly this feeling of the Motherland, and we need the lessons of history, first of all, for reconciliation, for strengthening the social, political, civil harmony that we have managed to achieve today.
It is unacceptable to drag splits, anger, grievances and bitterness of the past into our lives today, to speculate in our own political and other interests on the tragedies that affected almost every family in Russia, no matter which side of the barricades our ancestors found themselves on then. Let's remember, we are one people, we are one people, and we have one Russia.
Dear Colleagues! The meaning of our entire policy is to save people, to increase human capital as the main wealth of Russia. Therefore, our efforts are aimed at supporting traditional values and family, demographic programs, improving the environment, human health, and developing education and culture.
You know, I can’t help but say a few words about what’s really happening, what we have here, what we’ve achieved. Natural population growth continues.
In 2013, demographers have this concept of “fertility rate”; in Russia it was 1.7 - this is higher than in most European countries. For example, I’ll say: Portugal - 1.2, in Spain, Greece - 1.3, Austria, Germany, Italy - 1.4, in the Czech Republic - 1.5. This is data for 2013. In 2015, the total fertility rate in Russia will be even higher, slightly, but still higher - 1.78.
We will continue changes in the social sphere so that it becomes closer to people, to their needs, and is more modern and fair. Social sectors must attract qualified people, talented youth, so we are raising the salaries of specialists and improving their working conditions.
I would like to note that competition for medical and pedagogical universities (most recently it was almost zero) is steadily growing. In 2016, it was 7.8 people for teaching specialties, and after admission in 2016, the total competition for budget places in medical universities was already almost 28 people per place. May God grant health and success to all young specialists in their work in the future.
When we talk about solidarity and unity, we mean the conscious, natural consolidation of citizens for the sake of the successful development of Russia
I remember well how at one time I discussed with my colleagues projects for the development of high-tech medical care, as well as a network of perinatal centers, which we did not have at all. Now there will be 94 of them in Russia in 2018.
And today our doctors save newborns in the most difficult cases. And according to these indicators, we have also taken the position of the leading countries in the world.
At the end of 2015, the infant mortality rate in Russia was 6.5 per thousand live births, and in the European region of the World Health Organization the figure was 6.6, that is, we were already a little better. Based on the results of 10 months of 2016, Russia reached the level of 5.9.
Over the past ten years, the volume of high-tech medical care has increased 15 times. Hundreds of thousands of complex operations are performed not only in leading federal centers, but also in regional clinics. If in 2005, when we started this program, 60 thousand people in Russia received high-tech medical care, in 2016 this will already be 900 thousand. We also need to move on. But still, compare: 60 thousand and 900. The difference is significant.
Next year we need to put in place mechanisms for sustainable financing of high-tech care. This will make it possible to further increase its availability and reduce waiting times for operations.
In general - I must say frankly - problems in healthcare remain in general, there are still a lot of them. And, above all, they concern primary care. Its development must be given priority attention.
Citizens are often faced with queues and a formal, indifferent attitude. Doctors are overloaded, it is difficult to get to the right specialist. There are often cases when clinics are equipped with the latest equipment, but medical workers simply do not have enough qualifications to use this equipment.
Starting next year, regular retraining of doctors will be organized at federal and regional medical centers and universities. At the same time, with the help of an educational certificate, a specialist will be able to choose where and how to improve his qualifications.
We will continue to increase the level of healthcare informatization in order to make it convenient and simple to make appointments and maintain documentation. It is necessary to free doctors from routine, from filling out heaps of reports and certificates, and give them more time to work directly with the patient.
Also, with the help of information technology, the efficiency of control over the market of vital drugs will be significantly increased. This will make it possible to get rid of fakes and counterfeits, and stop inflated prices when purchasing medicines for hospitals and clinics.
Over the next two years, I propose to connect all hospitals and clinics in our country to high-speed Internet. This will allow doctors, even in a remote city or village, to use the capabilities of telemedicine and quickly receive advice from colleagues from regional or federal clinics.
I would like to draw the attention of the Ministry of Communications to this. The Minister assured us that this task is absolutely realistic and achievable. I just said this from the podium, the whole country will now watch this closely.
Taking into account its geography, huge, sometimes difficult to access territories, Russia also needs a well-equipped air ambulance service. Starting next year, the air ambulance development program will cover 34 regions of the country, which will receive funds from the federal budget.
First of all, this is Siberia, the North, the Far East. For these purposes (the deputies know about this, this was also your initiative) in 2017, 3.3 billion rubles will be allocated for the purchase of aviation services within the framework of the air ambulance development project (this should pass in the second reading).
Dear Colleagues! Everywhere throughout our large country, children should study in convenient, comfortable, modern conditions, so we will continue the program of reconstruction and renovation of schools. We should not be left with school buildings that are in disrepair, dilapidated, and lack basic amenities.
It is finally necessary to solve the problem of third shifts, and then second shifts. And of course, additional efforts need to be directed toward improving the qualifications of teachers. You know that since 2016, a program to create new places in general education organizations has been implemented. This program is designed for 2016-2025 - 25 billion rubles are provided.
By the way, you and I know well that this is primarily the responsibility of the regional level. But we decided to support the regions in this important area. In total, between 2016 and 2019 it is planned to create 187,998 new school places. At the same time, the most important thing that worries parents and teachers, the public is, of course, the content of the educational process, to what extent school education meets the two basic tasks that Academician Likhachev spoke about: providing knowledge and educating a moral person. He rightly believed that the moral basis is the main thing that determines the viability of society: economic, state, creative.
But teaching hours from the school curriculum alone will clearly not be enough here. We need projects in the theater, cinema, television, museums, and on the Internet that will be of interest to young people and will attract the attention of young people to Russian classical literature, culture, and history.
At school, it is necessary to actively develop creativity; schoolchildren must learn to think independently, work individually and in a team, solve non-standard problems, set goals for themselves and achieve them, so that in the future this will become the basis of their prosperous, interesting life.
There are a lot of experiments being carried out here at school, both abroad and here. We must, of course, be very careful with these experiments, but we certainly need to move forward. It is important to cultivate a culture of research and engineering work.
Over the next two years, the number of modern children's technology parks in Russia will increase to 40; they will serve as a support for the development of a network of technical clubs throughout the country. Business, universities, and research institutes must join this work so that the children have a clear understanding: they all have equal opportunities for a start in life, that their ideas and knowledge are in demand in Russia, and they will be able to prove themselves in domestic companies and laboratories.
As the educational center for talented children “Sirius” has already declared itself successful. I believe that we need a whole constellation of such platforms, and I would recommend that the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation think about creating centers for supporting gifted children in the regions on the basis of the best universities and schools.
But at the same time, what would I like to say here, and what would I like to draw attention to? Our entire education system should be based on a fundamental principle: every child and teenager is gifted and capable of succeeding in science, creativity, sports, profession and life. Discovering his talents is our task. This is Russia's success.
The meaning of all our policies is saving people, increasing human capital as the main wealth of Russia
Dear Colleagues! I see in the younger generation a reliable, strong support for Russia in the turbulent, complex 21st century. I believe that this generation is capable of not only responding to the challenges of the time, but also participating on equal terms in shaping the intellectual, technological, and cultural agenda for global development.
It is no coincidence that many schoolchildren and students today participate in volunteer projects; they are actively developing in such important areas as caring for the sick, supporting the elderly, people with disabilities, education, sports, culture, local history, search movements, caring for nature and animals.
A special feature of our time is the widespread involvement of citizens in a variety of charitable events. Calls on social networks and the media to raise funds for the treatment of patients and to help children quickly receive a response, and people do this sincerely, selflessly, as a response to the dictates of their hearts.
Sometimes you are even surprised how people with little income quickly respond to their inner need to help those who especially need it.
I ask the Public Chamber and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives to substantively engage in supporting volunteer and charitable movements and non-profit organizations. The will and generosity of the citizens who participate in such projects create the atmosphere of common affairs that Russia needs so much, create colossal social potential, and it must be in demand.
It is necessary to remove all barriers to the development of volunteerism and provide comprehensive assistance to socially oriented non-profit organizations. The main decisions here have already been made. Starting next year, opportunities will open up for non-profit organizations with relevant experience to provide social services financed from the budget.
Now, dear colleagues, I would like to address many of you. I want both governors and municipal authorities to hear me. I ask you, as they say, not to be greedy, not to give out of habit, out of established preference, exclusively to government structures, but to involve social services and non-profit organizations to the maximum extent possible. Let's be honest, they haven't lost sight of it yet. A cordial attitude towards people is very important. And let's together keep these issues under special control.
We are all interested in ensuring that the active entry of NPOs into the social sphere leads to an improvement in its quality. I instruct the Government, together with legislators, to complete the formation of a clear legal framework for the activities of NGOs - performers of socially useful services, to establish requirements for their competence, and at the same time, of course, without adding additional bureaucratic barriers. It is necessary to appreciate the demanding, interested, active position of citizens. And once again I want to appeal to many of you - do not hide in office offices, do not be afraid of dialogue with people, meet people halfway, talk honestly and openly with people, support their initiatives. Especially when it comes to issues such as the improvement of cities and towns, the preservation of historical appearance and the creation of a modern living environment.
Unfortunately, sometimes these issues are resolved behind the scenes, and when this happens, you really want to ask: “Are you sure that what you are proposing, based only on the ideas that arise in back offices, is the best offer? Isn’t it better?” consult with people, ask them how they want to see the streets, their yards, parks and embankments, sports and playgrounds?”
Next year we will allocate 20 billion rubles to the regions for improvement programs, including single-industry towns, and it is a matter of principle that the residents themselves should participate in making decisions on the use of these resources and determine which improvement projects to implement first. I ask the All-Russian Popular Front to actively join in this work, and at the same time I draw attention to: it is necessary not only to organize effective control, but with its help to achieve the specific result that people are waiting for, and, of course, we need to support citizens who are ready to join improvement projects . It is important that civil society actively participates in solving such problems as improving environmental legislation, preserving rare species of animals and plants, and creating a humane system for treating stray animals.
Next year, 2017, has been declared the Year of Ecology. I instruct the Government to prepare programs for the conservation of unique natural symbols of Russia, such as the Volga, Baikal, Lake Teletskoye in Altai.
Throughout the country, we need to start cleaning up contaminated areas, eliminating the landfills that the surroundings of many settlements have turned into. We recently spoke about this with activists of the All-Russian Popular Front. This is a problem not only in large cities, but also in villages and towns.
Further, large-scale programs to develop the modernization of the road network are already underway in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Starting next year, we will begin such projects in other large cities and urban agglomerations, where about 40 million people live. In two years, at least half of the roads here should be put in order. Now I will not dwell on this in more detail here, the decision has been made, the appropriate means have been outlined, we just need to work effectively.
We will pay the necessary attention to the most important federal highways and to the construction of the nationally important Crimean Bridge, its construction is progressing according to schedule.
Dear colleagues, two years ago we were faced with serious economic challenges, with unfavorable conditions on world markets, with sanctions that tried to force us to dance to someone else’s tune, as our people say, to neglect our fundamental national interests.
However, I repeat, the main reasons for the economic slowdown lie, first of all, in our internal problems. First of all, this is a shortage of investment resources, modern technologies, professional personnel, insufficient development of competition, and flaws in the business climate. Now the decline in the real sector has stopped, and there has even been a slight industrial growth. But you know that last year our GDP decline was about 3.7 percent, I think that this year it will be insignificant. Over the 10 months of 2016 it amounted to 0.3 percent, and I think that this will be approximately the case.
I instruct the Government, with the participation of leading business associations, no later than May next year, to develop a substantive action plan until 2025, the implementation of which will make it possible to achieve economic growth rates above world levels by the turn of 2019-2020
Programs to support a number of industries, as well as the housing market, played an important role. I will also talk about this now, because there has been an increase in industrial production, a small one, but a positive trend; of course, it will need to be maintained.
So, on the housing market. In 2015, more than 85 million square meters of housing were commissioned. This is a record figure in the entire history of the country.
It is very important here that this be implemented, of course, and we need to increase people’s purchasing power. I will also say this, keeping in mind our mortgage support programs.
We will continue to provide targeted assistance to those sectors of the economy that are still facing negative conditions. I have already said that there has been a definite, modest, but still growth in industrial production.
In the automotive industry as a whole, we have a slight decrease, but for trucks - an increase of 14.7 percent, for light commercial vehicles - an increase of 2.9, for buses - an increase of 35.1 percent. In railway engineering there is an increase of 21.8, in freight cars - 26. The growth in the production of machinery and equipment for agriculture is showing very good dynamics - 26.8 percent. There is also a positive trend in light industry.
We have ensured macroeconomic stability, which is very important, and maintained financial reserves. The gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank did not decrease, but even increased. If on January 1, 2016 it was 368.39 billion dollars, now it is 389.4, almost 400 billion. The dynamics here are also positive.
We expect that by the end of this year, inflation will decrease significantly; it will be below 6 percent. Here I would also like to turn to numbers. If you remember, inflation in 2015 was 12.9 percent. I hope that this year it will not rise above six, it will be somewhere around 5.8. The dynamics are obviously positive and significantly positive.
Let me remind you that the lowest inflation was recorded in 2011. It was 6.1 percent. I repeat again, this year it may even be less. This means we can actually reach the 4 percent target next year. These are very good preconditions for achieving significant growth on the basis of a healthy economy.
However, I want to emphasize: stabilization does not mean an automatic transition to a sustainable rise. If we do not solve the basic problems of the Russian economy, if we do not fully unleash new growth factors, then we may be stuck near the zero mark for years, and that means we will have to constantly squeeze in, save, and postpone our development until later. We cannot afford this.
We have a different path, which involves clearly setting goals and gradually, systematically achieving them. It is this approach that has repeatedly given significant positive results, and in a fairly short time. Thus, at one time it seemed that problems in agriculture would exist almost forever. We know how they talked about this and how offended our agricultural producers were when they talked about agriculture as a kind of black hole, where no matter how much money you give, there is still no result. No, it turns out that everything can be arranged completely differently. We found proven solutions, adopted a state program, created a flexible system of supporting agricultural producers, and today the agricultural sector is a successful industry that feeds the country and conquers international markets.
But here, as our people say, every cloud has a silver lining, our so-called partners have introduced sanctions, which I said, we are taking retaliatory measures. Well, we helped our agricultural producers in the domestic market. But they must not forget that this cannot and probably will not continue forever, and the consumer needs a competitive environment in the market, so this favorable situation that has developed today must, of course, be taken full advantage of.
The export of agricultural products, which I have already mentioned, gives us more today than the sale of weapons. Just recently, we probably couldn’t even imagine this. I have already spoken about this publicly, and I can repeat it again from this rostrum. By the way, in the field of arms exports, we also maintain a fairly serious position: in 2015, $14.5 billion worth of exports were sold on the foreign market, and agricultural products worth more than 16 billion, 16.2 billion. This year we expect even more, it will be 16.9, most likely very good. Let's thank agricultural workers for this.
In the development of agriculture, much depends on the regions. I believe that they need to be given more independence in determining the priorities for the use of federal subsidies to support the agro-industrial complex, and their volume itself should be linked to an increase in arable land, an increase in productivity, and other qualitative indicators of production efficiency, thereby creating an incentive for putting idle agricultural land into circulation and introducing advanced agricultural technologies.
Here I would like to emphasize: if we give more independence in the use of federal budget funds, federal support, then the regions should also be responsible for the results and effective investment of the resources received, for strengthening their own economic base, solving problems in the social sphere, in housing and communal services increase.
Further, in order for our farmers to have new opportunities to enter the market, it is necessary to pay special attention to supporting agricultural cooperation. I ask the Ministry of Agriculture, Rosselkhozbank, Rosagroleasing, as well as the Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises to take up this issue; next year we will replenish its capital by almost 13 billion rubles.
We carried out a deep modernization of defense-industrial enterprises and the defense-industrial complex. The result is an increase in production volumes and, most importantly, a significant increase in labor productivity. The defense industry shows very good performance here and sets a good example. In 2016, the expected growth rate of defense industry production will be 10.1 percent, and the expected growth rate of labor productivity will be 9.8 percent.
And now it is necessary to focus the industry on the production of modern competitive civilian products for medicine, energy, aviation and shipbuilding, space, and other high-tech industries. In the next decade, its share should be at least a third of the total production volume in the defense-industrial complex.
I ask the Government to organize systematic work to solve this problem with the participation of development institutions, VEB, the Russian Export Center, and the Industrial Support Fund.
Dear colleagues, the IT industry has become one of the fastest growing industries in our country, which is very pleasing. The volume of exports of domestic companies has doubled over five years. I have just given figures for the volume of exports of the defense industry and agricultural products. The defense industry is 14.5 billion. More recently, IT technologies amounted to a figure that was close to zero, now it is 7 billion dollars.
Other indicators also increased: revenue, tax revenues. Such returns were provided, including benefits on insurance premiums. The Ministry of Finance asked me not to say that this was only due to benefits; I am saying that there were other, of course, tools to support the industry, but we still must admit that these benefits played a significant role in supporting IT companies. This measure allowed them to effectively realize their intellectual innovative potential. Look, at the beginning of their journey, in 2010, their tax contributions amounted to just over 28 billion rubles, and two years later - already 54 billion rubles. Can you imagine how tall it is? At the same time, the so-called incidental income, taking into account benefits, is only 16 billion rubles. That is, real income even for the budget. To maintain this dynamic, I propose to extend these benefits until 2023. I am sure that in the next decade there is every opportunity to make the IT industry one of the key export industries in Russia.
The examples mentioned above show that we are already purposefully changing the structure of the economy, updating existing industries and forming new ones, creating modern companies capable of operating in world markets. We need to continue to move in this direction systematically and aggressively. What is needed is not abstract scenarios in which little depends on us, but a professional, verified forecast of development. It is necessary to clearly define what contribution to economic growth will be made by improving the business climate, launching large investment projects, increasing non-resource exports, supporting small and medium-sized businesses, and other measures, and what the role of regions and individual industries will be.
I instruct the Government, with the participation of leading business associations, no later than May of next year, to develop a substantive action plan until 2025, the implementation of which will allow us to reach economic growth rates above world rates at the turn of 2019-2020, and therefore increase Russia’s position in the global economy.
Dear Colleagues! I repeat, it is important that such a plan is supported and has the confidence of the business community, so that entrepreneurs are actively involved in its implementation. Today, it is obvious that people are growing in demand for expanded economic freedoms (we have talked about this more than once), for stable, sustainable, predictable rules for doing business, including the tax system.
Let me remind you that in 2014 we decided to fix the current tax conditions for business for four years. They did not revise them, despite changes in the economic situation, and this certainly had a positive impact on the work of enterprises.
We are for security and the opportunity for development not for a select few, but for all countries and peoples, for respect for international law and the diversity of the world
At the same time, we must orient our tax system so that it works for the main goal: to stimulate business activity, to grow the economy and investment, and to create competitive conditions for the development of our enterprises. It is necessary to streamline existing fiscal benefits, make them more targeted, and abandon ineffective instruments.
I propose that over the next year, we carefully and comprehensively consider proposals for setting up the tax system, and be sure to do this with the participation of business associations. Despite the internal political calendar, we still need to prepare and adopt all relevant amendments to legislation and the Tax Code in 2018, and put them into effect on January 1, 2019, fixing new, stable rules for the long term.
At the same time, I ask the Government to work on improving the mechanisms for ensuring a sustainable budget and public finances, fulfilling all our obligations, regardless of external factors, including hydrocarbon prices.
Further. We have seriously updated the legal framework in the field of entrepreneurship. Now it is important to ensure effective law enforcement - and above all on the ground. Please note that in each region of the country, basic services for business: construction permits, access to infrastructure, and so on and so forth must fully comply with the requirements of federal legislation and best regional practices.
Dear Colleagues! Quite recently in Yaroslavl, I think, we met and talked about this topic. This is some kind of impenetrable topic. This is an extremely important area of our joint activities. We will closely monitor what is happening in the regions in these areas and determine the quality of work of regional teams largely based on these indicators. And this fundamental task must be solved next year. This will allow us to ensure not only a uniform, but also an equally high quality of business environment in all regions of Russia.
You and I have talked a lot about improving control and supervisory authorities; we have been talking about this for many years. Starting next year, their transparency will radically increase; data will be publicly available: who checks whom, how often, what results are obtained.
This will make it possible to quickly respond to abuses, to every fact of violation of the rights of entrepreneurs by controllers. Now I will not list all these decisions made, there are enough of them, it is only necessary that they be implemented. It is necessary to cancel instructions that do not in any way affect the quality of services or ensure the safety of citizens, but at the same time tie businesses hand and foot.
I would like to draw the attention of the Government: in the work of control and supervisory authorities, it is necessary to accelerate the introduction of an approach based on risk assessment, which will significantly reduce the number of inspections, but increase their effectiveness. I will add that supervisory authorities should be engaged not only in identifying violations, but also in prevention, not formally, but meaningfully, and (this is very important!) provide advisory assistance to entrepreneurs, especially those who are just starting their own business.
I have already given a direct instruction to exclude the interpretation of “the work of self-employed citizens as illegal entrepreneurial activity.” There is no need to cling to them for far-fetched reasons. And so that there are no such reasons at all, I ask you to clearly define the legal status of self-employed citizens over the next year and give them the opportunity to work normally and calmly.
Everyone who works honestly in their business or as an employee should feel that the state and society are on their side. Justice is not about equalization, but about expanding freedom, creating conditions for work that brings respect, prosperity and success. And vice versa - everything that limits opportunities and violates people’s rights is unfair.
Last year's Address talked about pressure on business from some representatives of law enforcement agencies. As a result of such actions, successful companies often fall apart, and people's property is taken away.
I would like to thank parliamentarians for their support of the bill, which significantly increases the criminal liability of law enforcement officers for fabricating cases, including with the aim of interfering with the work of entrepreneurs.
I will separately dwell on the topic of the fight against corruption. In recent years, there have been many high-profile cases against officials at the municipal, regional, and federal levels. At the same time, I would like to emphasize that the vast majority of civil servants are honest, decent people working for the good of the country. But neither position, nor high connections, nor past merits can be a cover for dishonest government officials. However (and I would also like to draw attention to this) before the court’s decision, no one has the right to pronounce a verdict on a person’s guilt or innocence.
And further. Unfortunately, it has become our practice to raise information noise around so-called high-profile cases. And representatives of investigative and law enforcement agencies themselves often sin with this. Dear colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to this and say that the fight against corruption is not a show, it requires professionalism, seriousness and responsibility, only then will it produce results and receive conscious, broad support from society.
Dear Colleagues! It is obvious that external restrictions and rising costs of domestic borrowing have reduced the availability of financial resources for enterprises and citizens. However, the banking system managed to replace foreign lending to our companies and stabilize the situation - this is an obvious fact.
Now we must support business activity, the implementation of large economic projects, and affordable financing, especially since inflation is decreasing, I have already spoken about this, and this creates objective conditions for reducing the cost of bank loans. I repeat: the situation has indeed improved a little, but only in certain sectors. In general, lending to the economy is showing unstable dynamics.
As part of anti-crisis support in 2015-2016, we replenished the capital of the banking system by 827 billion rubles. According to estimates, this resource allowed banks to significantly increase lending to the real sector.
However, the volume of such loans has not increased this year, and even decreased slightly. I know about calculations in rubles, in foreign currencies, but the decrease still occurred, even taking into account the exchange rate difference. I would like to draw the attention of those experts who believe that it is very important to pay attention to the exchange rate difference.
Yes, everything is clear, the value of the ruble has changed against the dollar, against the euro, and this must be taken into account, but even with this circumstance taken into account, there is still a decline in lending.
Of course, there is no doubt that we need to stimulate lending to the real sector. But the key question remains: what methods and means to do this? It is obvious that only stable banks with a solid capital reserve can develop lending.
This year, domestic banks have restored their profitability. The profit of this sector of the economy for 10 months of last year amounted to 193 billion rubles, and for the same period of this year already 714 billion rubles. Almost four times the growth.
The future of the country depends only on us, on the work and talent of all our citizens, on their responsibility and success. And we will definitely achieve the goals set before us, solve the problems of today and tomorrow
In addition, thanks to the consistent and decisive work of the Central Bank, the banking system is cleared of offices that violate the law, the rights of clients, and conduct dubious financial transactions. Many of them, at least weak players, left the market. The banking sector has been rehabilitated and is being continued by the Central Bank. All this is a good basis for a rapid revival of the economy and the development of lending to the real sector.
In general, a number of countries have created incentives for banks to lend specifically to this particular sector of the economy. At the same time, in some countries, restrictions on the ability of banks to invest raised funds in financial instruments are being discussed.
I’m not saying that we need to blindly copy everything that is being done abroad, especially since the Russian economy and its structure differ significantly from other countries that apply such measures, but we can analyze all this practice and adopt everything that suits us and necessary.
Thus, the banking financial sector operates successfully in many countries. It should be developed here too - this allows us to attract funds from investors and citizens into the economy through bonds and other mechanisms
By the way, we have been discussing this topic for quite a long time. I hope that the Bank of Russia and the Government will jointly work out proposals for the development of the financial market. Everything should, of course, be aimed at the objectives of economic growth, while any changes should not lead to macroeconomic imbalances and the inflation of so-called “bubbles” in the economy.
It is very important to support lending to small businesses, which continues to decline. What can and should be done additionally for this? Representatives of financial authorities also believe that this is possible.
If the largest banks, due to the scale and complexity of their operations, are subject to strict requirements in accordance with international standards, and some experts believe that even for us they are too strict, but now we will not go into details.
In any case, small regional banks that perform the important function of lending to small businesses and households and, as a rule, carry out the simplest banking operations, could operate under significantly simplified requirements for regulating their activities.
Moreover, this certainly cannot create any risks for the banking system as a whole, given their modest share in the entire banking system - only 1.5 percent of all banking assets. Such differentiated regulation of the banking system will allow clients to contact the bank that best suits their needs, and small businesses will not experience competition for credit resources with large companies.
Of course, the fundamental condition remains unchanged - each level of the banking system must be healthy and stable, so that both clients and depositors can be confident in the security of their funds.
Dear Colleagues! To reach a new level of development of the economy and social sectors, we need our own advanced developments and scientific solutions. It is necessary to focus on areas where the powerful technological potential of the future is accumulating, and these are digital and other so-called end-to-end technologies that today determine the appearance of all spheres of life.
Countries that can generate them will have a long-term advantage, the opportunity to receive enormous technological rent. Those who do not do this will find themselves in a dependent, vulnerable position. Cross-cutting ones are those that are used in all industries, these are digital, quantum, robotics, neurotechnology, and so on.
It is also necessary to take into account that in digital technologies, for example, there are risks, of course. It is necessary to strengthen protection against cyber threats, and the stability of all elements of infrastructure, the financial system, and public administration must be significantly increased.
I propose to launch a large-scale systemic program for the development of the economy of a new technological generation, the so-called digital economy. In its implementation, we will rely specifically on Russian companies, scientific, research and engineering centers of the country.
This is a question of national security and technological independence of Russia, in the full sense of the word - our future. It is necessary to take an inventory and remove all administrative, legal, and any other barriers that prevent businesses from entering both existing and emerging high-tech markets.
Provide such projects with financial resources, including focusing the work of the updated VEB (Development Bank) on these tasks. We will need qualified personnel, engineers, workers ready to perform tasks at a new level. Therefore, together with business, we are building a modern system of secondary vocational education, organizing the training of college and technical school teachers on the basis of advanced international standards.
We will increase the number of budget places in engineering disciplines, IT specialties, and other key areas that determine economic development. Next year, centers of excellence will be created at leading universities, including regional ones, to provide intellectual and personnel support for projects related to the formation of new industries and markets.
Fundamental science should also serve as a powerful factor in the accumulation of scientific and technological resources necessary for economic growth and social development. Its task is twofold: to assess and predict future trends and to propose optimal solutions to meet the challenges we face.
And in the scientific field, as elsewhere, we will develop competition and support the strong, capable of producing practical results. This must be taken into account by the Russian Academy of Sciences and all scientific organizations. We will continue to build a research infrastructure that will allow us to solve large-scale scientific problems.
Within the framework of the megagrant program, more than 200 laboratories have already been created, without any exaggeration, of the world level, they are headed by scientists who determine the trends in global scientific development. By the way, many of them are our compatriots who previously left abroad.
I recently met with a group of such researchers. Already now, many of them spend most of their time working in Russian laboratories, working successfully and with pleasure. And they see that today in Russia interesting scientific problems are being set, a good research base is being created and material conditions are at a decent level.
But, of course, people have the right and must understand that they have a work horizon and a planning horizon; in this regard, I propose to ensure long-term funding for effective research projects, including through the resources of the Russian Science Foundation.
At the same time, it is fundamentally important to support our talented young Russian scientists, there are many of them, so that they create their own research teams and laboratories in Russia. A special line of grants will be launched for them, designed for a period of up to seven years. For these purposes, as well as for the development of scientific infrastructure and the opening of new laboratories, in 2017 alone, an additional 3.5 billion rubles will be allocated to the already declared resources for science.
And of course, the activities of research centers should be closely integrated with the education system, the economy, and high-tech companies. We need to turn research into successful commercial products, by the way, we have always suffered from this, from development to implementation a huge amount of time passes, and in general sometimes...
This applies not only to our time, and not even to the Soviet one, but in the Russian Empire everything was the same. We need to reverse this trend, we can do it. To solve this problem, two years ago we launched the National Technology Initiative; it is designed to ensure leadership positions for Russian companies and products in the most promising markets of the future.
Dear Colleagues! Everything I just talked about, all these priorities are included in the “Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of Russia”. The decree approving it was signed.
Everyone is well aware that in recent years we have faced attempts at external pressure. I’ve already talked about this twice and remembered it. Everything was used - from myths about Russian aggression, propaganda, interference in other people's elections to the persecution of our athletes, including Paralympic athletes.
By the way, as I said, every cloud has a silver lining, the so-called doping scandal, I am sure, will allow us to create in Russia the most advanced system to combat this evil. I assume that the national anti-doping program will be ready at the beginning of next year.
What would you like to say? Everyone is quite tired of custom-made information campaigns, the invention and planting of incriminating evidence, and mentoring teachings. If necessary, we can teach anyone ourselves.
But we understand the extent of our responsibility and are truly sincerely ready to take part in solving global and regional problems, of course, where our participation is appropriate, in demand and necessary.
We do not want confrontation with anyone, we do not need it: neither us, nor our partners, nor the world community. Unlike some foreign colleagues who see Russia as an enemy, we are not and have never been looking for enemies. We need friends. But we will not allow our interests to be infringed upon or neglected. We want and will be in charge of our own destiny, to build the present and future without other people's prompts and unsolicited advice.
At the same time, we are committed to a friendly, equal dialogue, to establishing the principles of justice and mutual respect in international affairs. We are ready for a serious conversation about building a stable system of international relations in the 21st century. Unfortunately, in this regard, the decades that have passed since the end of the Cold War were wasted.
We are for security and the opportunity for development not for a select few, but for all countries and peoples, for respect for international law and the diversity of the world. Against any monopoly, whether we are talking about claims to exclusivity or attempts to customize the rules of international trade, limit freedom of speech, and actually introduce censorship in the global information space. They always reproached us for allegedly introducing censorship within countries, but now they themselves are practicing in this direction.
Russia actively promotes a positive agenda in the work of international organizations and informal associations, such as the UN, G20, APEC. Together with our partners we are developing our formats: CSTO, BRICS, SCO. The priority of Russian foreign policy has been and remains the further deepening of cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and interaction with other CIS states.
The Russian idea of forming a multi-level integration model in Eurasia - the Greater Eurasian Partnership - is also of serious interest. We have already begun substantive discussions on it at various international and regional levels. I am convinced that such a conversation is possible with the states of the European Union, in which today there is a growing demand for an independent subjective, political and economic course. We see this in the election results.
The enormous potential for Russia’s cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region was demonstrated by the Eastern Economic Forum held this year. I ask the Government to ensure the unconditional implementation of all previously adopted decisions on the development of the Russian Far East. And, let me emphasize again, Russia’s active eastern policy is not dictated by any current market considerations, not even by the cooling of relations with the United States of America or the European Union, but by long-term national interests and trends in global development.
In the current difficult conditions, one of the key factors in ensuring global and regional stability has become the Russian-Chinese comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation. It serves as an example of world order relations, built not on the idea of dominance of one country, no matter how strong it may be, but on harmonious consideration of the interests of all states.
Today, China is emerging as the largest economy in the world, and it is very important that every year our mutually beneficial cooperation is replenished with new large-scale projects in various fields: trade, investment, energy, high technology.
The most important direction of Russian foreign policy is the development of a particularly privileged strategic partnership with India. The results of the Russian-Indian high-level negotiations held in October in Goa confirmed that our countries have enormous potential for deepening cooperation in a variety of areas.
We count on qualitative progress in relations with our eastern neighbor - Japan. We welcome the desire of the leadership of this country to develop economic ties with Russia and launch joint projects and programs.
We are ready to cooperate with the new American administration. It is important to normalize and begin to develop bilateral relations on an equal and mutually beneficial basis.
Interaction between Russia and the United States in solving global and regional problems meets the interests of the whole world. We have a common responsibility for ensuring international security and stability, for strengthening non-proliferation regimes.
I would like to emphasize that attempts to break strategic parity are extremely dangerous and can lead to a global catastrophe. You cannot forget about this for a single second.
And of course, I count on the United States uniting its efforts in the fight against a real and not imaginary threat - international terrorism. This is precisely the task our military personnel are solving in Syria. Terrorists have suffered significant damage, the Russian army and navy have convincingly proven that they are capable of working effectively far from permanent locations.
By the way, we see the work that employees of special services and units are doing inside the country to combat terrorism. We also have losses there. All this, of course, is in the field of our attention. We will continue this work. I would like to thank all our military personnel for their professionalism and nobility, courage and bravery, for the fact that you - soldiers of Russia - value your honor and the honor of Russia.
Dear Colleagues! When people feel they are right and act united, they confidently follow their chosen path. It has not been easy for us in recent years, but these trials have made us even stronger, truly stronger, and helped us better and more clearly identify the areas in which we need to act even more persistently and energetically.
By overcoming current difficulties, we created the basis for further movement forward and did not stop working on the development agenda, which is extremely important. That is, we did not delve into some of the little details of the current day, we did not deal only with the problems of survival, we thought about the development agenda and ensured it. And today it is this agenda that is becoming the main one, coming to the fore.
The future of the country depends only on us, on the work and talent of all our citizens, on their responsibility and success. And we will definitely achieve the goals set before us and solve the problems of today and tomorrow.
Thank you very much for your attention.
The Russian Anthem is played.
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO THE FEDERAL ASSEMBLY
[Message from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation]
Dear citizens of Russia! Dear members of the Federation Council and deputies of the State Duma!
Today’s Message is of a special, milestone nature, just like the time in which we live, when the significance of our choice, the significance of every step and deed are exceptionally high, because they determine the fate of our country for decades to come.
It was at such turning points that Russia more than once proved its ability to develop, to renew itself, to develop lands, build cities, conquer space, and make grandiose discoveries. This constant focus on the future, a fusion of traditions and values, ensured the continuity of our thousand-year history.
We also went through large-scale, difficult transformations, coped with completely new and very complex economic and social challenges, maintained the unity of the country, and established ourselves as a democratic society on a free, independent path.
We have ensured sustainability and stability in almost all spheres of life, and this is critically important for our huge multinational country, with a complex federal structure, with a diversity of cultures, with the memory of historical fault lines and the most difficult trials that befell Russia.
However, sustainability is the basis, but not a guarantee of further development. We have no right to allow the achieved stability to lead to complacency. Moreover, many problems are still far from being resolved.
Russia today is one of the leading powers with powerful foreign economic and defense potential. But from the point of view of the most important task of ensuring the quality of life and well-being of people, we, of course, have not yet reached the level we need. But we must do it and we will do it.
The role and position of the state in the modern world are determined not only and not so much by natural resources and production capacities - I have already spoken about this - but, above all, by people, the conditions for the development, self-realization, and creativity of each person. Therefore, at the heart of everything is the conservation of the people of Russia and the well-being of our citizens. This is where we need to make a decisive breakthrough.
I repeat: a solid foundation has been created for this. And therefore today we can set and solve problems of a new level. We already have experience in implementing large-scale programs and social projects. Our economy has shown its stability, and the achieved stable macroeconomic situation opens up new opportunities for breakthrough development and long-term growth.
And finally, the world today is accumulating enormous technological potential, which makes it possible to make a real breakthrough in improving the quality of life of people, in modernizing the economy, infrastructure and public administration. How effectively we can use the colossal opportunities of the technological revolution, how we respond to its challenge, depends only on us. And in this sense, the coming years will be decisive for the future of the country. Let me emphasize this: they are decisive.
I'll explain why. What I’m about to say has absolutely nothing to do with the internal political cycle or even with the presidential elections. No matter who is elected president, every citizen of Russia, all of us together must feel and understand what is happening in the world, around us and what challenges we face.
The fact is that the rate of technological change is increasing rapidly and is going up sharply. Whoever harnesses this technological wave will be far ahead. Those who cannot do this will simply be overwhelmed and drowned by this wave.
Technological backwardness and dependence mean a decrease in the security and economic capabilities of the country, and as a result, a loss of sovereignty. This is exactly how things stand, and not otherwise. The lag inevitably leads to weakening and erosion of human potential. Because new jobs, modern companies, attractive life prospects will be created in other, successful countries, where young, educated, talented people will go, and with them society will lose vitality and energy for development.
I repeat: changes in the world are of a civilizational nature. And the scale of this challenge requires us to respond equally strongly. We are ready to give this answer. We are ready for a real breakthrough.
This confidence is based on those significant results, although outwardly perhaps not so bright, nevertheless on the results that we have already achieved together, on the cohesion of Russian society and, most importantly, on the colossal potential of Russia, our talented, creative people .
To move forward and develop dynamically, we must expand the space of freedom, in all areas, strengthen the institutions of democracy, local self-government, civil society structures, courts, and be a country open to the world, new ideas and initiatives.
Long overdue, difficult, but extremely necessary decisions need to be made. Cut off everything that slows down our movement, prevents people from opening up to their full potential and realizing themselves. We must concentrate all our resources, gather all our strength into a fist, and show the will for daring, effective work.
If we don’t do this, there will be no future for us, our children, or our country. And the question is not that someone will come, seize and destroy our land. No, that's not the point at all. It is the lag that is the main threat and our enemy. And if we don’t turn the situation around, it will inevitably intensify. It’s like a serious chronic disease that tirelessly, step by step, undermines and destroys the body from the inside. The body often does not feel this.
We need to ensure such creative power, such dynamics of development that no obstacles will prevent us from moving forward confidently and independently. We ourselves must and will determine our future.
Dear Colleagues!
What should be our priority? I repeat: I consider the main, key factor of development to be the well-being of people and prosperity in Russian families.
Let me remind you that in 2000, 42 million people were below the poverty line, that’s almost 30 percent - 29 percent of the country’s population. In 2012, we managed to reduce this level to 10 percent.
Due to the effects of the economic crisis, poverty has risen again. Today, 20 million citizens face it. Of course, this is not 42 million, as it was in 2000, but it is also unacceptably high. Even some working people live very modestly.
For the first time in modern history, we were able to equate the minimum wage to the subsistence level. This norm will come into effect on May 1, 2018, which will have a positive impact on the incomes of about four million people. This is an important step, but not a fundamental solution to the problem.
We need to seriously update the employment structure, which today is largely ineffective and archaic, to give people good jobs that motivate, bring prosperity, allow them to realize themselves, and create modern, decently paid jobs. On this basis, we must solve one of the key tasks for the coming decade - to ensure confident, long-term growth in real incomes of citizens, and in six years to at least halve the poverty level.
The entire system of social assistance must be built on the principles of fairness and targeting. We talk about this a lot, but it has to be done eventually. It should be received by citizens and families who really need it.
In previous years, thanks to active support for family, motherhood, and childhood, we were able to reverse negative demographic trends: we achieved an increase in the birth rate and a decrease in mortality, and managed to smooth out the consequences of two severe, overlapping demographic failures during the Great Patriotic War and the end of the last century. As you can see in the graphs, this, unfortunately, turned out to be approximately the same in terms of the level of fertility decline. But today the demographic losses of the 90s are inevitably making themselves felt. This is primarily a decrease in the birth rate, as the small generation of the 90s begins to create families. This is simply an objective fact.
The demographic problem also has an economic dimension, a purely economic dimension. In 2017, for example, the working-age population fell by almost a million. This downward trend will continue in the coming years, which could become a serious constraint on economic growth. There are simply no labor resources. It is necessary to respond to these challenges and ensure sustainable natural growth of Russia's population in the coming decade.
Our demographic policy has proven its effectiveness. And we continued and expanded it. We extended the maternity capital program and provided targeted payments for the birth of the first, second and third children. Over five years, over half a million families with children will be able to improve their living conditions with the help of preferential mortgages. A program to update children's clinics and children's outpatient departments in hospitals is also being launched.
Despite a number of remaining issues, the problem with kindergartens has been generally resolved. Now we need to provide all families who need places in nurseries. Thus, to give young mothers the opportunity to continue their education or, if someone wants, to go to work as quickly as possible without losing their qualifications. Over three years, more than 270 thousand places in nurseries should be created. To solve this problem, we will provide financial support to the regions in the amount of about 50 billion rubles from the federal budget.
In general, over the next six years we will need to allocate at least 3.4 trillion rubles for demographic development measures and for the protection of motherhood and childhood. This is a large, but not prohibitive, realistic figure; it is 40 percent more than in the previous six years. In 2012-2017, we allocated 2.47 trillion rubles for these purposes.
Our moral duty is to fully support the older generation, who have made a huge contribution to the development of the country. Older people should have decent conditions for an active, healthy longevity. The main thing is that we must achieve an increase in pensions, ensure their regular indexation, and above the rate of inflation. We will also strive to reduce the gap between the size of the pension and the salary that a person had before retirement. And of course, we need to improve the quality of medical and social services for older people and help those who are lonely and find themselves in difficult life situations.
Solving all these issues requires an integrated approach. I believe that the future, the new government will have to prepare a special program for systemic support and improving the quality of life of older people.
Every person is important and valuable to us, so that he feels needed, lives a long and, most importantly, healthy life, enjoys his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so that children grow up and become successful in a strong, dynamic, successful country that is reaching new frontiers of development.
Russia must not only firmly gain a foothold in the top five largest economies in the world, but also increase its per capita GDP by one and a half times by the middle of the next decade. This is a very difficult task. I am confident that we are ready to solve this problem.
The most important basic indicator of the well-being of citizens and the country is, of course, life expectancy. Let me remind you that in 2000 in Russia it was a little over 65 years old, and for men it was generally less than 60. This is not just small, it is a tragedy, tragically small.
In recent years, the growth rate of average life expectancy in Russia is one of the highest in the world. We managed to achieve this. Life expectancy has increased by more than seven years and is 73 years. But this, of course, is not enough. Today we must set ourselves a goal of a fundamentally new level. By the end of the next decade, Russia should confidently enter the club of “80 plus” countries, where life expectancy exceeds 80 years. These include countries such as Japan, France, and Germany.
At the same time, the duration of a healthy, active, full life, when a person is not limited or constrained by illness, should increase at a faster pace. I am convinced that this goal, given the positive dynamics of past years, is achievable. And for this, all of Russia, of course, has to take a big step in its development so that the life of every person changes qualitatively.
Dear Colleagues!
We need to create a modern living environment and transform our cities and towns. At the same time, it is important that they preserve their identity and historical heritage. We already have successful experience in updating the urban environment and infrastructure. I want to get away from this now. This experience exists in Kazan, Vladivostok, and Sochi. Many regional capitals and small towns are changing. We basically learned how to do this.
I propose to launch a large-scale program for the spatial development of Russia, including the development of cities and other populated areas, and to at least double spending for these purposes in the next six years.
It is clear that the development of cities and towns is associated with a comprehensive solution to many other problems: healthcare, education, ecology, transport. All this will also require additional funding. I will talk about this a little later in the relevant sections of the Message today.
The renewal of the urban environment should be based on the widespread introduction of advanced technologies and materials in construction, modern architectural solutions, the use of digital technologies in the work of social facilities, public transport, and utilities, which will also ensure the transparency and efficiency of the housing and communal services system so that citizens receive quality services and did not overpay for them.
Such a large-scale project means new economic and social prospects for people, a modern living environment, for cultural and civic initiatives, for small businesses and start-ups. All this will serve to create a massive, active middle class in Russia.
A lot will depend, of course, on city and local authorities, on their openness to advanced ideas. From readiness to respond to requests from residents of different generations, families with children, pensioners, and the disabled. The opinion of people on what their city or town should be like should be decisive. We have talked about this more than once, including at meetings with municipal leaders. Today I am not saying this for show and I would like to ask you to draw the attention of managers at all levels to this.
It is important that urban development becomes a driving force for the entire country. The active, dynamic life of Russia, with its vast territory, cannot be concentrated in several megacities. Large cities must spread their energy and serve as a support for the balanced, harmonious spatial development of all of Russia.
For this, modern infrastructure is urgently needed. I’ll say more about this separately. But it is obvious that it is the developed communications that will allow residents of small towns and villages to conveniently use all the opportunities and modern services that are available in large centers, and the small settlements themselves will be closely integrated into the general social and economic space of Russia. At the same time, we will also support initiatives that will allow our small towns and settlements to preserve their identity and reveal their unique potential in a new way.
We will pay special attention to the social and infrastructural development of rural areas. The Russian agro-industrial complex has already become a globally competitive industry. The life of the people who ensure this success with their work should be just as modern.
Dear Colleagues!
I understand how important it is for a person, for every family, to have their own home, their own housing. For our country this is a problem of problems. It stretches from decade to decade. How many times they promised it and tried, sincerely tried to solve it. And we can and must do this.
In 2017, three million families in Russia improved their living conditions. Now we need to steadily (note, for the first time in the history of modern Russia) reach a level where every year at least five million families improve their living conditions. It's a challenge to jump from three million to five. Last year we had 3.1 million, but we need five. But this is a solvable problem.
I see three key factors for increasing housing affordability. The first is the growth of citizens' incomes. I spoke about this, we must ensure this. A reduction in mortgage lending rates and, of course, an increase in supply in the housing market.
Let me remind you - now this has already been forgotten - that in 2001, how many mortgage loans were issued throughout Russia, do you think? Four thousand. Four thousand mortgages. The rate reached 30 percent, including in foreign currency. More than half of the loans, by the way, were issued in foreign currency. Only a few could take advantage of a mortgage. Last year, dear colleagues, about a million mortgage loans were issued. In December, the average rate in rubles dropped below 10 percent for the first time.
Of course, we also know this well; in each specific case, the cost and other terms of the loan are individual. But overall, we need to further reduce the average rate to 7-8 percent. We argued for a long time about what number to name from this podium. But we should certainly strive for 7 percent, that’s for sure. Over the next six years, mortgages should become affordable for the majority of Russian families, for the majority of working citizens, and for young professionals.
And a few more numbers. In the 50-70s of the last century, on average, about 60 million square meters of housing were built and commissioned in the country per year. By the end of the 80s they approached 70 million. Today in Russia about 80 million square meters are built annually. It was, however, a little more in some years, but on average 80 million. We need to reach new heights and strive to increase construction volumes from today’s 80 to 120 million square meters per year. The goal is very ambitious, but also absolutely realistic, if we take into account new technologies, the experience that our construction companies have acquired, and new materials. This movement from 80 to 120 is possible and necessary. I'll tell you why. If we want 5 million families a year to receive new housing, then we need to build 120 million.
People who invest their money in housing construction must be reliably protected. From shared construction it is necessary to gradually switch to project financing, when the risks are assumed by developers and banks, and not by citizens.
I also propose returning to the property tax on individuals. It must be fair and feasible for citizens.
When some colleagues, including those sitting in this room, convinced us, including me, to use the market value of real estate when calculating this tax, they said that the old, outdated BTI assessments are an anachronism. However, in reality it turned out that the cadastral value, which supposedly should correspond to the market value, often significantly exceeds it. But this was not agreed upon, and people did not expect this from us.
It is necessary to clarify the mechanisms for calculating tax, as well as determining the cadastral value of real estate. In any case, it should not exceed the real market value. All decisions must be made as quickly as possible in the first half of this year.
Dear Colleagues!
To develop cities and towns, increase business activity, and ensure the “connectedness” of the country, we need to literally “wire” the entire territory of Russia with modern communications.
In just a few months, automobile traffic will open along the Crimean Bridge, and next year, railway traffic will open. This will give impetus to the development of Crimea and the entire Russian Black Sea region.
We have seriously updated federal highways. Now we need to put regional and local roads in order. I won’t give numbers now, but I know about it. Federal highways have indeed been put in order to a large extent. The situation is a little worse with regional ones. And the locals are no good at all. I appeal to the heads of regions and cities: the condition of the roads should be constantly in the center of your attention. It is necessary to increase the quality and volume of road construction, to use new technologies and solutions, infrastructure mortgages, and life cycle contracts.
And of course, our most important task is to increase road safety and reduce mortality from road accidents to a minimum.
In total, over the next six years it is necessary to practically double the costs of construction and improvement of Russian highways, and to allocate more than 11 trillion rubles from all sources for these purposes. This is a lot, bearing in mind that in 2012-2017 we allocated 6.4 trillion rubles for these purposes, which is also a large figure, but 11 are needed.
Powerful Eurasian transport arteries will be developed. Construction of a highway is already underway, which will become an important part of the Europe-Asia-Pacific corridor. By the way, our partners from China and Kazakhstan - we are doing this together with them - have already completed their part of the work. Their sites are already in use. And we need to seriously accelerate.
Over six years, the throughput of the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railways will increase by one and a half times, to 180 million tons. Containers will be delivered from Vladivostok to the western border of Russia in seven days. This is one of the infrastructure projects that will provide quick economic returns. There is cargo there, and all investments will pay off very quickly and will contribute to the development of these territories.
The volume of transit container traffic on our railways should increase almost fourfold. This means that our country will be one of the world leaders in the transit of containers between Europe and Asia.
In 1990, the port capacity of the entire Soviet Union reached 600 million tons. Due to the collapse of the country, we lost almost half. In the early 2000s, the capacity of Russian ports was only 300 million tons. In 17 years, we have tripled it. At the beginning of last year, for the first time in history, the total capacity of Russian ports exceeded the 1 billion ton mark. This, as you can see in the graphs, is two-thirds more than the indicators for the entire USSR. By the way, this is the figure at the beginning of the year, now it is already 1 billion 25 million tons. Growing constantly.
The key to the development of the Russian Arctic and the regions of the Far East will be the Northern Sea Route. By 2025, its cargo traffic will increase tenfold, to 80 million tons. Our task is to make it a truly global, competitive transport artery. Please note that in Soviet times they used it more actively than we did in the previous one. But we will build up and reach new milestones. There is no doubt about it.
We will continue our active policy of attracting investment and forming centers of social and economic growth in the Far East. We will create all the conditions so that people live here comfortably, come here, so that the population of the Far Eastern regions increases.
A number of large-scale industrial projects have already been launched in the Arctic. They meet the strictest environmental standards. We are strengthening the scientific, transport, navigation, and military infrastructure, which will reliably ensure Russia’s interests in this strategically important region. We are building modern nuclear icebreakers. Our Arctic fleet was, remains and will be the most powerful in the world.
We have to reconstruct and expand the network of regional airports in Russia. In six years, half of interregional flights will be direct. The situation when even to neighboring regions you need to fly through Moscow will largely remain a thing of the past. We are already doing this. This applies to both the aviation and airport components.
Based on the Spatial Development Strategy, it is necessary to prepare a comprehensive plan for the modernization and expansion of the entire backbone infrastructure of the country. I consider this one of the top priorities for the future government.
Russia should become not only a key logistics and transport hub of the planet, but also, I emphasize, one of the world centers for storing, processing, transmitting and reliable protection of information arrays, the so-called big data.
In general, when developing infrastructure, it is necessary to take into account global technological changes, that is, today we need to incorporate into projects specific solutions that will allow us to combine infrastructure with unmanned vehicles, digital maritime and air navigation, and organize logistics using artificial intelligence.
It is also necessary to introduce new technologies for generating, storing and transmitting energy. In the next six years, it is planned to attract about 1.5 trillion rubles of private investment in the renewal of the domestic electric power industry. Electric power systems across the country must switch to a digital mode of operation. With the help of so-called distributed generation, it is necessary to solve the issue of energy supply to remote areas.
By 2024, we will provide almost universal fast Internet access. The construction of fiber-optic communication lines will be completed to most settlements with a population of more than 250 people, and remote, small settlements of the Far North, Siberia and the Far East will receive stable access through the Russian satellite network.
With the help of advanced telecommunications, we will open up all the possibilities of the digital world to our citizens. And this is not only modern services, online education, telemedicine, which in itself is extremely important, we understand this. But, in addition, people will be able to create scientific, volunteer teams, project groups, and companies in the digital space. For our vast country, such a combination of talents, competencies, and ideas is a colossal breakthrough resource.
Dear Colleagues!
The most important task that concerns everyone is the availability of modern, high-quality medical care. We must focus here on the highest world standards.
In 2019-2024, an average of more than 4 percent of GDP will need to be spent annually on the development of the healthcare system from all sources. But we should certainly strive for 5 percent. In absolute terms, this would mean that overall health spending would have to double. At the same time, it is necessary to find additional opportunities for financing that would not restrain economic growth.
I would like to thank the doctors, paramedics, and nurses for their difficult and much needed work. Very, very much depends on these people, just like teachers, educators, and cultural workers, and they must receive decent wages.
Much has been done during the implementation of the May 2012 decrees. I must say that there are some shortcomings, but in general, no matter how high the standards of these decrees are raised, if they were not there, then there would not be the results that we have today. Ambitious goals should always be set.
And here we cannot deviate from the already achieved milestones, I mean now the level of wages. The size of salaries in the public sector should continue to grow, as well as the quality of work, the level of training of specialists in healthcare, education, and other areas that determine the well-being of people.
In recent years, the network of medical institutions has been optimized. This was done in order to build an effective healthcare system. But in a number of cases, I simply have to say this today, they clearly got carried away with administrative reforms: they began to close medical institutions in small towns and rural areas. They didn’t offer any alternatives; they left people practically without medical care, offering nothing in return. There is only one piece of advice: “Go to the city and get treatment there!” This is absolutely unacceptable, I want to say. They forgot about the main thing - about people. About their interests and needs. Finally, about equal opportunity and justice.
This should not be the case in healthcare or any other field. It is necessary to ensure, and where necessary, restore, truly within walking distance in primary healthcare. After all, it can be done, but it had to be done from the very beginning, when they were engaged in transformation.
Now we need to do it as quickly as possible. In settlements with a population of 100 to 2000 people, paramedic and obstetric centers and medical outpatient clinics should be created during 2018-2020. And for settlements where less than 100 people live, we also have these, organize mobile medical complexes, off-road vehicles with all the necessary diagnostic equipment.
It is necessary to keep control over the implementation of these tasks. I consider them extremely important. And I also ask the All-Russian Popular Front to be in contact with citizens and monitor the situation on the ground. At the same time, clinics and medical and obstetric centers, regional healthcare institutions and leading medical centers must be connected into a single digital circuit so that the forces of the entire national healthcare system are involved in helping each person.
The most important task is disease prevention. In the 90s, such work was practically not carried out. We started to restore it. It is necessary to ensure that all citizens have a real opportunity to undergo a high-quality preventive examination at least once a year. This is also important for developing a responsible attitude towards one’s own health.
Modern diagnostics will reduce mortality in working age and consolidate positive dynamics in the fight against diseases of the cardiovascular system. We have such dynamics, this is very good. But this should also force such a threat as cancer to retreat.
I think that, dear colleagues, almost each of us has relatives, friends, and relatives who have been struck by this misfortune - cancer. I propose to implement a special national program to combat cancer, actively involve science and the domestic pharmaceutical industry in solving this problem, modernize oncology centers, build a modern comprehensive system, from early diagnosis to timely effective treatment, which will protect people. We have positive experience. In terms of all the key indicators that demonstrate the effectiveness of oncological care - and specialists know them well - we must reach the modern, highest level we need.
Dear Colleagues!
To preserve people's health, medical efforts alone will not be enough. We must ensure high standards of environmental well-being throughout Russia.
It is difficult to talk about a long and healthy life if millions of people are still forced to drink water that does not meet standards, if black snow falls, as in Krasnoyarsk, and residents of large industrial centers do not see the sun for weeks due to smog, as in Cherepovets, Nizhny Tagil, Chelyabinsk, Novokuznetsk and some other cities.
We have now tightened environmental requirements for enterprises, which will certainly reduce industrial emissions. From 2019, 300 industrial enterprises that have a significant negative impact on the environment must switch to environmentally friendly, best available technologies, and from 2021, all enterprises with a high category of environmental risk must do this.
We have "stepped up to the plate" many times, with industry representatives continually citing the challenges they face. That's it, there is nowhere to retreat further. I want everyone to know: there will be no more postponements.
It will also be necessary to modernize thermal power plants, boiler houses, and public utilities, to relieve cities of transit traffic congestion through the construction of bypasses, and to use environmentally friendly types of public transport. Today in Russia, government authorities and social activists have identified about 22 thousand landfills. We need to solve this problem and, first of all, first of all, at least remove and reclaim landfills within cities.
The quality of drinking water needs to be significantly improved. In some small towns it is still served hourly. It is important to involve the technologies available in the defense-industrial complex in solving these problems.
Projects will be implemented to preserve the unique natural systems of Baikal, Lake Teletskoye, as well as the entire Volga basin, which will directly affect the improvement of the quality of life of almost half of the Russian population.
24 new nature reserves and national parks will open. It is necessary to make them available for eco-tourism, which is important for fostering a careful, responsible attitude towards nature.
Dear Colleagues!
2018 has been declared the Year of the Volunteer in Russia, and it is symbolic that this year began with the adoption of a law that establishes the obligation of all levels of government to assist volunteers. Today, active, caring citizens and socially oriented NGOs are actively involved in solving important problems. It is the involvement of people in the affairs of the country and civic activity, as well as cultural, moral, spiritual values, that make us a united people capable of achieving great goals.
Preserving one’s identity is extremely important in the turbulent age of technological change, and here it is impossible to overestimate the role of culture, which is our national civilizational code and reveals the creative principles in a person.
I propose to launch a program to create cultural, educational and museum complexes in the regions. They will include concert halls, theater, music, choreography and other creative schools, as well as exhibition spaces where the country's leading museums will be able to display their exhibitions. Why keep so many works of art in storage? These should be real centers of cultural life, open to young people, to people of all ages. The first such project will be implemented in Vladivostok. Then we will select other regions and cities of the country.
Dear Colleagues! Our children dream of a Russia looking to the future. In school essays on this topic there are many sincere, I would say, heartfelt words. Bold dreams always work towards a greater goal, and we must unleash the talent that every child has and help him realize his aspirations. The future of Russia is being shaped in classrooms. The school must respond to the challenges of the time, then the country will be ready to respond to them.
International experts recognize that our primary school is already one of the strongest in the world. We will continue to actively work to develop our general education, at all levels. At the same time, I would like to emphasize: modern, high-quality education should be available to every child. Equal educational opportunities are a powerful resource for the development of the country and ensuring social justice.
It is necessary to move to fundamentally new ones, including individual learning technologies, to instill from an early age a readiness for change, for creative search, to teach teamwork, which is very important in the modern world, and life skills in the digital era. We will definitely support talented teachers who are focused on constant professional growth. And, of course, we need to build an open, modern system for selecting and training management personnel and school principals. The formation of strong teaching teams and the atmosphere in the school largely depend on them.
We will continue to strengthen the holistic system of support and development of the creative abilities and talents of our children. Such a system should cover the entire territory of the country, integrating the capabilities of such sites as Sirius, Quantoriums, centers for additional education and children's creativity in all regions of Russia.
We need to build modern career guidance. Here universities, research teams, and successful companies should become partners of schools. I propose to launch a project for early career guidance for schoolchildren, “Ticket to the Future,” starting with the new school year. It will allow the children to try themselves in business, in their future profession in the leading companies of the country. Already this year we are allocating 1 billion rubles for this initiative.
I consider the development of the mentoring movement to be a significant task. Only in this way, by combining advanced knowledge and moral principles, ensuring true partnership and mutual understanding between generations, can we be strong.
Dear Colleagues!
Today, the most important competitive advantage is knowledge, technology, and competencies. This is the key to a real breakthrough, to improving the quality of life.
As soon as possible, we need to create an advanced legislative framework, remove all barriers to the development and widespread use of robotics, artificial intelligence, unmanned vehicles, e-commerce, and big data processing technologies. Moreover, such a regulatory framework must be constantly updated and built on a flexible approach to each area and technology.
We are also well positioned to quickly implement fifth-generation data networks and Internet of Things communications technologies.
We need to create our own digital platforms, naturally compatible with the global information space. This will make it possible to organize production processes, financial services and logistics in a new way, including using “distributed registry” technology, which is very important for financial transactions, for recording property rights, and so on. This has a practical dimension.
We need to establish the development and localization of key technologies and solutions, including for the development of the Arctic and the sea shelf, for new systems in the energy sector, transport and urban management. For areas that determine the quality of life, for example, modern means of rehabilitation for people with disabilities.
We are obliged to support high-tech companies, build a favorable environment for start-ups, for the rapid introduction of new developments into production. We are talking about convenient infrastructure, comfortable tax regimes, intellectual property protection, technical regulation and venture financing.
Our technological development must be based on a strong base of fundamental science. In recent years, we have been able to seriously increase its potential and have taken leading positions in a number of areas. Much credit here belongs to the Russian Academy of Sciences, our leading scientific institutes.
Building on the foundations of past years, including in the research infrastructure, we need to reach a fundamentally new level. Projects of modern megascience class research facilities are already being implemented in Gatchina and Dubna. Recently, the Council for Science and Education decided to create a powerful synchrotron accelerator in the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok and a new generation accelerator in Protvino, near Moscow.
As a result, Russian research infrastructure will be one of the most powerful and efficient in the world. Its use will give our research teams and high-tech companies serious competitive advantages, for example, in the creation of modern medicines, new materials, and microelectronics components.
And of course, such infrastructure and ambitious scientific projects will attract our compatriots and scientists from other countries. In this regard, it is necessary to quickly create a legal basis for the work of international research teams in Russia.
Powerful scientific and educational centers should be fully operational. They will integrate the capabilities of universities, academic institutions, and high-tech companies. Such centers are already being formed in Kazan and Samara, Tomsk and Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Tyumen, Vladivostok and Kaliningrad and other cities.
It is important to focus them on the implementation of large interdisciplinary projects, including in such a promising area as genomic research. A fundamental breakthrough in this area will open the way to the creation of new methods for diagnosing, preventing and combating many diseases, and will expand opportunities in breeding and agriculture.
It is necessary to consolidate the superiority of the domestic mathematical school. This is a strong competitive advantage in the era of the digital economy. International mathematical centers will also become platforms for such work. Today they are already operating in Kazan and Novosibirsk. As part of the decisions made, we will open them in St. Petersburg, Moscow and, additionally, in Sochi.
Russian youth are already proving their leadership in science and other areas. Last year, schoolchildren won 38 medals at international competitions. Our teams triumphantly won Olympiads in natural sciences and robotics, won the world championship in professional skills, and our students became the strongest in programming for the twelfth time.
Based on the best practices and experience, we need to modernize the vocational education system in a short time, achieve qualitative changes in the training of students, primarily in advanced areas of technological development, create an “applied bachelor’s degree” level for those blue-collar professions that actually require engineering education, as well as organize centers for advanced professional retraining and advanced training for already working citizens.
I also propose to create the most convenient and attractive conditions for talented young people from other countries to come to study at our universities. They are coming. But we need to create conditions so that the best foreign graduates of our universities remain to work in Russia. This fully applies to foreign scientists and qualified specialists.
I believe that it is necessary to seriously improve the procedure for granting citizenship of the Russian Federation. The focus should be on those who the country needs: young, healthy, well-educated people. A simplified system for obtaining citizenship in Russia needs to be created for them.
Dear Colleagues!
In order to ensure breakthrough development, to bring education and healthcare, the quality of the urban environment and infrastructure to a new level, in the next six years we will need to allocate significant additional financial resources for these purposes.
Question: due to what? How are you planning to find these funds? First of all, we need to clearly set priorities and increase the efficiency of government spending. More energetically attract private resources to finance large projects. Also, the future government will have to create new tax conditions as quickly as possible. They must be stable and fixed for the coming years.
Let me emphasize that we need fiscal decisions that will ensure the replenishment of budgets at all levels, as well as the fulfillment of all social obligations, and at the same time will not restrain, but stimulate economic growth. It is the building up of the economic potential of the country and each region that is the main source of additional resources. To do this, we need an economy with growth rates above the world's. Not an easy task. But this is not a good wish, but a basic condition for a breakthrough in solving social, infrastructure, defense and other problems. Achieving such growth rates should be a key benchmark for the new Government.
In recent years, we have strengthened the stability of the national economy. The dependence of the economy and budget on fluctuations in energy prices has significantly decreased. We have increased the volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves. Inflation has dropped to a record low of just over two percent. Of course, you and I understand that for a number of essential goods, price increases remain significantly higher. This needs to be strictly monitored and closely monitored, including by the antimonopoly service. But in general, such a low level of inflation provides additional opportunities for development. Let me remind you that back in 2015, quite recently, inflation was almost 13 percent - 12.9 percent.
In Russia today, in fact, a new macroeconomic reality has been formed, with low inflation and overall economic stability. For citizens, this is a condition for increasing real incomes and reducing the cost of mortgages. For business - predictability in work and cheaper credit. Business must also adapt and get used to these new macroeconomic conditions. And finally, it makes it possible to attract long-term debt and private investment in large-scale infrastructure projects.
Now we have the opportunity, without accelerating inflation and maintaining a very careful, responsible approach, to gradually reduce interest rates and increase the availability of credit. I count here on the support of the Bank of Russia, that when making its decisions, implementing monetary policy measures, developing financial markets, it will work in contact with the government in the interests of a common goal - creating conditions for increasing the rate of economic growth.
To further change the structure of the national economy and increase its competitiveness, it is necessary to use sources of growth at a fundamentally different level. Where are they? First of all, increase labor productivity on a new technological, managerial and personnel basis. In this indicator, we are still noticeably behind.
It is necessary to ensure that labor productivity in medium and large enterprises in basic industries (industry, construction, transport, agriculture and trade) grows at a rate of at least 5 percent per year, which will allow it to reach the level of the world's leading economies by the end of the next decade.
I would like to emphasize that an increase in labor productivity also means an increase in wages, and therefore in consumer demand. This, in turn, is an additional driver for economic development.
All our actions should push companies to produce technically complex products and to introduce more efficient technologies. It is necessary to take an inventory of subsidies and other instruments of direct support for industries, and aim them at creating competitive goods.
The second source of growth is increased investment. We have already set the goal of bringing them to 25 percent of GDP, and then to 27 percent. The problem, unfortunately, has not yet been solved. To ensure sustainable growth, we need to do this, do it at all costs. I hope that the new government, together with the Bank of Russia, will present a specific action plan in this area.
Investments should go primarily to the modernization and technological re-equipment of production and industrial renewal. We need to ensure the highest dynamics here, to reach a level where, on average, every second enterprise makes technological changes during the year. Then the renewal of the economy and industry will be noticeable.
The third large-scale reserve of economic growth is the development of small businesses. By the middle of the next decade, its contribution to the country's GDP should approach 40 percent, and the number of people employed here should grow from 19 to 25 million people.
One of the key problems that worries entrepreneurs is the difficulty of gaining access to financial resources. The government is currently implementing a program under which small manufacturing businesses can take out loans at an effective interest rate of 6.5 percent. I believe that it must be continued, and most importantly, ensure the real availability of such a support tool.
And finally, another source of growth is the development of non-resource exports. It is necessary to remove all administrative barriers here and create a most favored nation regime for those companies that enter foreign markets.
Within six years, we must practically double the volume of non-resource, non-energy exports to $250 billion, including increasing the supply of mechanical engineering products to $50 billion. Annual exports of services, including education, medicine, tourism, and transport, should increase to $100 billion.
Back in the early 2000s, we were seriously dependent on imported food supplies. The situation has changed dramatically. Now we have to take the next step. In just four years, we plan to supply more food to world markets than we import into the country. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the export of meat products and high value-added goods, as well as increase the country’s self-sufficiency in beef, milk, and vegetables.
I want to emphasize: the development of the agro-industrial complex is, of course, largely connected with large-scale commodity production, but this should not be to the detriment of the interests of small farms and the people who work in them. We must support family businesses, farmers. We will develop agricultural cooperation and create conditions for income growth for residents of rural areas. Here and there, we see, I know this, some problems break out related to the interests of people and the fact that these interests are affected. We need to be very careful about this.
Nevertheless, I would like to once again thank the agricultural workers for the record [grain] harvest in the entire history of the country - 134 million tons. Note that this is more than the record harvest in the Soviet Union. The previous achievement was recorded in 1978 - 127.4 million tons. Now we regularly reach harvests of 100 million tons.
It is clear that such a high yield also has a downside. Prices have dropped, and problems with storage and transportation have arisen. To support our producers, until July 1, 2018, preferential tariffs are provided for grain transportation by rail.
It is necessary to work out the extension of this measure, necessarily, for the next grain seasons, as well as to provide for additional purchases in the regions of the Urals and Siberia, remote from the ports, and in general help those who are ready and want to engage in processing locally. The added value needs to be increased. And then further go into livestock farming with this product. We will definitely discuss these and other questions raised by agricultural workers at the upcoming forum of agricultural producers in March and, based on the results, we will formulate additional measures to support the industry.
Dear Colleagues!
In order for the economy to work at full strength, we need to radically improve the business climate and ensure the highest level of entrepreneurial freedom and competition.
I would like to outline a principled position here. The state's share in the economy should gradually decline. In this regard, I would like to note that recently, as a result of the rehabilitation of the banking system (and this is a very correct process, I support it), a number of financial assets have come under state control. But they need to be vigorously brought to market and sold.
Everything that allows unscrupulous, corrupt government officials and law enforcement officials to put pressure on business should be removed. The Criminal Code must cease to be a tool for resolving economic conflicts between legal entities. Such disputes need to be transferred to the administrative and arbitration plane.
I ask the working group on monitoring and analysis of law enforcement practice in the field of entrepreneurship with the participation of the Supreme Court, law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor's office, and representatives of the business community to prepare specific proposals in this regard. Such issues cannot be resolved at the end of the day. But they definitely need to be considered, submitted for decision and resolved. This needs to be done as quickly as possible.
At the same time, on the contrary, the norms of criminal law must act strictly in relation to crimes against the interests of citizens, society, and economic freedoms. This is an encroachment on the property and funds of citizens, raider takeovers, violation of competition, tax evasion and theft of budget funds.
Another important topic. The number of various types of inspections formally seems to be decreasing, but during meetings with businesses we hear that fundamental changes have not yet occurred. It is necessary to ensure that the appearance of controllers at enterprises becomes an exception. This is only justified at sites with increased risk. In other cases, remote control methods should be used. Within two years, it is necessary to transfer the entire control and supervision system to a risk-based approach. Let me remind you that the legislative framework for this has been formed.
It is important to support aspiring entrepreneurs, to help people take the first step so that they can open their own business with just one click, make mandatory payments, receive services and loans remotely, via the Internet.
Individual entrepreneurs and self-employed citizens who use such digital services should be exempted from reporting altogether, and tax payment should be made a simple, automatic transaction for them. As for entrepreneurs who use cash register equipment, their tax reporting needs to be drastically simplified. You know, this is all such a routine, at first glance, but this routine does not allow us to move forward energetically. Everything must be done to clear this space. I will add that the active implementation of digital technologies and platforms will allow us to consistently move towards increasing transparency and whitewashing the economy.
I would now like to address all representatives of Russian business, those who run their own small business, family enterprise, farm, manage an innovative company, or a large industrial enterprise. I know, I know, we still have a lot to do. And, I assure you, we will do everything to ensure that our entrepreneurs have new opportunities to expand production, to open companies, to create modern jobs. But at the same time, I expect that Russian business will increase its contribution to the breakthrough development of the country, and respect for entrepreneurial work in society will grow. It is very important.
Dear Colleagues! We need not only to build modern services for business, but also in general to make the system of interaction between the state and society, between the state and the citizen clear, convenient and comfortable.
We have already deployed a network of multifunctional centers. A person anywhere in the country can now receive government services on a one-stop-shop basis. Let me remind you that this was a special program. We developed and implemented it.
We need to move forward, within six years to ensure the provision of almost all government services in real time, using remote services. Also, document flow between government agencies needs to be digitized, which is important both for the government agencies themselves and for citizens, so as not to have to run around the Internet and search. It will be possible to get everything in one place. I will add that digitalization of the entire public administration system and increasing its transparency is also a powerful factor in combating corruption.
Officials at all levels should be interested in increasing their efficiency and be strictly focused on obtaining a specific result. By the way, we talk about corruption and officials all the time. I must say and I have no right not to say this: the vast majority of people who work in the management system are honest, decent and results-oriented people. But what I said will help everyone, including those who work in the government apparatus and citizens who use government services. It is in this logic that it is necessary to rebuild the entire civil service system, where appropriate, to introduce project-based work methods.
Of course, it is necessary to ensure the promotion of modern professional personnel in the state and municipal services, in business, in economics, science, in production, in all areas.
As you know, the first “Leaders of Russia” competition has already taken place, and a number of other projects are being implemented to support young workers, entrepreneurs, innovators, volunteers, schoolchildren and students. They have already united hundreds of thousands of young people from all regions and have become an important step in their lives and professional careers.
I want to emphasize: for everyone who wants to work, prove themselves, is ready to honestly serve the Fatherland and the people, and achieve success, Russia will always be a country of opportunities. This is the key to our successful development and confident movement forward.
All the projects and priorities that I spoke about today: spatial development, investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare and the environment, new technologies and science, measures to support the economy, promoting talent, youth - all this is designed to work towards one strategic goal - breakthrough development of Russia.
At the same time, of course, we cannot forget about the reliable provision of its security.
Dear Colleagues!
The Syrian operation showed the increased capabilities of the Russian Armed Forces. In recent years, a huge amount of work has been done to strengthen the army and navy. The equipment of the Armed Forces with modern weapons has increased 3.7 times. More than 300 new types of military equipment have been put into service. The strategic nuclear forces received 80 new intercontinental ballistic missiles, 102 ballistic missile submarines, and 3 Borei strategic missile submarines. 12 missile regiments have been re-equipped with the new Yars missile system. The number of carriers of long-range precision weapons has increased by more than 12 times, and high-precision cruise missiles by more than 30 times. The power of general purpose forces, the Aerospace Forces and the Navy has increased significantly.
The whole country and the whole world now know the names of our newest aircraft, submarines, air defense systems, sea-, air- and land-based missile systems. All these are the latest high-tech weapons of recent times. A continuous radar field of a missile attack warning system has been created along the perimeter of Russia’s borders (very important!). After the collapse of the USSR, huge “holes” appeared. Everything has been restored.
A qualitative breakthrough has been made in the development of unmanned aircraft, the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation has been created, and an operational command for the far sea zone has been formed. The number of contract servicemen has increased by 2.4 times, the strength of the Armed Forces has been increased from 70 percent to 95-100 percent, and the long-term waiting list for permanent housing has been eliminated. The waiting period has been reduced by 6 times.
Now about the main thing in this part, in the “Defense” section.
We will talk about the latest Russian strategic weapons systems, which we are creating in response to the unilateral withdrawal of the United States of America from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the practical deployment of this system both on the territory of the United States and beyond its national borders.
I must here make a short excursion into the recent past.
Back in 2000, the United States raised the issue of the United States withdrawing from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Russia was categorically against it. We proceeded from the fact that the Soviet-American ABM Treaty of 1972 was the cornerstone of the international security system. According to this agreement, each side had the right to deploy on its territory only one area that protected it from a missile attack. In Russia, such a system was deployed around Moscow, in the United States - around the Grand Forks ground-based missile base.
Along with the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Nuclear Offensive Arms, this agreement not only created a certain atmosphere of trust, but also guaranteed against the thoughtless use of nuclear weapons by one of the parties, dangerous for all humanity, since the limited missile defense systems made a potential aggressor vulnerable to a retaliatory strike.
We spent a long time trying to persuade the Americans not to destroy the ABM Treaty and not to upset the strategic balance. Everything is in vain. In 2002, the United States unilaterally withdrew from this treaty. But even after that, we tried for a long time to establish a constructive dialogue with them. They proposed to establish joint work in this area to alleviate concerns and maintain an atmosphere of trust. At some point it seemed to me that a compromise could be found, but no. All our proposals, precisely all our proposals, were rejected. We stated then that we would be forced to improve modern strike systems to ensure our own security. In response, we were told: “The United States is creating a global missile defense system not against you, not against Russia, but you do what you want. We will proceed from the fact that it is not against us, not against the United States.”
Where this position came from is generally clear. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia, which in Soviet times was called the Soviet Union - abroad it was called Soviet Russia - if we talk about our national borders, lost 23.8 percent of the territory, 48.5 percent of the population, 41 percent of the gross social product, 39.4 percent of industrial potential (I pay attention, almost half), 44.6 percent of military potential in connection with the division of the Armed Forces of the USSR between the former union republics. The equipment in the Russian army was outdated, the Armed Forces themselves were, frankly speaking, in a deplorable state. There was a civil war in the Caucasus, and American inspectors were at our leading uranium enrichment enterprises.
The question at one time was not even whether we could develop a strategic weapons system; some wondered whether our country was even able to safely maintain and maintain the nuclear weapons that we inherited after the collapse of the USSR. Russia was completely in debt; without loans from the IMF and the World Bank, the economy did not work, and it was impossible to maintain the social sphere.
Apparently, our partners have a strong opinion that the revival of the economy, industry, military-industrial complex and Armed Forces of our country to a level that provides the necessary strategic potential is impossible in the foreseeable historical future. And if this is so, then there is no point in taking into account Russia’s opinion; you need to go further and achieve a final unilateral military advantage, and then dictate your terms in all other areas.
In principle, such a position, such logic, based on the realities of that time, can be understood; we ourselves are to blame for this. All these years, all 15 years after the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, we persistently tried to return the Americans to a serious discussion and reach agreements in the field of strategic stability.
We managed to do something. In 2010, the START III Treaty was signed between Russia and the United States on measures to further reduce and limit strategic offensive weapons. However, with the implementation of plans for the construction of a global missile defense system, which continues now, all agreements within the framework of START III are gradually devalued, because with the reduction of carriers and warheads, simultaneously and uncontrollably by one of the parties, namely the United States, the number of interceptor missiles increases and their quality improves characteristics, new position areas are being created, which ultimately, if we do nothing, will lead to a complete devaluation of the Russian nuclear potential. Well, it will just be completely intercepted, that’s all.
Despite our numerous protests and appeals, the American machine started working, the assembly line started moving. There are already operational missile defense systems in Alaska and California, and as a result of NATO's expansion to the east, two missile defense areas have appeared in Eastern Europe: it has already been created in Romania, and deployment is being completed in Poland. The range of the interceptor missiles used will increase, and it is planned to deploy them in Japan and South Korea. The US global missile defense system also includes a naval group - five cruisers and 30 destroyers, as far as we know, deployed in areas in close proximity to Russian territory. I am not exaggerating anything here; work is still in full swing today.
What have we done besides protests and warnings? How did Russia respond to this challenge? Here's what.
All these years after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the ABM Treaty, we have been working hard on advanced equipment and weapons. This allowed us to take a rapid, big step in creating new types of strategic weapons.
Let me remind you that the US global missile defense system is being created mainly to combat strategic missiles flying along a ballistic trajectory. These weapons form the basis of our Nuclear Deterrence Force. Just like, indeed, other states of the “nuclear club”.
In this regard, Russia has developed and is constantly improving very modestly priced, but highly effective systems for penetrating missile defense, which are equipped with all of our intercontinental ballistic missile systems.
In addition, we have begun developing a new generation of rockets. In particular, at present, the Ministry of Defense, together with enterprises of the rocket and space industry, has begun the active phase of testing a new missile system with a heavy intercontinental missile. We called it "Sarmat".
This missile system will replace the Voevoda complex, created back in the Soviet Union. Everyone has always recognized his high combat power. Our foreign colleagues, as you know, even gave it a very threatening name.
But the capabilities of the Sarmat missile are much higher. Weighing over 200 tons, it has a short active flight segment, which makes it difficult to intercept by missile defense systems. The range of the new heavy missile, the number and power of warheads are greater than that of the Voevoda. Sarmat will be equipped with a wide range of high-power nuclear weapons, including hypersonic ones, and the most modern missile defense penetration systems. High security characteristics of launchers and high energy capabilities will ensure the use of this complex in any environmental conditions.
Show the video, please. (A video is shown.)
The Voevoda has a range of 11 thousand kilometers; the new system has virtually no range restrictions.
As can be seen from the video materials, it is capable of attacking targets through both the North and South Pole. "Sarmat" is a very formidable weapon; due to its characteristics, no missile defense system, even promising ones, is a hindrance to it.
But we didn't stop there. We have begun to develop new types of strategic weapons that do not use ballistic flight trajectories at all when moving towards a target, which means that missile defense systems are useless and simply pointless in the fight against them.
Russia's promising weapons systems are based on the latest unique achievements of our scientists, designers, and engineers. One of them is the creation of a small-sized, super-powerful nuclear power plant, which is placed in the body of a cruise missile such as our newest air-launched X-101 missile or the American Tomahawk, but at the same time provides tens of times - tens of times! - long flight range, which is practically unlimited. A low-flying, stealthy cruise missile carrying a nuclear warhead, with a virtually unlimited range, unpredictable flight path and the ability to bypass interception lines, is invulnerable to all existing and future missile defense and air defense systems. I will say these words more than once today.
At the end of 2017, the latest Russian cruise missile with a nuclear power plant was successfully launched at the Central Test Site of the Russian Federation. During the flight, the power plant reached the specified power and provided the required level of thrust.
The completed missile launch and a series of ground tests make it possible to move on to the creation of a fundamentally new type of weapon - a strategic nuclear weapons complex with a missile equipped with a nuclear power plant.
A bypass of the defense lines is shown. Since the range is not limited, she can maneuver for as long as she likes.
As you understand, no one in the world has anything like it yet. Someday it will probably appear, but during this time our guys will come up with something else.
Further. It is well known that unmanned weapons systems are being actively designed and created around the world. I can say that Russia has developed unmanned underwater vehicles capable of moving at great depths (you know, I would say at very great depths) and at intercontinental ranges at speeds many times higher than the speed of submarines, the most modern torpedoes and all types, even the most high-speed surface ships. This is simply fantastic. They have low noise, high maneuverability and are practically invulnerable to the enemy. There are simply no means in the world today that can resist them.
Unmanned underwater vehicles can be equipped with both conventional and nuclear weapons. This will allow them to hit a wide range of targets, including aircraft carrier groups, coastal fortifications and infrastructure.
In December 2017, a multi-year test cycle of an innovative nuclear power plant to equip this autonomous uninhabited vehicle was fully completed. The nuclear installation has uniquely small dimensions and at the same time an ultra-high power supply. With a volume one hundred times smaller than that of modern nuclear submarine installations, it has greater power and 200 times less time to reach combat mode, that is, to maximum power.
The results of the tests gave us the opportunity to begin creating a fundamentally new type of strategic weapon equipped with high-power nuclear weapons.
Video please. (A video is shown.)
By the way, the code names for these two new types of Russian strategic weapons - a global-range cruise missile and an unmanned underwater vehicle - have not yet been chosen. We are waiting for proposals on the websites of the Ministry of Defense.
It is well known that countries with a high level of scientific potential and advanced technologies are actively developing so-called hypersonic weapons. Supersonic speed is measured, as is known, by swings in honor of the Austrian scientist Ernst Mach, who was engaged in research in this area. One swing - 1062 kilometers per hour at an altitude of 11 kilometers. One speed of sound is one mach, from one to five is supersonic, from five and more is hypersonic. Possessing such weapons certainly provides serious advantages in the field of armed struggle. Its power and might, as military experts say, can be enormous, and its speed makes it invulnerable to today’s missile defense and air defense systems, since anti-missiles, to put it simply, simply cannot catch up with them. In this regard, it is clear why the leading armies of the world strive to possess such ideal weapons for today.
Dear friends! Russia has such weapons. Has already.
The most important stage of modern weapons systems was the creation of a high-precision hypersonic aircraft-missile system, which, as you probably already understood, has no analogues in the world. Its tests have been successfully completed, and, moreover, since December 1 last year, the complex began to carry out experimental combat duty at the airfields of the Southern Military District.
The unique flight characteristics of the high-speed carrier aircraft make it possible to deliver the missile to the release point in a matter of minutes. At the same time, a missile flying at hypersonic speed, ten times the speed of sound, also maneuvers in all parts of the flight path, which allows it to also be guaranteed to overcome all existing and, I think, promising air defense and missile defense systems, delivering to the target at range of more than two thousand kilometers nuclear and conventional warheads. We called this system "Dagger".
Video please. (A video is shown.)
But that’s not all I’ll say today.
A real technological breakthrough is the creation of a promising strategic missile system with fundamentally new combat equipment - a glide wing unit, the testing of which has also been successfully completed. I will repeat once again that we have repeatedly told our American and European partners - NATO members that we will take the necessary measures to neutralize the threats that arise for us in connection with the deployment of the US global missile defense system. They talked about this during negotiations and even publicly. Back in 2004, after the exercises of the strategic nuclear forces, during which the system I am talking about was tested for the first time, I said at a meeting with the press. It’s awkward to quote myself, but it’s just appropriate today. So, it was said: “In the conditions of qualitative and quantitative growth in the military potential of other states, Russia needs a breakthrough to have weapons and equipment of a new generation. In this regard, I can inform you with satisfaction that as a result of the experiments carried out during these exercises , experiments that ended positively, we were finally convinced and confirmed that in the near future the Russian army and strategic missile forces will be equipped with the latest technical systems that are able to hit targets at intercontinental depths with hypersonic speed and high accuracy, with the possibility of deep maneuver as altitude and heading. I must say that in what was just said, every word matters. No country in the world currently has such weapons systems." End of quote.
Of course, every word matters, because we were talking specifically about the possibility of bypassing interception lines. Why did we do all this? Why did we say this? As you can see, we did not make any secret of our plans, but spoke about it openly and in order, first of all, to encourage our partners to negotiate. I repeat, this was 2004. It’s even surprising, but despite all the problems that we faced in the economy, in finance, in the defense industry, in the army, Russia still remained and remains the largest nuclear power. No, no one really wanted to talk to us, no one listened to us. Listen now.
So, this system differs from existing types of combat equipment in its ability to fly in dense layers of the atmosphere at an intercontinental range at hypersonic speeds exceeding the Mach number by more than 20 times.
When moving towards a target, the gliding winged unit, as I said in 2004, carries out deep maneuvering, both lateral (over several thousand kilometers) and altitude. This makes it absolutely invulnerable to any air and missile defense systems.
The use of new composite materials made it possible to solve the problem of long-term controlled flight of a gliding winged unit practically under conditions of plasma formation. It goes to the target like a meteorite, like a burning ball, like a fireball. The temperature on the surface of the product reaches 1600-2000 degrees Celsius, while the winged unit is reliably controlled.
Video, please. (A video is shown.)
For obvious reasons, we cannot show today the true appearance, the true appearance of this product. Even this has significance today, serious significance. I think everyone understands this. But I assure you, all this is available and works well. Moreover, Russian industrial enterprises have begun serial production of this system - this is another new type of Russian strategic weapon. We called it "Vanguard".
We are also well aware that a number of states are working on creating advanced weapons based on new physical principles. There is every reason to believe that here too we are one step ahead. In any case, where it is most needed.
Thus, significant results have been achieved in the creation of laser weapons. And this is no longer just theory or projects, and not even just the start of production. Since last year, the troops have already received combat laser systems.
I don’t want to go into details in this part, it’s just not the time yet. But experts will understand that the presence of such combat systems greatly expands Russia’s capabilities, precisely multiple times, in ensuring its security.
Watch a short video. (A video is shown.)
For those who are interested in military equipment, I would also like to suggest, I would ask them to suggest a name for this new equipment, this newest complex.
Of course, we will still be engaged in fine-tuning, developing, and improving our newest weapons systems. And, of course, today I did not talk about all of our achievements and promising developments. But that's enough for today.
I would especially like to emphasize that the samples of new strategic weapons created and being created, in fact, new types of strategic weapons, are not a legacy of the times of the Soviet Union. In the course of our work, we, of course, relied on some of the ideas of our brilliant predecessors, but everything I said today is the latest developments of recent years, this is the result of the efforts of dozens, dozens of scientific organizations, design bureaus, and institutes. Thousands, namely thousands of our specialists, wonderful scientists, designers, engineers, talented workers passionate about their work, have been working on this quietly, modestly, without any narcissism, with full dedication and for many years. There are a lot of young people among them. All of them, just like our servicemen, who demonstrated the best qualities of the Russian military in combat conditions, all of them are real heroes of our time. I would like to now turn to each of them and say: of course, there will be prizes, awards, and honorary titles, but I know, having met many of you personally on numerous occasions, that you do not work for awards. The main thing is to reliably ensure the security of the Fatherland and our people. And as the head of the Russian state, on behalf of the people of Russia, I sincerely thank you for your work and for its results. Our Motherland needs them so much today!
All promising military developments, as I have already said, are based on outstanding achievements that can, should and will in due time be used in high-tech civilian industries. But what I want to especially note is that such unique, highly complex weapons can be successfully developed and produced only by a state with the highest level of fundamental science and education, a powerful research, technological, industrial, and personnel base. And you see that Russia has all these resources.
We will build up this potential, concentrate these capabilities on solving the large-scale tasks that the country faces in the economy, in the social sphere, and in infrastructure. And such confident long-term development of Russia will always be reliably protected.
I repeat, each of these weapon systems is unique and important, but what is even more significant is that all this together enables specialists from the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff to create a promising, comprehensive system of defense for the country, in which each new instrument of armed struggle has its own role. Along with the strategic weapons that we already have and are already on combat duty, which we are also constantly improving, Russia is receiving a defense system that will reliably ensure its security for the long term.
Of course, there is still a lot to be done in the field of military development, but today we can rightfully say: Russia has a modern, compact, high-tech army, taking into account the vastness of our territory, the heart of which is an officer loyal to his homeland, ready to make any sacrifice for the sake of his people. frame. Equipment and weapons, even the most modern ones, will sooner or later appear in other armies of the world. This doesn’t bother us at all, we already have it and it will be even better. The main thing is different. They will never have such people, such officers as our guard pilot, Major Roman Filipov!
I hope that everything that was said today will sober up any potential aggressor, and such unfriendly steps towards Russia as the deployment of a missile defense system, bringing NATO infrastructure closer to our borders, and the like, become ineffective from a military point of view, and unjustified from a financial point of view costly and ultimately simply meaningless for those who initiate and do it.
We had to inform our partners about everything that was said today, one way or another, in accordance with the international obligations we had previously assumed. At the right time and to the right extent, specialists from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense will discuss these issues with them more than once, if, of course, our partners want this.
For my part, I would like to note that all work to strengthen Russia’s defense capability was and is carried out by us within the framework of existing agreements in the field of arms control, we are not violating anything. I would especially like to emphasize: Russia’s growing military power does not threaten anyone; we have not had and have no plans to use this potential for offensive, much less aggressive purposes.
We are not threatening anyone, we are not going to attack anyone, we are not going to take anything away from anyone at gunpoint: we have everything ourselves. On the contrary, I consider it necessary to emphasize (and this is very important): the growing military power of Russia is a reliable guarantee of peace on our planet, since this power maintains and will maintain the strategic balance and balance of power in the world, which, as is known, has been and remains one of the most important factors of international security after the Second World War and to the present day.
And to those who over the past 15 years have been trying to intensify the arms race, trying to gain unilateral advantages in relation to Russia, introducing restrictions and sanctions that are illegal from an international legal point of view in order to restrain the development of our country, including in the military field, I will say: that’s it What you tried to prevent, to prevent, by pursuing such a policy, has already happened. It was not possible to contain Russia!
Now we need to realize this reality, make sure that everything I said today is not a bluff - and this is not a bluff, believe me - think, send to a well-deserved rest those who live in the past and are unable to look into the future , stop rocking the boat we are all in, called Planet Earth.
In this regard, I would like to note one more circumstance here. Of great concern are also some provisions of the updated review of US nuclear strategy, which expands the possibilities for reduction and lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. And behind the scenes you can calm anyone down in any way you want, but we read what is written. And it is written in such a way that it can be used in response to attacks with conventional weapons or even to a cyber threat.
Let me note that in our military doctrine, Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons only in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies, or in the event of aggression against us using conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state is threatened. Everything is very clear, clear, specific.
In this regard, I consider it my duty to state the following. We will consider any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies of low, medium, or any power as a nuclear attack on our country. The answer will be immediate and with all the ensuing consequences.
No one should have any doubts about this. There is no need to create new threats for the world, but, on the contrary, we need to sit down at the negotiating table and think together about an updated, promising system of international security and sustainable development of civilization. We have always told you about this. All these proposals remain in force, Russia is ready for this.
Our policy will never be based on claims to exclusivity; we defend our interests and respect the interests of other countries, are guided by international law, and consider the key role of the UN inviolable. It is these principles and approaches that allow us to build strong, kind and equal relations with the absolute majority of states in the world.
An example of this is our comprehensive strategic partnership with the People's Republic of China. Russia has developed a particularly privileged strategic relationship with India. Our relations with many countries of the world are gaining new dynamics.
Russia actively participates in the work of international organizations. Together with our partners, we are developing such associations and structures as the CSTO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, and promoting a positive agenda in the UN, G20, and APEC. We are interested in normal, constructive interaction with the United States and the European Union. We hope that common sense will prevail and our partners will make a choice in favor of fair, equal cooperation.
Even if our positions do not coincide in some way, we still remain partners, because together we must respond to the most complex challenges, ensure universal security, and build a future world that is becoming increasingly interconnected, where integration processes are actively gaining momentum.
Together with our partners in the Eurasian Economic Union, we intend to make it a globally competitive integration association. On the agenda is the creation of a common market for electricity, oil, petroleum products and gas in the EurAsEC, harmonization of financial markets, and the work of customs services. We will continue to work on the project to create a large Eurasian partnership.
Dear Colleagues!
The whole world is now going through a turning point, and the leader will be the one who is ready and capable of change, the one who acts, moves forward. Our country and our people demonstrated such will at all defining historical stages of our development. Over the past almost 30 years, we have achieved changes that took centuries for other countries.
We walked, we walk and we will continue to follow our confident course. We have been and will be together. Our unity is the strongest foundation for further development. In the coming years, we need to further strengthen our unity so that we work as one team that understands that change is necessary and is ready to give our strength, knowledge, experience, and talent to achieve common goals.
Challenges and big tasks fill our lives with special meaning. We need to be bold in our plans, deeds and actions, take initiative, responsibility, become stronger, and therefore benefit our family, children, the whole country, change the world, the life of the country for the better, create the Russia that we dream about together . And then the coming decade, the entire 21st century, will certainly become a time of our bright victories, our common success. I believe it will be so.
