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Old March 18th, 2019 #18
Alex Him
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Condolences to Ethiopia’s President and Prime Minister over crash of passenger aircraft



Vladimir Putin sent a message of condolences to President of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde and Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed in connection with the crash of a passenger aircraft outside Addis Ababa.



March 10, 2019 - 14:15



The Russian President’s message reads, in part:

“Please accept my heartfelt condolences in connection with the death of the passengers and crew of the airplane that crashed on takeoff from Addis Ababa airport. I ask that you to pass on words of sympathy and support to the victims’ friends and families. Let them stay courageous in this mournful hour.”

The Ethiopian Airlines plane was en route from the country’s capital Addis Ababa to the capital of Kenya Nairobi. 157 people died.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/60016






Condolences to Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern



Vladimir Putin sent Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern a message of condolences in the wake of the tragic terrorist attack in Christchurch.



March 15, 2019 - 11:00



“This attack on civilians who gathered for prayer is shocking in its violence and cynicism. I hope that every person involved in this crime will sustain a well-deserved punishment,” the message says.

Vladimir Putin stressed that Russians share the grief of those who lost their loved ones and hope for a speedy recovery of those who were injured.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/60069






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Meeting with Head of Federal Service for Financial Monitoring Yury Chikhanchin



Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with the Head of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring Yury Chikhanchin to discuss the agency’s current activities.



March 11, 2019 - 13:40 - The Kremlin, Moscow








President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Mr Chikhanchin, the FATF [Group for developing financial measures to combat money laundering] Commission is starting its work in Moscow. How do you plan to organise their work and what results do you expect?



Head of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring Yury Chikhanchin:

Indeed, the FATF commission is starting its work here. As per your instruction, we created a large inter-agency commission involving representatives of ministries and other government bodies, as well as the Central Bank. We are prepared. I would like to speak about some of the results that we have achieved.



Vladimir Putin:

Please, go ahead.



Yury Chikhanchin:

The main work is based on the national risk assessment, which you approved for the most important areas, such as the credit and financial sector. This includes corruption, illegal drug trafficking, budgetary funds, terrorism and international risks.

What have we managed to get done? We conducted training for Russian experts. Some 2,000 law enforcement representatives attended our programme at our international training centre, as well as some 500 representatives of government bodies, 2,000 representatives from the credit and financial sector and some 500 people from the regulatory and supervisory authorities.

What else? Over this time, during the inspection period (from 2015 to the present), we have amended about 140 laws and regulations, such as intra-agency acts and bylaws. We have actually brought them up to the required standards. Of particular interest for the FATF commission is our work to find beneficiaries, the actual owners of the businesses: does the country know how to find them?

As a result, we have succeeded in improving our performance indicators by a significant margin. In particular, I am referring to the legalisation of illegal incomes and their transfer to state income. It is shown on the graph.

We have increased the number of business entities that fall within our monitoring zone to more than two million.



Vladimir Putin:

I believe the revenue returned to the state has increased sixfold since 2013, hasn’t it?



Yury Chikhanchin:

Yes, precisely, due to the legalisation. It used to be highly problematic, initially, and there were other predicate crimes…

The number of economic entities in our monitoring zone has increased. At the same time, their involvement in suspicious operations has reduced, that is, businesses are becoming increasingly law-abiding.

I would like to note, concerning your order to crack down on fly-by-night firms, the graph here shows that, working together with the tax authorities and law enforcement agencies, we have achieved a reduction to 500,000 a year. That is, we are mopping up the tax service’s database. It is very important.

There is also greater compliance with law among financial institutions involved in the anti-money laundering system. Today we can say that about 80 percent of financial organisations are adequately meeting the legal requirements. And, accordingly, the number of financial organisations that report on operations subject to mandatory control – as required by law – is growing.

In 2018 alone, we successfully shut down 27 shadow platforms in a joint effort with the FSB, the Interior Ministry and the Central Bank. The total amount of shadow money was about 245 billion rubles.

Now, what do I have to say about shady transactions? This is one of the main elements. Here we are working jointly with the Central Bank, and the drop in the number of such transactions is clearly visible.

I would like to say that the number of transactions via technical intermediaries has also decreased, I mean firms that do nothing except transfer money. That is, mopping-up has led to specific results.

At the same time, I would like to note that shadow cash circulation still exists, but it is now shifting from the banking sector to other industries, in particular, to commerce.

Major stores sell goods for cash, and then begin to sell it quietly, without collecting. Now we are working with the Central Bank and law enforcement agencies in this area.

This is a big problem, and one of your instructions is to deal with it. The banking sector has shrunk significantly…



Vladimir Putin:

It is not the banking sector that has shrunk, but its use.







Yury Chikhanchin:

Yes, I mean its use, sorry. The use of the banking sector.

Unfortunately, a number of industries remain the main consumers of the shadow sector – primarily the construction sector, and here we have one of the most serious issues.

One thing I would like to note, pursuant to your instructions on the rehabilitation of clients who have been denied the opportunity of opening a bank account or conducting operations, we have achieved a sharp decline here. I would like to say that in fact, we have forced the banks to take action and consider the complaints themselves.

Here are the figures for this year alone – the banks have considered about 3,000 complaints. On the whole, there has been speedy consideration of the complaints submitted to the specially created commission, which includes representatives of the Central Bank and Rosfinmonitoring [Federal Financial Monitoring Service]. This year, 70 such complaints were received. Half of the decisions were made in favour of the banks, the other half, in favour of the clients.

I would like to spend a moment discussing government contracts. We are continuing work in this area, and the total value of contracts which we are monitoring, as you can see, is almost 7 trillion rubles. The total number is about 3.6 million contracts. That is, the growth is significant.

It must be said that the banking monitoring, which we have put in place, makes it possible to keep a lid on the participation of sham businesses. The dynamics are fairly good here as well.



Vladimir Putin:

“Funds transferred to offshore accounts” – is that about revenue or some kind of machinations?



Yury Chikhanchin:

To a greater extent, this represents machinations and an attempt to wire to offshore accounts money disguised as something else. In other words, it is about games and temporarily withdrawing funds from circulation, that is, tax avoidance. But the decline is fairly strong.



Vladimir Putin:

Yes, half of what it was in 2016.



Yury Chikhanchin:

I would also like to discuss the state defence order. The situation has changed as well. First, the number of organisations that we are now monitoring has increased. Here, too, we have managed to cut down the number of sham businesses involved in the state defence order activities.



Vladimir Putin:

Almost by a quarter, but there is still a lot.



Yury Chikhanchin:

We are working on it, Mr. President. The work is underway. I think that the fact that we are now transferring defence orders to Promsvyazbank and leaving other banks (we are working very closely with this bank and have regular meetings with Pyotr Fradkov) will allow us to return, little by little …

About a third of all defence orders have already been transferred to Promsvyazbank. I do not want to give you an incorrect number, but I believe that about 9,000 clients have already moved to Promsvyazbank.

True, there are certain problems, and we are working to resolve them. Some of the new clients that have transferred to Promsvyazbank are high-risk customers in two respects: firstly, the contracts that they execute as part of the state defence order are associated with risk and, secondly, these are the non-contractual activities which we discussed in May. We are now sorting things out with each client in order to identify ways to improve these enterprises.



Vladimir Putin:

The state defence order contractors who may be involved in suspicious operations deserve, of course, special attention.



Yury Chikhanchin:

We have just assigned a group of people who are working with Promsvyazbank’s compliance control, training them so they can work efficiently and resolve these issues.

If we look at the results of our activities in general – I will not give details on each, but I can say that in 2018 alone, our service, working jointly with the law enforcement agencies, has saved around 90 billion rubles and returned about 20 billion to the state. We consider them separately by area.

I would like to thank you very much for supporting the continued operation of the interdepartmental working group on countering illegal financial transactions led by Mr Vaino [Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office].

We consider a lot of issues that are later translated into action; we have just held a meeting devoted to preparations for the visit of the FATF on-site mission to Russia.

I would like to say a few words, if I may, on our work in cooperation with the other departments.



Vladmir Putin:

Just a second. The “Funds subject to confiscation in civil cases” on this graph – that is quite a lot, I see, more than three billion. How quickly are decisions made by the courts?







Yury Chikhanchin:

Quickly enough.

If you look at confiscation, we have two levels here. One is actual confiscation, when there is a criminal act. But the so-called voluntary compensation mechanism is also well established.

That is, once we get involved, it becomes known either through a financial investigation or a criminal case, and the criminals – or not yet criminals, just offenders – return the money. The amount of funds returned is even slightly higher than the amount confiscated in criminal cases.

Here we are actively helping to find the assets. The most important thing is to find the assets and then confiscate. Now things are going a little better.

I would like to say a few more things. One concerns cooperation with the Prosecutor General’s Office. That has worked well when the shadow sector tried to snap up the notaries. This year alone, we were able to withdraw about two billion from the shadow sector. Overall, since that joint operation, suspicous transactions have decreased by a third. Now we are making legislative changes to streamline the powers of the notaries and their responsibility.

We did a good job with the Investigative Committee. There are two cases that I would like to share with you. One of them has to do with Promsvyazbank. We worked with 27 countries as we searched for the assets. We managed to locate these assets, to seize them and even to repatriate some of them. We seized about 7 billion worth of assets. Most importantly, we were able to prove that about $350 million were not just stolen, but legalised as well.

We are working with the Interior Ministry in many areas, primarily, lending and financial operations. I would like to say a few words about drug trafficking. We have worked with almost 10 countries to expose a major scheme. We are now working on it. It involves narcotic cocaine. In total, about 1,000 people were involved in this international plot.

We are working quite well with the Tax Service and the Federal Customs Service. That is, we are looking for VAT, charges, and return. The amounts are indicated.

We implemented a project on the fuel and energy complex in the North Caucasus totaling about 13 billion rubles.



Vladmir Putin:

Have this 13 billion been assessed?



Yury Chikhanchin:

Yes, and a portion of this amount has already been recovered.

With regard to the Supreme Court, I told you the last time we met that we continue to thwart the attempts to involve the courts in shadow schemes. In total, we have jointly managed to prevent about 130 billion being siphoned off into the shadow sector.

The FSB is also our key partner in countering terrorism, not to mention economic, lending and financial crimes. Of course, we are working to counter the financing of terrorism.

Several cases have been implemented, especially with regard to the cells that finance the ISIS component, that is, everyone who goes there. The mechanism for freezing the assets of those who come into our field of vision is working very well. It involves extrajudicial asset freezing.

I would like to say a few words about NGOs. Foreign funding continues to pour in, and not all of it is for good causes. We are tracking about 80 billion as we are trying to understand…



Vladimir Putin:

80 billion came from foreign sources?



Yury Chikhanchin:

Yes, from abroad. It came from foreign sources, including those that engage in activities associated with a certain degree of destructiveness.

We are working closely with the FSB on each of them. There are areas, industries that are the recipients of the bulk of such financing, such as the education system, that is, educational institutions and so on. There is an image here that shows which regions are most susceptible to receiving these funds.

I would like to say a few words about the work on your instructions on decriminalising Article 282. Its first part is about extremism, when we put people on our list of terrorists and extremists.

The article on decriminalisation entered into force on January 7. We removed about 60 names from the list of terrorists, revising our approach. Now we are continuing our work with the Prosecutor General’s Office and other law enforcement bodies.

I would also like to speak briefly about our international efforts. As of today, we have introduced our system of freezing the assets of terrorists on our list in 12 countries. In other words, we exchanged lists. We sent a list with about 1,500 names to Central Asian countries and France, to name a few.

Some of our projects have become international, for instance, a project on countering ISIS funding. Today, 40 countries have joined our project on an international scale.

Regarding typology on laundering corruption incomes, about 35 countries are taking part in this project.

One more topic that is making rapid headway – countering the funding of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We initiated this as well and are actively working within FATF.

In line with your instructions, we are cooperating with the Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Education on creating artificial intelligence to help prevent money laundering.

We have completed R&D and are starting on the design. We are actively working with our technical industrial partners, such as the VTB and Gazprom, and have already attained good results.



Vladimir Putin:

Have you already conducted tests?



Yury Chikhanchin:

Yes, we already see some approaches today. In short, there is a certain model of terrorist behaviour that has already been described and given to banks.

In the course of subsequent work on crime and financial inquiries, the machine itself makes selections and adds based on its attributes. It is working and adding on its own.

Our network institute is working. As of today, seven countries have already joined it. We have our own chairs, institutes and a common training programme, so our work is very intensive.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/60031






Meeting with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller



Chair of the Gazprom Management Board reported to the President on the company’s performance in 2018 and plans for 2019. The discussion also focused on connecting Russian regions to the gas supply network.



March 12, 2019 - 13:30 - The Kremlin, Moscow








President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Mr Miller, let us begin with the results of the previous year. Do you have the final reports?



Gazprom Management Board Chairman Alexei Miller:

We have completed management accounting. In 2018, Gazprom produced 497.6 billion cubic metres of gas. This is 5.7 percent or 26.6 billion cubic metres more than in 2017.

At the same time, gas consumption in the domestic market increased. We supplied 12.8 billion cubic metres more gas than in 2017, which represents an increase of 5.5 percent. The supply to households and utility companies increased by 4.3 percent, to electric energy facilities by 9.5 percent, to agricultural chemicals facilities by 13 percent, and metal production by 18.5 percent. The volume of gas exports to far abroad has also grown. We set yet another record for gas exports, reaching 201.8 billion cubic metres, which is 3.8 percent or 7.4 billion cubic metres more than in 2017.

In particular, it should be emphasised that our main partner and client, Germany, significantly increased its gas consumption. Germany’s Russian gas consumption grew by 9.5 percent year-on-year meaning we supplied 58.5 billion cubic metres in 2018. This is more than the capacity of Nord Stream alone.

Without doubt, it should be noted that the upward trend in demand for Russian gas continues; therefore, in the medium term we expect that the volume of gas supplies to the European market will grow even more.

As of the end of 2018, the share of Russian pipeline gas in the European market stood at 36.7 percent.

Of course, one of Gazprom’s priorities is to ensure sufficient supplies for the autumn and winter period. By the beginning of that period, we had pumped 72.27 billion cubic metres of gas into underground storage facilities, which allowed us to safely withdraw 812.5 million cubic metres of gas every day, the largest volume ever. Overall, at the beginning of the reporting period, the company had increased the daily withdrawal of gas from underground storage facilities by 31 percent over the past eight years. We plan to withdraw 843.3 million cubic metres daily in the autumn and winter period of 2019–2020.

Last year we launched production at the Bovanenkovo field, our largest deposit in Yamal. Mr President, you know the specifications of this field very well. Its gas reserves amount to 4.9 trillion cubic meters. We plan to produce gas at the field until 2124. Production has reached the target of 115 billion cubic metres per year. In winter, we can produce 317 million cubic metres of gas a day at the field.

We have created new facilities to transport gas from the Yamal Peninsula. We have built the Ukhta-Torzhok 2 gas pipeline within the framework of the northern gas shipment corridor, which is becoming the leading facility for the delivery and distribution of gas to consumers in Russia and also for export.

Last year we completed two lines of the TurkStream underwater pipeline ahead of schedule. Construction was finished in November. One more major event was the launch of the LNG regasification terminal in Kaliningrad Region at the end of 2018.



Vladimir Putin:

How is work progressing on the Power of Siberia project?







Alexei Miller:

We are ahead of schedule. Gas deliveries to China from the Chayandinskoye field will begin on December 1. We will start exporting gas to China as soon as the field becomes operational. It will be a landmark event, for we will enter a huge gas market. Gas consumption in China increased by 17.5 percent last year. China is the fastest growing natural gas market in the world, offering huge opportunities to Russian gas producers.

This year, we will launch the Turkish Stream and its two branches will receive 31.5 billion cubic metres of gas. We plan to extend the Northern corridor of gas transportation facilities from Gryazovets to the Slavyanskaya compressor plant. This will allow for gas deliveries to Nord Stream 2 and to the consumers in Leningrad Region.



Vladimir Putin:

Tell me about progress in connecting Russian regions to gas supplies.



Alexei Miller:

Mr President, the gasification programme is being carried out in 66 Russian regions involving Gazprom as one party and local officials as the other party. As you know, Gazprom is responsible for gas delivery and the construction of facilities up to the boundaries of residential areas. The local officials are responsible for connecting their facilities to the gas network, constructing local networks and boiler houses and providing consumers with the necessary equipment.

By the end of 2018, more than 2,000 km of gas pipeline were built, which allowed 272 residential areas and 49,000 households to be connected to the gas distribution network. Some 210 boiler houses were built. As of January 1, 2019, the main gas network coverage indicator across the country was 68.6 percent (71.3 percent in cities and 59.4 percent in small towns). As you remember, when you instructed us to more actively implement the programme in rural areas, this indicator in rural areas was 25 percent lower. Without a doubt, there is a huge potential for increasing the rate of gasification. This, of course, primarily depends on local funding. Last year, Gazprom invested 36.7 billion rubles into the gasification programme. And, most importantly, we can increase the funding by 50 percent, even double it, but it is important to synchronise our efforts so that…



Vladimir Putin:

The regions could take over.







Alexei Miller:

Yes, so they could take over. Of course, we can see that the pipelines built by Gazprom are not operating 100 percent. There is no doubt that if the facilities built by Gazprom were supported by respective efforts on behalf of the regions, the level of gasification in the rural areas would already be 65 percent. That is, if the regions could increase their funding of the gasification programme, we could connect many more areas to the gas distribution network.



Vladimir Putin:

What is the expected growth of this indicator this year?



Alexei Miller:

One percent.

When we started the gasification programme, the rate was around 1.5 percent. Obviously, the cost per project increases because the areas we are dealing with are more and more remote. But every year brings different results. Sometimes we get 0.6 or 0.7 percent per year. In 2019, we expect it to be 1 percent.

Without a doubt we could increase the rate but, in any case, we can see that, within ten years at the most, we can reach the level of gasification that will allow us to say that this matter is completely resolved in Russia. Of course, we could shorten this period because we understand that, in any case, the pipeline gas will not be delivered to all the areas. Some places receive propane-butane or LNG – something that we call localised gasification. In this context, of course, the role of LNG, for example, and localised gasification is becoming more significant at this stage of the gasification programme in the country.







Vladimir Putin:

I have a request. Please prepare Gazprom’s proposals on how to increase the gasification rate in the country so that we could synchronise this work with both the Government and the local authorities.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/60052






Meeting with Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre Director Mikhail Kovalchuk



Mr Kovalchuk informed the President about the current activities of the research centre.



March 12, 2019 - 19:10 - The Kremlin, Moscow








President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Mr Kovalchuk, it is well known that the Kurchatov Institute was founded in 1943, when our country faced major problems, the war was going on, but work on the atomic project had already begun. Later, the Kurchatov Institute was transformed into a multidisciplinary centre. We know that the first atomic reactor for peaceful purposes was created here at the Kurchatov Institute.



Director of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre Mikhail Kovalchuk:

Nuclear medicine, too.



Vladimir Putin:

Yes, nuclear medicine. Then, superconductivity in the atomic sphere, and magnetic confinement of plasma. In the 1980s, I believe, it was even, in fact, a centre for creating the domestic internet. What makes the Kurchatov Institute tick today?



Mikhail Kovalchuk:

Your attention, Mr President, if I may put it that way, because since 2007, when you held a meeting on nanotechnology, we have been working in all the classic areas related to the nuclear complex and created fundamentally new areas of research associated with nature-like technologies and the convergence of science and technology.

We have created an unparalleled NBICS centre [centre of nano- bio-, info-, cognitive and socio-humanistic sciences and technologies], a nature-like base, and we have accomplished quite a bit in genetics. We have made vast progress in megascience. You issued your first executive order to create a national research centre in 2008, which allowed us to accomplish the unthinkable, because following the dissolution of the Soviet Union the research environment broke down into clusters, everything collapsed and, in fact, our partners, so to speak, managed our institutions separately, hiring separate groups of people for each.

The creation of the NRC, which was home to our country's most powerful potential, primarily in the sphere of nuclear physics, made it possible to consolidate our efforts, and we became an integral part of the global and European landscape.

You know that under the scientific initiative that you supported, the world’s most powerful free-electron X-ray laser was launched in Hamburg a year ago, one-third of which is based on Russian ideas. In fact, we made 30 percent of the investment as well as a vast technological contribution. In fact, we own part of this installation.

Furthermore, we joined the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, we are CERN and ITER members, that is, we are full-scale participants, and the European landscape is inconceivable without us.







Vladimir Putin:

How is the project in Gatchina progressing?



Mikhail Kovalchuk:

Thanks to the meetings that you held in Dubna many years ago, megascience has expanded, and we are now back to where we were.

Four select projects were launched in Russia, and Gatchina is one of them. I already reported to you, and I will gladly say it again – you mentioned this in your Address – we completed the first phase of the energy launch of the world’s most powerful high-flux PIK reactor in Gatchina. That is the first thing. Today, we are moving forward according to plan, doing routine work and, by the end of the year, if everything goes well, we will achieve the planned parameters. Then, Russia will have one of the world’s most powerful neutron research facilities.

Second, in accordance with your instructions and your agreement with your German counterpart, we are now working through a detailed assignment to establish a Russian-German high-tech centre to conduct interdisciplinary research based on these unique developments.

Finally, regarding the programme that you announced to create a network of national synchrotron sources. The first one is at our site in Protvino, the fourth-generation source ISSI-4. This is a unique ground-breaking installation unmatched anywhere in the world and one that is unlikely to have a competitor for at least another 10 to 20 years. It was developed at a time when we were implementing projects in Germany together with other countries and actually created a base. We added to this an installation in Akademgorodok and an installation on Russky Island. This will allow us to create a unique megascience base comprised of the PIK reactor and the fourth-generation synchrotron. We will have the best research base, something the world will not have for another 10 to 20 years.

In addition, two less sophisticated installations, though also unique in their own way, will provide for, firstly, the spatial connectivity of the country, and secondly, will create a whole new level of research culture in the main centres of the country, namely, Russia’s Far East and Siberia.







Vladimir Putin:

Make sure that funding comes in regularly.



Mikhail Kovalchuk:

We will. This is important. I want to emphasise that today the NRC consists of seven of the country's largest institutes and employs 14,000 people. This consolidation and centralisation of funding and management enabled us to launch the PIK in only five years. This is important.



Vladimir Putin:

Congratulations.



Mikhail Kovalchuk:

I want to congratulate everyone on this and to thank you.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/60055






Meeting with permanent members of Security Council



Vladimir Putin chaired a briefing meeting with permanent members of the Security Council.



March 13, 2019 - 16:00 - The Kremlin, Moscow







The meeting participants discussed the current issues on the Russian socioeconomic agenda. Considering the abnormally warm weather in several Far Eastern regions, they also discussed the necessary measures of high alert in case of natural fires and early floods.

In addition, Sergei Lavrov informed the meeting participants on the results of his trip to several Persian Gulf countries: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.







The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov and Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/60062






Plenary session of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs congress



Vladimir Putin spoke at a plenary session of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs congress.



March 14, 2019 - 14:40 - Moscow






The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs congress is taking place during the Russian Business Week (March 11–15), which focuses on new proposals regarding the topical areas of interaction between businesses and the state.

After the plenary session, the President met with members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs’ Bureau.








President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, colleagues,

I am delighted to welcome all the participants and guests of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs congress.







This congress is taking place at a time when we are starting to work on national projects and implement infrastructure development plans. Once again, I would like to stress what I have said many times and will say again today. Businesses are direct and essential participants of these projects. I hope that our partnership will be productive and that the goals that we set for ourselves will become targets for investing funds, human resources and the business enthusiasm and talent of Russian entrepreneurs. I have no doubt about it. With your competitiveness comes progress for the entire country, new jobs and a higher quality of life for Russian citizens.







Today I suggest that we particularly focus on the tasks that we need to address this year. We will discuss issues that concern you as well as your initiatives to eliminate barriers and create additional real stimuli for businesses. We can see that major Russian companies want to invest in national development programmes and to be closely involved in the national agenda. I want to point out that the participants of a working meeting chaired by Mr Shokhin [President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs] and Mr Siluanov [First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister] discussed almost 1,000 such initiatives. Some 250 investment requests worth a total of 12.1 trillion rubles have been developed based on these initiatives.







This concerns investments in areas of social importance vital for the dynamic growth of the national economy and the country as a whole, including in industry, high technology, transport, communications, the environment and tourism. These are large-scale and long-term projects with broad horizons, which should produce a major synergic effect.







Therefore, I consider it essential to ensure the stability of rules during their implementation and to develop practical measures for lowering investor risks. All these provisions must be incorporated in the law on encouraging and protecting investments. Also, I would like to point out that we need to take additional decisions on the system of special investment contracts so as to enhance the effectiveness of this tool for boosting the development of unique breakthrough technologies in Russia.







I know that our colleagues in the Government have not yet coordinated their position on the draft law on encouraging and protecting investments. Of course, it is a fundamentally new and complicated document in a number of ways, which calls for a thorough analysis of all the details. However, we must accelerate work on this document without sacrificing quality, and we must complete this work as soon as possible, taking into account the positions of businesses and business associations and the proposals that will certainly be put forth today.







Another major issue, about which I spoke in detail in my Address, if you remember, is the environment and the shared responsibility of the state, society and business for the environment and for our ecological well-being.










You know that this year we have launched the full-scale mandatory process of our enterprises’ transition to the best available technology and new environmental standards. This should reduce environmental damage, improve the environment in our largest industrial centres and encourage in-depth industrial modernisation.










I would like to point out again that we must be guided above all by the interests of the people. I am sure you are well aware that it is unacceptable to delay the departure from obsolete technologies or try to moderate environmental laws, including the draft law on emission quotas. If we permit this, we will be unable to formulate and implement new solutions; we will continue to mark time, lagging ever further behind other countries in the quality of life and, certainly, in economic efficiency.










Therefore, I suggest that today we focus on the persisting problems in this sphere. They do exist, and we know about this. We must discuss and take coordinated decisions on the regulatory and any other obstacles that are hindering the transition of our industry to the best available technologies and strict environmental standards.










And another area that I would like to mention separately. A secure residential construction financing system using so-called escrow accounts should go on stream from July 1. That is, the prospective property owners’ contributions will not go to the developer directly, as before, but will be channelled into a special account at the bank and transferred only in exchange for apartments. Construction companies will need to attract larger bank loans using project financing arrangements.







We all understand that this is a new tool for the industry, and we must all work together so as not to reduce, but consistently increase the pace of housing construction. That is, based on the new financing plan. So a clear and transparent interaction between banks and companies, as well as incentives for banks to finance residential projects is of paramount importance. And of course, there should be clear sources for financing social and utilities infrastructure. I would ask representatives of the construction industry – we have already spoken many times about this, met with many colleagues at different levels, and I also held relevant meetings – but if there are questions, I am urging you to raise these and other relevant issues today as well.







Colleagues, exactly five years ago, at the RSPP congress, business associations and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives launched an important project – the National Investment Climate Ranking. This has provided an incentive for management teams in the regions to change their approaches, to provide support to business leaders who are ready to invest in creating jobs, expanding and updating their facilities.







It is important that work on improving the business environment continues. I know that on the sidelines of this congress, the leading business associations and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives signed an agreement on organising the work of a special information platform, which was also discussed in the Address, as you must have noted. With the help of this platform, I hope entrepreneurs will have an additional opportunity to report the facts about any illegal pressure, attempts to seize property, and so on. The heads of law enforcement agencies have already been instructed to provide you with the necessary assistance, to engage in this work and use the emerging mechanism to improve their activities.







I expect that thanks to this cooperation, a major step will be taken to improve the investment climate and increase the transparency of the business environment, so that the conditions for small, medium-sized and large businesses’ entrepreneurial initiatives are in line with the large-scale strategic goals our country faces.

Thank you.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/60065






Meeting with Volgograd Region Governor Andrei Bocharov



Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with Volgograd Region Governor Andrei Bocharov to discuss the socioeconomic situation and the development of a modern healthcare system in the region.



March 15, 2019 - 13:30 - The Kremlin, Moscow







Andrei Bocharov updated the President on the stable socioeconomic situation in the region and development trends. The gross regional product has grown from 607 billion rubles to 860 billion rubles over the past five years and is expected to reach 1 trillion rubles in 2021.







The governor said that the region is working to fully achieve the social and other goals set forth in the May 2012 Presidential Executive Order and that the local authorities are closely monitoring the process. He said they had started implementing the tasks formulated in the May 2018 Presidential Executive Order and in the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly.







Andrei Bocharov noted that demography is their main concern and that it includes preserving the people and enhancing the quality of their lives. One of the key priorities is to create a cutting-edge healthcare system in the region, primarily a modern oncology care system comprising a top-notch oncological centre and 14 outpatient oncological clinics. The government said they have launched the training of specialists who will constitute the core of the regional oncological system in 2021.







The next stage of modernising outpatient clinics and the launch of a large-scale project to establish healthcare districts in the region will begin in 2022. Apart from that, the regional authorities have decided to purchase mobile medical complexes intended for small towns and villages.







The governor added that more attention should be paid to the system of paediatric medical assistance, because the current children’s hospitals fall short of modern standards. Design work on a multifunctional children’s health centre or hospital will begin in 2019. In this context, Andrei Bocharov asked the President to support their request that this hospital be included in the state healthcare programme in 2022.

Vladimir Putin said he would support this proposal.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/60070
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Where should they dig the Very Deep Pit?
Piglet said that the best place would be somewhere where a Heffalump was, just before he fell into it, only about a foot farther on.
(c) Alan Alexander Miln