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Old September 25th, 2016 #41
Alex Him
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Meeting with Russia’s summer sports Paralympic team



September 19, 2016 - 17:30 - The Kremlin, Moscow





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Friends,

As we all know, our Paralympic team did not take part in the Paralympics. I will say a few words about this. But I wanted all the same to meet with you here at the Kremlin, welcome you here, and talk with you about how to develop Paralympic sport further.

I remember well how we honoured the heroes of the London Paralympics in 2012. Many of them are here today too.

Our team was preparing to tackle new summits. Together with your coaches, with those close to you, you were working hard, putting your all into your training, in order to strive for victory in a fair and open fight. I am sure that you were one hundred percent ready.

But you did not meet with sporting and honest treatment. By this, I mean the unjustified and unfair decision to ban our team from taking part in the Paralympics.

As you know, we do not welcome hackers and their actions, but it was thanks to them that we learned that people who took part in the Olympic Games and were outwardly perfectly healthy were actually taking prohibited substances that gave them and give them clear advantages in sports competition.

Why were our Paralympic athletes the only ones banned from taking part in the Paralympics on the sole basis of some incomprehensible suspicion of taking who knows what substances? This was clearly a dishonest, hypocritical and cowardly decision.

But let me say that you have shown that Russia’s Paralympic athletes are people with strong will and an iron character, and our athletes were and will remain among the leaders in global Paralympic sport.

This is evident from the results of Russia’s National Open Sports Competitions, in which you succeeded in setting more than 20 new world records, and in a number of disciplines surpassed the results obtained at the Paralympics in Rio. We have decided to reward the athletes, coaches and specialists who distinguished themselves at our National Open Sports Competition and at the international competitions that were part of the selection process for the Paralympics. Let me stress that Russia remains committed to the Paralympic movement’s ideals and will continue to support the athletes and provide them with the conditions they need.

A substantial amount has been accomplished over these last years for those involved in Paralympic sports. You know this yourselves. This is reflected too in the growing number of people who are taking up sport despite the various circumstances they face. We see it in the development of new sports disciplines in Russia and in the active part the regions and public organisations are playing in supporting Paralympic sport.

I think that events such as our national open Paralympic sports competition should become regular features. We will organise them on a regular basis.

We all want to put this current difficult period in global sport behind us as quickly as possible. Russia is working in close cooperation with international organisations and the Independent Public Anti-Doping Commission is working actively.

We support the establishment of a clear, equal, and completely transparent oversight system in sports, including in doping prevention. Politics, hypocrisy and double standards should have absolutely no place here.

I said when I met at the Kremlin with our Olympic team members that anti-doping activity at the international level should be completely open and transparent. This is not some kind of espionage activity. What is there to hide here?

All checks should be public, transparent and open. The global sports community must know who is being tested, when, how, what results were obtained, and what decisions resulted.

This is particularly important with regard to the Paralympic family of dedicated athletes who embody the triumph of strength of spirit, perseverance, and belief in oneself, and who provide an example for millions of people in dedication to one’s goal and determination to reach victory. You make a tremendous contribution to developing sport and developing society, and you offer a vivid example of a positive, honest and courageous approach to life.

Friends, I sincerely wish you and all who help our Paralympic athletes new successes, health, energy, and new, memorable victories. I am sure that you will cope with any difficulties you encounter, and Russia will always stand with you.

Thank you very much.



Andrei Vdovin:

Mr President.

Fellow athletes, coaches and experts,

Just like you, I am very glad and proud to be here at the Kremlin today.

I would like to say a big thank you to you, Mr President, the Ministry of Sport and the Russian Paralympic Committee for giving us so much support in this difficult time, when the entire team was banned from the Games and accused of doping.

Thank you very much for the competitions that you initiated. They gave us a chance to release all the emotions that have built up over the four years, and to show our results. The records that we set – around twenty – demonstrate that we are a rather strong country and definitely would not have messed up in Rio.

Speaking for myself, I admit I was planning to become a Paralympic champion. And these are not just empty words. They are backed up by my success at world and European championships, and by my records.

However, I am not giving up. I am only 22 and I think I can fight for a spot on the team that will go to Tokyo in 2020.

I would like to end my speech by saying that Rio needed us but we didn’t need Rio. (Applause)



Anna Krivshina:

Hello, Mr President,

Hello to my team mates, coaches and everybody here in this hall today.

It is a great honour for me to be here. This is an exciting and remarkable day for all of us.

The Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro closed yesterday. Of course, we all wanted to be at the closing ceremony but, unfortunately, we were not allowed. This was a big blow to us all. But we did not give up and continued to train.

Mr President, you are our example. We see how much effort you invest into making this country strong and prosperous. We will do whatever we can and even the impossible to help you in this.

Naturally, each of us wanted and still wants to become a Paralympic champion. I think it is the biggest dream of every person here because these competitions show that the four years of exhausting training were not in vain.

For me personally, this would have been my first Paralympics. I had been training tirelessly and it was painful and very upsetting to find out about the unfair decision of the International Paralympic Committee to ban us from the Games.

But we managed. Thanks to you, the Ministry of Sport and the Russian Paralympic Committee, we could demonstrate our athletic skill and respectable results at alternative competitions.

My personal motto is: pursue your goal despite everything, believe in yourself, and you will be able to realise your dreams even if they seem unattainable. I am only 20 years old and I believe that I will eventually become a Paralympic champion.

I would like to conclude my speech with some lines that I was inspired to write: “To stand under your flag and hear your anthem. what joy it is to know you’ve won. My country, I’ll do anything for you. My victory is yours, I love you.”

Thank you. (Applause)



Yevgeny Shvetsov:

Mr President, on behalf of all the coaches of the Russian team who are here today, I would like to say: even though we are in a difficult situation, we are not getting weaker, only stronger.

We must stick together. Together, we are strong. Strength is the only thing that will make our enemies back down. We will show everyone what we are made of.

Thank you for making our country so powerful.



Vladimir Putin:

Friends, I once again welcome you and thank you for your achievements and the example you set for us all. Anya said just before that I am an example for you.

You are examples for millions of people with your determination to win and live and achieve success no matter what the difficulties. It is perfectly clear that you are people with tremendous strength of spirit. We see this in your sports results and in your approach to life.

I wish you new successes and I am sure that they will come. I want to wish you an excellent evening here in this magnificent Kremlin hall. I note that this is the Hall of Military Glory.

In this respect, you are without any doubt defenders of our country if we think of your past achievements and the achievements you will yet show us in the future.

I wish you a pleasant evening. Thank you very much. Good luck.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52915






Meeting with scientists who received mega-grants



September 19, 2016 - 19:30 - The Kremlin, Moscow





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Friends, colleagues,

Six years ago, at the congress of our leading political party – which did quite well during yesterday’s election – that is, the 11th congress, which was held in 2009, we set ourselves the task of attracting leading experts to Russia’s higher education institutions and research centres. The mega-grant programme has been working for six years now, and you have all been actively involved in it.

The programme's objective is to bring the world’s top researchers, including our compatriots living abroad, to Russian higher education institutions and research organisations, improve academic mobility and create additional avenues for scientific cooperation.

Fairly sizable sums have been provided to fund these mega-grants. They have lost some of their value due to exchange rate fluctuations, but 30 billion rubles is still a lot of money, and we will, of course, think of ways to add to that money to compensate for the exchange rate losses.

An examination of projects was conducted on the basis of international standards and with the involvement of not only Russian, but also foreign experts. Each programme was analysed by two Russian specialists and two foreign specialists. As expected, we have gained a lot of insight from this work.

Already 160 world-class laboratories are working with you and your colleagues from around the world, leading this research. Competitive research teams have been formed.

Mr Fursenko [Presidential Aide] has drafted a note about the recipients of mega-grants, which include 78 foreign and 82 Russian researchers, 57 of whom reside outside of Russia. The contest winners include five Nobel Prize winners, and a Fields Prize winner.

In addition to Moscow and St Petersburg, the laboratories were created at higher education institutions and research organisations in Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar, Petrozavodsk, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Rostov, Saratov, Kaliningrad and Vladivostok, to name a few – 25 Russian regions in all.

World-class research results have been obtained, not only in physics and mathematics, where our schools are traditionally considered to be strong, but also in areas that are new to us, such as computational biology, cognitive psychology, medical technology and so on.

A big step forward was made in creating drugs for treating neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Innovative and unmatched mechanisms for diagnosing cancer have been created, which are utterly vital for Russia and the rest of the world.

I would like to stress that this is extremely important and timely for our country, because even though we have managed to considerably reduce mortality rates from various diseases and made some headway against cancer in that regard, the latter advance has been less significant. It is of critical importance to continue research in this area, first of all for humanitarian reasons.

We have begun to implement the results of research, including in healthcare and nuclear medicine, and so on.

I would like to point out that over a half of the staff at the newly established laboratories ‒ some of which I visited together with Mr Fursenko during trips to Russian regions ‒ are young researchers under 35. Overall, nearly 3,000 scientists from Russian universities and research organisations have benefited from the experience of working together with the world’s top scientists.

Another important outcome. The mega-grant programme has helped you and other scientists who have spent years working abroad to realise your potential in Russia.

I would also like to use this opportunity to thank you and your Russian and international colleagues for taking part in this programme. I thank you for the contribution that you are making and that I hope you will continue to make to the development of science in Russia and worldwide and to the training of Russian researchers as part of the mega-grant programme and outside of this programme, should you decide to continue your research at Russian universities.

The programme is for now planned to run until 2020. Of course, we will consider renewing it.

All in all, I want to stress that we are satisfied with the programme. A long-term strategy of science and technology development is to be drafted before the year’s end, and we will of course make sure to include the experience acquired through your participation in the programme.

Thank you all once again for your participation.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52916






Meeting with workers of the Kalashnikov Concern



September 20, 2016 - 17:00 - Izhevsk





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon,

It is so pleasant to visit such places.

When I came to look at new production floors, I had the impression this is a modern art museum. <…> I believe the content corresponds to the appearance.

I hope you find it interesting and pleasant to work here. You celebrated your professional holiday – Armourers’ Day – yesterday. I would like to congratulate you again and to wish you all the best. I would like to express my hope once again that the concern will continue developing and that you will be in a good mood when you go to work and return home afterwards.

A bit over three billion rubles have already been invested. Further investment is also planned, so I think prospects should be good. Do you like the production floor?



Remark:

Very much so.



Vladimir Putin:

It feels like things are changing, right? Naturally, most important is to manufacture civilian products apart from arms.

The production of civilian products should increase. True, your plants, your concern are producing equipment that is not limited to the timescale of the state arms programme but will be required by the Armed Forces in the future.

Yet, any arms-making enterprise is selling a considerable part of its output on the civilian market. This is the same all over the world. Your executives know this and plan the concern’s development correspondingly, and I hope this is how it is going to be.



Remark:

Thank you.



Alexander Yermilov:

Hello, Mr President. My name is Alexander Yermilov. I am a senior foreman of the preproduction floor.

Mr President, thank you for the greetings. I would like to express our deep gratitude for instituting our professional holiday. It has been celebrated since 2012 – the fifth time officially, so it has already become a good tradition and not only for our concern but also for the entire defence industry of our country.

Mr President, apparently you have professional family traditions. It would be very interesting to hear about them. Thank you.



Vladimir Putin:

Traditions?



Remark:

Professional family traditions.



Vladimir Putin:

I think there’s a special reason you’re asking me about family traditions. (Laughter). Love those close to you – this is the most important tradition. Nothing is more important than that. I hope this tradition will apply to your co-workers and families. Naturally, how one feels depends on this and also on material well-being. What is your average salary now?



Remark:

Thirty thousand.



Vladimir Putin:

Thirty thousand? Well, it corresponds to the national average but I think there should be brighter prospects. All of us understand that a salary should match labour productivity. This ratio must be always observed. Considering your enterprise is undergoing active re-equipment let’s assume opportunities for raising salaries will increase as well.



Alexei Smirnov:

Mr President, my name is Alexei Smirnov. I am the chief industrial engineer of special equipment production. I would like to ask you the following questions.

In the last few years the Kalashnikov Concern has invested a lot of funds in building new manufacturing facilities, upgrading equipment and heating systems, training and paying workers and opening new social facilities. To justify these expenses and develop the concern further it is necessary to load up these production spaces as much as possible. And so naturally the question arises: will government orders remain steadily high? Won’t they decrease in the near future?



Vladimir Putin:

Look, we have come here to discuss exactly this issue. You know that we have a state arms programme to 2020. Now we are drafting a new state arms programme to 2025.

Naturally, there are always issues between the capabilities of the state, budget options and the needs of the Armed Forces. Here we must find the golden mean so that our defence spending does not crowd out other needs linked with social issues, social welfare, pensions, healthcare and education – many areas for which the state and the federal budget are responsible. This is why we must find this golden mean.

However, as I have already said and would like to repeat once again: at all meetings with heads of defence enterprises we have made a point that the peak of equipping our army and navy with modern hardware should come somewhere at the threshold of 2021–2022. The Armed Forces must continue to be supplied with new hardware but on a planned basis. We will climb this mountain of the greatest portion of funding and then go down later. By that time it is absolutely vital to make sure that the scale of civilian production is enough to utilise the industrial capacity acquired today so as to retain workers and increase their salaries. This is not an easy task for any defence plant. Your executives are thinking about this and have relevant plans. I hope they will be carried out.



Remark:

Mr President, I am in charge of a production unit. My name is Larisa. What are your impressions of our plant?



Vladimir Putin:

Very good.



Remark:

Did you like it here?



Vladimir Putin:

Of course, this is the first thing I said. It is not my first time here. And, you know, when you compare what was here before with what is here now you feel a big difference. It is pleasant to work here and the quality of products is going up. Needless to say, it has always been high but today it is being upgraded to an entirely new level. You are expanding the manufacture of your traditional products: combat and civilian arms, as well as guns for hunting and sport. I was surprised to learn – honestly, I didn’t know this before – that many foreign shooting teams use our arms. This shows that… Why do they prefer our arms? This means they are better than those of other countries. Credit for this goes to you. I wish success to all of you.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52921
 
Old September 25th, 2016 #42
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Meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission



September 20, 2016 - 17:30 - Izhevsk





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Colleagues,

We are holding a regular meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission at the famous Kalashnikov Concern in Izhevsk.

Armourers’ Day was celebrated here as well as in other regions of the country shortly before. I have just spoken with workers on the production floor, and I’d like to congratulate you and all of our colleagues on your professional holiday and thank all of you for your painstaking labour and impressive results. We are proud of the achievements of the designers, engineers and workers of the defence industry, and I would like to wish success, health and wellbeing to all those who are involved with it.

Today we will review a number of issues related to the main areas in the system of arms development, primarily the modernisation of intelligence and information complexes that are playing a most important, decisive role in modern combat.

Today the formation of an integrated information and intelligence space of the Armed Forces is one of our key tasks. It should be based on protected modern technology and cover all levels of command – from tactical control to the general staff.

I would like to note that a number of steps towards creating this system have already been taken under the 2011–2020 state arms procurement programme, such as the formation of information support for long-range precision weapons. Also, our defence industry has launched the serial production and supply of troops with modern arms systems that will be used in the integrated information and intelligence space.

A trial link of the systems of automated control of intelligence and communications, as well as information support and other types of support for high-precision weapons of all types of deployment was carried out in two strategic areas.

Information support for advanced long-range weapons has been tested. It is necessary to step up this work, and strictly abide by the schedule on the development, trials and production of all planned systems.

I would like to emphasise that defence industry organisations should fully comply with the requirements of state customers on advanced military hardware, which are based on the combat experience of troops.

The next issue on the agenda is the timely implementation of the state armament programme. I would like to recall that in 2015 it was 97 percent complete. It was a good result made possible by our efforts to put funding in order and eliminate obstacles that used to slow work down or even prevent us from achieving our targets.

Still, there are a number of issues that need to be resolved. We discussed them at the meetings in Sochi in May, at the Defence Ministry, and on the unified military goods commissioning day. Today I would like to hear your suggestions as to how the issues can be settled.

Finally, I would like to stress that the success of state armament programme, the successful design of future weaponry and the innovative development of the defence industrial complex all hinge on fundamental research aimed at boosting our defences. In this context, the Russian Academy of Science came forward with a proposal to involve its specialised institutes more often and in a greater capacity.

The commission’s technological and scientific council has been instructed to analyse their potential, and I suggest that today we discuss what conclusions they have drawn and what can be done in this regard.

Let’s get to work. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin will speak next.



Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin:

Mr President, colleagues,

In accordance with your Executive Order of July 20, 2016, the Military-Industrial Commission Board began implementing the second stage of military science reform. After the institution of general designers for complex weapon systems was established, we worked in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence, the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, the Rosatom State Nuclear Power Corporation and other defence contractors to draw up a list of priority R&D areas. We have discussed it and can now submit it to you, Mr President, so that you can grant powers to the heads of these priority areas.

At this stage, we believe it to be necessary to focus our efforts on major issues that are essential for a new technological paradigm and the design of cutting-edge weaponry.

Moreover, new technology will have a powerful non-military effect as part of the programme that you tasked the Military-Industrial Commission with developing – a programme to diversify the defence industry to produce high-tech equipment for civil use.

I must say that the areas that the Board singled out for research can produce dual civil and military technology. The areas are enumerated in the Russian Government resolution that was issued prior to our meeting. Let me cite a few.

First of all, we are talking about technologies related to the materials science and engineering. Then, there are the technologies from the fields of radioelectronics, engine building, optronics, photonics, high-performance computing, including supercomputing. We will also develop technologies required to produce special fissile materials for the nuclear weapons complex and high-speed air and water equipment. Other areas of interest include cyber technology, propulsion technology, rocket engine technology and, finally, information and telecommunication technologies.

We will continue coordinating other strategic issues and we do not rule out submitting an additional proposal at one of the meetings of the Military-Industrial Commission.

As is clear from the presentation that goes with my speech, the development of new technology involves, in turn, resolving a broad range of additional tasks.

Thus, the structure of optronics and photonics includes the hardware components of photoelectronics, laser emitters, radio-photonics, optical materials, active media and light-sensitive materials and finally devices for transferring optical data.

This is exactly why the head of a priority technological area will be in charge, as a systems integrator, of not only a relevant main research organisation, but also the council of chief industrial engineers, to organise work on technological subsystems and the scientific and technical council for the relevant follow-up on the development of a certain technology. I would like to emphasise once again that we are talking about forming a system of institutions that answer to very different departments so that the work is coordinated.

In accordance with your executive order, general industrial engineers will be included on the Scientific and Technical Council of the Military-Industrial Commission where they will closely cooperate with general designers of special combat hardware.

In this way, we are forming a system of research and production organisations that will be able to generate entirely new knowledge and technology and also to initiate the formation and development of new scientific schools.

Now allow me to turn to the closed part of my speech and present to you the nominees for the heads of priority spheres of military technology.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52920
 
Old September 25th, 2016 #43
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Vostochno-Messoyakha oilfield launched



Vladimir Putin launched operations at the Vostochno-Messoyakha oilfield, Russia’s northernmost onshore deposit. The launch ceremony for the largest Arctic project took place via a video linkup.



September 21, 2016 - 13:45 - The Kremlin, Moscow



The Vostochno-Messoyakha oilfield is operated by Messoyakhaneftegaz, a joint venture between Gazprom Neft and Rosneft. The project was implemented in complete isolation from transport and other infrastructure. Oil from the field will first enter the Zapolyarye-Purpe mainline pipe system through a 98-kilometre long pipeline.





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today we are launching commercial production at the Vostochno-Messoyakha oilfield in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area. This is the northernmost major onshore oilfield in Russia. It is a result of the hard, I would say, massive effort of many teams. The work began decades ago after the geological survey was completed.

The discovered oil-bearing areas are located in a region with extreme weather conditions. Extracting oil from Messoyakha and its transportation required thousands of experts, the most complex technology and huge investment. The project involved our leading energy companies, Rosneft and Gazprom.

Let me note that the economic development of the Arctic territories and the launch of new large deposits were possible thanks to large infrastructure projects. As you may remember, on April 22, 2010, the Government signed an order to design and begin construction of the Zapolyarye-Purpe main oil pipeline.

This pipeline and the adjacent Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline are the main pathways for the oil to be delivered to the domestic and global markets. It will serve the development of Russian enterprises and contribute to the stability of the global energy market.

I would like to add that after the Vostochno-Messoyakha oilfield, we plan to develop the Zapadno-Messoyakha oilfield, which means there is a lot of very ambitious work ahead that our country needs.

Congratulations on today’s milestone. I wish you success in the future stages of the project. Good luck.



Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller:

Mr President, the Messoyakha oilfield is located on the Gydan Peninsula in the Arctic, 350 kilometres north of Novy Urengoi. Eighty-five billion rubles was invested in its development. The operation of the oilfield until 2040 will bring a total of one trillion rubles in taxes to the budgets at all levels.

Viewing a video about the oilfield.

Mr President, we have Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and Gazprom Neft Chairman Alexander Dyukov on the line.



Vladimir Putin:

Mr Sechin, please.



Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin:

Mr President, the first commercial oil from the Vostochno-Messoyakha oilfield will enter the Russian main oil pipelines today. It is a great honour for the teams of Rosneft and Gazprom Neft to launch this oilfield into commercial production under your supervision.

The main deposits of this oilfield are located in complex geologic structures, and each of them has its specifics. Therefore, we used the most advanced technology to model and carry out the drilling. Fifty-one oil wells were built, including technology-intensive horizontal directional wells with side tracks that increased the well rate by 40 percent.

Facilities have been built for oil treatment and shipping in the absence of an industrial and transport infrastructure. Our company, in particular, provided access to the latest technologies employed in such major Arctic projects as the Vankor oil and gas field.

Mr President, I would like to report that we are finishing the development of the Vankor cluster in general, and we hope that next month we will report the launch of the Suzunskoye field located 150 km from Messoyakha at the same latitude. This year, Suzun will give us 1,200,000 tonnes of oil. It will eventually produce 4.5 million tonnes per year. The next stage is the Tagulskoye field in Eastern Siberia.

With high competition in the global hydrocarbon market, it is essential for the Russian oil industry to maintain production at the same level and launch more new fields. Our industry needs tax incentives in order to remain competitive on the global scene. As Mr Miller said, we invested 250 billion rubles in this field alone. We believe the tax incentives that are being developed must use a versatile approach based on oil reservoir properties, chemical and physical properties of the crude oil, the water cut of deposits and the available infrastructure.

Mr President, the success of our large-scale projects is, without doubt, a result of your support for and attention to our companies and projects. I would like to thank you on behalf of the Rosneft and Gazprom Neft teams for your attention, involvement and support.

<…>



Vladimir Putin:

Colleagues, congratulations on this important milestone in the Russian energy industry. Congratulations to the construction workers, experts, engineers and managers. I wish you all success.

Thank you.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52928
 
Old September 25th, 2016 #44
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Meeting of Council for Strategic Development and Priority Projects



September 21, 2016 - 16:20 - Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today, there are two main items on our agenda: small businesses, and road quality and traffic safety.

I will begin with roads. Much has been done in recent years. We talk about it constantly, but a lot has also been done. Federal highways are being brought up to standard, and this work is funded almost in full.

Of course, roads are always a challenge, and we need to do even more in that area than has already been done. I will say more on that later. With regard to federal highways, the work is moving in the right direction. According to the Ministry of Transport, the financing of federal roads stands at about 91 percent of the amount of standard expenses involved in major overhauls, repair and maintenance.

Notably, a drop in the traffic-related death rate is the most important outcome of the upgrading of federal roads. By the way, we have not yet achieved the benchmark set for 2018 in accordance with the May executive orders. As you may recall, the goal is to reduce traffic-related deaths to 10.6 per 100,000 by 2018. We have witnessed a certain decline, but this figure has yet to be reached.

I would also like to point out that, when it comes to ​​road safety, the law now draws a clear line between the responsibility of the federal, regional and municipal authorities, and that of the owners of private roads.

I would like to make one more point. As we know from the direct lines with our citizens, the condition of regional and local roads is often criticised. Many of them, even in cities with one million or more residents have remained without proper maintenance for a long time now. This problem needs to be resolved, and at a much faster pace than has been done until now. To do so, we need to fully utilise the resources of the regional road funds. All the more so, since we decided to allocate additional funds from excise taxes on petrol to these funds.

According to the Transport Ministry, this decision will make it possible to allot an additional 40 billion rubles to the regional budgets for further crediting of regional road fund accounts.

For your reference, I would also like to say that at present, financing of regional roads in the Russian Federation on average does not exceed 15 percent of the normative funding levels for major repairs, servicing and maintenance.

I also consider it important to ensure the maximum possible informational transparency with regard to road construction and the use of road fund resources. Citizens certainly have the right and should be able to see how the collected resources are spent.

I would like to reiterate that we should drastically improve the situation with regard to regional roads. As a first step, efforts could be focused on so-called agglomerations, where the largest number of the country’s citizens live.

It is necessary to set a coherent, clear task: by 2018, no less than half of the roads in these agglomerations should be brought up to standard, to a state that meets modern requirements, while by 2025, the share of such roads should reach about 85 percent, no less. In fact, these are feasible tasks, because at present, about 65 percent of federal and only 39 percent of regional roads meet the normative requirements. Generally, as I said, these are quite realistic tasks.

In this regard, I would like to ask the Construction Ministry to expedite the adoption of regulatory acts and standards, which will make it possible to build roads by using advanced technologies and materials.

Special attention should also be paid to road safety. There are dangerous road sections where, because of potholes and bumps, and a lack of guardrails, markings or warning signs, road accidents with serious and very serious, including fatal consequences happen time after time. It is necessary to eliminate such sections, including in large agglomerations, where traffic is especially intense.

At the same time, it is certainly important to continuously receive information about dangerous, accident-prone road sections from citizens, so that they can oversee what the authorities and road owners are doing to rectify the situation.

I will ask the Minister of the Interior to tell us in more detail about what is being done to enhance safety on the roads. It is a disaster. I do not even want to talk about it – I would rather hear from you – because there is so much rough stuff and it is such a mess. The authorities must respond to cases of such behaviour.

Colleagues, one more topic of our meeting is support for small businesses and individual entrepreneurs.

We have addressed this subject more than once and are implementing the decisions that have been adopted. The development of small and medium-sized businesses is effective and much in demand. During this year alone, purchases by natural monopolies and companies with public ownership increased more than ten-fold and exceeded a trillion roubles, which is a significant amount. As a result, over 110,000 jobs have been created in small companies. This is a good indicator.

By 2018 the number of peopled employed by small companies and individual entrepreneurs should increase to 20 million. In the long-term, the level of employment in small companies and their share of the GDP should catch up with those countries where business, primarily small and medium-sized, is the backbone of the economy. We must continue creating a favourable environment for business, focusing our efforts on supporting key small business sectors.

There is something I would like to add. First, we must primarily pay attention to the development of manufacturing, high-tech small business. Such companies should not only be guaranteed demand for their products and orders from large corporations with public ownership. It is necessary to help them supply quality and competitive products.

Today small companies often find it difficult to certify their products, as we said many times, and to get access to equipment, technology and loans. We must create a whole infrastructure of support for small-business producers, including a network of regional leasing centres that will be ready to provide entrepreneurs with modern equipment.

Second, it is necessary to take a large step forward in terms of developing business in rural areas, primarily by helping owners of household plots to sell their produce, providing them with guarantees and loan support and assisting them in organising production.

A number of areas, for instance Lipetsk and Tyumen regions, have successful experience in developing agricultural cooperation. I suggest elaborating mechanisms for spreading the best regional practices.

Third, services are a large niche for small companies. It is necessary to make greater efforts to expand throughout the country of the step-by-step support system for entrepreneurs who wish to work in this sphere.

The so-called “business navigator” that has already been launched should become a major instrument in this respect. It provides, free of charge, more or less complete information on what services are required in a city or village, how to set up a business faster and what assistance is available.

I would like to mention in particular those who work independently in different spheres – from small repairs and construction to auto care. As you may understand, I am referring to so-called self-employed individuals. We have millions of them. People are simply compelled to remain “in the shadows” so as not to deal with the red tape, exaction, constant inspections and pressure that are probably excessive for the type of work involved.

I think that self-employed citizens should be offered an understandable and convenient instrument for cooperating with the state in order to enable them to calmly and legally run and expand their small but private business and to earn a living honestly through their labour and abilities.

We have repeatedly discussed, and I have just spoken about this to Mr Medvedev, and at forums of the United Russia party and Russian Popular Front events the need to relieve the self-employed from taxes and mandatory fees for a certain period, for instance a couple of years, so as to enable them to get into a normal rhythm of legal operations without too many burdens.

In addition, of course, it is necessary to rule out any possibility of qualifying the work of self-employed citizens as illegal entrepreneurship. If need be, special amendments should be introduced in the legislation.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52929
 
Old September 25th, 2016 #45
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Meeting with parents of Hero of Russia Magomed Nurbagandov



September 21, 2016 - 18:00 - Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region



The President signed an executive order awarding Magomed Nurbagandov the title of the Hero of Russia posthumously.





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Welcome.

I know that you are now going through hard times and would not like to take part in any official meetings or conversations. Please forgive me for inviting you here at such a difficult moment but I wanted very much to shake your hand and thank you for your son.

He was a real hero, which is why yesterday I signed an executive order awarding him the Star of the Hero of the Russian Federation. He is a hero because far from every person remains committed to his oath and duty and to his people, to the point of risking his life in the face of gunfire.

Only cowards can shoot an unarmed person, only cowards. And only real heroes, real men like the son you brought up, can look death in the eyes without fear. This is an example for many of us. And his words “Do your duty, brothers” is an order to all his fellow officers.

I am deeply indebted to you. I recall how Dagestani militiamen fought against terrorism when they faced this threat. He is a hero of that order. I know that no words can alleviate your grief, of course. However, I want you to know that the people of Moscow and Russia, all people who have a heart, a conscience and any sense at all, understand very well what happened. All of us, and you should know this.

Again, I am deeply indebted to you, and I thank you so much for your son.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52933
 
Old September 25th, 2016 #46
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Meeting with German Vice Chancellor and Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel



September 21, 2016 - 20:00 - Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Mr Vice Chancellor, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to welcome you to Moscow once again. I am very pleased to see you.

The Federal Republic of Germany remains one of our most important trade and economic partners. Unfortunately, our trade balance is falling. Last year it was minus 35 percent and even more, over minus 40 percent. In the first six months of this year, it was again minus 35.

We are making certain efforts – at least we are trying to on both sides now. We know that the Days of Russia forum took place in Rostock, which was attended by more than 600 business representatives from both Germany and Russia. We can see that businesspeople are inclined to develop relations.

In this context, we consider your visit to be very important. I hope that we will be able to talk and search for ways to solve the problems that we are facing.

Welcome to Moscow.



Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel (retranslated):

Thank you, Mr President. I am glad that I managed to visit you in Moscow.

As you know, we had already fixed the date, but in connection with Britain’s decision, Europe is in a predicament. This is why this visit was postponed, and I am glad that we managed to make it happen. Our delegation includes representatives of the business community. You rightly said that there are interested parties on both sides: Russian and German entrepreneurs want not only to maintain the existing cooperation, but also to expand it.

I personally attended the Russian Economy Days in Rostock and met with the Russian Minister of Industry there. I can say that this interest exists not only in the East of Germany. The entire economy and all business quarters of Germany are very interested in developing and expanding all contacts despite the existing crises.

Thank you for the opportunity to meet with a representative of your Government tomorrow. Over 5,000 German companies are represented here, in the Russian Federation. Therefore, we are grateful for the opportunity to continue our dialogue.

We are meeting in very difficult times. We always meet during hard times. I visited the Soviet Union for the first time in 1980, when the West boycotted the Olympic games. It so happens that I always come here during times of trial.

There are complicated issues related to Syria and Ukraine. I would be grateful if we could discuss them, especially the most recent incidents, such as the attack on the humanitarian convoy in Syria. Naturally, this is making the situation much more complicated. I would be grateful if we could find an opportunity to discuss these issues.



Vladimir Putin:

By all means.

As for the German entrepreneurs who came this time, we have very many friends in Germany, and despite all the difficulties arising in politics, our friends remain our friends and we know and feel this.

Our German friends also know that we remain their friends. Therefore, I think that relying on this positive potential, we should seek solutions to all complicated issues. We will find them eventually, but the sooner the better.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52934






Telephone conversation with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Turkish Republic Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the initiative of the Turkish side.



September 21, 2016 - 22:20



The Turkish leader congratulated Vladimir Putin on the successful elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly.

The two leaders also discussed issues pertaining to further Russian-Turkish cooperation and a Syrian settlement.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52935






Meeting with President of the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik



September 22, 2016 - 22:20 - The Kremlin, Moscow



The meeting included a discussion of the situation in the Balkans and various aspects of bilateral cooperation. The parties exchanged views on key issues on the international agenda.

Taking part in the meeting were Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and chief representative for the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Moscow Dusko Perovic.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52951
 
Old September 25th, 2016 #47
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Security Council meeting



September 22, 2016 - 16:15 - The Kremlin, Moscow





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, colleagues,

Today we will look at regional policy, which is a key governance issue. We will look into ways of improving it and making it more efficient, as well as removing obstacles that stand in the way of dynamic growth in the Russian regions.

The main goals and objectives in this area were identified in the Fundamental Provisions of Regional Policy in Russia approved more than 20 years ago. The implementation of that document helped consolidate our country's territorial integrity, Russia’s unity, and to streamline the relations between different levels of government and the territorial organisation.

The federal and regional targeted programmes have become more effective and to the point, which allowed us to resolve many economic, infrastructural and social problems.

I would like to note that the Gross Regional Product (GRP) also increased substantially: 25 times from 2.2 trillion in 1998 to 58.7 trillion rubles in 2014. The demographic situation has markedly improved. The population base and life expectancy have been growing since 2009. Thus, average life expectancy in Russia amounted to 64 years in 1995 and increased to 71 years in 2015. The infant mortality rate per thousand decreased from 18 in 1994 to 6.5 in 2015.

The Government created and launched mechanisms for encouraging the priority development of the Far East, Russia’s Arctic, the North Caucasus and later on Crimea and the Kaliningrad Region, which play a special role in safekeeping our national interests and security.

At the same time, the process of forming a solid system of federal relations and efficient local self-government has not yet been completed.

The risks related to the imbalance of the budget system and disproportions in territorial development and the labour market are still there. There are still many problems in education, healthcare and culture. Meanwhile, we all understand that these areas ensure the integrity of the country’s socio-economic space, not to mention that their condition, just as that of the economy, exerts a direct influence on the social wellbeing of the population.

The difference in the economic development of the regions is still tangible and the trend towards drawing the economy into the country’s central regions has not yet been overcome. This leads to disproportions in budget allocations, and, hence, to a gap in the level of incomes and social guarantees of the people living in different regions of the Russian Federation.

These indicators fluctuate even within the same federal district. The aggregate incomes of the five wealthiest regions are 43 times higher than the poorest regions. While comparing the wealthiest region to the poorest one – I would not even want to go there; it is hundreds of times higher.

Obviously, we need to specify the current regional policy priorities and tasks. With this aim in view, the Government has elaborated a draft basis for Russia’s regional development policy to 2025, which we will discuss today.

I would like to draw your attention to several important points. First, it is important to identify in the new document the economic mechanisms that will help us more fully realise the industrial, scientific and technological, educational and entrepreneurial potential of the regions, and use their competitive advantages in a flexible way, to create new growth areas and thus ensure additional revenue streams to the budget. Only such an approach will help us to reduce the socioeconomic differences between our regions, and to create proper conditions for improving the quality of life across Russia.

Secondly, we need to improve budget-to-budget relations, to achieve steady financial support for the regional and municipal authorities.

The regions and the municipalities must balance their budgets properly. It is imperative to more efficiently use fiscal tools in order to facilitate economic growth and to boost gross regional product.

In turn, at the federal level, it is necessary to improve the system of targeted subsidies and grants, and to monitor and analyse how effectively they are used by the regions. Of course, it is important to offer solutions that will enhance the independence of the regions and municipalities as they expand their taxable revenue base.

In general, budget-to-budget relations are among the key issues. We will consider it at a separate meeting with representatives of the Government and the regions.

Next, it is imperative to ensure that there is coordination between the federal and regional programmes that are designed to develop the territories. Of course, this applies to the investment plans of state-owned companies and major private companies. In other words, all the funds raised for a particular project should be concentrated in order to create synergy.

Let us discuss all of these issues.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52947






Meeting with Sergei Naryshkin and Mikhail Fradkov



September 22, 2016 - 18:40 - The Kremlin, Moscow





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Mr Naryshkin, the State Duma elections are over, we know the results. You have made a significant contribution to this joint effort. You have been the Speaker of the State Duma for years, and prior to that worked as Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.

Everything is moving on, everything is changing for us. I believe that in your previous positions, including such an important one as State Duma Speaker, you have successfully discharged your duties and justified the confidence placed in you by the deputies when they elected you Speaker of the State Duma.

With this in mind, I would like to offer you a job in the executive branch, to be more precise – in one of our leading special services. I would like to propose that you head the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia.

Mr Fradkov has been heading the Service for nine years. As we recently discovered, this is a record term in that office. Throughout those years, while operating in absolutely new conditions, the Service made great strides toward consolidation, by which I also mean consolidating the staff and feedback from such a critical component of the state mechanism as intelligence, from the point of view of ensuring the operation of the supreme bodies of power.

I would like to thank you, Mr Fradkov, for your work. You are actually well known: you used to be a Government minister, and Prime Minister, and you performed your duties in this critical position in the best possible way. Thank you very much.



Mikhail Fradkov:

Thank you.



Vladimir Putin:

As we discussed earlier, I expect that all your skills and expertise will be employed for the benefit of the country, of the state, in a different place. Let us talk about it in greater detail.

Mr Naryshkin, I would like to wish you success. You are well aware, just as we all are, of the situation we are now in and how important the success of the Service is for this country’s reliable development. How important it is for addressing threats against Russia before it is too late, for preventing their proliferation, averting them, neutralising these threats at early stages and working toward positive goals. I am referring to cooperation with our partners in the main areas, primarily in fighting terror and of course providing quality, reliable information to the President and the Government of the Russian Federation so that we can make well thought-out and balanced decisions in the interest of the Russian people. I hope that you will cope with your tasks as successfully as you did in your previous positions.



Sergei Naryshkin:

Mr President, first, thank you very much for your positive appraisal of my work in the position of State Duma Speaker over the past five years.

I regard your offer as an assignment from the head of state and the Supreme Commander in Chief. I understand very well the non-public character of the Foreign Intelligence Service’s activity, especially compared to the State Duma. At the same time, I realise that the scope of tasks and the Service’s contribution to ensuring the state’s strategic interests is enormous. Thank you.



Vladimir Putin:

Mr Naryshkin, everybody knows that you followed a difficult path during the election campaign and had no plans to surrender your seat. I would like to apologise to your voters who put their trust in you by electing you a State Duma deputy.

I hope that people will understand. The area that is being offered to you is no less important than a deputy’s work. We should think of the people who voted for you as having, in a sense, delegated you to this highly responsible position.



Sergei Naryshkin:

Mr President, thank you for saying this as well. I would like to use this opportunity to once again thank my countrymen, my voters, Leningraders, for the trust they have placed in me – twice now. Thank you.



Mikhail Fradkov:

For my part, Mr President, I would like to thank you for your high assessment of the Foreign Intelligence Service as a whole and of my humble contribution, as well as for the trust that you have given me over the many years that I have held high positions of authority, including as director of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

It is an exciting and important job. I am pleased that you have chosen Mr Naryshkin with whom I have worked side by side in the Government for a long time and who is a friend. As part of this trust-based and non-public relationship – which is also not an insignificant factor – I will pass on everything I know to Mr Naryshkin, and I believe that he will work in this sphere just as effectively as he has up to now. Thank you very much.



Vladimir Putin:

Thank you.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52948
 
Old September 25th, 2016 #48
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Meeting with KAMAZ-Master team



Vladimir Putin met with KAMAZ-Master team and organisers of the 2016 Silk Way Rally.



September 22, 2016 - 23:00 - The Kremlin, Moscow



The KAMAZ-Master team has won the Silk Way Rally this year taking the first and second place in the truck division.

KAMAZ-Master is a Russian car racing team from Naberezhnye Chelny competing in KAMAZ trucks. The team was set up in 1988. KAMAZ-Master drivers won the Silk Way Rally in 2009, 2010 and 2012. In addition, the team is a 13-time winner of the Dakar Rally (Paris – Dakar).





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Friends,

I am happy to welcome you to Moscow, to the Kremlin, and to congratulate you on your strong victory in such a tough competition as the Silk Way Rally. Did you win the first two places?



Remark:

Yes, we did.



Vladimir Putin:

It is fascinating that this is the first time you have employed the mixed crew format of cooperation and competition. One of the vehicles had a crew made up of Russian and Chinese racers. This is also a very good sign, of course.

Judging by what I saw and read, the Silk Way Rally turned out to be even more difficult that the Paris – Dakar. The vehicles were faultless, as much as it is possible. I saw that there were a number of hard situations on the track.

I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, congratulate you and wish you new success.

Will you please tell me your thoughts about the race? What do you think of the track and the vehicles?



Vladimir Chagin:

If I may, I will say a few words. Mr President, first of all, we are grateful to you for finding the time to meet with us despite your extremely busy schedule. Your appreciation of our work, our efforts and results is very important to us.

We are very happy that this year the KAMAZ-Master team did not disappoint its fans and partners: we won the first and second places. And, of course, it has a special significance to us that we managed to complete a race on such a long route embracing two continents and three countries.

You will remember that the previous five Silk Way races, which were held from 2009 to 2013, ran on Russian territory. We are very grateful to you for supporting the route Mr Miller [Gazprom CEO] stretched to the east, saying let us have more, let us go bigger.

The territory of Kazakhstan and China are excellent for the rally. This is not just a sports event; the race has a geopolitical significance. We have had good administrative support all the way – both in Kazakhstan and in China. The three nations’ governments gave us all the necessary assistance, and within a few months a tremendous amount of work had been completed on the organisation of the project. Everything went well.

The participants in the race are very pleased. Over 40 countries and 125 crews toed the starting line on Red Square. The world’s leading rally raid crews took part in trucks and cars. All were under a very good, positive impression and are preparing for next year.

Russia has always attracted travellers and tourists, and, of course, contests like rally raids combine sport, tourism and travel. These people were highly impressed by the diversity of routes, because at first it was Russia and its forest and steppe expanses, next came Kazakhstan’s steppes, and then China’s sandhills. Dakar lacks the diversity you have mentioned.



Vladimir Putin:

How many kilometres was the route?



Vladimir Chagin:

10,700 kilometres, two weeks. We started off on Red Square.



Vladimir Putin:

And Paris–Dakar – how many kilometres?



Vladimir Chagin:

Eight or nine thousand.



Vladimir Putin:

That route is shorter than the one here, isn’t it?



Vladimir Chagin:

Yes, it is shorter. It runs through four South American countries: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Paraguay will be added this year. Our route was even more packed and difficult. Of course, there are those who failed to make it to the finish line. But those who did will talk about having done the Silk Road for the rest of their lives.



Vladimir Putin:

What about you, guys, did you like it? How did the vehicles perform? Do tell me.



Airat Mardeyev:

Yes, the race was very interesting indeed. The Silk Way is a real rally raid. While Dakar is more like a classic rally – there are many winding and rapid routes, but the Silk Way has taken in what is lacking in Dakar: sands, mud-locked roads and winding routes, too. All routes are very interesting, and special stretches are very long. Cold weather alternated with hot weather – this race had a bit of everything.

The vehicles performed very well; we had practically no technical problems and, in principle, this is what influenced our result: we won the top two positions. The vehicles performed very well.



Vladimir Putin:

Does the plant analyse how the vehicles perform in such an extreme environment?



KAMAZ Director General Sergei Kogogin:

Of course, we do.

After a certain cycle that a vehicle completes during a race, we use this on production vehicles. These are mostly special elements: parts of the suspension, engine boost… We take all that into consideration because we need both power and reliability at the same time.



Vladimir Putin:

A testing ground like this cannot be invented on purpose, can it?



Sergei Kogogin:

You cannot invent anything better. Now we are facing difficult tasks. We are planning to make a new engine and a new vehicle. This is also a technical challenge for designers, crews and KAMAZ as a whole.



Sergei Savostin:

A race is a final product – just two weeks that cap off a huge amount of work involving the whole of KAMAZ. The plant is engaged in a lot of work, too, and this is why the crews are doing so well.



Vladimir Chagin:

Not only KAMAZ. We place orders all over the country.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52952






Award ceremony for winners of Black Sea Tall Ships Regatta second stage



Vladimir Putin took part in the awards ceremony for the winners of the international Black Sea Tall Ships Regatta’s second stage. The President presented the cup to Andrei Orlov, captain of the Mir sailing ship, winner of the Class A ships, and to Alexandra Nikiforova, winner of the Russian Geographical Society’s national contest.



September 24, 2016 - 15:10 - Sochi



Later Mr Putin toured the Nadezhda frigate, where he viewed Roskomflot and Sovkomflot cargo ship models.

The Black Sea Tall Ships Regatta has been held every year since 1956, in European ports for the most part. Russian sailing ships and yachts have taken part since 1978.

This year the regatta is being held from September 8 to October 4 with about 30 racers, including Russia’s Kruzenshtern, Mir, Nadezhda and Khersones tall ships. Bulgaria has entered the Royal Helena and the Kaliakra, Poland the Pogoria, and Spain the Atyla.





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, friends,

Today in Sochi we greet again the winners of the international tall ships regatta’s stage and also the winner of the contest held by the Russian Geographical Society, a contest dedicated to the Russian exploration of the World Ocean.

Tall ships regatta is a very special event. Any person, both experienced sailors and rookie seamen, feels a special, intense thrill as they step on the deck of the ship, touch the helm, and sails for the first time.

And it is important that people not only learn seafaring, but also begin to understand that success depends on the skills of each crewmember, as well as on the precise crew integration.

The sea brotherhood does not know national borders. Cultural and ethnic differences fade into the background. What is more crucial is support, fellowship, and friendship. And such events play an important role in developing relations between nations.

You have another stage ahead of you. I wish you all success, and as they say in such cases, fair winds and a following sea! Good luck!





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52968
 
Old September 25th, 2016 #49
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Meeting with Chairperson of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova and commission members



September 23, 2016 - 12:15 - The Kremlin, Moscow





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Ms Pamfilova, colleagues,

I would like to thank you and the members of the Central Election Commission, its team and your colleagues for your incredible hard work during the parliamentary elections in the Russian Federation.

You properly accomplished your task and provided an honest and competitive struggle between political parties that allowed the citizens of our country to express their will by voting.

The Central Election Commission maintained compliance with all legal procedures and promptly responded to complaints.

I heard Ms Pamfilova speaking somewhat harshly on some issues, and I’d like to assure you that I will do my best to have the concerns that troubled you and the observers considered and duly reviewed.

However, the overwhelming majority of participants in the election process, the observers and, most importantly, the Russian people saw the election as unbiased and legitimate.

Certainly, this is the most important indicator that our election system is developing in the right direction.

Political parties are now participating in the organisation of the election process more actively. We are aware of this. Almost half of the members of the central election commissions at various levels were appointed based on their proposals.

Many of your colleagues, a total of 880,000 central election commission voting members took part in the complex and important process of organising and holding the election. This is a large team.

Observers do a great deal to increase the transparency of the process. The video surveillance system and online streaming on public networks is equally important. Certainly, we should continue to develop this.

I’d like to thank you all again for your hard work. I’m waiting for your own opinions about this election and ideas on how to improve it.



Central Election Commission Chairperson Ella Pamfilova:

Thank you, Mr President.

I’d like to present you with this album. In it, we have tried to aggregate all the statistics reflecting the scale of this election. I would like to say that it was the largest and most complex election in modern Russia’s entire electoral history, with over 5,300 campaigns at different levels.

Naturally, if we compare it to 2011, when only seven parties were in the race, today there are 14 parties plus the return of single-seat constituencies. In other words, the pressure naturally multiplied, because competition was stiff. On average, 14.5 per district. This is, of course, an unprecedented scale. In some regions, we had up to nine seats.

Take a look – I will not enumerate [everything]. There are a lot of interesting things. I believe that you will appreciate the scale. Almost 40,000 seats were up for grabs. Furthermore, in 39 regions, there were also elections to legislative assemblies. Seven governors were elected. I would like to underscore – this is also very good, as everyone has noted – that direct gubernatorial elections have been reinstated. This is very important. The results are not bad at all, either. Overall, there were 102,000 candidates for seats in all government bodies. This is a huge number.

The expert community expressed concern that there would be far fewer observers. In reality, we have calculated that, while in 2011 there were 440,120 (together with commission members with a non-binding vote), this time it was 419,487 – this is relatively, practically the same.

I would like to thank all the main parties, which deployed a truly massive army of observers. For our part, we at the CEC have tried to provide the most favourable conditions both to members of the media who had been accredited to ensure that they did not run into any impediments, and to observers. In fact, we imposed a moratorium on their expulsion. We repeatedly stated at each meeting, in every statement: “If you want fair elections, come to the polls, vote and observe!” Observers and the media are our natural allies, as they also wanted fair, competitive and transparent elections.

I would like to say that United Russia posted 166,782 observers; the CPRF, 83,323; the LDPR, 58,612; the Party of Growth, 42,884; A Just Russia, 51,803, and Yabloko, 3,697. I will not enumerate them all. Incidentally, the more observers there are, the weightier the arguments, in particular with regard to the violations that have been identified. Those who truly covered all polling stations kept track of the situation and were able to provide accurate information, not just speculate on what was going on.

The number of repeated entries into the Elections State Automated System (GAS) decreased by one third compared to the past election. We established very strict control over this and if a repeated entry occurs, we immediately look into the cause: is it a technical mishap or a violation, or someone trying to play games? So we followed up on everything. Nobody will avoid responsibility.

Yesterday there was an awful incident that we uncovered in the Voronezh Region. I think we will submit these materials to the Prosecutor General’s Office. I believe all those who are responsible for deliberately changing information should be held accountable. We think they shamelessly exploited the levers of power there. I hope that law-enforcement bodies will reach the appropriate conclusions on this and other violations that regrettably took place there. But their number was much smaller than during the last election.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, 32 criminal cases have already been initiated as compared to 54 in 2011. In all, we received 394 complaints following the election. We are now studying them meticulously. Not a single complaint will go unanswered. However, in general, the number and character of complaints can in no way affect the elections or their legitimacy.

The complexity of this election was unprecedented. Of course, we made mistakes and I see them. We must take this into account by all means. It is necessary to reorganise the system from within and make it more mobile and dynamic. We also need to replace equipment, such as machines for processing paper ballots and new voting systems. The legislation must be amended by all means because along with some very good regulations that have liberalised laws and enhanced competitiveness – the reduction of the threshold from seven to five percent, direct elections of governors, and a decrease in the number of signatures that must be collected – we faced a lot of red tape and a very complicated registration procedure. A lot of papers must be collected and parties find it difficult to collect them (I think they will let you know about this themselves) and we find it difficult to check. The same applies to the mechanism of collecting and verifying signatures. This is also difficult for rank-and-file citizens, especially independent candidates. Even many lawyers found it difficult to explain certain vague points of the legislation. Sometimes they found it very difficult to classify some standards correctly. So you can imagine what independent candidates had to face, although we tried to help them.

I believe now we will work to correct the mistakes, do what we left unfinished. I can see another minus on our part in that our PR colleagues in the regions should have kept the people better informed about the elections. I believe that a drop in turnout was related, among other things, to the fact that our colleagues in the regions did not provide sufficient information to the people about when the election would be held or the location of polling stations. Needless to say, now we have improved the procedure to the greatest extent possible.

Here in Moscow we use text messages and online information but there are groups of people, especially senior citizens, who are accustomed to going to the polls, receiving post cards. They do not text. It is essential, while making progress, to preserve the traditional methods of keeping this particular category of citizens informed, at least insofar as our work is concerned. There are also internal matters, issues related to technological modernisation, legislative amendments and ways of improving law enforcement practice.

We will seriously analyse the mistakes and meet with all parties that are interested in this, as well as with the expert community. Throughout the campaign we did not turn anyone down. We closely collaborated with all those who wanted to help, with all those who were interested in fair, well-organised elections. The Central Election Commission heard them all. I have no doubt – and I think this holds true for my colleagues – that we definitely ensured complete openness and transparency.

I would like to make another important point, Mr President. Thank you for this meeting. For the first time in 13 years, the meeting is taking place in this composition, and this is very important because the CEC is not run by Pamfilova. It is a collective body and all of my colleagues, even though there are representatives of six parties as well as unaffiliated members – we worked as a single team. And by the way, for the first time, we unanimously voted for the protocol.

Do you know what our biggest challenge was? Unfortunately, far from all regional leaders heeded your political will, your call for open, competitive and fair elections, and some of them filtered it through the prism of their personal interests, I am sorry to say.

I will not provide specific information now, because we have [only] analysed the first stage – the situation before election day, including the unfair use and abuse of the levers of power. What was the distinctive feature of our work this time? To ensure that the election day went smoothly, it was necessary to keep track of what was happening at this stage on a daily basis and prevent a host of possible abuses. We are now working on this material.

Since this is within our purview, I would like to take a close look at how our colleagues in the regions – commission chairs – worked. Now we will have a rotation, with two-thirds due to be replaced. We will consider [the situation] and evaluate everyone’s performance to see who was guided not by the law but by some other interests and who worked honestly, despite any pressure. As for regional leaders, this is up to you to decide.

The second stage, election day. I am not ready now, because we are still analysing, with petitions still coming in. I will only say that while progress in Moscow and the Moscow Region is evident, especially in Moscow, unfortunately, St Petersburg was deeply disappointing. Our analysis shows that there were very serious violations at the district level. All documents, all complaints and petitions have been passed on to the prosecutor’s office. I hope that appropriate conclusions will be made.

And one final thing, as my long presentation is nearing the end – I am sorry, but we took everything so close to heart. What did we encounter? We see that there is a clear violation. We see that our colleague has not acted in good faith. We censure him, but the governor says: “No, stay on.” The CEC has given the commission chairman a no-confidence vote, advising him to go, to vacate his post. The head of the region disagrees with us and the person stays put. Under the law, this is correct, but it is necessary to think through this.

If we assume this responsibility, it is necessary, without violating the principle of federalism, to fine-tune the mechanism, ensuring that the CEC has at least the same powers that regional commissions have. They can appoint or dismiss [officials] and influence the composition of territorial election commissions. Territorial commissions can influence district commissions. Unfortunately, it turns out that sometimes, seeing such abuses, we can only wag a finger. I believe that lawmakers will consider the proposals that we will prepare to streamline the system.



Vladimir Putin:

You know, even in the state administration system we have situations where a superior official can only wag his finger. For example, municipalities, which are not part of the government system, have special powers. And of course, regional leaders (the regions are part of the government system) have plenty of levers to influence large municipalities but that is not always enough to efficiently organise their work, and this is something of a drawback. However, reality is more complex and diverse.

You just mentioned the fact that we have a federal state and there are corresponding decisions – if we stay within the framework of this example – related to the special role of municipalities, and in accordance with the international documents to which we adhere because we signed them, they should have a set of specific powers.

So the problem that you have raised is of a systemic character and it shows through in different spheres. Although of course, if we come up against some problems that require special attention and consideration they should be addressed and ways of streamlining this system should definitely be analysed.

Now regarding my attitude toward our colleagues at the regional level. Surely everyone has seen (I will not talk about pre-election and election affairs now) how I deal with those who violate the law, regardless of that person’s political views or position in the political sphere. If a person violates the law, he must be held accountable, responsible for that.

This also applies to the behaviour of leaders at any level in the economic, social and political spheres. Everyone should be on an equal footing here. We will follow the same approach in relation to your sphere of activity.

There is no question that you work in a very important political sphere. What would I like to say to conclude this part of our conversation? The less politicised your work is, the better. It should be technical and organised solely within the bounds of the law. All the requirements should apply to all participants in this process, not on the basis of criteria connected to political sympathies, but connected to only one thing: adherence to the Election Law of the Russian Federation and everything that is related to it.





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Old September 25th, 2016 #50
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Meeting with Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov



September 23, 2016 - 13:00 - The Kremlin, Moscow



The President conveyed condolences to the families of ministry employees who died fighting a major fire in eastern Moscow the previous evening.

The operation involved 300 fire fighters and over 50 units of equipment. The conflagration was assigned 4th complexity rating and took 14 hours to put out. Eight personnel died in the process.





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Mr Puchkov, last night you reported to me about a fire in Moscow and expressed concerns about the potential for a tragedy involving the death of your colleagues, Emergencies Ministry officers who extinguished the fire. Unfortunately, these fears were confirmed.

I would like to offer condolences to the families of those who died. I would also like to say that we will do our best to support both families and personnel, the squads. I’m sure that you will do everything you can in your official capacity.

I would like to say that the timely detection of possible safety violations, including in areas that pose a fire hazard, and responding to these violations will reduce the number of such tragedies and similar incidents. Please take this into consideration.



Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov:

Yes, Mr President.



Vladimir Putin:

What is happening there now?



Vladimir Puchkov:

Mr President, the fire rescue units of the Moscow garrison arrived eight minutes after the fire broke out in the warehouse with a total area of 16,000 square metres. They evacuated and rescued over 100 workers of the enterprise and took the necessary measures to minimise the risk to people living nearby, as plastic products were kept at the warehouse and the chemicals posed a real threat.

The fire team assessed the risks and entered the warehouse to accomplish its tasks. Unfortunately, eight of our colleagues died, but they showed professionalism, courage and selflessness.

At present, we are hosing down the building to eliminate potential fire sources at the warehouse. The fire laboratory of the Emergencies Ministry is working together with our colleagues from the Investigative Committee to identify the cause of the fire.

The Russian State Fire Service has repeatedly inspected this facility in the last three years. The last inspection took place in March 2016, which detected a number of violations related to the absence of the automatic fire suppression and smoke exhaust systems, and other violations.

The officials and the company were punished and fined, and were ordered to remedy the defects by November 1, 2016. Unfortunately, we can state that they did not comply, but the final result will be clear once the proceedings have been completed.





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Old September 26th, 2016 #51
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Meeting with leaders of parties that gained State Duma seats following elections



September 23, 2016 - 13:45 - The Kremlin, Moscow





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, colleagues,

The results of the elections held on September 18 have been officially announced. I have just had a meeting with members of the Central Election Commission, and we talked about it and confirmed once again that the election had been held in accordance with all the legal requirements.

Russian citizens have determined the new composition of the Russian parliament by a direct, free expression of their will. I must add that parliamentary parties have once again reaffirmed their high standing, and showed that they play a system-shaping role in the political setup of our country and enjoy the support and trust of the voters, of the citizens.

Success in the election, as you well know, is always a new challenge, a new milestone, because people have their expectations from the election, and we have to work to justify these expectations. Parliament is elected to address national issues, issues that voters raise for various government bodies to address, including for the supreme legislative body. Here a direct, open and honest dialogue with citizens is crucial; we have repeatedly talked about it before.

The election was based on a mixed system that you had unanimously supported – half of the deputies are elected to parliament from single-mandate constituencies. This means a closer and more reliable connection between the lower house, the State Duma, Russian regions and territories. I hope feedback will also be used more efficiently.

The mixed system enables parties to be represented in the State Duma on a broader basis. True, this is not a very significant amount, but still minor parties now have people who can use the public rostrum of the State Duma to formulate and defend their position. And this is also an indication of greater political and party competition.

The United Russia party has won the majority in the new State Duma. It will bear responsibility for both the quality of the law-making efforts and also a constructive dialogue with other parties represented in the Russian parliament. I hope this work will be based on a consistent and respectful attitude to the parliamentary minority.

Although this is a matter for parliament and the United Russia party, I believe it expedient to keep the seat distribution in the major committees as it was in the previous Duma, even though United Russia has received many mandates this time. I think this would contribute to more constructive work with all the parties represented in parliament.

Approving the budget is a priority for the State Duma. I expect that the parliamentarians will promptly become involved in this work. We do this every day – the day before yesterday and yesterday, when we finished around 10 pm.

That work is difficult and you know this well; many of you have become professional financiers, representatives of [the Government’s] social cluster. This is why I urge you to join the efforts without delay. And from the very beginning, please establish close, meaningful and constructive cooperation with the Government of the Russian Federation.

Let me add that the State Duma has numerous new members. I hope, however, that the continuity will be assured. Primarily this has to do with being consolidated to address the key national development tasks and be ready to put aside inter-party differences, which are inevitable, of course, but still should be pushed into the background in discussions of the key issues so as to achieve common goals in the interests of society and national development. I am confident that the new composition of the deputy corps is fully prepared for serious and responsible work.

Next there is a personnel issue. You know that yesterday I offered Sergei Naryshkin the post of head of one of the most serious organisations in the state system, in the state machinery, the Foreign Intelligence Service. He accepted the offer and therefore will be unable to continue his work as a State Duma deputy and Parliament Speaker.

This brings to the fore the need to elect a new State Duma speaker. This issue is certainly within the exclusive purview of the deputy corps, but Mr Medvedev and I will ask [them] (United Russia at any rate) to support the candidacy of Vyacheslav Volodin. I would like to inform you about this, if you as the faction leaders will think it possible, accordingly, to respond to this in a consolidated manned.

Mr Volodin knows what parliamentary work is; he was a deputy himself for a long time, and while on the Presidential Executive Office he maintained direct contacts with the deputy corps, the faction leaders and with the parties. This was part of his professional duties. I hope all of this will help him to manage the work in the lower house of Parliament. If, of course, the deputies adopt a relevant decision.

This is what I wanted to say in the beginning.

Mr Medvedev, do you want to add anything?



Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev:

Sure.

Mr President, colleagues,

The President has just mentioned the need for consolidated efforts, especially on key aspects of national development, the formation of the state budget and the resolution of urgent social issues.

Addressing my colleagues from other political forces, I would like to say that the United Russia party is ready for this, as well as the Government of the Russian Federation. We have always maintained working relations with all parliamentary parties. Naturally, we also hope to work with the new State Duma in the manner described by the President just now.

Political scientists and different experts will discuss the results of the election campaign for a long time but it is already perfectly obvious that our political system is developing. This time many more parties stood in the State Duma elections. Indeed, not all of them surpassed the barriers but it is nonetheless obvious that parliamentary parties again received support from a considerable part of our population, voters of the Russian Federation. However, there are new people as well, and most important the elections to our State Duma were held under an entirely new system. Many deputies represented regions and there were many single-mandate deputies, and apparently, this will also exert influence on the work of the State Duma. I hope this will be a fresh and interesting influx that will allow it to respond to our most pressing issues.

I would like to confirm once again that United Russia as a political force and a party that, after the elections to the State Duma, has a constitutional majority and the Government of the Russian Federation are ready for such work. Thank you.



Vladimir Putin:

Mr Vasilyev, go ahead please.



United Russia faction leader and Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Vladimir Vasilyev:

Thank you very much.

I would like to note that your proposal to nominate Vyacheslav Volodin is certainly very interesting for us and we are supporting it all the way because he worked in the Government, is very familiar with the Duma and works in the Executive Office. He knows how to set tasks that make everyone work as best as they can.

We see the style of his work and I think that it will by all means positively affect the work of our parliament in conditions which you, Mr President, defined as very uneasy, when it will be necessary to maintain the balance of interests of all political forces, and, most important, to ensure national development and people’s interests. I hope we will cope with this task. At any rate I cannot but express my opinion on this score. Thank you.



Vladimir Putin:

Thank you.

Mr Zyuganov, please.



Leader of the Communist Party faction in the State Duma Gennady Zyuganov:

Mr President, here we see people who are responsible for two major issues. First, to preserve stability in our country that we all care about, and second, to preserve unity in our society, a prerequisite for overcoming sanctions and the crisis.

Speaking about Mr Naryshkin, we congratulate him on his new office. I believe his work in the Parliament was highly efficient. He has proved his ability to communicate with all parties and find solutions that would suit us all, in a tactful and professional manner. Mr Volodin has an example to follow. At least, I would personally draw a great deal from Mr Naryshkin’s style of work and experience.

Turning to the situation in general, we have heard you, Mr President. I listened to and studied closely your December Address [to the Federal Assembly], where you said directly that the elections must be conducted in a way that the nation will trust their results. You followed by coming to the Duma, the first such visit in many years, to call on all the parties to make sure that the elections become primarily a contest of teams and programmes.

So, after you gave us energetic support with regard to the legislation on the industrial policy, strategic planning, and popular enterprises – which managed, even during the crisis, to become the best in the country – on education, on science and a number of other initiatives, we drafted a package of bills and put together a strong, professional team to be ready to engage in an open and professional dialogue.

Unfortunately, a political landscape with 77 parties – a unique case globally – of which 14 have took part in the elections, hasn’t been conducive to normal dialogue. I do not think it is a good thing, because if there had been a contest of teams, this dialogue could have resulted in solutions rather than mutual criticism.

On the other hand, we are very concerned about the increasing pressure on our economy. I have held nearly 500 meetings and I must tell you that 72 out of 100 our citizens earn 15,000 rubles, or less, a month. We failed to pass a nationwide law on benefits to WWII children in the last Parliament, but even they are entitled to 12,000 rubles a month on average. Given that the inflation has halved this sum, this law is a priority. It would require 120 billion rubles, which is feasible regardless of the crisis, and these people need all the support we can give them.

I would like to draw our colleagues’ attention to the fact that nationalism, Russophobia and anti-Soviet sentiments were the weapons used against the Soviet Union. Ukraine was set on fire after they did away with all the communists, demolished all the communist monuments, and started purging all things Russian and foreign. We must note, Mr President, that nothing of the sort has come to pass in Russia even during this past election campaign.

There have been many attempts to settle the score with me. A group of high-ranking functionaries from our party has been ostracised, which has never happened before. Mr Obukhov, for instance, was banned from taking part in the elections, as was Mr Solovyov. Mr Kalashnikov, one of the most experienced specialists in international affairs, stood in his hometown of Togliatti. There, he secured the win in the city’s largest industrial district, Avtozavodsky, but lost 3 to 1 in the rural district, which is virtually impossible. The same happened to Admiral Komoyedov in Sevastopol, in Crimea and in the Kaliningrad Region.

We have always done well there. This time, however, even a renowned admiral, who has done so much for the country’s defence and to support the Defence Ministry, failed to make it to the Duma on the party list. I am not even speaking about the situation in Moscow, where our leader was hit with five anti-Communist propaganda publications. When I ran for President in 1996, such negative materials were produced in Finland – they were ashamed to publish them in Russia. The situation in Moscow was absurd.

What I would emphasise is how important security is for all of us. We are all very concerned that the country’s economy has stalled. The decline in recent years has reached critical levels. We all need to find a way out.

Let me give you the results in two ballot stations, where they are 100 percent clean. Ballot station No. 2765 is in the neighbourhood of Moscow State University, and 33 percent voted for Yabloko, over 20 for the Communist Party, 15.7 for United Russia, 11 for PARNAS, 4.5 for A Just Russia. I can continue, but this is not the point.

The point is that central Moscow is an elite area with the highest housing prices, and home to Government ministers, and yet Yabloko and PARNAS together have 44 percent of the vote. This is very disconcerting, because I have seen PARNAS proposals and they have nothing in common with our national interests, nothing. They were rather bold in that regard. Another result – Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow Region’s Dolguprudnensky District. Yabloko gets 36 percent, the Communist Party 16 percent, United Russia – 12, the Party of Growth – 11, PARNAS – 8.4. Again, Yabloko and PARNAS got 45 percent of the vote.

We should look closely at this. If we take Moscow and Leningrad (St Petersburg), the turnout was the lowest there. At 6 pm, the turnout in Moscow was at 28 percent, in Leningrad at 25. The final figure stood at less than 35, meaning that only a third of our voters cast their ballots, and here we are talking about our two principle cities that should serve as models for the rest of the country.

As to the republics, we have an odd picture here. I have brought some materials along and I hope you will look through them. I am not being critical or spiteful, I want the country to live in peace and friendship, and I will do anything to support the state patriotic line as it is the salvation for the country.

But will you please look into how we vote. Two neighbouring republics, Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, I have been in both. At the time they stole 600,000 votes from me in Tatarstan, I sued them and the case went on for almost three years but I proved in the Supreme Court that it was theft, and the votes were given back.

In Tatarstan we have 4.6 percent, in Bashkortostan – 18.6. Mordovia and Mari El are also close to each other. After Mordovia, I appealed to you, you took steps, the local leader, he shook in his shoes but, nevertheless, continued the line. And this time we have five percent in Mordovia, while in Mari El – your services checked him out and I have no clue how he managed to keep his post, but I realise that last time he bled us dry. We sent almost 1,500 observers there. In Mordovia we got 5.1 whereas in Mari El – 27.3 percent. I think the result of 4–5 percent indicates a totally criminal election, they never even did the ballot count.

As to the crime areas, it is very disturbing. Things remain the same in Daghestan. Mordovia, Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara are the regions which have always had a tough reputation. I was shocked, to be honest, that in Nizhny Novgorod they worked out a whole scheme. I am going to leave you a film: I must confess we planted a guy in that thievery structure that occupied everything there, and shot everything. All you have to do is watch it and instruct the special services to investigate, because a criminal gang of about 15 people has set up base there. The footage shows the whole chain, we just have to protect the guy that did the recording so they don’t deal away with him.

But what struck me, last time you rebuffed [her], and Ms Pamfilova [Chairperson of the Central Election Commission], you have to give her credit, by the way, she tried her best to bring elementary order there. Last year the fathom polling stations which did not exist, 42 stations, they set them up at cemeteries, up to 2,000 dead people voted for the party in power. They are just lawless, they have to be brought to order.

We held a parallel vote count, made up an electronic system, which was easier since the polling stations have video cameras. The system was working until about half past midnight, then everything stopped, got suspended. With the parallel vote count in the Far East and Eastern Siberia the first results coincided with those that were shown: 37 percent to United Russia, Communist Party – 22 percent, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia –17 to 18 percent, A Just Russia – 10 to 12 percent, which was closer to reality. Then everything stopped.

What is startling, even in Shchyolkovo district we had Yeremeitseva running, a smart woman, a journalist, and she was leading with 10 to 15 percent, and then it all collapsed. When we woke up in the morning – she was already losing by 10 percent, but they kept counting, I think another day and a half. What we all have to analyse is the fact that the party in power had 45 million votes in 2007, this is very powerful support, and exceptionally crucial. In the crisis, critical moments the widespread support of the society is crucial.

This year the party in power received 28.7 million votes; they lost 17 million. I understand that there are issues and reasons: if the GDP growth in 2012 was 3.4 percent, last year it was minus 3.7, and we are still in a recession. Losing 7 percent in five years means nearly 90 trillion rubles less in the budget. That amounts to two current budgets. And this may cause the people’s response.

I know Russia’s destiny; I have written a series of major works on it. My book Globalisation as the Destiny of Humankind has been translated into all of the world’s major languages. We have a great deal dependent on the authority of the head of state. We have been and continue doing everything for the country’s leadership to have authority.

Russia cannot survive without a strong vertical of power, fairness, spirituality, collectivism. But your authority is also the authority of the whole nation, and we must take care of it, it cannot serve just one party. This is of paramount importance for all of us today, tomorrow and in the future.

Now you are looking for a solution to balance the situation in the Duma. It can probably be balanced but under the current Constitution you have more powers that the General Secretary [of the Communist Party], and twice as much as the US President. A great deal in the nearest future will depend on your stance.

The foreign policy stance, state-oriented, patriotic, gets a tremendous support. The home policy, liberal economic and financial, if it continues, will lead to the situation when we have nothing to fund our defence, science or education with. Let us look for a solution, and we are ready to offer maximum efforts for that.

It is exceptionally important for us because the executive authority is entirely in your hands. As for the Duma, such a majority may not be satisfactory. Even if we add up the three factions, they will be at best able to appeal to the Constitutional Court, 100 plus votes. It should somehow be balanced in the Committees but we have to take into account that a tripartite system has evolved in Russia.

Many people are now overboard, they have enormous connections, they influence the public opinion and attitudes. I want them to work with a constructive result, this is of ultimate importance to us because tensions are going to increase under the current budget. And next year is the centenary of the October revolution, so we must find a solution together. The Soviet Union did not fall to the Hitler; it was destroyed by anti-Soviet sentiments, Russophobia and nationalism. The country was given to Banderovites and CIA agents, not by the Nazis, but Russophobia, anti-Soviet sentiments and nationalism.

We must retain the sense of responsibility, and we are ready to invest a maximum of our capital, talent and personnel. We have retained the strongest, most respected personnel, including those who used to work in the committees. We have drafted a new law on education for everyone and in support of science. We have unique experience of working with people’s enterprises. The enterprise Mr Medvedev salvaged, Zvenigovsky, became Europe’s best: it won at the Frankfurt Fair, got all the gold medals and was recognised as the best in Europe.

We have considerable experience from China, Belarus and our neighbours. Let us collect the best experience and move forward. I would rather we take a closer look at China’s experience, Xi Jinping is disposed towards you. I made friends with him back when he was Mayor of Shanghai. The Chinese yielded the second result after the USSR. In the 30 years of Lenin-Stalin modernisation, the USSR had 16.4 percent average growth rate. The Chinese, following Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, had 12 percent. They decided against settling old scores, and they aspired forward and upward. And you can see their results.

We are ready to serve Russia as much as possible but we would like this service to be centred around real programmes and a decent government.



Vladimir Putin:

Thank you very much.

We certainly have a great deal to learn from our partners and our neighbours. We also have a lot of positive experience to share with them. It is always ill advised to settle old scores, but they started doing that back in the Soviet Union. Different party congresses raised the issues of various hard pages in our history. Let historians debate if this was right or not. There were definitely some positive things, and there were things that were working to break the system. It is a different matter whether it is good or bad.

You know what I think of the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was absolutely no need for it, there could have been transformations made, including those of a democratic nature. Let me draw your attention to the fact that it was the Communist Party that was at the helm of our Fatherland, the USSR, not any other party that determined the ideas of nationalism or other destructive ideas hazardous for any state, the more so for such a multi-ethnic country as Russia.

As to the substantive issues you have mentioned, they are certainly a concern for us. These are the state of the economy, which means the state of the social sphere, and the defence of the country. We must address all that, undoubtedly, and we should address it in a productive way in the interests of Russia’s citizens.

Regarding election fraud. We just spoke about that at the meeting with the Central Election Commission. They also recorded certain violations, and will surely deal with them. At the same time, there is a general opinion that the overall election system, let me stress it, was very efficient and transparent. We have to achieve even more transparency, and we also have to think about the technical elements of the ballot count and conducting election campaigns. We spoke about that in much detail today.

The Central Election Commission members have their own proposals which I think are fairly constructive related to the use of modern equipment both in the ballot count and in monitoring the voting, the issues of substance on the organisation of the territorial election boards, which would raise the transparency, the quality, and the end result. We have to increase the number of representatives.

What did we do? Let me remind you that half of the election commissions were made up of political parties representatives, that’s number one. Second, you had the opportunity to increase the number of observers at the polling stations to the desired level. It may have been due to some administrative or financial shortages but not all the parties used it in full and did not have the number of observers they could have had. But in any case, we must pay greater attention to what you have conveyed, regarding the elimination of any violations. What is the rationale?

Because our country and our political system will be sustainable and stable as long as we will be able to ensure the legitimacy of the election process, but the people, the citizens, must see that their attitudes, their preferences are reflected in the setup of the representative, and then also of the executive bodies. This is the only way to ensure the legitimacy of the elected structures. So we will be working in that direction.

Mr Zhirinovsky, welcome.



Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the State Duma Vladimir Zhirinovsky:

We can envy Mr Naryshkin as he has received a good post; he continues to make progress. And we are happy for Mr Volodin because it is to our advantage in parliament if the Speaker is a former Deputy. We got to know him back when he was a Deputy; in past years he has been working with the political parties and the State Duma, and was involved in the elections, so in this respect we are happy for both of them, they have both received great new posts.

There is another personnel issue, Mr President, a request. I ask you on behalf of all Liberal Democratic Deputies: we have been fighting for the post of International Affairs Committee Chairman. The Liberal Democratic Party won while the Committee goes to Mr Yavlinsky. Then others get to chair it. There have been five or six chairpersons. Leonid Slutsky is here, he has a reputation as a very competent leader; he has really done much more than many of the International Affairs Committee chairpersons.

The key issue for us is the Crimea blockade. It was he who took a delegation there last year, and this year too. The diplomats failed to do that, the entire Foreign Ministry didn’t do it, none of the parties did it, while he did it all by himself, I hate to mention that he also did it at his own expense.

Moreover, in PACE, the most important body of the parliamentary assembly, he is in his element, known by everyone, he does everything, insists on a French Parliament resolution to be adopted with an appeal to the Government of France on suspending the sanctions. He does that, he saw to this, not the French deputies. He has a lot of experience in many issues, including those concerning our closest neighbours. The man did a great deal, he succeeds, he is respected by all the Duma parties, and he put together a very strong team.

Of course, United Russia may have a candidate but we have seen this already. Last time we also discussed these things but then Mr Pushkov was in. Well, did he do anything more or better than Slutsky? This issue is not about party affiliation, the issue is how competent the person is. I strongly request that you consider our suggestion, our recommendation; maybe you will be able to assist us so Leonid Slutsky becomes head of the International Affairs Committee. He is here, and all his work is a confirmation of that. The Foreign Ministry is also sympathetic towards him, they know him.

Even when you flew to Kyrgyzstan to open a new school, they did it. This is also an issue in the Russian world, and it means that it is everywhere, worldwide. I would compare him to a Carter-era Kissinger, but he is even better. We have never asked specifically for a committee chairperson position yet, and we have never been able to have it in the past 23 years even though we keep proposing. However, we might succeed now because the issue has not been decided yet. As far as I know, the CPRF deputies have no objections; they are willing to support him, and another party may also be ready to.

Now regarding the elections. The State Duma session can start early; it depends on the Presidential decree. According to the law, it is 30 days after the elections, but you might issue an Executive Order and we can begin in early November. I would like to make some amendments specifically to the election legislation. I believe only political parties and only those represented in parliament should be eligible to nominate candidates for President. If a party fails to get 5 percent of the vote in the preceding elections, how can it nominate a presidential candidate? It has the trust of only a half a percent of the nation but can join the presidential elections. I think we must filter this. First earn your position in parliament, and then you can nominate a presidential candidate.

We fought hard to give the political parties the right to recall election board members. We are denied this right and this cannot help but arouse our suspicions. If it is our member of the election board, why can’t we recall them? If they are incompetent, or betray us or something else. No, we have to wait another five years.

We can substitute them in 2017, but the State Duma elections are over. We reshuffled the Central Election Board prior to the elections whereas the grassroots boards are to be reshuffled after the elections. It has always been like this: if someone delegates a person, they have the right to recall that person. The way you can recall ambassadors. No, let him be an ambassador for ten years. The President appoints ambassadors, and if they fail to perform you recall them. Meanwhile we cannot recall a regular election board member because the local authorities like him. This is not very productive.

The distribution of mandates. I think the situation here is wrong. People voted for a party, whereas now we have two deputies in one region and no deputies in another. We want to work for the whole country. Why should there be obstacles to this? Let us delegate the mandates. All we want is proportionate distribution. There are 85 constituent entities, we do not have 85 deputies, we have, let us say, 40, we will assign one deputy per two regions. No, we cannot do that.

They start nitpicking: “Here he got more votes.” Voters do not know where, in which region and how many more (a half a percent). Why is this so? Why all this book-keeping? Give us our 40 deputies; we will select one for each region. For example, we have two deputies in the Transbaikal Territory and two deputies in the Moscow Region; in some areas there are two deputies while in others – none. Give the political parties this right.

This also concerns single-mandate constituencies. Mr Naryshkin’s constituency has gone vacant. Now we have to wait a year, while there is a deputy to replace him. Give the political parties this right. Let us retain the constituencies but the nomination should be made via the parties only. Then we will have 225 candidates elected and 225 coming through the party lists.

Besides, look at the totals: the CPRF supposedly beat us by .02 percent. However, if we add up all the election results across the country, the number of LDPR votes is higher. I am not sure, I was not very good at math, but if the majority of the voters went with this party, how come in the end it has fewer votes? Who is counting the votes? We have a 16.08 percent support in the local legislature elections, the Communists have 16. We have .08 percent more. Whereas at the federal level they calculated it in such a way that we have .02 percent less. We need to have to look at this math. And it looks odd, now we are ahead, then at a certain point they overtake us. When, how? They have good voter support in the North Caucasus, we have good support in the Far East; it is balanced. And in the centre? It is not always evident from the numbers.

Regarding the turnout. I suggest that you, Mr President, should always feel suspicious when the turnout swells after 6 pm. All over the world voters come to the polling stations from noon to 3 pm. If the turnout swells from 6 pm to 8 pm, it is rigged, ballot box stuffing, and since empty ballots cannot be dumped, they stuff marked ballots to support the right party. We do not care about the turnout, let it be higher, but when they stuff ballot boxes with another party marked, it automatically reduces our votes.

Nevertheless, look at the ballot count: the LDPR lost the least, United Russia finished with minus 4 million, the Communists and A Fair Russia – 5 million, LDPR – minus 600,000. If I were an army commander and had the least casualties, I would be a hero, but they had millions of casualties and yet they are the winners. We need some way to control this better.

Another suggestion: issue orders to check which regions signed the final protocol for their territory late. If they did it at 10 pm, it is a good job. While if they signed it between 2 am and 8 am, they made some adjustments. The signing time of the protocol should be evidence of a fair election. At one place, they even submitted it at 5 pm. The protocols should be submitted simultaneously across the country. Let a police officer stand by, a Federal Security Service officer or public prosecutor with a timer.

In addition, following the elections, we would certainly like to preserve the staffing of the faction, the position of Deputy Speaker of the State Duma filled with our party members because it should not be affected by our loss. Unfortunately, material benefits are distributed per deputy, and United Russia will now automatically have everything whereas ours will be reduced. If this could be maintained, I think it advantageous for everyone to increase the number of staff assistants from five to seven. Because this also presents a little problem. The leader of the party’s faction in parliament is absolutely “naked.” The Duma Speaker has 30 advisors. Give us, the four faction leaders, five advisors each. Let us say, a deputy failed to be elected, and he is willing to stay and work.

Overall, I would propose a transition to a three-party system: we have the ruling party, and given the circumstances in Russia, there has to be a ‘vertical’ in legislative bodies and the necessary support for the head of state. During the next decade an over-constitutional majority. 145 seats can go to the other two parties. Figuratively, we have United Russia in the centre, there has to be another, leftist party — why do we have 12 parties? They could meet in the Hall of Columns and have one flag, the flag of the united party of the left social democratic forces. Let them elect their own central committee and a politbureau, and it will be one party. Why are there 12? They argue with each other all the time. Let them always have 70 deputies. Thus, the party of power would have 305 seats, the left social democrats would have 70, and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia would have 75. I think this would work. Fine, let the social democrats have 75 and the Liberal Democratic Party 70. Everything will be clear, and every party will have its block of voters.

I also suggest that we move the elections to the spring, namely to the last Tuesday of April — it is a working day, it is already warm, people are not on holiday yet, it is a weekday, so all get an extra day off. I can assure you that the voter turnout would be about 70–80 percent – higher than in any country. Let us do this.



Gennady Zyuganov:

And we could also develop the budget on schedule, without wasting six months…



Vladimir Zhirinovsky:

We could easily pass the budget within six months.

The main thing, Mr President — people in this country basically do not work during the summer season. Our summers are short. Let people enjoy themselves in the summer. We could hold elections in April, and people could relax from May until October. Let us make our summers longer.



Gennady Zyuganov:

Mr President, no one here has had a vacation in the summer in four years.



Vladimir Zhirinovsky:

Perhaps we could move the beginning of the academic year at schools and universities to October 1. Why not? And the academic year could be extended until July 15. All school and university students would have their holidays from July 15 until the end of September. Health and recreation resorts would enjoy the peak season. Russia is a northern country, so why deprive our citizens of their holidays. Why is everyone forced to start their studies and work on September 1? What I proposed could help everyone, and all would still have their holidays. I think we should definitely do this, without delay.

Convene all 12 parties at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, and keep them there until they adopt a charter and elect their leadership. Have them sit there like the boyars in the old days, when the country was ruled by a prince. The papal election goes on until white smoke comes from the chimney to announce that a new pope has been chosen. And then, there is the ancient Russian custom and the magic number three. Like the Three Warriors deciding where to go at the crossroads – right, left or straight.

Well, straight ahead is the Kremlin. The LDPR is to the right (by 20 percent) and the Social Democrats are to the left by about 30 percent. I believe that if we agree on this in 2017, and use the old Lenin party name and the date the party was founded at the first (Minsk) congress in 1895, it would be a big gift for the 100th anniversary of the February and October revolutions. Let us consider this. Let us not take down Lenin busts but instead put up a bust of the latest Communist leader near it, for example a Zyuganov bust. We have the bronze to do it, right?

Mr President, the biggest request I have is to help us with the international affairs committee. I have never asked for favours before, and we have always accepted others’ proposals and made concessions. The healthcare committee was taken from us – we said all right, it is reasonable for you to have a good doctor on your side. But we have been working to assume leadership of the International Affairs Committee for the past 25 years. Please, find a way to accommodate this request, and you will see that our candidate will be one the committee’s best leaders.



Vladimir Putin:

Thank you.



Gennady Zyuganov:

Mr President, I would like to express support for Mr Slutsky. I have worked with him in the Council of Europe for 15 years. Everyone in the CIS, and even his opponents, respect his opinions. He is a professional. I do not know about your plans, but Leonid Slutsky has good business qualities and works hard, and he is also respected in Europe. It was he who brought the Italian MEPs to Crimea; they would not have listened to anyone else.



Vladimir Putin:

All right, I believe the deputies will consider this when they get together. The LDPR was probably not allowed to head this committee for fear that Mr Zhirinovsky can make statements on the international stage that would create problems with our partners. As for Mr Slutsky, he is a different kind of person; he is more diplomatic. Let the deputies consider his candidacy when addressing this issue.

As for your specific observations, I have noted some of them, like for example the fact that votes are counted through the night, which as you say, might be a matter of concern. At a meeting I had earlier [with members of the Central Election Commission], what did I hear? They even proposed dividing the electoral districts into even smaller units. Why does it take all night to count the votes? Under the law, election commission members have to announce what is written on every ballot, so in the larger electoral district it takes them hours and hours to do it.

This leads to technical violations that show up on the web cameras. Let us think about how to address this issue together, so they can offer proposals and we will review them together. There should be no errors or shortcomings. Of course, there are always at least three paths we can take, like in Viktor Vasnetsov’s famous painting Bogatyrs, but if we mess it up, the people might choose a different path and send us packing. The Russian people really know how to do that. This is why we need to think through and weigh every decision we take. So let us do that together.

Mr Mironov, please.



Sergei Mironov, Leader of A Just Russia Faction in the State Duma:

Mr President, A Just Russia party is not satisfied with the results of the elections to the 7th State Duma. Yesterday, the party presidium had its first frank, albeit amicable, discussion on this outcome.

As for the so-called external factors, Mr Zyuganov and Mr Zhirinovsky have spoken about them, so I will not repeat it. We focused on our own shortcomings. My colleagues Alexander Burkov and Valery Gartung, who head two regional branches of the party in the Urals, the Sverdlovsk Region and the Chelyabinsk Region branches, are here today.

We worked for five years and throughout the election cycle, hoping to win 15 to 17 percent of the vote, which I think corresponds to the actual support of A Just Russia party among voters. However, in some regions we received only 6, 5, 4 or even 3 percent, which we believe is attributable to our own deficiencies. We will focus on addressing them moving forward.

As for the question of whether these elections were fair and transparent, let me reiterate what I have already said. I think that this time around the elections were much more fair, transparent and legitimate than five years ago. Unlike five years ago, we do not have any major claims or objections regarding specific regions. Of course, there are some polling stations where we expressed disagreement, including in our home city of St Petersburg.

We have one real problem. With your permission, I will pass on a letter that Valery Gartung wrote to you. I am referring to Single-Seat Constituency No. 191 in Chelyabinsk Region, where Valery Gartung ran. He lost there. However, we are confident that, in fact, he won. We have appealed to Ms Pamfilova and she is sending a commission to recount the votes. What took place there during the last 24 hours, when something was being done to the ballots in the basement for 14 hours, is alarming. We ask that law enforcement agencies intervene.

Now back to the election campaign and the participation of 14 parties in the election campaign. We believe that the current 75 parties are too many. But even the 14 that were actually involved – we see that none of them has made it except the four parliamentary parties that have confirmed their status as parliamentary parties for the third time running. I do not think it is right that a party which, thanks to the law, had a deputy win in the Nenets [Autonomous] Area, where 450 people voted for him, then gets the right to participate in the Duma elections without having to collect signatures, and that this party’s representatives would later, pardon me, denounce Russia and the President of the Russian Federation. Here is our proposal (we have put forward similar proposals in the past): if a party’s deputies are elected to regional parliaments in at least one-third of the constituent entities in the country, then it is a party that has gained voter support in the regions and has the right to participate in the election campaign without collecting signatures.

Thank you for having addressed our colleagues from United Russia. I must say at this point that United Russia’s impressive success is certainly associated with your name and your support. People trust you; you have a very high rating. Your direct address played a role. People can smile; people can take it as they please… Our Mikhail Bryachak was running in Crimea. Observers say, “People came to the polling stations in Crimea and were angry at there being no ballots with Putin’s name on them. They demanded a ballot with Putin’s name. When they were given a different ballot, they said, ‘There is no Putin here, give us a ballot with Putin.’

Returning to your request to retain the proportionate distribution of committees as it was in the Sixth State Duma. There has been a proposal to consider a law on the guarantees of parliamentary activities. We drafted a law of this kind in the past and called it On Guarantees of Parliamentary Activities for Opposition Parties. I think we should remove the words “opposition parties” from the name and call it On Guarantees of Parliamentary Activities.

This law should lay out the rights of the parties and majority factions. The people have made their choice, and so there is a majority party in parliament, but we must not forget about the minority parties. We spoke to people during the election campaign, and offered various draft laws. Our party’s election slogan this time was “25 Fair Laws.” For example, the law on parliamentary activities could have a provision under which each party in parliament would be able to submit five draft laws it considers to be of priority significance, and the State Duma would be required to discuss them.

This does not mean the law will necessarily be passed, but it should be discussed publicly at the State Duma. The experience of the State Duma of the sixth and previous convocations shows that many initiatives were never even submitted for discussion. I believe that this change on parliamentary activities is a good idea.

We have heard your recommendation on choosing Vyacheslav Volodin as Speaker. Our party will consider this proposal. I can say that I will recommend that the party support the nomination of Mr Volodin. We have worked with him for years and know him very well. We are pleased that Mr Naryshkin is returning to his element, to an area that he knows inside out. As my colleagues have said, he was really a perfect State Duma Speaker, even though he represented one of the parties in parliament. I am sure that if the State Duma elects Mr Volodin, he will carry on the best traditions, particularly given his considerable experience in this area.

Mr President, I would like to draw your attention to an issue that has been raised by Gennady Zyuganov and Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Regrettably, many candidates who care for the country and are professionals have not been elected to the State Duma. This is life. However, I do not think they should be left out like this, because they are… For example, Academician Chereshnev chaired the State Duma Committee on Science. Clearly, he cannot go back to the Academy of Sciences now. Meanwhile, if we introduce the position of adviser to faction leader in parliament, we will be able to use the great potential of our colleagues who are top professionals.

I support my colleagues and hope that you will issue an executive order on the start of the new Duma session in early October, because we do not need to wait 30 days to do this. Overall, although many new deputies have been elected to the State Duma, we have maintained the core because professionals have been re-elected. I think we should start working without delay and get down to business in earnest.

In conclusion, I would like to say again that we should resume our discussions of election legislation. I think that absentee voter certificates should be outlawed. Since we have removed the minimum voter turnout requirement, it does not matter if someone cannot come to a polling station on election day. We do not have to bother with this.

I also support the idea of moving the election day to a weekday. We have analysed the situation, and I believe, though this may sound paradoxical, that the turnout was low this September because many people were on vacation or at their dachas, therefore we should move the election day to a weekday in the spring. I think we should consider this issue very thoroughly.

Mr President, if you could give me five minutes after this meeting? There is a matter I need to report on to you personally. Thank you.



Gennady Zyuganov:

Mr President, can I say a word?



Vladimir Putin:

Of course, go ahead.



Gennady Zyuganov:

I would like to support my colleagues. Last time you created a reserve of professionals, based on an initiative launched by Mr Medvedev. Many of them do very good work, as expected. I believe there are about a dozen of them, and they have been working very efficiently.

In this sense, we may sustain major losses in the new Duma. For example, we had an outstanding mathematician in our group, Boris Kashin, one of the best, a member of the Academy of Sciences and a top professional. We had planned to make him responsible for three northern regions, but he lost in the elections. Admiral Komoyedov worked in three fleets and commanded the Black Sea Fleet. He could be of great help on the National Security Council or the Defence Ministry. He has been all over the country, and he is a special and unique man. I fully agree that Valery Chereshnev is a smart man and a great statesman. It is very nice working with him – I know this, as I was on the committee he headed, the Committee on Science and High Technologies. Roman Petrov, Hero of Socialist Labour who headed a major chemical association, Yenissei, and worked in the Federation Council, has been left out, along with four million Kuzbass voters. And Vadim Kumin, one of the most talented professionals in the banking system, was deputy head of the Financial Markets Committee.

Losing these professionals is a shame, in terms of the operation of the parties in parliament, among other things. Creating the positions of, say, five advisers for deputy speakers or heads of parliamentary factions would not cost much, but we will be able to make use of the talents of people who have a wealth of experience and are able to work. One advantage of the previous Duma was that we did not have a single scandal, we knew how to come to an agreement and how to work within party groups, and we created a healthy atmosphere despite our opposing views.

This is also true of the parliamentary factions. For example, ours is composed of 40 people who are responsible for 82 regions. Can we expect one person to work well in two large regions with a population of three or four million each? This is impossible, this person will need two or three paid aides who can help him or her implement national policy in the regions they are responsible for, or else someone will start creating problems there, and there are more grounds for problems now than ever before.

In other words, we should consider this issue very carefully, since expenses will be minor and the effect great, because these are smart, experienced and respected people who are supported by 150,000 to 200,000 voters in each region. Once again, we need to consider this.



Vladimir Putin:

Fine, let us do this. Let us consider this issue carefully.

I would like to make a short comment on what Mr Mironov said. A key issue is the number of parties that can take part in the elections. I have heard you complain repeatedly that there are too many of them.



Sergei Mironov:

They got our votes, Mr President, without getting enough votes for themselves.



Vladimir Putin:

I understand this. However, before, they said there were not enough and that an infinite number of parties taking part in elections is a sign of democracy. Now it turns out there are too many.

When we made that decision and opened the doors to a wide range of political movements, we believed it was for the better. Here is why. It was not done just for the sake of exposing every absurd policy; it was a measure to reveal the current political landscape. This way we could see how many people really did support those who shout the loudest.

Now everything is more or less clear, bar certain issues that executive bodies on all levels from the Central Election Commission to local commissions worked to minimise. These issues remain, however, and Mr Zyuganov, the Central Election Commission, and other parties have spoken about them. But there are far fewer of them than there were in the past, while this election campaign has been far bigger — actually the largest in modern Russian history in terms of the number of candidates and those who organised it.

Let us think how we can ensure both that the principles of democracy are not violated, and that the political system is not damaging itself. It is not an easy question.



Gennady Zyuganov:

I am sorry, Mr President, you know Germany very well. They found the answer a long time ago. They have candidates in an electoral district fixed to a particular region. Then, they have a general party list. The general list permits a party to get talented people elected. The district keeps the party grounded in the region, but the party still decides who represents them.

Why did you decide to introduce party lists in 2003? Vodka moguls, mobsters and other characters like that tried to make it to parliament. Then you set up the Civic Chamber. This helped stabilise the situation. But now we see it getting out of hand. The false Communist party stole 1.2 million of our votes. People were simply duped into voting for them because even their logo looks like ours.



Vladimir Putin:

Yes, I can see that. You are right, there is no doubt here. However, to reiterate, we did this, widely opening the way for removing the seething froth that was trying to prove that hundreds of millions of people were following the loudmouths. These hundreds or dozens of millions are fiction. This became obvious. It also became obvious that there is a problem with this system as such, which is consuming itself from within.

You have just noted one of these negative elements: several Communist parties; it is not clear who stands behind whom or whom they represent. In fact, the same goes for the others. These are the kinds of mechanisms that are used and they are also used against the so-called party of power: double names, whatever. Anything can be used.

Since the lineup of political forces has become clear, this makes it possible for us to talk about optimisation now. However, again, these should be steps that do not erode the essence of democracy as an expression of the people’s will. Let us think carefully and analyse the experience of the European countries, as well as the experience of countries on other continents.

For example, the United States. There are no restrictions, but there are always two parties on the arena all the same. Why does this happen? There are no limitations, but except for the two parties, we see nothing on the political Olympus. After the notorious McCarthyism period, the leftist movement was eliminated there.

Let us consider this carefully. However, all of these discussions should be public. People should know what the authors of particular ideas are guided by and what the consequences might be. We should listen to our opponents and then make some decisions openly and transparently.

Now regarding the organisation of the State Duma’s work. I have already said that I consider it expedient for the leading political forces to retain the positions that they had in the Sixth State Duma.

In respect to retaining the personnel potential, I also agree in that we should think whether it is a good idea to lose well-educated, efficient people, who enjoy public respect, especially in the regions. Let us do this but not at excessive cost, including budget spending. We should try to minimise spending but retain some people. Let us find this balance.

Finally, I would like to conclude our present meeting – it is not our last one, of course – by making two points.

First, I would like to ask you to start working no later than October 5. Let us agree about that. This is my first point.

Second, an important matter that I mentioned at the beginning of our meeting. I would like to ask you to pay special attention to the budget.

This work is not going smoothly. Mr Zyuganov already said that there are certain limitations there connected to well-known difficulties. We are dealing with them. We are confidently pressing ahead in overcoming these difficulties. It may be recalled that last year, for example, such a key parameter as inflation was 12.9 percent, while this year it will be 5.7 percent. At first, it was set at 5.9 percent, but now it is already 5.7 percent.

We have a positive trade balance, on the one hand, and on the other, our reserves, the Government’s reserves and the gold and currency reserves of the Central Bank – this ratio is among the best in the world. We are in the top 10 countries with such a favourable ratio. It is very important because, on the one hand, we have sufficient reserves and on the other, a trade surplus. These are very important indicators of the state of the economy.

For the first time, industrial production indicators have increased. They are still insignificant, but this trend has continued for months now. All of these positive trends should be maintained. Needless to say, this will be connected to the budgetary process. We cannot afford – like a grain-sower – to generously throw around state budget resources over non-priority sectors.

The following are extremely important: the social sphere, pensions, medical care, education, healthcare and defence. You know, yesterday once again, for the 10th time, we closely looked at security and defence. We are trying to arrive at figures that are in line with common sense, of course, to ensure the fulfillment of the tasks that we face but so as not to undermine other budget articles. This is the yardstick we have been trying to apply from year to year. I would like to ask you to take a very responsible approach towards this year’s budget.

Thank you. Until we meet again.



Gennady Zyuganov:

May I issue an invitation? On September 29, the 15th group of children from Donbass will arrive. At the time, you supported Mr Medvedev and received 1,500 children. Iosif Kobzon and I worked on the project then. I would like to invite you all to a gala concert. And there is an expression of gratitude to you from all the Donbass families: 1,500 children took a rehabilitation course at Snegiri, went to Crimea and are very pleased.



Vladimir Putin:

Very well. Thank you.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52957
 
Old September 26th, 2016 #52
Alex Him
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Meeting with newly elected governors of some Russian regions



September 23, 2016 - 15:20 - The Kremlin, Moscow



The meeting was attended by the governors of nine Russian regions who received a vote of confidence from their fellow citizens on Russia's nationwide election day.





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Colleagues,

I have invited you here to congratulate you on your election to the high positions of regional governors and to wish you success in the important work that lies ahead.

I would like to emphasise once again – and this is nothing new – that people tie their hopes and expectations to you, their positive life changes and the resolution of issues facing the country as a whole and the regions that you will head.

All of you are experienced people. Some of you have served as regional governors for a long time whereas others are just starting this work. Nevertheless, the people who voted for you believe that you are bright people, real leaders who can form and lead functional teams and resolve the issues required for the advancement of your regions.

Naturally, all of you were elected with the support of the people – this is impossible otherwise – but you were also backed by various political forces and parties. I would like to say in this context that in assuming the office of regional governor, you should not forget that you will be representing the interests of all Russian citizens living in your regions regardless of their political preferences. You should listen to the representatives of all political forces, not only those who formed and registered political parties, but also spokespeople for civil society who live in your regions, who are active and are trying to tell you about their hopes and aspirations.

It goes without saying that you should focus on resolving the most immediate issues that seem simple and even somewhat boring at first sight but on which the welfare of every person and every family depends. Let’s talk about this.

I would like to congratulate you on your election once again, and wish you all the best.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52959






Meeting on ways to improve interbudgetary relations



Vladimir Putin conducted a meeting on ways to improve interbudgetary relations. The discussion focused on regional budget support mechanisms, the development of the regions’ economic potential and the strengthening of their financial base.



September 26, 2016 - 14:30 - The Kremlin, Moscow





President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, colleagues,

Today we will focus on issues related to improving interbudgetary relations.

Ms Matviyenko has repeatedly raised the issue. We know the problems that exist here. This is a major area of the regional policy and of the country’s socioeconomic development as a whole.

People’s living standards, raising their incomes and improving the social sphere and infrastructure directly depend on the state of regional and municipal budgets. Of course, the powers of the regions and local self-government bodies should be backed up with corresponding financial resources.

At the same time, disproportions in regional budget support are also evident today. There is a big gap in budget revenues in certain regions and therefore in wages and in volumes of funding for social and infrastructure projects. We need to find solutions that will rectify these imbalances and make it possible for the regions to consolidate their financial base.

There are several areas of work here. First of all, it is important to incentivise the regions to develop their economic potential, use their competitive advantages and improve their investment and business climate. It is necessary, of course, to improve regional budget support mechanisms on the part of the federal centre, while they should also have a stimulating character, providing an impetus to the development of the Russian regions.

We are also aware of the problem of regional debt. We have repeatedly addressed it. However, we cannot effectively resolve this issue without dealing with the income gap problem.

It so happens that historically, the Russian regions, the Federation members, have very different opportunities in terms of their budget capacity and in terms of addressing the tasks they are facing. The tasks are basically the same everywhere, but the opportunities, financial possibilities and financial sources, mostly their own sources, are very different, to put it mildly.

Let us discuss these issues today.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52969
 
Old September 26th, 2016 #53
Ray Allan
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I watched one of Putin's town hall meetings with Russian citizens on the C-SPAN network here a few years ago and found it interesting. There was an English translation so US viewers could follow the conversation.
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Old September 26th, 2016 #54
Alex Him
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Allan View Post
I watched one of Putin's town hall meetings with Russian citizens on the C-SPAN network here a few years ago and found it interesting. There was an English translation so US viewers could follow the conversation.
Do you wish, that I find texts of Putin's meetings with the citizens and put it here?
 
Old September 27th, 2016 #55
Ray Allan
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Originally Posted by Alex Him View Post
Do you wish, that I find texts of Putin's meetings with the citizens and put it here?
Fine with me. At this point I would rather listen to Vladimir Vladimirovich than this jewed clown act that passes for politics in this country. Was the Trump-Clinton debate broadcast in Russia?
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Old September 27th, 2016 #56
Alex Him
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Originally Posted by Ray Allan View Post
Fine with me. At this point I would rather listen to Vladimir Vladimirovich than this jewed clown act that passes for politics in this country.

Was the Trump-Clinton debate broadcast in Russia?
I don't know.
I haven't watch TV.
But I doubt that this debate was showed on the main Russian state television channels.
 
Old September 28th, 2016 #57
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In accordance with the desire of Ray:

When Putin was only acting president...





Transcript of a Telephone Conversation with Readers of Komsomolskaya Pravda Newspaper



February 9, 2000 - 00:00 - Editorial Office of Komsomolskaya Pravda, Moscow





Reader:

Hello, who is speaking?



Vladimir Putin:

Putin.



Reader:

Mr Putin, I am a native Muscovite. Do you consider yourself to be worthy of being the President of Russia, having been recommended by Yeltsin, who has destroyed the Soviet Union and whom the people don’t trust?



Vladimir Putin:

If the people vote for me, I am; if they don’t, I am not.



Reader:

And what is your personal opinion?



Vladimir Putin:

My personal opinion will be based on the opinion of the voters who will go to the polls on March 26 and have their say. I think you would agree with me that a person is judged not by what he says, but by what he does.

Now, regarding the destruction of the Soviet Union. Let me remind you of a saying which has gained some currency: he who does not regret the destruction of the Soviet Union has no heart, and he who wants to see it recreated in its former shape has no brain. As you see, our efforts have lately been aimed at recreating a union state, but on a new basis. If the people approve of what we are doing towards that end, they will vote accordingly.



Reader:

Thank you very much.



Reader:

Good afternoon, Mr Putin. I am Ayaz Khasanov from Kazan. Today Russia has treaties with many of its regions. Tatarstan is the pioneer of that movement. Is there a chance that the treaty between Russia and Tatarstan will be revised?



Vladimir Putin:

For a multi-national state like ours federation is the best way to preserve it intact. The parameters of the treaties the federal Government has signed with Tatarstan and many other regions of the Federation give us grounds to hope that our country will be stable over a long period.

By the way, I am in constant touch with the leadership of your republic. I am in touch with President Shaimiyev. He himself is an ardent supporter of a stronger Russian Federation and, on the other hand, there is no doubt that he is above all a patriot of Tatarstan.

Nobody is going to infringe upon the interests of the constituent members of the Federation. On the contrary, we will improve these relations so that the people of Tatarstan and other national republics feel that they have every opportunity for national development while being part of the Russian Federation.



Reader:

And another little question. You have said that all the presidential candidates will have equal opportunities. Meanwhile the TV channels and the printed media devote most of their space to Putin. Other candidates, if they are mentioned at all, get somewhat negative coverage. Do you call that equal opportunity?



Vladimir Putin:

Speaking about me personally, I have not been registered as a candidate for President, and I have not yet launched my election campaign. How much airtime has been given me as a candidate and how much to other presidential candidates is a question that will become relevant only after I launch my campaign.

As for the attention the media pay to the presidency as an institution which I currently represent, I can’t do anything about it: you can’t forbid the press to cover the activities of the top governing bodies.



Reader:

Thank you for your frank answer.



Reader:

My name is Yelena. I wish you victory in the elections. We need a president like you – competent, modern and energetic.



Vladimir Putin:

Thank you.



Reader:

I think you understand that the destiny and state of the Russian people, who account for more than 80% of the country’s population, determine the fate and the future of the whole country. Last year the Ministry for Nationalities Affairs had a Russian Department, but it was dissolved after reorganisation.



Vladimir Putin:

It’s the first time I have heard about it.



Reader:

As the head of the Government and the state don’t you think that body should be restored and the national problems of Russians should be attended to?



Vladimir Putin:

I am ashamed to admit it, but I didn’t know that the Department of the Russian People had been dissolved. This is odd. There are more Russians in Russia, in percentage terms, than there are Frenchmen in France. And of course, “the Russian question”, like the position of other peoples and nationalities, should be within the purview of the Government and state administration structures. That is my position. And thank you, Yelena, for the additional information.


<…>


Reader:

This is Pavel on the line. I am from Krivoi Rog. I am interested in the fate of the Communists in Russia. Their ideology resulted in the deaths of millions of people and the demolition of temples and churches. And the trappings of their ideology are sinister: a banner the colour of blood, and they have set up a cemetery in Red Square…. What do you think about all this and the fate of the Communists? I think their ideology is very dangerous.



Vladimir Putin:

Pavel, as regards the danger of ideology, I am by and large with you. At the same time I would like you to note that more than 6 million people vote for the Communists. And it happens without much support from publicity or media coverage, especially in the electronic media. And yet for some reason people vote for them. And while you and I understand the danger, we should analyse things and decide how we should behave.

If we simply persecute people for their views and convictions, nothing good will result. I think our behaviour should be highly civilised, we should not break the law.



Reader:

And what do you think about the developments in the Duma where Unity has joined forces with the Communists?



Vladimir Putin:

I’ll explain my position. I think that rather than fighting Communists we should try to win over the people who vote for them. And we should do it not by words, but by deeds. People should see for themselves that the ideals you and I are promoting – and these are the ideals of democracy and a market economy – yield practical results and improve people’s lives, make them easier and wealthier and more secure. This is the main idea.

As for the fate of the Communist Party, I think several options are open. If they change their ideology, that dangerous part you have just mentioned, and if they change their programme… By the way, they have dropped many things from their programme, but many things are still in there: confiscation, nationalisation and so on. But we have been there before: there was a time when they confiscated and nationalised everything, including chickens. Later they thought better of it and introduced the New Economic Policy. There is a danger that all this may be repeated. And this is not a hollow threat.

Well, if they realise that, and gradually abandon the radical elements in their programme and ideology, then they will not only preserve but expand their social base and evolve into a European-style social-democratic party.

In another scenario, if they persist with their ideological dogma, they will gradually lose their social base or will end up being an organisation with a high-sounding name, but without broad popular support. These are the possible scenarios.



Reader:

Thank you and I wish you success.



Reader:

Good afternoon, Mr Putin. My name is Alexander. I can’t believe that I am talking with a President.



Vladimir Putin:

And rightly so, because you are talking with an Acting President.



Reader:

But I hope you will be elected.



Vladimir Putin:

Thank you.



Reader:

But I am not entirely happy with your handling of Chechnya. And my question is: how will you go about fighting crime?



Vladimir Putin:

How come? On the one hand, you disagree with my actions in Chechnya and at the same time you call me to fight crime. It doesn’t quite add up. I think all these things are interconnected, because Chechnya is one of the main enclaves from which crime spreads throughout the Russian Federation. Unless we put an end to the criminal community there we will have no chance of tackling crime throughout the Russian Federation. That is my answer, I don’t know if you are satisfied or not…



Reader:

Thank you.



Reader:

This is Alexander speaking from Moscow. Let me first say that I support your campaign to restore order in Chechnya. And my question is about the reform of the Armed Forces. Does the Government have a concrete programme on this matter? Our army should be more combat-capable.



Vladimir Putin:

That is a sore question, Alexander, and a question that is very important for the destiny of the country, and I don’t mind using high-flown words. It is important for the economy, for security and for public morale. What we call the “military component” has grown weaker and everything has come tumbling down. Everything should be in harmony: the economy, the social sphere, the military and the law enforcement forces…. Of course, this is one of the main challenges we must confront immediately. Are you a serviceman?



Reader:

I am an officer in reserve.



Vladimir Putin:

You put your finger on the problem. To an outsider there seems to be nothing wrong: we have an army of 1.2 million and all the problems can be easily solved. But it turns out that the structure of the army, its status and expenditure – all this calls for a different approach. You know that a new concept for restructuring the Armed Forces has been adopted, and one of the vehicles for these transformations is strengthening the so-called general-purpose forces.



Reader:

When will we have a professional army?



Vladimir Putin:

We will introduce the professional principle gradually, taking into account the Government’s economic potential. There are some units which I think should be manned only by professionals. The special forces, for example.


<…>


Reader:

This is Natalya Nevzorova speaking. Why is there so much talk about the disappearance of the journalist Babitsky and nothing is heard about General Shpigun, who was kidnapped last year?



Vladimir Putin:

As for Babitsky, one of my aides told me today that a TV channel has run a video in which Babitsky says that he is all right. So, in that sense he has not disappeared.

The field commanders who are holding him have already released five of our servicemen in exchange for him. By the way, the military told me that initially nothing was said about his movements because the group that had offered to exchange him had set the condition: they would release two more officers after Babitsky is delivered to their camp in the mountains. I think that is why our military have proceeded so carefully.



Reader:

So he kind of sacrificed himself….



Vladimir Putin:

No, he did not sacrifice himself. It was his voluntary decision. He went to the people whose interests he actually defended. And they offered to exchange him for soldiers. There are still many things to be cleared up.

As for Shpigun, I agree with you. And it is not only about him. There are more than 250 hostages there, both our citizens and foreigners.



Reader:

Good afternoon. I lost all my family in Grozny. Only my son survived. When the first war started I sent him to some relatives in Moscow because I was afraid that he would be drafted… He was arrested in September last year. And now he is in the Matrosskaya Tishina jail. I am asking you to help my son so that he could regain faith in life and in truth. He is mature enough for that now.



Vladimir Putin:

Do you have some whereabouts?



Reader:

Yes. Telephone number….



Vladimir Putin:

OK, we will pass it on to the people concerned. As a mother, are you sure of your son? Are you sure there was nothing wrong there?



Reader:

I am sure that if he is released now…. He suffers a great deal, he says: “Mother, this is God’s punishment.” He went to jail in order to become a real man.



Reader:

My name is Lidia Ganzha. Sorry for taking your time. I am a soldier’s mother. My son was in a training unit and he has been missing for the last three months. Is there any outfit that can help me find my son?



Vladimir Putin:

Give us all his data.



Reader:

Mikhail Ganzha. Born on July 15, 1980 in Moscow. He was drafted on May 26, 1999 by the Timiryazevsky District Draft Board. I have been to the draft comission….



Vladimir Putin:

Where did he serve?



Reader:

The town of Ostrovsk, Pskov Region, military unit No…. I think it would be a great idea to have a hot line to help mothers find their sons.



Vladimir Putin:

I will make all the inquiries about your son and we will let you know.



Reader:

But you understand that very many mothers suffer in the same way.



Vladimir Putin:

I agree. As far as I know, the Defence Ministry had such a hot line. I will make a point of discussing it with Igor Sergeyev.



Reader:

May God keep you healthy.



Reader:

This is Olga Ms Romanovskaya from the city of Zhukovsky in the Moscow Region. A great misfortune has hit us. A flying crew of the research institute sent to Angola has been captured by UNITA militants. To this day neither the institute, nor the relatives have any information although they have tried every official government office. We appealed to you at the time when you were the head of the Federal Security Service. There are five other crews in addition to our crew. That’s 20 Russian pilots. When will they be released?



Vladimir Putin:

Ms Romanovskaya, we are also worried about the fate of our citizens who have found themselves in such dire conditions. And the Foreign Ministry continues working to secure their release.

But there is something else I would like to tell you. Unfortunately, it is a widespread phenomenon when our citizens or Russians living in other republics who hold Russian citizenship work not for the Government but for private firms and companies and, unfortunately, they often break the laws of the host countries. In this way they compromise themselves and Russia. So, such problems are not easy to solve. But it does not mean that we should leave them in the lurch. Of course, we will try to do more to secure their release. We have not forgotten them, I assure you, Ms Romanovskaya.



Reader:

Thank you very much.



Reader:

Andrei Dmitriyenko from Moscow. It is about Berezovsky. Has there been any progress in the investigation of his activities? Will a stop be put to it?



Vladimir Putin:

I am not investigating his activities or anyone else’s. Criminal cases have been opened by the Prosecutor-General’s Office. These cases are following their due course. I don’t think we should interfere in the work of the investigation services.



Reader:

Don’t you think there may be deliberate procrastination?



Vladimir Putin:

What makes you think so? Why do you have such fears? Everyone is equal before the law. And no one, including Boris Berezovsky, can expect to be treated in a special way.

I can tell you something: the people we have come to be called oligarchs, and I know many of them, often say one and the same thing: we are interested in having common rules of the game. Why is it that one person pays his taxes and another can evade them? The Government should treat everyone equally, it should create a level playing field.


<…>


Reader:

Does the resignation of Kolesnikov as First Deputy Internal Affairs Minister have any connection with these rumours?



Vladimir Putin:

No connection. It is an internal decision of the Ministry. I could have stepped in, but when the Minister and Mr Kolesnikov himself decided that he would quit his job at the Internal Affairs Ministry, I don’t think I have the right to meddle in this process. People working in a team must be compatible psychologically. I don’t think I should impose decisions on personnel matters if they have nothing to do with principles of politics.



Reader:

It is Georgy from Moscow. The debate on the land issue has been underway for a year. The time has come to put an end to it by taking the issue to the people. Land is the legacy of the whole nation, and let the people decide what to do with it. To save money, the referendum could be held at the same time as the presidential elections.



Vladimir Putin:

Land has always been a key issue in Russia. Obviously, some decision has to be taken. The land situation cannot be an obstacle to the development of market relations. But we cannot have people, especially rural folk, getting a suspicion that the reforms would deprive them of the main means of production, the source of their livelihood. So, the issue cannot be solved in secrecy.

In civilised countries where they have free purchase and sale of land, there is a huge body of regulation on the matter. And in this country this mechanism should be elaborated in detail and set down in black and white. A referendum on the issue is possible. But technically we won’t be able to prepare it by election time. But it’s an interesting idea anyway.



Reader:

Good afternoon. I am Galina Zadorina. We have read in Komsomolskaya Pravda that 342 million roubles of federal money will be allocated to finance the spring planting season in Chechnya.



Vladimir Putin:

Yes, that option is being considered.



Reader:

And in the area east of the Urals, the birthplace of Terenty Maltsev where grain crops alone occupy 100,000 hectares, we have been told that we won’t get a single kopek from the federal budget. Who will provide bread for the nation then?



Vladimir Putin:

Ms Zadorina, as for Chechnya, you understand that it is a special case. Unless the Government provides immediate support, we will have to feed the whole republic; and it would cost not 300 million but perhaps billions. It makes more sense for us to allocate the money now to enable the people to feed themselves. That’s one thing.

And secondly, it is our duty to support the Chechen people today. Those who say that we are fighting Chechens are wrong. We are fighting militants and terrorists whose prime victims are the Chechen people. They are our citizens, and it is our duty to take care of them.

Thirdly, I think it is wrong to simply disburse money out of the federal budget for some industry, as was formerly the case. This used to be the practice, but it is not very effective. I would agree with you that we must find ways for the government to help the development of agriculture.


<…>


Reader:

I am Olga Rubits from Voronezh. My husband is a military man. And my first question is how do you assess your physical fitness?



Vladimir Putin:

I am not a military man, Ms Rubits. I am a civilian in reserve. But I think my physical condition is satisfactory.



Reader:

And how about your shooting?



Vladimir Putin:

I am not a bad shot; in fact, I am a pretty good shot.



Reader:

Then tell me when will payment of salaries to servicemen stop being delayed?



Vladimir Putin:

The situation has improved in the last six months. Or perhaps you don’t agree with me?



Reader:

The situation improved only before the year began, before the elections. The arrears on food ration compensation were paid, but payments have stopped again.



Vladimir Putin:

Yes, compensation for food rations has been a problem. But there is no connection between the Duma elections and payments to servicemen. We pay the current salaries, but paying the arrears is a bit more of a problem. But the arrears will be gradually paid off too. Only please don’t link it to the upcoming presidential elections….



Reader:

This is Lidia Titova from Moscow. I hear that you frequently go to church. Is it connected perhaps with some personal experiences and misfortunes?



Vladimir Putin:

When I was several months old, my mother and a woman who lived in the same communal flat took me to a church and baptised me secretly from my father who was a member of the Communist Party. That was my first visit to a church of which, as you may guess, I have dim memories.

Later, when I worked in St Petersburg I went on a trip to Jerusalem at the invitation of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. My mother gave me the little cross with which I was baptised to be sanctified on the Holy Sepulchre. I fulfilled her request. And I must say that the holy places made a great impression on me. Later we revisited the place as tourists with the whole family.



Reader:

Can it be said that your soul is hankering for the church?



Vladimir Putin:

I am giving you a perfectly frank account of how it happened. And you can draw your own conclusions.



Reader:

The conclusion that suggests itself is: if a person goes to a church voluntarily, it means his soul is calling him.



Vladimir Putin:

I simply wanted my children to be introduced to all this. I’ve been an occasional church-goer ever since.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24370
 
Old September 28th, 2016 #58
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Excerpts from Transcript of a Meeting with Students at the Irkutsk State University



February 18, 2000 - 00:03 - Irkutsk





Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon. If you have any questions, I would rather listen to you. Do you have any questions, ideas and proposals?



Question:

As the soul grows older one becomes more conservative. What do you think about that?



Vladimir Putin:

Not to worry: I feel quite young. At any rate, I don’t feel my age.



Voice:

We wish you to stay young.



Vladimir Putin:

Thank you very much.



Question:

How important is political will, political power for a politician?



Vladimir Putin:

I am absolutely certain that for someone involved in politics willpower is the most important quality. People who have no will are just experts. They may be good experts or bad experts, but they are specialists who can only give advice. Without willpower you cannot make decisions.



Question:

There is a lot of discussion currently about a new education policy. What do you see as its main shortcomings?



Vladimir Putin:

You know, I wouldn’t like to criticise it because if I make any specific critical remarks I would instantly upset the balance among the groups fighting over the policy.

Let me just say that some of the things in it are purely declarative. And that is probably its main shortcoming. The policy must be more substantive and perhaps more concrete in formulating the goals and the mechanisms for achieving them.

I can say without exaggeration that science and education should be the main vector in the country’s development in the near future. I am not saying it simply because I am here at the university, talking to students. It is just that for a country like Russia, in its present position, accelerated development – and this is the kind of development the country needs – is impossible without advanced science and education. Everything begins with education. You know that the more developed a country is economically, the less it invests in education because it already has a foundation. We cannot say today that we are a country that is sufficiently developed economically. Of course, education and science are priorities.

We have preserved the core of our military-industrial complex. The state has channeled huge resources in it for decades. Science is well-developed in that sector, but there has been no demand for its results in the civil sector. There were never any conditions for the development of market relations. Whatever it invented and produced has never found a broad market. Its products have always been one-offs, there was no serial manufacture. But the potential is huge and we should preserve it. It will be impossible to preserve unless we reinforce what has been created there over the years by injecting new human resources and fresh ideas.

So it is obvious that education and science are among the national development priorities.



Question:

How do you feel about brain drain in Russia. And what should be done to reverse the trend?



Vladimir Putin:

How can anyone feel about it? It’s a negative trend, of course. What can be done about it? It is necessary to make people feel comfortable in their own country, and it must be done not by administrative, but by organisational and economic methods. It means raising salaries and encouraging science and creativity, especially in the spheres where a solid basis and technology are needed for experiments and research.

I have many friends working in this sphere. And many of them say that no one would have left, for any amount of pay, if they had a chance to pursue their research in their own country. This is what we should invest in above all. And of course we should see what we can do to raise the salaries of university graduates. They may not be as high as in the West, but they should be higher than the average in the country. The only problem is public consciousness. Society must be mature enough to understand that investing in human resources, in young specialists is far more effective than dividing and spreading everything evenly. Ultimately, it is in the interests of society.



Question:

Do you think Russia will remain a super-presidential republic? And are any changes being planned in this connection?



Vladimir Putin:

What do you mean by a super-presidential republic?



Voice:

I mean the status of the president as sealed in the 1993 Constitution, with unlimited powers. I mean the status of the head of state as an arbiter between different branches of power.



Vladimir Putin:

With regard to the president, there exists the system of impeachment. Society, the state have the right and the ability to initiate and follow through the impeachment proceedings against the president. But there is no such mechanism with regard to governors. So, I wouldn’t say that Russia is a super-presidential republic. There has to be a balance between the federal, regional and municipal authorities. Everything should be considered, analyzed, and the right accents should be made.

As regards the degree of centralisation of power in Russia, I think you and everyone would agree with me that Russia is a country which followed its own path of development. We have just seen a monument to commemorate the arrival of the first train. There is a figure of Yermak on its bas-relief. He died while being pursued by Tartars. He drowned, wearing a shirt of mail the Tsar had given him. Siberia was added to Russia as a result of a fierce struggle. Russia was created as a centralised state and that was how it existed. That is why we had Tsarism and then Communism. Now we have the presidential republic. And let me say that the forms of government we choose must not strangle democracy, which is the most important idea, because there cannot be a full-fledged state and society without internal democratic processes. But there should be a clearly defined mechanism to guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens irrespective of their social and economic status, and so on and so forth. Only the president can fulfil this role.



Voice:

I agree. But then isn’t it the case that impeachment is merely “virtual”?



Vladimir Putin:

Not at all. You know that when there was a motion to impeach the first president, it fell only 7 votes short of being passed. And it could have been passed. It means that the impeachment mechanism is working. So, I don’t think that question was correctly phrased.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24139
 
Old September 28th, 2016 #59
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Open Letter to Voters



Published in the newspapers Izvestia, Kommersant, and Komsomolskaya Pravda - February 25, 2000 - 00:00





Last week, the Central Election Commission registered me as a candidate for president of Russia. I have long thought about and made known my decision to stand in the election. But an election campaign presents great demands. It imposes legitimate limitations and leads me to draw a distinction between what I have to do on a day-to-day basis as the leader of the country and what I am to do as a participant in the election campaign.

As in all the preceding months, I will continue to perform the immediate duties of my office. There are no special electoral events on my calendar. And the campaign headquarters that has been set up will only do what the law on the election of the president and the instructions of the Central Election Commission prescribe.

But there is another side to the matter, and that is my duty as a candidate to all the Russian voters. Chief among them is to present my plan and to identify the problems I intend to tackle as the head of the Russian state. In short, to present my electoral platform.

This is truly important. On the one hand, my position as head of state is open and generally known. During the past six months people have been able to see what I consider to be of key importance and what I am already doing in national politics and economics. On the other hand, the question is still being asked: “Who is Putin and what are his political plans?”

And if the question is raised, it must be answered.

So I thought it would be best to address you directly. I have decided to tell you without mediators – in a brief and clear way – what I think about our present life and what needs to be done to improve it.



On Our Problems



Many see the roots of our failures in misguided decisions taken in various sectors. But that is only partly true. Specialists are still arguing about where we went wrong. They are not to be blamed for looking at life from their respective points of view and promoting their vision.

I am sure that no coherent and workable programme can emerge if it is written in several different offices, with some writing the economic, others the political and yet others the international parts. And then all this is mechanically “glued together” and presented as a single state platform.

That is not the way to go about it. We will not get anywhere that way.

Any programme begins with the identification of the main goals. A national programme begins with what can unite all of us, the citizens of our country. For a Russian citizen what is important are the moral principles that he first acquires in the family and that form the very core of patriotism. That is the main thing. Without it we cannot agree on anything, without it Russia would have to forget about national dignity and even about national sovereignty.

That is our starting premise. And it is the task of a leader to set common goals, to assign a proper role to everyone and to help people believe in themselves. This is the only way to create team spirit, to achieve victory. So, it is vital to openly admit our core problems and set our priorities right.

I can tell you how I see them.

Our first and most important problem is a weakening of the will, a loss of will and perseverance in following through with our plans – vacillations, going from one extreme to the other and the habit of putting off solving the most difficult tasks.

It is high time we came to grips with our problems, first and foremost the most dangerous ones, the problems that are holding us back, that are strangling our economy and are preventing the state from developing. Frankly speaking, these are problems that threaten our very survival.

To continue to shy away from these problems is more dangerous than to face the challenge. People no longer believe promises, and the authorities are less and less respected. The state machine is coming apart, its engine – the executive branch – sputters and hiccoughs as soon as you try to get it started. Bureaucrats are “pushing papers” but are not doing any real work and have all but forgotten what discipline is. In these conditions people, of course, cannot count on the rule of law or expect justice from the authorities. They can count only on themselves. What is the use of such a government then?

A high level of crime is an example of such persistent evil.

For many years we have been idly talking about the need to fight crime, thus merely driving that evil deeper into the fabric of Russia. Banditry grew stronger, invading cities and villages and taking root everywhere. A whole constituent republic of the Russian Federation, Chechnya, was taken over by the criminal world and turned into its fortress. But as soon as we challenged the bandits head on and defeated them, a real step was taken towards the rule of law, the dictatorship of the law, which treats everyone equally.

Now, wherever a terrorist or a criminal may be hiding – in Novgorod, St Petersburg, Kazan or any other Russian city – he can no longer look to assistance from or find shelter in Chechnya. A terrible blow has been dealt to the world of bandits.

This is the first step, and it will be followed by others.

But this could not have been accomplished by just sitting in Moscow and inventing endless “programmes to fight crime”. One had to challenge the enemy on his own turf and defeat him.

I hope I have made it clear how such difficult problems can and must be solved. Reality leaves no other choice: it is only by meeting the challenge that one can prevail.

Another major problem is a lack of firm and universally recognized rules. Like a person, society cannot live without rules. A country’s rules take the form of the law, constitutional discipline and order. They are about the security of a person’s family and property, his personal security and confidence that the established rules of the game will not change.

The state will have to start with itself. It should not just make rules, it should follow them. This is the only way to make sure that uniform norms of behaviour established by the law are complied with. In a state where there is no rule of law and which is therefore a weak state, the individual is vulnerable and not free. The stronger the state the freer the individual. In a democracy your rights and my rights are limited only by the similar rights of other people. Recognition of that simple truth is the basis of the law, which should apply to everyone, from members of the government to ordinary citizens.

But democracy means a dictatorship of the law and not of the people whose job is to uphold the law. I think it is worth remembering that a court of law passes its rulings on behalf of the Russian Federation and it must be worthy of its high authority. The police and the Prosecutor’s Office must serve the law rather than trying to “privatise” their authorities for their own benefit. Their immediate and only task is to protect people and not misguided notions of honour and departmental interests.

Rules are necessary and important for everyone and everywhere, for the authorities, entrepreneurs and even more so those who are weak and need social protection. You cannot help the weak if taxes are not paid into the treasury. It is impossible to build a civilised market in a world that is riddled with corruption. No economic progress is possible if government officials depend on moneybags.

They ask how they should treat the oligarchs? The answer is, the same as everyone else. The same as an owner of a small bakery or a shoe repair shop.

Only an effective and strong state can afford to live by the rules (that is, by the law). It alone should guarantee the freedom of the entrepreneur, the individual and society.

If we teach ourselves to respect the rules we make and learn to behave decently, we will force others to follow suit. If we punish offences strictly according to the law, those who up until now stood more to gain by violating the law will prefer to stay on the right side of the law. And those who have forgotten should be reminded that governing the country is a job paid for by the taxpayers and our earnings.

I am aware that many today are afraid of order. But order is all about rules. And those who today are fiddling with notions and presenting a lack of order as true democracy should not suspect any foul play or try to scare us with the prospect of a return to the past. “Our land is rich, only there is no order in it,” Russians used to say. No one will ever again have reason to say that about us.

Finally, there is one more big problem which renders all “grandiose plans” useless.

We have a very vague notion of the resources at our disposal today. Everybody seems to agree that property is inviolable, but how much property is out there? Where is it and who does it belong to? Today we don’t even have accurate numbers that show what belongs to the state, starting with the treasures of Gokhran and ending with intellectual property to which the Russian people have a rightful claim. One is ashamed to admit that no one in the country today can name the exact number of working enterprises or revenues or even provide accurate data on the number of people in the country.

It is time to clearly determine who owns what in Russia. Only then will we be able to properly assess our own potential and determine which tasks are feasible. This is the luggage that we should have as we set out on our journey. What we need today as much as we need air to breathe is a complete inventory of the country; we need an accurate record and proper recognition of everything that there is.

Upon assuming his duties, a new manager begins by looking at the balance sheet. Russia is a huge, complicated and very diverse enterprise. It makes no sense to argue whether we are poor or rich as long as we haven’t made a review of all our successes and setbacks, our past losses and our new achievements.

Each of you surely has his or her own idea of the root causes of our setbacks and miscalculations. But it is high time we, the people of Russia, made up our minds as to what we expect the state to deliver and on what points we are ready to support it. I am speaking about our national priorities. Without it we will continue to waste time while our fate is decided by irresponsible chatterboxes.



On Our Priorities



In recent years we have approved hundreds of “immediate” and “priority” measures. The very fact that there are so many of them suggests that we haven’t got around to addressing our real priorities. We have constantly been reacting to events, clearing up the mess created by our own misguided decisions. We have constantly lumped together big and small matters. But we have been only too happy to be sidetracked by dealing with easy tasks, thus justifying our own reluctance and our fear of meeting truly serious challenges.

If we don’t want to be thrown back to the past, if we don’t want our country to lag behind, we should determine the truly urgent tasks. There are not so many of them if one has the right approach. But they are truly challenging.

Our priority is to fight poverty.

We are used to being proud of our wealth: our vast territory, natural resources, multiethnic culture and educated populace. That is all true. But it is pitifully little for the great power that Russia is.

We should at long last tell ourselves: we are a rich country of poor people. In general we are a country of paradoxes, not so much political as social, economic and cultural.

Our children win gold medals at international Olympiads. Our best brains are welcomed in the West. Russian musicians and conductors perform to full houses on the best concert stages of the world. And the theatres in the capital are always full. All that is part of our wealth.

But there is a flip side, and it is not just depressing, it cries for something to be done about it. Millions of people in the country can barely make ends meet; they are skimping on everything, even on food. Parents and children have to save money for years in order to travel to visit each other. The elderly, who won the Great Patriotic War and made Russia a glorious world power, are eking out a meagre existence or, worse, begging in the streets. And yet it is the fruits of their labour that the present generation is living off while contributing very little to the national wealth. To repay our debt to them is not just a social, but a political and moral task in the full sense of the word.

Yes, we have at long last started paying pensions in due time. We have started to do whatever we can to help the needy. But this truly nationwide problem cannot be solved by endlessly patching up holes, without ground-breaking ideas and new approaches.

Of course, it is impossible to get rid of the humiliation of poverty without money. But to further inflate our already massive social security programme would not solve the problem either. We have been there before. Our main resource is the new able-bodied generation. Those who are willing and able to become well-to-do people within a civilised state.

Young and energetic people, all those who know the real price of labour and can earn a living, and who already know how to rid the country of the humiliation of poverty – they are capable of bringing back to Russia not only economic but also moral dignity. It is a nationwide task and we will solve it together. There are enough examples in Russian history. Russia has emerged from even worse scrapes.

Our priority is to protect the market from unlawful invasion both by bureaucrats and by criminals. It is our duty to secure property rights and protect entrepreneurs against arbitrary and illegal interference in their activities. If the state does not provide these guarantees, criminal groups quickly fill the vacuum. They provide “protection” for those who have tried and failed to get it from the state.

Some time ago the term “economic crime” became popular. This is not just legally inaccurate, it is a mistake. One cannot lump together all the crimes connected with economics and finance and launch campaigns against “economic criminals”.

But ever since the crime world discovered an extremely lucrative “economic specialisation”, it has been thriving in our financial and economic environment. And the state itself was helping it by its actions, or lack thereof. It was helping it by making poor laws, by failing to provide clear rules and by chaotic and incompetent tampering with the market.

Of course, tough state control is needed. But it alone is not enough. Look what is happening: you are not sure of the stability of your business because you cannot count on the law and the honesty of government officials. So, you are not satisfied with the services of the state and therefore do not pay all your taxes. And what is more, you can live quite happily that way. Meanwhile, the state doesn’t have the wherewithal to support an unbiased legal system or pay proper salaries to its officials, who therefore take bribes. It is a vicious circle.

We have been talking about state regulation of the economy for years. But we mean different things by regulation. The essence of regulation is not to strangle the market and expand bureaucratic oversight to new sectors, but on the contrary, to help the market stand on its feet. People are entitled to be protected against the possibility of their business being grabbed by a group of bandits. They are entitled to expect the rules of fair competition to be followed. All businesses should be in the same conditions. And state institutions cannot be used in the interests of rivalries between clans or groups.

I think the picture is clear. We have high taxes, but we collect them poorly. We should have low taxes, but collect them well – so well as to make the state strong and effective. So that it could support a just legal system and a bureaucracy that is not venal. So that it could help those who cannot take care of themselves.

I am absolutely convinced that a strong state needs wealthy people. So a key goal of our economic policy should be to make honest work more rewarding than stealing.

It’s enough living with “packed suitcases” and keeping money under the mattresses. Enough feeding other countries by forcing our people to keep their earnings in foreign bank accounts. It is high time we created conditions conducive to the development of young and able-bodied citizens. They don’t need artificial hothouse conditions, nor do they need excessive restrictions. Those who want to and can be wealthy, let them help themselves and their country.

Our priority is to restore the personal dignity of the people in the name of the dignity of the nation.

Russia has long ceased to be just a reduced map of the Soviet Union; it is a confident power with a great future and a great people.

The past decade has brought dramatic changes to the consciousness of the people. Our citizens are not yet rich, but they are independent and self-confident. Our press today is free and it will forever be free. Our army is emerging from a prolonged crisis with honour and is becoming ever more efficient and professional.

True, Russia has ceased to be an empire, but it has not wasted its potential as a great power. We no longer dictate to anyone and we do not keep anyone from leaving us; instead we have the time and resources to devote to ourselves. The new generation has got a great historic chance to build a Russia that it will not be ashamed to pass on to its children.

Those who claim that we will use this chance to establish a dictatorship are engaged in scaremongering. A great country cherishes its freedom and respects that of others. It is unreasonable to be afraid of a strong Russia, but it should be reckoned with. Insulting us is counterproductive.

This leads us to another priority: to pursue our foreign policy in keeping with our national interests. In fact, we have to recognize the primacy of internal goals over external ones. We should at long last learn to do that. If certain international projects – no matter how much they are touted and how fine they sound – bring no benefits to our people, we shouldn’t join those projects. If Russia is being urged to engage in global ventures which cost a lot of money while we have to borrow and are unable to pay wages to our people – we have to think twice before joining.

Where weakness and poverty hold sway, there can be no great power. It is time to understand that our place in the world, our wealth and our new rights depend on our success in dealing with our internal problems.

Let us be mindful of our national interests not only when they have to be loudly declared. Let us first formulate them competently and clearly and then implement them steadfastly. Only the real interests of our country, including economic interests, should be the law for Russian diplomats.

But let me sound a note of caution: the fact that we are saving energy at present does not mean that we are not thinking in terms of external expansion, in the good sense of that word. We too have what other countries call zones of vital interests. But we see these zones as sources of further peaceful development – economic, international and political.

The list could be continued. But what I have mentioned is enough to start work immediately. Don’t we have enough pressing tasks? By pooling our efforts we will solve them one by one.



On Our Common Goal



Oceans of political platforms are usually published by candidates during elections. Few people read these voluminous documents to the end.

I have presented here my views on what I consider to be truly important. Those who say that this is not the whole programme are right. I do not purport to know the absolute truth, but I thought it was my duty to tell my fellow citizens briefly about my principles and my views of the state.

I am convinced that the main feature of the new age will not be a battle of ideologies but a fierce competition for quality of life, national wealth and progress.

And progress is something that you either have or you have not. No references to the purity of party principles – be they “right” or “left” – can be an excuse for the poverty of the people.

If I were to look for a slogan for my election campaign, it would be very simple. It would be “A decent life”. A decent life that the majority of my fellow citizens want to have and in which they believe. A life as I see it myself, being a Russian.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24144
 
Old September 28th, 2016 #60
Alex Him
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Interview to “BBC Breakfast with Frost”



March 5, 2000 - 14:26 - Courtesy "BBC Breakfast with Frost"





David Frost:

In his first television interview with a Western or indeed a foreign journalist since he entered the Kremlin I asked him about relations with the West, Chechnya and his background in the KGB, but I started by asking him about his stated determination to make Russia strong again. Was this, as some have feared, an indication of a throwback to the days of the Cold War?



Vladimir Putin:

My position is that our country should be a strong, powerful state, a capable and effective state, in which both its citizens and all those who want to cooperate with Russia could feel comfortable and protected, could always feel in their own shoes – if you allow the expression – psychologically and morally, and well off. But this has nothing to do with aggression. If we again and again go back to the terminology of the Cold War we are never going to discard attitudes and problems that humanity had to grapple with a mere 15–20 years ago. We in Russia have to a large extent rid ourselves of what is related to the Cold War. Regrettably, it appears that our partners in the West are all too often still in the grip of old notions and tend to picture Russia as a potential aggressor. That is a completely wrong conception of our country. It gets in the way of developing normal relations in Europe and in the world.



David Frost:

Looking at the opinion polls today, which show your popularity rating at approximately 60% and Zyuganov at 23%, you must be very happy?



Vladimir Putin:

Outside the framework of this interview we talked about sports a little. You know that I have been into sports since I was a kid, I like sports. We have always been taught that any partner, any opponent should be treated with respect. That means that in some ways he may be stronger than you, so I am not inclined to believe that I am assured of victory, that I have it in my hand, that the campaign is over. I don't think I have a right to consider myself a winner. Gennady Zyuganov and his Communist party enjoy substantial social support.



David Frost:

Let's move on now to the subject of Chechnya. First of all, could you explain to me, you said once that this entire part of the Russian Federation has been occupied by the criminal world and turned into a fortress. What is it that makes you feel so strongly about Chechnya?



Vladimir Putin:

When I think about Chechnya my first thoughts are that the Chechen people have fallen victim to international extremism. I think that ordinary people in Chechnya suffer because of the policies conducted by Russia over the past few years. Let's face it: Chechnya enjoyed de-facto – and I want to stress that – de-facto complete independence since 1996. Regrettably, no coherent state structure ever came into being in Chechnya. And then extremist forces took advantage of that vacuum, they broke up the territory of the Chechen Republic into a maze of small separate entities, each headed by a warlord, a so-called field commander – outside the framework of any constitution, any legal foundation. So what we got was like a mini-Afghanistan. The warlords became the real masters of these tiny entities within a small and, undoubtedly, a proud nation. And that precipitated the tragedy with which we are confronted today. Those extremist forces began reclaiming this territory, as it were. Arms were supplied to them from outside the country, money began to flow, mercenaries began to arrive. It should also be said that in these few years 220,000 ethnic Russians left the republic – just think of that – and about 550,000–600,000 Chechens. They all voted with their feet, they all fled from that regime.

Last summer there was a completely unprovoked attack on the republic of Dagestan, which borders on Chechnya. The bandits then blew up several residential blocks in Moscow, Volgodonsk and other cities of the Russian Federation. As a symbol of their revenge they killed almost 1,500 people in those blasts. And from that moment on it became crystal clear to us that unless we deliver a blow at the very lair of terrorism, at the bases situated in the Chechen Republic, we would never be able to rid ourselves of this scourge, this gangrene. With their actions the terrorists forced us to pursue this option – and I just don't think they expected us to act as resolutely as we did.



David Frost:

You undoubtedly have seen the accusations of possible war crimes against civilians in that German film and, for instance, in today's Moscow Times. Do you think it is possible there have been any such war crimes committed by Russian troops or by contract soldiers?



Vladimir Putin:

I would like to give you an extended answer to this question. There are terrorists who kidnap innocent people by the hundred and keep them in cellars, torture and execute them. I stress, we are talking about perfectly innocent people, kidnapped not for political reasons, but for purely criminal commercial gain. And I know that citizens of your country have also fallen victim to those criminals.

Are these cutthroats any better than Nazi criminals? We are liberating the people of Chechnya from this scourge, and we feel obliged to do that in the name of the Chechen people and other peoples of the Russian Federation. We have stressed again and again that all our actions are geared to minimising those casualties. And, mind you, there have been no large numbers of casualties among civilians. We understand that one of the forms of struggle is information warfare. The video footage you mentioned, which had been shown to the world by German television, has now been refuted by our own media. Izvestia newspaper has carried information coming straight from the man who really shot those sequences and he accused his German colleague of falsification. In fact, the German journalist simply bought the tape off our cameraman and what it shows is the burial of rebels killed in action.

That was then presented to the international public as evidence of torture and execution of prisoners. Which had nothing to do with reality. This is nothing more and nothing less than a frontline of information warfare, of confrontation. I repeat, this is a complete lie and falsification.

We have no need to kill civilians. It is a fact that our troops have been taking the biggest cities and towns in Chechnya with the help of Chechen people, with direct support from the people of Chechnya, without a single shot. So what is the sense in brutalising civilians? On the contrary, we are counting on their support and are receiving it. Why would we aggravate the civilians?



David Frost:

But Peter Buchert from the Moscow Times says he's got a hundred cases that he can document. I presume that you would investigate such cases and if you found that a soldier was guilty he would be punished?



Vladimir Putin:

We want to extend a helping hand to the people of Chechnya so that peace finally comes to the Chechen land. That is unthinkable without cooperation with the Chechens themselves. So if there are facts of cruelty, of crimes against peaceful citizens of Chechnya – then that goes against the aims set by the Russian political leadership and me personally. Of course, if there are people who violate laws, they will try to conceal that. But there are instruments to reveal such facts and find out the truth, there are people who work to achieve the goals that I personally set forth. Naturally, all such facts will be scrupulously investigated.



David Frost:

And when, do you think, will the war be over?



Vladimir Putin:

Only last night in one of the mountainous areas, where fairly large formations of militants were concentrated, our troops managed to inflict several powerful blows. And I think that from this moment on organised resistance is virtually impossible. Our task is to defeat those international criminals, who rely on support from extremist forces in Afghanistan and other countries in this region and to offer the people of Chechnya and its neighbours a chance to decide on their republics' future through political means. I think in the nearest future the military phase of the operation will have been completed. It will take some time to restore the social sphere, schools, hospitals, homes for the elderly, to reinstate the supplies, to reinstate the basic bodies of government, municipal bodies. That will take some time, but that won't be connected with any kind of military action.

We have no aim of cornering the Chechen people, chasing them into a cave. We don't want them to develop a syndrome of a defeated nation. The people should understand that they are not a defeated people. They are a liberated people – liberated from outside pressure.



David Frost:

And wouldn't it be a positive move also if more journalists were allowed into Chechnya so they could see those things you are talking about for themselves?



Vladimir Putin:

I agree, of course. And that is exactly what we've been doing. We have set in place a significantly simplified procedure of accrediting foreign journalists in Chechnya and the Caucasus as a whole. I have already mentioned that the authorities have a vested interest in obtaining objective information. It is not only the public that is interested in receiving objective information, we are, too. This is an instrument we would gladly use. The only thing that causes our concern is security considerations.



David Frost:

Tell me about your views on NATO, if you would. Do you see NATO as a potential partner, or a rival or an enemy?



Vladimir Putin:

Russia is part of the European culture. And I cannot imagine my own country in isolation from Europe and what we often call the civilised world. So it is hard for me to visualise NATO as an enemy. I think even posing the question this way will not do any good to Russia or the world. The very question is capable of causing damage.

Russia strives for equitable and candid relations with its partners. The main problem here lies in attempts to discard previously agreed common decision-making instruments –primarily as regards international security. We are open to equitable cooperation, to partnership.

We believe we can talk about more profound integration with NATO but only if Russia is regarded as an equal partner. You are aware we have been constantly voicing our opposition to NATO's eastward enlargement.



David Frost:

Is it possible that Russia could join NATO?



Vladimir Putin:

I don't see why not. I would not rule out such a possibility, but I repeat – if and when Russia's views are taken into account as those of an equal partner. I want to stress this again and again. The situation that was laid down in the founding principles of the United Nations took into account realities that took shape in the world after the end of World War II. I agree that the situation may have changed. Let's assume there is a desire on the part of those who perceive the change to install new mechanisms of ensuring international security. But pretending, or proceeding from the assumption that Russia has nothing to do with it, and trying to exclude it from this process is hardly feasible.

When we talk about our opposition to NATO's eastward expansion, we do not have in mind our special ambitions with respect to some or other regions of the world. Mind you, we have never declared any region of the world a zone of our special interests. I prefer to talk about strategic partnership. A zone of strategic interests in any region means above all the interests of the people who live in that particular region.

Our main concern is our own country, its place in the world today and tomorrow. When we are confronted with attempts to exclude us from the process of decision-making, this naturally causes concern and irritation on our part. But that does not mean we are going to shut ourselves off from the rest of the world. Isolationism is not an option.



David Frost:

You worked in Europe, in Germany, for several years, but have you ever been to Britain or the United States?



Vladimir Putin:

I have twice been to the United States on very short visits, on business. And I have been to Britain a couple of times at the invitation of the Foreign Office together with the former Mayor of St Petersburg Mr Sobchak. We went to Edinburgh, London and Manchester. Manchester and St Petersburg are sister-cities and have for a long time maintained very close ties.



David Frost:

When did you realise that the old way of doing things, the old Communist economic way of doing things was no longer working?



Vladimir Putin:

That was at the start of the 1990s, or the end of the 1980s, when it became clear that the proclaimed standards of living, which the then leadership wasn't bold enough to revise or declare unrealistic, that those standards of living were unreachable with the help of the economic mechanisms that were then in place. Secondly, my concern became particularly strong when it became clear that the best achievements of our fundamental and applied science could not be implemented on the obsolete technological basis we then possessed. What made matters worse is my clear realization that the technological basis could not be developed properly within the framework of the economic system that had been built on Russian territory for the past 70 years. This awareness came to me in the middle or late 1980s.



David Frost:

And in fact, your biographies always say that as a boy you'd always wanted, it was always your ambition to join the KGB, to be a secret agent, to be a James Bond. Was it always your dream?



Vladimir Putin:

You know, we have our own heroes, and they are not fiction. I have never wanted to be a James Bond. But working in state security bodies was something I had always wanted – since I was in school. Just as many young people get all the various ideas, ambitions, that was not my only ambition. I also wanted to be a pilot, a seaman. And then at some stage I got this bug to work for national security, and foreign intelligence at that. It is true.



David Frost:

And in international intelligence, you were working in Germany and so on, was that a productive time for you, in your development?



Vladimir Putin:

On the whole, yes. Working with information in general – and foreign intelligence is primarily information – is always productive and stimulating. But I also want to say that the outer side of this activity – you have mentioned James Bond – did not appeal to me that much. What did attract me was probably based on some books and films. In the Soviet Union, they never stressed the glamour, but what they did foster was a sense of patriotism, love of your country.



David Frost:

And so as you look at Russia today and the journey that Russia is making in terms of coming to a freer economy and all of those things. How far would you say you are along the journey towards the Russia that you dream of, are you half way there, nearly there, a long way away?



Vladimir Putin:

Victory is only possible when every citizen of this country feels that the values we promote yield positive changes in their day-to-day lives. That they're beginning to live better, eat better, feel safer and so on. But in this sense one can say we are still very far from our goal. I think we are still at the start of that road. But I have no doubt that the road we have chosen is the right one. And our goal is to follow this road, and to make sure our policies are absolutely open and clear for the majority of the Russian people.





The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24194
 
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