At the conference, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a national people’s front, “so that all people, who together strive for the welfare of the nation and the best possible solutions to the problems that face it, may be united under a single aegis.”
Vladimir Putin’s speech at the conference:
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon,
We are meeting here shortly before Victory Day on May 9. A great pride runs through each Russian family: pride in our nation’s victory, in the feats of our fathers and grandfathers – and now great-grandfathers, for that matter – and in all the heroes who fought in that great war...
At the conference, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a national people’s front, “so that all people, who together strive for the welfare of the nation and the best possible solutions to the problems that face it, may be united under a single aegis.”
Vladimir Putin’s speech at the conference:
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon,
We are meeting here shortly before Victory Day on May 9. A great pride runs through each Russian family: pride in our nation’s victory, in the feats of our fathers and grandfathers – and now great-grandfathers, for that matter – and in all the heroes who fought in that great war.
From the bottom of my heart, I would like to extend my warmest greetings to all the surviving veterans of the Great Patriotic War and acknowledge our deep gratitude for what they achieved, in addition to our respect for and admiration of their great courage and loyalty.
The 1945 victory over Nazi Germany has gone down in history as a victory won by Soviet soldiers – soldiers defending their motherland. It was here in Stalingrad, on the Volga, where they reversed the tide of the war and eventually saved all humanity from extinction and slavery.
These soldiers fought the famous Battle of Stalingrad for their homeland – for their families and homes, for the future of their culture and simply for the right to speak their native tongue, and for dozens of new generations that were yet to come.
Supporting war veterans and working with young people – teaching them patriotism – are permanent priorities of United Russia and all of its branches.
A deep awareness of their historical, cultural, and spiritual identity and heritage, and a respect for their shared background and national history is what makes people a nation in the first place. It gives us strength and wisdom and invaluable experience, as well as confidence in the future of our country and in our ability to successfully meet the grandest and most difficult challenges.
I have just visited Mamayev Kurgan, where I had an opportunity to meet war veterans and talk with them – and to talk with children as well. I saw the children watching the veterans with awe and admiration, examining their orders and medals. Once again, I would like to congratulate all veterans on the approaching Victory Day, and I wish them luck.
Ladies and gentlemen, one of the most important goals of all our interregional conferences is to focus on problems of concern to the people and to support the most needed and most popular business and social initiatives. When we meet in the regions, we primarily discuss local initiatives and projects. These conferences give us an opportunity to analyse our situation and review our development strategy.
In the past decade – since the early 2000s – we have made extensive efforts to restore the national economy and social programmes from, let’s be honest, the wretched state of affairs in which they had operated since the early 1990s. This work has helped us emerge from the economic downturn with only a few scratches – far better than many other countries, and this has been achieved partially by relying on Russia’s political stability.
Although some repercussions of the crisis still linger and we have only managed to restore two-thirds of Russia’s economy, it is clear now that even a full return to its pre-crisis level would not be enough to ensure our accelerated, quality growth and to change the structure of our society.
While supporting conventional industries, we must also work to accelerate our transition to a modern, innovation-based economy. We have discussed this on more than one occasion and agreed that Russia’s economy is transitioning to a new phase of development right now. The economic crisis has in fact forced some companies to restructure, introduce energy-saving policies, invest in innovation and new technology, and lay a greater emphasis on research and education. We suspected even in 2009 that the crisis would prod us forward. And so it has.
As you know, I travel a lot to Russia’s regions and visit our industrial enterprises. I could cite the chemical industry as an example. There were situations when executives said exactly this: that they had no other option but to invest so much money – in fact, some tens of billions of roubles – in cutting water, heat, and power consumption, and eventually giving their product a competitive edge. This process is still underway. There are efforts to facilitate it at the federal level, and we in the federal government are supporting it by getting laws through the State Duma.
At the same time, we are far from being satisfied with the pace of transition towards a new economy. That is why we are in need of new strategic breakthrough initiatives and new tools for attaining this goal. The results of our regional conferences can also be of help.
How? When we meet in different federal areas – which we will do today, and our colleagues have already prepared for it – we always examine investment projects and new ideas for organising and developing production in various industries. These projects are most often proposed by successful young individuals, ambitious in the best sense of the word, and truly successful. They often put forth ideas on how to improve business conditions or change things on a larger scale. Of course, when planning such improvements, they sometimes rely on our new instruments, such as subsidies that are part of our anti-crisis policy. But they also come frequently as petitioners, asking ministries and departments to consider their projects, support them, and pass the necessary measures.
This situation is largely due to the poor functioning of so-called “social ladders”. Young people often face the words “no openings available”, just as they do in many other countries. This means that the best they can hope for is a very slow ascent along the career path.
As I was reviewing what we have done and preparing for this meeting, I had an idea. Let me try to formulate it now. The idea is to set up an agency for strategic initiatives to promote new projects. The agency will report to the prime minister. It will operate as a public service body in its initial stage, but later, we will consider integrating it into the government structure.
This agency would not just draft proposals on what needs to be done and what needs to be changed but would include people who implement innovative projects themselves. Can you follow my thinking? I think that many of our colleagues could be involved: those who have been presenting their ideas and projects at our regional conferences in the past, those who are speaking today or in the future. Our most successful companies might be involved as well.
I am not referring to large companies like our energy giants, although they are quite successful. The companies I’m speaking about do not only occupy niches on the domestic market but make forays into international markets as well.
We need a platform for ongoing dialogue. I would appoint one of my aides to take care of this hypothetical agency in its early stages and provide it with administrative resources. We would then elect a director and senior officials responsible for the different areas of the agency’s activity.
I suggest three such areas for now. One may be tentatively called “New Business”. People would work in this area from their own backgrounds and could draft proposals on how to effectively support businesses and reduce current barriers to start-up companies just entering the market. They could help the government decide how to support such businesses and build a more flexible and effective regulatory system for corresponding industries.
more to be posted soon...
After the plenary session of United Russia’s interregional conference titled, “Strategies for the Socio-Economic Development of Southern Russia up to 2020. The 2011-2012 Programme”, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took part in a business lunch with the heads of regions, legislatures and regional party branches. They continued discussing the Southern Federal District’s development prospects and the party’s initiatives.
источник новости: http://premier.gov.ru/eng/events/news/15104/
