Capacious and quiet

Politicians and political scientists praised the president's latest message

Vladimir KATRENKO, Vice Speaker of the State Duma, First Deputy Head of the United Russia faction:

— I consider the most important and fundamental idea of ​​the message to be that in it the president paid special attention to the traditional, basic moral values ​​developed by the Russian people over thousands of years of their history. They should be the backbone of state power; these values ​​must be guided by when making the most important decisions for the country. The President spoke about the need to use oil and gas revenues in such a way that it would cause revival not only in the social and economic sphere, but also form a fund of national wealth, which is supposed to be used for people to improve their quality of life, education, and health.

Alexander BABAKOV, head of the “A Just Russia” faction in the State Duma:

— In his message, the President touched upon a large block of issues, ranging from moral problems to problems of our positioning in the international arena. In particular, issues of our military cooperation with European countries. The important thing is that the president clearly said: Russia has certain successes in the economic field, but we must analyze these successes from the point of view of spending funds. Specific figures were named that should be allocated for the further development of national projects, in particular in agriculture and housing construction. The figures that were announced are impressive. I believe that this will contribute to a very serious impetus in housing construction, and, most importantly, in solving the problem of dilapidated housing.

Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKY, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, leader of the LDPR:

- With his message to the Federal Assembly, the President, in Russian, clearly and finally put an end to discussions regarding the possibility of his third term in this post. In general, the message is good: succinct and quiet, without any distortions. This is how a country should live and develop. The only provision of the message with which I do not agree is the proposal to establish a ten-year period of residence for the nomination of senators from a particular region - in this I see a certain serfdom. The President declared a moratorium on the implementation of the CFE Treaty, and I want to emphasize that we are not withdrawing from the treaty, but let other countries at least ratify it. And the president once again showed that Russia is a neutral country. We will never fight with anyone, our soldiers will not die anywhere, there will be no revolutions, we will make the law on combating extremism even tougher. The main problem today is the Communist Party faction. They did not stand up when the entire chamber stood up in memory of the deceased first president of Russia, and now in the Kremlin, when the current head of state asked to stand up and honor, they did not stand up again. If I were the president, I would kick them out of the hall. And if I were the Prosecutor General, I would go to court to ban the participation of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the State Duma elections.

Konstantin KOSACHEV, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, deputy of the United Russia faction:

-- Russia was one of four states that ratified the CFE Treaty along with Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Our ratification of the adapted CFE Treaty in 2004 did not change anything from the point of view of the legal force of this document; it did not enter into force because it was not ratified by the required majority of participating states. Thus, our fulfillment of obligations under the contract has always been voluntary. Let me remind you that these obligations concerned five categories of conventional weapons for which ceilings were set: combat aircraft, combat helicopters, tanks, armored vehicles and artillery, as well as the number of military personnel. Unfortunately, in recent years, compliance with treaty obligations by our partners has become increasingly questionable. A striking example was the redeployment of a significant part of American conventional weapons and armed forces from Germany to other European states. In particular, to Bulgaria and Romania, which obviously goes beyond the flank restrictions that are spelled out in the treaty. And in these conditions, remaining virtually the only state that complies with the treaty de facto does not make any sense for Russia. Therefore, the decision announced by the president on a moratorium on the fulfillment of obligations seems to me to be a timely and correct step. In essence, this decision will mean that in the future, in terms of our own military planning and deployment of the corresponding armed forces and conventional weapons in our European part, we will proceed not from any existing de jure or de facto agreements with partners, but from our own national interests.

Ivan MELNIKOV, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, State Duma deputy:

— I think that overall the message turned out to be rich and interesting. At the same time, the impression was that when writing this message, the opposition became the supplier of topics for the president. It seems that the authorities were “holding back” on some topics for this year. They specifically wanted to voice some obviously true ideas that the opposition, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, have been talking about for a long time, precisely this year. And many of our key requirements are actually released from the cage.

But what is voiced does not mean realized. So, the right task is that the stabilization fund cannot lie as a dead weight; it is true that it is necessary to develop infrastructure and nanotechnology. The question is: are the economic mechanisms created over the years of the current government capable of solving these problems in the existing economic atmosphere? Or it will be an ineffective investment of public funds. To put it more harshly, a significant part will be stolen, and attracting business will entail new plots of redistribution of property.

Proposals for the modernization of the electric power industry, the water complex, railways, the construction of new roads and airports are truly serious and large-scale. We have always talked about the need to stimulate our own economy, about large strategic investments in the real sector, which should provide the pace for natural economic growth. As for the social sphere, this bloc is much weaker than the economic bloc. Much attention is paid to a very painful problem: housing construction. The numbers are given. The numbers may be correct, but they have had little effect on improving housing for the majority. After all, the pace of construction today is determined by the construction of unaffordable luxury housing.

Alexey MAKARKIN, Deputy Director of the Center for Political Technologies:

— Plans in messages of this kind cannot but be ambitious. The implementation of these plans will greatly depend on two circumstances - the global energy price environment and the level of corruption in the government apparatus. If oil prices fall, the president could find himself in the situation of Mikhail Gorbachev, who proposed ambitious projects only to have those projects buried under the ruins of the Soviet economy. And with the general weakness of our media, public institutions, and legislative power, the possibilities of corruption increase sharply. Because there is no one to control corruption.

I have a feeling that Vladimir Putin has voiced a program for several of his successors, who will apparently successively succeed each other in power. This is a program for several presidential terms. This is due to the fact that Putin, in the system that he has formed, wants to perform two functions - an arbiter who will resolve conflicts between various clans, and a strategist who determines the main directions of the country's development.

A week ago there was information that the message would be “pro-Ivanovo”. In fact, “Medvedev’s” sphere of responsibility was mentioned quite often and the effectiveness of national projects was very highly assessed. And all this from the mouth of a president who is not given to big compliments. Although there were quite “Ivanovo” themes in the message. I think that Vladimir Putin has already built some kind of structure for himself, but will not make it public, because then he will immediately become a “lame duck.”

Valery KHOMYAKOV, Chairman of the National Strategy Council:

— Many expected that the message would become the president’s political testament, although Vladimir Putin said that this was not the case, and, apparently, he was not going to leave politics. Nevertheless, in many ways the problems that he outlined are pressing for the country. This was a message not so much to the current, also outgoing Federal Assembly, but to the entire Russian government.

The message outlined the contours of continuity. The President has long talked about continuity, and here he outlined what he sees this continuity as. It was not so much about the people who would implement the plans, but about the country’s course for the near future. Moreover, only a revolution can prevent the implementation of these plans. But I hope that things won’t come to a revolution; the authorities are aware of the danger and will not allow it. In order to protect countries from revolution, it is necessary not only to wave batons on Pushkin Square, but to make elections as transparent and fair as possible. So that no one can say that the Duma and the president are not entirely legitimate.

Dmitry ORESHKIN, head of the Mercator group:

- There was a feeling that at least the president was not going to leave power too far. Because it is indecent to give such specific and strict instructions for a long time and at the same time leave power. He probably chose some position in the country's top leadership for himself. He cannot proclaim values ​​and objectives and then withdraw. That is, Putin himself will apparently solve the assigned tasks.

I was somewhat alarmed by the Soviet style of the message. That the state should do this, allocate so much money. That is, a universal solution to the problem is the creation of a body to solve this problem. The feeling is that the situation has returned to the 70s, when the economy is functioning, producing a lot of money and the main question is how to manage it. The pattern of growing state participation, which implies the growth of the bureaucracy, shows that more and more human resources will be diverted towards government management. The bureaucracy will grow, and business and government will continue to merge. This leads to an increase in corruption and a decrease in the efficiency of the entire economy.

Recorded by Ksenia VERETENNIKOVA, Daria GUSEVA