Translated material
A holiday that is always with you
Vladimir Putin visited his future government
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at the Government House to congratulate the Cabinet of Ministers on the upcoming holiday. This holiday, according to the head of state, should mark his ascension to the post of prime minister after the presidential elections in March 2008, if the current First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wins them.Usually the president visits the house on Krasnopresnenskaya embankment, where he has a personal office, once or twice a year. As a rule, the visit of the head of state is associated either with summing up the results of the year, as was the case in December 2003 and 2006 , or with tragic events in the life of the country. On September 13, 2004, a week and a half after the tragedy with militants taking hostages at a Beslan school, Mr. Putin, at an extended government meeting with the participation of the Secretary of the Security Council, the Prosecutor General and the heads of all subjects of the federation, made a speech about strengthening the country's security system . In particular, then he announced the abolition of popular elections of governors. In 2004, Vladimir Putin visited the White House in connection with the change of prime minister - Mikhail Kasyanov was replaced by Mikhail Fradkov. And in September 2007, he came here to announce the new composition of the Cabinet of Ministers of Viktor Zubkov .
This time, the president outlined the true reason for his arrival almost from the threshold: “During the presidential elections in Russia, the entire state machine must work reliably and rhythmically, including, first of all, the government. Therefore, the task of Viktor Alekseevich Zubkov is to ensure such tension in work that even my possible coming to the White House seemed like a celebration.”
“Your work should be outside of such domestic political events as elections,” the president continued. According to him, improving the well-being of the population remains the main task for the next year. “Here it is necessary, as a matter of priority, to ensure an increase in wages in the public sector from February 1, 2008. Also, from February 1, it is necessary to increase the pay for military personnel and recalculate the pensions of military pensioners,” the head of state emphasized. The president considers one of the main positive results of the outgoing year to be an increase in real incomes of the population by more than 10%. At the same time, Putin especially emphasized that at present “the share of the population with monetary incomes below the subsistence level continues to decline.” At the end of the year, this figure will reach 12-13%, whereas in 2006 it was 15%.
The President admitted that it was not possible to reduce the rate of inflation in 2007 . He recalled that annual inflation reached 12%. “It’s not just about the Ministry of Finance, it’s about the situation in the global economy and here too,” said the head of state, removing Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin from under attack. “I consider reducing the rate of inflation to be one of the central tasks of 2008 “- the president began to set priorities. And he recalled the sharp rise in food prices as one of the reasons for high inflation in 2007. “Experts believe that the world is entering an era of expensive food products. But it is all the more important not just to restrain prices, This is not enough, we need to think about the development of agriculture within the country,” Mr. Putin is convinced. “If it is modern, based on modern technologies, then the products will be of high quality and cheap, since they cannot be more expensive than what we have. We import huge quantities from abroad.”
In general, the future prime minister assessed 2007 as successful for the economy. As evidence, he said that the country's GDP grew by 7.6% in 2007. “These are very high figures even for recent years,” the president noted with satisfaction, recalling that in 2004-2007 the country’s GDP grew by more than a third. “The financial system has also proven its stability,” Vladimir Putin continued to praise the economic results of the outgoing year. According to him, “the federal budget surplus reached 3.6% of GDP, excluding 640 billion rubles allocated to development institutions.”
In previous years, the head of state recalled, “Russia’s economic achievements were usually explained by exclusively favorable external conditions.” However, today, he believes, “it is no longer just a matter of high income from gas and oil exports.” “Many industries and all Russian business performed better,” he said. Investments were attracted by 20% more than in 2006, and 30% more housing was built.
The President believes that the economic potential accumulated by the country “should continue to be used to strengthen Russia’s global competitive advantages in the world.” “First of all, we need to focus on the growth of technological and innovative activity,” Mr. Putin continued to set tasks for his future cabinet of ministers. “In the new year, much needs to be done to develop transport and energy infrastructure,” the president added. “And the development institutions and state corporations created in 2007 must present the practical results of launched projects.”