Below is the speech given today by the President of Russia and what the media describe as "long and rambling."
I urge you to read it. He clearly spells out where he is taking Russia and contrary to what we hear from the liars in the media and the joke known as the Intel Community, Putin is highly regarded in Russia.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good
afternoon,
Members of the Federation Assembly – senators, State Duma deputies,
Citizens of Russia,
This
Presidential Address comes, as we all know, at a difficult, watershed
period for our country. This is a time of radical, irreversible change
in the entire world, of crucial historical events that will determine
the future of our country and our people, a time when every one of us
bears a colossal
responsibility.
One
year ago, to protect the people in our historical lands, to ensure
the security of our country and to eliminate the threat coming from
the neo-Nazi regime that had taken hold in Ukraine after the 2014 coup,
it was
decided to begin the special military operation. Step by step, carefully
and consistently
we will deal with the tasks we have at hand.
Since
2014, Donbass has been fighting for the right to live in their
land and to speak their native tongue. It fought and never gave up amid
the blockade, constant shelling and the Kiev regime’s overt hatred. It
hoped and waited that Russia would come to help.
In the meantime, as you know well, we were doing everything in our power
to solve this problem by peaceful means, and patiently conducted talks on a peaceful solution to this devastating conflict.
This appalling method of deception has been tried and tested many times
before. They behaved just as shamelessly and duplicitously when destroying
Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. They will never be able to wash off this
shame. The concepts of honour, trust, and decency are not for them.
Over the long centuries of colonialism, diktat and hegemony, they got
used to being allowed everything, got used to spitting on the whole world. It
turned out that they treat people living in their own countries with the same
disdain, like a master. After all, they cynically deceived them too, tricked
them with tall stories about the search for peace, about adherence to the UN
Security Council resolutions on Donbass. Indeed, the Western elites have become
a symbol of total, unprincipled lies.
We firmly defend our interests as well as our belief that in today’s
world there should be no division into so-called civilised countries and all
the rest and that there is a need for an honest partnership that rejects any
exclusivity, especially an aggressive one.
We
were open and sincerely ready for a constructive dialogue with
the West; we said and insisted that both Europe and the whole world
needed an indivisible security system equal for all countries,
and for many years we
suggested that our partners discuss this idea together and work on its
implementation. But in response, we received either an indistinct
or hypocritical
reaction, as far as words were concerned. But there were also actions:
NATO’s expansion
to our borders, the creation of new deployment areas for missile defence
in Europe and Asia – they decided to take cover from us under
an ‘umbrella’ –
deployment of military contingents, and not just near Russia’s borders.
I would
like to stress –in fact, this is well-known – that no other country
has so many military bases abroad as the United States. There are
hundreds of them – I want to emphasise this – hundreds of bases all over
the world; the planet is covered with them, and one look at the map is
enough to see this.
The whole
world witnessed how they withdrew from fundamental agreements
on weapons, including the treaty on intermediate and shorter-range
missiles,
unilaterally tearing up the fundamental agreements that maintain world
peace.
For some reason, they did it. They do not do anything without a reason,
as we
know.
Finally,
in December 2021, we officially submitted draft agreements on security
guarantees to the USA and NATO. In essence, all key, fundamental points
were rejected.
After that it finally became clear that the go-ahead
for the implementation of aggressive plans had been given and they were
not going to stop.
The threat was growing by the day.
Judging by the information we received, there was no doubt that everything
would be in place by February 2022 for launching yet another bloody punitive
operation in Donbass. Let me remind you that back in 2014, the Kiev regime sent
its artillery, tanks and warplanes to fight in Donbass.
We
all remember the aerial footage
of airstrikes targeting Donetsk. Other cities also suffered from
airstrikes. In 2015, they tried to mount a frontal assault against
Donbass again, while
keeping the blockade in place and continuing to shell and terrorise
civilians.
Let me remind you that all of this was completely at odds with
the documents
and resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, but everyone
pretended that
nothing was happening.
Let me reiterate that they were the ones who started this war, while we used force and are using it to stop the war.
Those who plotted a new attack
against Donetsk in the Donbass region, and against Lugansk understood that
Crimea and Sevastopol would be the next target. We realised this as well. Even
today, Kiev is openly discussing far-reaching plans of this kind. They exposed
themselves by making public what we knew already.
We
are defending human lives and our
common home, while the West seeks unlimited power. It has already spent
over $150
billion on helping and arming the Kiev regime. To give you an idea,
according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development,
the G7 countries earmarked
about $60 billion in 2020–2021 to help the world’s poorest countries. Is
this clear?
They spent $150 billion on the war, while giving $60 billion
to the poorest
countries, despite pretending to care about them all the time, and also
conditioning this support on obedience on behalf of the beneficiary
countries.
What about all this talk of fighting poverty, sustainable development
and protection
of the environment? Where did it all go? Has it all vanished? Meanwhile,
they keep
channelling more money into the war effort. They eagerly invest
in sowing unrest
and encouraging government coups in other countries around the world.
The recent Munich Conference turned into an endless
stream of accusations against Russia. One gets the impression that this
was done
so that everyone would forget what the so-called West has been doing
over the past decades. They were the ones who let the genie out
of the bottle, plunging entire
regions into chaos.
According to US experts, almost
900,000 people were killed during wars unleashed by the United States after
2001, and over 38 million became refugees. Please note, we did not invent these
statistics; it is the Americans who are providing them. They are now simply
trying to erase all this from the memory of humankind, and they are pretending
that all this never happened. However, no one in the world has forgotten this
or will ever forget it.
None
of them cares about human casualties
and tragedies because many trillions of dollars are at stake, of course.
They
can also continue to rob everyone under the guise of democracy
and freedoms, to impose neoliberal and essentially totalitarian values,
to brand entire countries
and nations, to publicly insult their leaders, to suppress dissent
in their own
countries and to divert attention from corruption scandals by creating
an enemy
image. We continue to see all this on television, which highlights
greater
domestic economic, social and inter-ethnic problems, contradictions
and disagreements.
I would like to recall that, in the 1930s, the West had virtually paved the way to power for the Nazis in Germany.
In our time, they started turning Ukraine into an “anti-Russia.”
Actually, this project is not new.
People who are knowledgeable about history at least to some extent realise that
this project dates back to the 19th century. The Austro-Hungarian
Empire and Poland had conceived it for one purpose, that is, to deprive Russia
of these historical territories that are now called Ukraine. This is their
goal. There is nothing new here; they are repeating everything.
The West
expedited the implementation of this project today by supporting
the 2014 coup. That was a bloody,
anti-state and unconstitutional coup. They pretended that nothing
happened, and that this is how things should be. They even said how much
money they had spent
on it. Russophobia and extremely aggressive nationalism formed its
ideological
foundation.
Quite
recently, a brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was named Edelweiss
after a Nazi division whose
personnel were involved in deporting Jews, executing prisoners of war
and conducting punitive operations against partisans in Yugoslavia,
Italy, Czechoslovakia
and Greece. We are ashamed to talk about this, but they are not.
Personnel
serving with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian National
Guard are
particularly fond of chevrons formerly worn by soldiers from Das Reich,
Totenkopf
(Death’s Head) and Galichina divisions and other SS units. Their hands
are also
stained with blood. Ukrainian armoured vehicles feature insignia
of the Nazi
German Wehrmacht.
Neo-Nazis
are open about whose heirs
they consider themselves to be. Surprisingly, none of the powers that be
in the West are seeing it. Why? Because they – pardon my language –
could not care
less about it. They do not care who they are betting on in their fight
against
us, against Russia. In fact, anyone will do as long as they fight
against us
and our country. Indeed, we saw terrorists and neo-Nazis in their ranks.
They
would let all kinds of ghouls join their ranks, for God’s sake, as long
as they
act on their will as a weapon against Russia.
In fact,
the anti-Russia project is
part of the revanchist policy towards our country to create flashpoints
of instability and conflicts next to our borders. Back then,
in the 1930s, and now
the design remains the same and it is to direct aggression to the East,
to spark
a war in Europe, and to eliminate competitors by using a proxy force.
We
are not at war with the people of Ukraine. I have made that clear many
times. The people of Ukraine have become
hostages of the Kiev regime and its Western handlers, who have in fact
occupied
that country in the political, military and economic sense and have been
destroying
Ukrainian industry for decades now as they plundered its natural
resources. This
led to social degradation and an immeasurable increase in poverty
and inequality. Recruiting resources for military operations in these
circumstances
was easy. Nobody was thinking about people, who were conditioned
for slaughter
and eventually became expendables. It is a sad and dreadful thing
to say, but
it is a fact.
Responsibility for inciting and escalating the Ukraine conflict as well as the sheer number of casualties lies
entirely with the Western elites and, of course, today’s Kiev regime, for which
the Ukrainian people are, in fact, not its own people. The current Ukrainian
regime is serving not national interests, but the interests of third countries.
The West is using Ukraine as a battering ram
against Russia and as a testing range. I am not going to discuss
in detail the West's attempts to turn the war around, or their plans
to ramp up military
supplies, since everyone is well aware of that. However, there is one
circumstance that everyone should be clear about: the longer the range
of the Western
systems that will be supplied to Ukraine, the further we will have
to move the threat away from our borders. This is obvious.
The Western elite make no secret of their goal, which is, I quote, “Russia’s strategic defeat.” What does this mean
to us? This means they plan to finish us once and for all. In other words, they
plan to grow a local conflict into a global confrontation. This is how we understand
it and we will respond accordingly, because this represents an existential
threat to our country.
However, they too realise it is
impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield and are conducting increasingly
aggressive information attacks against us targeting primarily the younger generation.
They never stop lying and distorting historical facts as they attack our
culture, the Russian Orthodox Church and other traditional religious organizations
in our country.
Look
what they are doing to their
own people. It is all about the destruction of the family, of cultural
and national identity, perversion and abuse of children, including
pedophilia, all
of which are declared normal in their life. They are forcing the priests
to bless
same-sex marriages. Bless their hearts, let them do as they please. Here
is
what I would like to say in this regard. Adult people can do as they
please. We
in Russia have always seen it that way and always will: no one is going
to intrude
into other people’s private lives, and we are not going to do it,
either.
But
here is what I would like to tell them: look at the holy scripture
and the main books of other world
religions. They say it all, including that family is the union of a man
and a woman, but these sacred texts are now being questioned.
Reportedly, the Anglican Church is planning, just planning, to explore
the idea of a gender-neutral god. What is there to say? Father, forgive
them, for they know not
what they do.
Millions
of people in the West realise
that they are being led to a spiritual disaster. Frankly, the elite
appear to have gone crazy, and it looks like there is no cure for that.
But like I said, these
are their problems, while we must protect our children, which we will
do. We
will protect our children from degradation and degeneration.
Clearly, the West will try to undermine and divide our
society and to bet on the fifth columnists who, throughout history, and I want
to emphasise this, have been using the same poison of contempt for their own
Fatherland and the desire to make money by selling this poison to anyone who is
willing to pay for it. It has always been that way.
Those
who have
embarked on the road of outright betrayal, committing terrorist
and other crimes
against the security of our society and the country’s territorial
integrity, will
be held accountable for this under law. But we will never behave like
the Kiev
regime and the Western elite, which have been and still are involved
in witch
hunts. We will not settle scores with those who take a step aside
and turn
their back on their Motherland. Let this be on their conscience, let
them live
with this – they will have to live with it. The main point is that our
people, the citizens of Russia, have given them a moral assessment.
I am
proud,
and I think we are all proud that our multi-ethnic nation, the absolute
majority of our citizens, have taken a principled stance on the special
military operation. They understand the basic idea of what we are doing
and support
our actions on the defence of Donbass. This support primarily revealed
their true
patriotism – a feeling that is historically inherent in our nation. It
is stunning
in its dignity and deep understnding by everyone – I will stress,
everyone – of the inseparable link between one’s own destiny
and the destiny of the Fatherland.
My dear friends,
I would like to thank everyone, all the people of Russia for their courage and resolve.
I would like to thank our heroes, soldiers and officers in the Army and the Navy,
the Russian Guards, the secret services staff, and all structures of authority,
the fighters in Donetsk and Lugansk corps, volunteers and patriots who are now
fighting in the ranks of the BARS combat army reserve.
I would like
to apologise that I will not be able to mention everyone during today’s speech.
You know, when I was drafting this speech, I wrote a very long list of these
heroic units but then removed it from my text because, as I said, it is
impossible to mention everyone, and I was afraid to offend anyone I might leave
out.
My deepest gratitude
to the parents, wives and families of our defenders, the doctors and paramedics,
combat medics and medical nurses that are saving the wounded; to the railway workers
and drivers that are supplying the front; to the builders that are erecting fortifications
and restoring housing, roads and civilian facilities; to the workers and engineers
at defence companies, who are now working almost around-the-clock, in several shifts;
and to rural workers who reliably ensure food security for the country.
I am grateful to the teachers who sincerely care for the young
generations of Russia, especially those that are working in very
difficult,
almost front-line conditions; the cultural figures that are visiting
the zone of hostilities and hospitals to support the soldiers
and officers; volunteers that
are helping the front and civilians; journalists, primarily war
correspondents,
that are risking their lives to tell the truth to the world; pastors
of Russia’s
traditional religions and military clergy, whose wise words support
and inspire
people; government officials and business people – all those who fulfill
their
professional, civil and simply human duty.
My special
words go to the residents
of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and the Zaporozhye
and Kherson
regions. You, my friends, determined your future at the referendums
and made a clear choice despite the neo-Nazis’ threats and violence,
amid the close
military actions. But there has been nothing stronger than your intent
to be
with Russia, with your Motherland.
(Applause)
I want to emphasise that this is the reaction of the audience to the residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s
republics, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Once again, our deepest respect
for them all.
We
have already begun and will expand
a major socioeconomic recovery and development programme for these new
regions
within the Federation. It includes restoring production facilities,
jobs, and the ports on the Sea of Azov, which again became Russia’s
landlocked sea, and building
new, modern road,s like we did in Crimea, which now has a reliable land
transport corridor with all of Russia. We will definitely implement all
of these plans together.
Russia’s
regions are currently
providing direct assistance to the cities, districts and villages
in the Donetsk
and Lugansk people’s republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
They are
doing it sincerely, like true brothers and sisters. We are together
again,
which means that we have become even stronger, and we will do everything
in our
power to bring back the long-awaited peace to our land and ensure
the safety of our people. Our soldiers, our heroes are fighting
for this, for their
ancestors, for the future of their children and grandchildren,
for uniting our
people.
Friends,
I would like to ask you to pay
your respects to our fellow soldiers who were killed in the attacks
of neo-Nazis and raiders, who gave up their lives for Russia,
for civilians, the elderly, women and children.
(A minute of silence)
Thank you.
We
all understand, and I understand
also how unbearably hard it is for their wives, sons and daughters,
for their
parents who raised those dignified defenders of the Fatherland – like
the Young
Guard members from Krasnodon, young men and women who fought against
Nazism and for Donbass during the Great Patriotic War. Everyone
in Russia remembers their
courage, resilience, enormous strength of spirit and self-sacrifice
to this
day.
Our duty is to support the families that have lost
their loved ones and to help them raise their children and give them an education
and a job. The family of each participant in the special military operation must
be a priority and treated with care and respect. Their needs must be responded
to immediately, without bureaucratic delays.
I suggest
establishing a dedicated
state fund for bringing targeted, personalised assistance
to the families of fallen
fighters, as well as veterans of the special military operation. This
entity
will be tasked with coordinating efforts to offer social, medical
support and counselling, and also address matters related to sending
them to health resorts
and providing rehabilitation services, while also assisting them
in education,
sports, employment and in acquiring a new profession. This fund will
also have
an essential mission to ensure long-term home care and high-technology
prosthetics for those who need that.
I am
asking the Government to work
with the State Council Commission on Social Policy and with the regions
to resolve the organisational matters as quickly as possible.
The state fund must be transparent in its work, while streamlining assistance and operating as a one-stop-shop, free
from red tape or administrative barriers. Every family without exception, and every
veteran will have their personal social worker, a coordinator, who will be there
for them in person to resolve in real time any issue they might face. Let me
emphasise that the fund must open its offices in all regions of the Russian
Federation in 2023.
We
already have measures in place
for supporting Great Patriotic War veterans, combat veterans, as well
as participants in local conflicts. I believe these essential elements
will be
added to the state fund’s mission moving forward. We need to explore
this
possibility, and I am asking the Government to do so.
Make
no mistake: the fact that we
are establishing a state fund does not mean that other institutions
or officials at other levels of government will be relieved of their
responsibility.
I expect all federal agencies, regions and municipalities to stay
focused on veterans, on service personnel and their families. In this
context, I would
like to thank the senior regional officials, mayors, and governors who
routinely
meet with people, including by visiting the line of contact, and support
their fellow
countrymen.
On a special
note, let me say that
today, career service personnel, mobilised conscripts, and volunteers
all share
frontline hardships, including in terms of provisions, supplies
and equipment,
remuneration, and insurance payments to the wounded, as well
as healthcare
services. However, there are complaints that make it all the way
to my office,
as well as to the governors, as they have been telling me,
and to the military
prosecutor’s office and the Human Rights Commissioner, showing that some
of these issues have yet to be resolved. We need to get to the bottom
of each complaint
on a case-by-case basis.
And one more thing: everyone understands that
serving in the special military operation zone causes immense physical
and mental
stress, since people risk their lives and health every day. For this
reason, I believe that the mobilised conscripts, as well as all service
personnel, and all those taking part in the special military operation,
including volunteers, must
benefit from a leave of absence of at least 14 days every six months
without counting
the time it takes them to travel to their destination. This way, every
fighter
will be able to meet family and spend time with their loved ones.
Colleagues,
as you are aware, a 2021–2025 plan for building and developing
the Armed Forces was approved by a Presidential
Executive Order and is being implemented and adjusted as necessary.
Importantly,
our next steps to reinforce the Army and the Navy and to secure
the current and future development of the Armed Forces must be based
on actual combat experience
gained during the special military operation, which is extremely
important, I would
even say absolutely invaluable to us.
For example,
the latest systems account
for over 91 percent, 91.3 percent, of Russia's nuclear deterrence
forces. To reiterate, based on our newly acquired experience, we must
access a similarly
high quality level for all other components of the Armed Forces.
Officers
and sergeants who act as competent, modern and decisive commanders,
and they are many, will be promoted
to higher positions as a matter of priority, sent to military
universities and academies, and will serve as a powerful personnel
reserve for the Armed Forces.
Without a doubt, they are a valuable resource in civilian life
and at governments
at all levels. I just want our colleagues to pay attention to that. It
is very
important. The people must know that the Motherland appreciates their
contribution to the defence of the Fatherland.
We
will widely introduce the latest
technology to ensure high-quality standards in the Army and Navy. We
have corresponding
pilot projects and samples of weapons and equipment in each area. Many
of them
are significantly superior to their foreign counterparts. Our goal is
to start
mass production. This work is underway and is picking up pace.
Importantly, this
relies on domestic research and the industrial base and involves small-
and medium-sized high-tech businesses in implementation of the state
defence order.
Today, our plants, design bureaus
and research teams employ experienced specialists and increasing numbers of talented
and highly skilled young people who are oriented towards breakthrough
achievements while remaining true to the tradition of Russian gunsmiths, which
is to spare no effort to ensure victory.
We will certainly strengthen the guarantees
for our workforce, in part concerning salaries and social security. I propose
launching a special programme for low-cost rental housing for defence industry employees.
The rental payments for them will be significantly lower than the going market
rate, since a significant portion of it will be covered by the state.
The Government reviewed this issue. I instruct you
to work through the details of this programme and start building such rental housing
without delay, primarily, in the cities that are major defence, industrial and research centres.
Colleagues,
As I have
already said, the West has
opened not only military and informational warfare against us, but is
also seeking
to fight us on the economic front. However, they have not succeeded
on any of these fronts, and never will. Moreover, those who initiated
the sanctions are
punishing themselves: they sent prices soaring in their own countries,
destroyed jobs, forced companies to close, and caused an energy crisis,
while
telling their people that the Russians were to blame for all of this. We
hear
that.
What means did they use against us in their efforts to attack us with sanctions? They tried disrupting economic ties with
Russian companies and depriving the financial system of its communication
channels to shutter our economy, isolate us from export markets and thus
undermine our revenues. They also stole our foreign exchange reserves, to call
a spade a spade, tried to depreciate the ruble and drive inflation to destructive
heights.
Let
me reiterate that the sanctions
against Russia are merely a means, while the aim as declared
by the Western
leaders, to quote them, is to make us suffer. “Make them suffer” – what
a humane attitude. They want to make our people suffer, which is
designed to destabilise
our society from within.
However,
their gamble failed to pay
off. The Russian economy, as well as its governance model proved to be
much
more resilient than the West thought. The Government, parliament,
the Bank of Russia, the regions and of course the business community
and their employees
all worked together to ensure that the economic situation remained
stable, offered
people protection and preserved jobs, prevented shortages, including
of essential
goods, and supported the financial system and business owners who invest
in their enterprises, which also means investing in national
development.
As early as in March 2022, we
launched a dedicated assistance package for businesses and the economy worth
about a trillion rubles. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that
this has nothing to do with printing money. Not at all. Everything we do is solidly
rooted in market principles.
In 2022, there was a decline in the gross domestic product. Mr Mishustin called me to say, “I would like to ask you
to mention this.” I think that these data were released yesterday, right on schedule.
You may remember that some predicted that the economy would shrink
by 20 to 25 percent, or maybe 10 percent. Only recently,
we spoke about a 2.9 percent decline, and I was the one who announced
this
figure. Later it came down to 2.5 percent. However, in 2022, the GDP
declined
by 2.1 percent, according to the latest data. And we must be mindful
of the fact that back in February and March of last year some predicted
that the economy
would be in free fall.
Russian businesses have restructured
their logistics and have strengthened their ties with responsible, predictable
partners – there are many of them, they are the majority in the world.
I would
like to note that the share of the Russian ruble in our international
settlements has doubled as compared to December 2021, reaching one third
of the total, and including the currencies of the friendly countries,
it exceeds half of all transactions.
We
will continue working with our partners
to create a sustainable, safe system of international settlements, which
will
be independent of the dollar and other Western reserve currencies that
are
bound to lose their universal appeal with this policy of the Western
elite, the Western rulers. They are doing all this to themselves with
their own hands.
We are not the ones reducing transactions
in dollars or other so-called universal currencies – they are doing everything with
their own hands.
You
know, there is a maxim, cannons
versus butter. Of course, national defence is the top priority, but
in resolving strategic tasks in this area, we should not repeat
the mistakes of the past and should not destroy our own economy. We have
everything we need to both ensure our security and create conditions
for confident progress in our
country. We are acting in line with this logic and we intend to continue
doing
this.
Thus, many basic, I will stress, civilian
industries in the national economy are far from being in decline, they have increased
their production last year by a considerable amount. The scale of housing put
into service exceeded 100 million square meters for the first time in our
modern history.
As for agricultural
production, it
recorded two-digit growth rates last year. Thank you very much. We are
most grateful
to our agricultural producers. Russian agrarians harvested a record
amount – over
150 million tonnes of grain, including over 100 million tonnes of wheat.
By the end of the agricultural season, that is, June 30, 2023, we will
bring our grain
exports to 55–60 million tonnes.
Just 10 or 15 years ago, this seemed like a fairy tale, an absolutely
unfeasible plan. If you remember, and I am sure some people do remember this –
the former Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture are here – just
recently, agrarians took in 60 million tonnes overall in a year, whereas now
55–60 million is their export potential alone. I am convinced we have every
opportunity for a similar breakthrough in other areas as well.
We prevented the labour market from
collapsing. On the contrary, we were able to reduce unemployment in the current
environment. Today, considering the major challenges coming at us from all
sides, the labour market is even better than it used to be. You may remember
that the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent before the pandemic, and now, I believe,
it is 3.7 percent. What is the figure, Mr Mishustin? 3.7 percent? This is an all-time
low.
Let
me reiterate that the Russian
economy has prevailed over the risks it faced – it has prevailed.
Of course, it
was impossible to anticipate many of them, and we had to respond
literally on the fly, dealing with issues as they emerged. Both
the state and businesses had
to move quickly. I will note that private actors, SMEs, played
an essential role
in these efforts, and we must remember this. We avoided having to apply
excessive regulation or distorting the economy by giving the state
a more
prominent role.
What
else there is to say? The recession
was limited to the second quarter of 2022, while the economy grew
in the third
and fourth quarters. In fact, the Russian economy has embarked on a new
growth
cycle. Experts believe that it will rely on a fundamentally new model
and structure. New, promising global markets, including
the Asia-Pacific, are taking
precedence, as is the domestic market, with its research, technology
and workforce no longer geared toward exporting commodities but
manufacturing goods
with high added value. This will help Russia unleash its immense
potential in all spheres and sectors.
We expect to see a solid increase in domestic demand as early as this year. I am convinced that companies will use
this opportunity to expand their manufacturing, make new products that are in high
demand, and to take over the market niches vacated or about to be vacated by Western
companies as they withdraw.
Today, we clearly see what is going
on and understand the structural issues we have to address in logistics,
technology, finance, and human resources. Over the past years, we have been
talking a lot and at length about the need to restructure our economy. Now
these changes are a vital necessity, a game changer, and all for the better. We
know what needs to be done to enable Russia to make steady progress and to develop
independently regardless of any outside pressure or threats, while guaranteeing
our national security and interests.
I would
like to point out and to emphasise that the essence of our task is not
to adapt to circumstances. Our
strategic task is to take the economy to a new horizon. Everything is
changing
now, and changing extremely fast. This is not only a time of challenges
but also
a time of opportunities. This is really so today. And our future depends
on the way we realise these opportunities. We must put an end –
and I want to emphase
this – to all interagency conflicts, red tape, grievances, doublespeak,
or any
other nonsense. Everything we do must contribute to achieving our goals
and delivering results. This is what we must strive to achieve.
Enabling Russian companies and small family-run
businesses to successfully tap the market is a victory in itself. Building
cutting-edge factories and kilometres of new roads is a victory. Every new
school, every new kindergarten we build is a victory. Scientific discoveries
and new technologies – these are also victories, of course. What matters is
that all of us contribute to our shared success.
What areas should we focus the partnership of the state, the regions and domestic business on?
First,
we will expand promising foreign economic ties and build new
logistics corridors. A decision has already been made to extend
the Moscow-Kazan expressway to Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Tyumen,
and eventually
to Irkutsk and Vladivostok with branches to Kazakhstan, Mongolia
and China.
This will, in part, allows us to considerably expand our ties with
Southeast
Asian markets.
We
will develop Black Sea and Sea of Azov ports. We will pay special
attention to the North-South international corridor, as those who work
on this
every day know. Vessels with a draft of up to 4.5 meters will be able
to pass
through the Volga-Caspian Sea Canal this year. This will open up new
routes for business cooperation with India, Iran, Pakistan,
and the Middle Eastern
countries. We will continue developing this corridor.
Our
plans include expedited modernisation of the eastern railways –
the Trans-Siberian
Railway and the Baikal-Amur Railway (BAM) – and building up
the potential of the Northern Sea Route. This will create not only
additional freight traffic but
also a foundation for reaching our national goals on developing Siberia,
the Arctic
and the Far East.
The infrastructure
of the regions and the development of infrastructure,
including communications, telecommunications and railways will receive
a powerful impetus. Next year, 2024, we will bring to a proper condition
at least
85 percent of all roads in the country’s largest metropolises, as well
as over
half of all regional and municipal roads. I am sure we will achieve
this.
We
will also continue our free gas distribution programme. We have
already made the decision to extend it to social facilities –
kindergartens and schools, outpatient clinics and hospitals, as well
as primary healthcare
centres. This programme will now be permanent for our citizens – they
can always
request a connection to the gas distribution system.
This year, we will launch a large programme to build and repair housing
and utility systems. Over the next ten years, we plan to invest at least 4.5
trillion rubles in this. We know how important this is for our people and how
neglected this area has been. It is necessary to improve this situation, and we
will do it. It is important to give the programme a powerful start. So, I would
like to ask the Government to ensure stable funding for this.
