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Old December 18th, 2021 #41
Alex Him
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Condolences on the passing of film director Sergei Solovyov



Vladimir Putin expressed his deep condolences to the family and friends of film director Sergei Solovyov.



December 13, 2021 - 21:00







The message reads, in part:

“Sergei Solovyov was an outstanding film director and an extremely talented person with an immense feeling of creative freedom. His deep and highly distinctive films have enriched the national film industry and have become inimitable symbols of our times.

Memory of that brilliant and extraordinary person and a real Master will be forever cherished by his family, friends, colleagues, pupils and everyone who admired his bountiful talent.”

Soviet/Russian film director Sergei Solovyov, winner of the USSR State Prize and the Lenin Komsomol Prize, holder of the Order for Services to the Fatherland, IV degree, and People’s Artist of the Russian Federation made over 20 films.

Sergei Solovyov died on December 13 in Moscow at the age of 77.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67358






Telephone conversation with President of Finland Sauli Niinistö



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of Finland Sauli Niinistö.



December 14, 2021 - 16:05



The main attention was paid to the issues related to the Ukrainian domestic crisis. President of Russia Vladimir Putin told Sauli Niinistö about the results of his talks with US President Joseph Biden via videoconference on December 7, 2021, and made principled assessments of the developments regarding Ukraine. He emphasised the importance of the complete and unconditional fulfilment by Kiev of the Minsk Package of Measures.

The President of Russia noted, in part, that in violation of the Minsk agreements, the Ukrainian authorities are more and more obviously placing their bets on the use of force. Thus, they are using heavy weapons and attack drones in Donbass.

In this context, Vladimir Putin again stressed the importance of immediately starting talks with the United States and NATO. The goal of the talks would be to draft international legal security guarantees for Russia, ruling out NATO’s further movement eastward and the deployment of weapons systems threatening Russia in Ukraine and other adjacent states.

Vladimir Putin emphasised that this fully conformed to the principle of indivisible security sealed in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the 1999 Istanbul Charter. In this context, Vladimir Putin supported President Niinistö’s initiative to convene a summit in 2025 in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

A number of current bilateral issues were discussed. The leaders reaffirmed their striving to continue developing mutually beneficial cooperation, including trade and the economy. In addition, emphasis was laid on further cooperation in regional affairs, including in the north and the Arctic.

The leaders exchanged greetings in connection with the approaching New Year and Christmas holidays.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67359






Greetings on the opening of the Volunteers of Victory International Forum



Vladimir Putin sent greetings to the participants and guests of the Volunteers of Victory International Forum, which has opened in Samara.



December 14, 2021 - 16:30



The message reads, in part:

“Over the past years, the Volunteers of Victory movement has won broad international recognition and has brought together energetic and committed people in Russia and beyond in support of its noble goals. Thanks to your selfless and much needed work, your practical efforts and initiatives, this project is developing and strengthening its creative potential.

It is important that you are prioritising serious and responsible tasks and proceeding towards your goals regardless of any difficulties. Your proactive civic stance and approach to life and your sincere striving to be of use to our homeland is worthy of respect and is of great significance for the patriotic education of the younger generation.

I am confident that your forum will give a powerful momentum to the volunteer movement and will promote the successful implementation of ambitious and much needed ideas and plans.”




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67356






Telephone conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron. The conversation was initiated by the French side.



December 14, 2021 - 16:40



Following an exchange of views about efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus infection that are being undertaken in both countries, the presidents focused on current international affairs.

With regard to the question on the situation on the Belarus-EU border raised by Emmanuel Macron, the President spoke in favour of discussing these problems during direct contacts between EU representatives and Minsk. The fact that Poland and the Baltic States are violating their international obligations to protect the rights of refugees and that the migration crisis needs to be overcome in accordance with humanitarian law was noted. Hope was expressed that the migrant-related problem on the border would be removed from the agenda soon.

The sides presented their principled assessments of the current situation in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin provided specific examples of violations by Kiev of the Minsk agreements, which is the only viable path towards overcoming the internal Ukraine crisis. It was also noted that the Ukrainian authorities are purposefully aggravating the situation on the line of contact, and are doing so with the complicity of a number of Western countries. In addition, modern weapons are being pumped into Ukraine, which poses direct threat to Russia's security.

The President emphasised the importance of immediately launching international talks to develop legally stated guarantees to forestall NATO’s further eastward expansion and the deployment of weapons that threaten Russia in neighbouring states, primarily, Ukraine. This issue also came up during a recent videoconference with US President Joseph Biden.

The President called on his French partners to be receptive to these concerns and to take part in discussing them.

The state of affairs in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement was reviewed in depth as well. Vladimir Putin briefed his counterpart on the trilateral meeting of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in Sochi on November 26, which was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the signing of the Statement on Nagorno-Karabakh on November 9, 2020. He updated his counterpart on the measures being taken locally to comply with the ceasefire, to have refugees return home, and to restore trade and economic links and transport service.

Hope was expressed that the meeting of the heads of the EU bodies with Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan scheduled for December 15 would also be useful.

The expediency of stepping up the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group with co-chairs (Russia, the United States, and France) was supported.

The parties agreed to continue to maintain close personal contact.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67362






Meeting with Government members



Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting with members of the Government via videoconference.



December 14, 2021 - 17:40 - Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region







Taking part in the meeting were Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino and his First Deputy Sergei Kiriyenko, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Deputy Prime Ministers Viktoria Abramchenko, Yury Borisov, Tatyana Golikova, Alexander Novak, Alexei Overchuk, Marat Khusnullin and Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister – Chief of the Government Staff Dmitry Grigorenko, Deputy Prime Minister – Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev, Presidential Aide Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov. First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak, a number of ministers and federal agency heads, and President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin were also invited to attend.

A number of current issues were discussed during the meeting.

In particular, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova provided an update on the coronavirus and the plan for combatting the new omicron strain.

First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak and Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev reviewed the discussion of the draft law on introducing QR codes for transport.

Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev discussed the new capabilities of the website Gossuslugi.Avto, while Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova spoke about the development of municipal museums of regional history.

Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko made the main report on implementing measures to reduce air pollution. President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Alexander Shokhin and Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov offered comments on this issue.







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, colleagues,

Let’s get down to work. Today, Viktoria Abramchenko will give the main report on reducing air pollution and decreasing emissions. We will discuss this separately, in more detail.

Now I would like to talk about a number of current issues. The first question is, of course, to Tatyana Golikova on the spread of omicron, a new coronavirus strain.

Ms Golikova, what is happening with this in the country?



Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova:

Good afternoon, Mr President, colleagues.

Mr President, with your permission I would like to give a very brief account of the current epidemiological situation, including the spread of the omicron strain, as you said.

Following the 49th week – this past week – a 7.3 percent reduction in the disease rate has been recorded in Russia. However, the rate is still up in five regions: the Sakhalin Region, the Republic of Adygea, the Nenets Autonomous Area, the Kamchatka Territory and the Republic of Altai.

An absence of any meaningful dynamic (decrease or increase) in the incidence rate has been recorded in 24 regions. The rate was down in 56 regions. However, this reduction is not sustainable: in retrospect, during the past four weeks we have seen either a reduction or an increase after each week. Last week, the number of regions where the disease rate was up, increased, whereas this week it is going down again.

This is due to the fact that the number of daily cases is still quite high at about 30,000, and the omicron variant has already spread to 74 countries, as you mentioned. We see this from genomic sequencing data.

As you are aware, Russia was impacted as well. We imported omicron with Russians returning from the Republic of South Africa and other countries. We took timely measures to stop it from spreading and isolated these people, with 177 of them now staying at observation facilities in the Moscow Region; 16 of them were found to have the omicron variant, which is almost 10 percent and indicates the fairly high contagiousness of this variant meaning that we need to extend restrictions with the New Year holiday approaching.

Despite transport restrictions, cross-border travel was quite extensive, and our people will go on vacations soon to take advantage of the New Year holidays. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that this variant will continue to spread.

According to international analysts, each person with the omicron variant in South Africa can infect 3 to 3.5 people. With the delta variant this figure was 0.8.

So, we teamed up with researchers in order to continue to study the omicron variant. Of course, we will adjust our response measures depending on developments.

(Then, Ms Golikova spoke in detail about the situation in healthcare, and the measures that have been taken and will be taken soon. The additional measures to respond to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection and the omicron variant include four blocks. The first block is the creation of barriers to slow the pace of COVID-19 spreading, including restrictions on the entry to Russia of foreign nationals from RSA and a number of other countries affected by omicron. It was also recommended that the regions strengthen oversight over compliance with restrictive measures and sanitary requirements in crowded places during the upcoming holidays. The second block includes timely prevention, including improving the efficiency of test systems for the diagnosing and early detection of the coronavirus. The third block includes deploying extra health workers and allocating funds for one-time insurance and dedicated social payments to medical workers who engage in fighting the coronavirus infection. And, finally, the mandatory health insurance system will receive full advance funding to ensure the uninterrupted provision of medical care in January.)

As for herd immunity, it now stands at 56.1 percent. About 75.8 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine and 69.4 million have had two jabs.

Mr President, we continue working on measures and adjusting them based on our monitoring of the situation. And we will continue to update you on this issue, and would like to ask you to support these measures. Thank you for your attention.



Vladimir Putin:

Good. Thank you very much.

Ms Golikova, this year we provided medical and social workers with special payments during the 2021 New Year holidays. Those who worked and continue working with COVID patients received double pay. I would like to ask the Government to do the same for the New Year holidays in 2022.



Tatyana Golikova:

All right, we will do this, Mr President.



Vladimir Putin:

Yes, because the situation now is probably not as alarming as it was in January this year, but it is still complicated and people are working under a heavy load.

Mr Siluanov, can we do this?



Finance Minister Anton Siluanov:

Yes.

Mr President, according to our estimates, this will cost us a bit more than 8 billion rubles. We will find these funds in the budget.



Vladimir Putin:

Thank you.

Now there is one more issue related to this. I am referring to a draft law on introducing QR codes for transport. I know that the Duma is reviewing this bill.

Mr Turchak.





First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak:

Mr President.

I would like to report to you that as soon as the Government submitted the relevant draft law on restrictions in transport, United Russia began a large-scale public discussion.

Indeed, this draft is sensitive and affects the interests of a large number of our people. Of course, before adopting such decisions, it is necessary to consult those for whom we are actually working.

Mr President, you have said absolutely correctly at a meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights that such rash decisions were absolutely unacceptable. United Russia used its regional resources to get feedback from the people. We have held 10 days of receptions, during which our governors, secretaries of our regional branches, senators and deputies at all levels met with people between December 1 and 10.

We have received hundreds of thousands of requests, hundreds of thousands of questions. People asked reasonable questions, for example, how they should act in extraordinary situations. Anything can happen: people fall ill or, God forbid, die, emergencies happen, and people need to rush across the country. What should they do in such situations? Even today, when people take the first jab of the vaccine, they do not immediately receive a vaccination certificate.

As a result of this work, the party has adopted a tough stand. It has been decided that our faction in the State Duma and the Committee on Transport should withdraw the draft law. Indeed, the draft law in its current form is not even ready for the first reading.

At the same time, we understand perfectly well that the issue of passengers’ safety and health is still on the agenda. Work will continue at the level of experts and, of course, the final decision will depend on the sanitary and epidemiologic situation.

Thank you.



(After that, Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev provided comments at the President’s request. He reported that the decision to upgrade the draft law on the use of electronic certificates in transport had been adopted jointly with the State Duma so as to find a more comfortable routine for passengers, who should be able to use Russia’s system of transportation in the current epidemiological situation. This decision has been taken to more closely examine at all the risks associated with the use of electronic certificates.)



Vladimir Putin:

Ms Golikova, how are these issues regulated in other countries?



Tatyana Golikova:

There are different methods, Mr President. Some countries use the so-called 2G regulations, allowing free movement only for vaccinated persons and those who have recovered from COVID-19 when cases are on the rise. Other countries also use the results of PCR tests. But the main thing is that these restrictions are usually temporary and are only used at a time when the number of cases increases significantly. When the rate goes down, these restrictions are generally loosened.



Vladimir Putin:

I see. But New Year celebrations are coming, and I believe that it would be rather difficult to impose such restrictions. We will create many problems for people.

Alright, I see what you mean. Thank you.


<…>


Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev:

Good afternoon, Mr President, colleagues,

To begin, I would like to tell you that tomorrow, on December 15, it will be 12 years since we launched the unified public services portal. During this time, we have traversed a long road from a website where we published administrative regulations to a full digital ecosystem of electronic public services.

Today, over 93 million Russian nationals have registered accounts on the portal. I would like to remind you that you can only register an account after receiving a passport. This is 75 percent of the population aged 14+. At the beginning of this year alone, the number of registered users on the portal has increased by 11 million people while the number of inquiries for services has doubled compared to the same period last year.

Mr President, today almost 10 million people visit the portal every day, which is a big figure. The portal is now one of the ten most popular websites among Russian internet users.

All this became possible owing to your instructions on the expedited digitalisation of public services and with support from Mr Mishustin, who keeps this issue under his personal control. He manually adjusts the work of any departments that might impede this process.

Since the start of this year, we have converted over 170 federal, regional and municipal pubic, socially important services to electronic form and introduced a number of separate e-services: the Pushkin Card, the census, e-voting, and anti-COVID services. I will not list them all, but in November alone, we rendered 60 million services through the portal, which is three times more than in November last year.

(Further the Minister described in detail e-services for car owners – on car registration, appointments for driving tests, and acquiring a driving license. This year alone, over 10 million people have used these services. This includes digital versions of legally important documents and the introduction of advanced digital formats for official paperwork like documents on traffic accidents.)





<…>


Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova:

Mr President, colleagues,

There are over 1,500 local history museums in our country, of which 1,200 are operated by municipalities. They are developed at an uneven pace despite the fact that they have high educational capacity and boast unique knowledge of their respective local areas.

Under your instructions, measures have been designated to support local history museums financially and by the professional community. A new document – a model standard for a municipal museum of local history – has been drafted as a result of efforts led by the Russian Ethnographic Museum.

The purpose is to codify the activities of the institutions and to even out their development levels, to make them attractive for visitors, especially young people, and effective in terms of holding exhibitions and conducting research. The standard will improve museum-to-museum cooperation and make it much easier. It will also increase their audiences and improve accessibility by creating an enabling environment.

I am sure that municipality tourist appeal will improve as well. The standards imply the availability of mandatory amenities at renovated museums, including specialised equipment, access to high-speed broadband internet, an accessible environment, internal navigation, a hospitality area, a conference space for get-togethers and educational events, audio guides, as well as attractive and informative museum websites.

Infrastructure plays a decisive role in modernising museums. Over 400 museums in 73 constituent entities of the Russian Federation will be renovated and another 100 institutions upgraded over the next three years.

Renovation of community cultural centres is another important area of focus. Over the past three years, we have built or upgraded 777 such centres, and there will be 950 of them by the end of the year. These new-format community cultural centres are outfitted with modern equipment and implements, as well as costumes for performances and shows. Opportunities are being created for people to engage in a wide variety of activities. For example, a children's film studio was set up at a community cultural centre in the Belgorod Region, and a social theatre project for children and adults with disabilities was launched in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.

Over the next three years, we will allocate 6 billion rubles to build and repair over 300 rural community cultural centres.

Mr President, municipal and local history museums and community cultural centres are being renovated with the funds that were made available upon your instructions through to 2024. However, these funds will also be used to create 600 model libraries, renovate five, repair 18 and equip 105 children's theatres, as well as to purchase 4 million books for regional libraries.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67361






Talks with President of China Xi Jinping



Vladimir Putin held talks, via videoconference, with President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.



December 15, 2021 - 11:20 - Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region






President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

President Xi, my dear friend,

I am delighted to see you. Greetings.

I am happy to have this opportunity to see you via videoconference. This allows us to hold in-depth discussions on the development of Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction. I regard these relations as a shining example of interstate cooperation in the 21st century.

We have maintained contact despite the sanitary and epidemiological restrictions, and in May [2021] we launched, via videoconference, the joint construction of four new power units for a nuclear power plant in China. In June, we held a videoconference on the 20th anniversary of the major Russia-China Treaty [on Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation]. We also had telephone conversations about urgent international issues, in particular, the Afghan problem.

This year Russia-China relations have been dominated by the 20th anniversary of the Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation. It has been extended for another five years. The consistent implementation of this fundamental document, which comprehensively reflects the deep historical traditions of friendship and mutual understanding between the Russian and Chinese people, has helped us to take our relations to an unprecedentedly high level.

A new model of cooperation has developed between our countries, a model based, in part, on the principles of non-interference in each other’s affairs and mutual resolve to turn our common border into a belt of eternal peace and good-neighbourliness.





We are strengthening our trade and economic ties: from January to November this year, our mutual trade has increased by 31 percent to US$123 billion. We have beaten the record of the pre-pandemic year, 2019. In the near term, as agreed, we will pass the US$200 billion mark. We are implementing a number of large-scale joint projects in energy, including nuclear generation, industry and high technology.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, we have firmly joined forces in responding to the coronavirus infection. China has become an international centre for the production of the Russian vaccines Sputnik V and Sputnik Light. Contracts for more than 150 million doses have been signed with six Chinese manufacturers.

The multifaceted dialogue mechanism between the two countries’ governments and relevant agencies is working smoothly, and parliamentary cooperation is strengthening. The foreign policy and defence departments maintain ongoing contact.

Russia and China’s close coordination in the world arena, and their responsible joint approach to current global problems have become a significant factor of stability in international relations. We are active on platforms such as the UN Security Council, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the BRICS. We are both contributing to the formation of a just world order based on international law.





President Xi Jinping, my friend,

I do hope that next February, we will finally be able to meet in person in Beijing. As we agreed, you and I will talk, and then we will participate in the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Thank you for the invitation to attend this important event.

I would like to note that we invariably support each other in every aspect of international sports cooperation, including in condemning any attempts to politicise sports and the Olympic movement. I have no doubt that the upcoming Winter Games will be held at the highest level. They know how to do things in China.

By the way, to follow up on this high-profile sporting event, we plan to announce that 2022 and 2023 will be the Russian and Chinese years of cooperation in physical education and sports.

In a word, given the grand scale of interaction between our countries, we have a wide range of important matters to discuss today.

And of course, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and all our Chinese friends a Happy New Year, wish you happiness, good health and all the very best.

Thank you.





President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping (retranslated):

President Putin, my old friend,

I am very happy that this is our second videoconference with you this year and our 37th meeting since 2013.

At various recent events, you have always expressed a high opinion of China-Russia relations, describing them as an example of interstate ties in the 21st century, firmly supporting China’s actions to protect its key national interests and resolutely opposing the attempts to drive a wedge between our countries. I appreciate this very much.

I am ready to review with you the results of our relations this year and to map out plans for strengthening our cooperation in various spheres in the interests of the sustainable and high-quality development of our bilateral relations.

The ongoing deep changes in international relations are closely interconnected with the spreading pandemic. The world has entered a period of turbulence and big changes. China-Russia relations have weathered many different trials, proved their viability and found a new lease of life. Standing at the helm of China-Russia relations, you and I have maintained close contacts on the main current issues.





Our countries have officially announced the extension of the Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation, adding new substance to it, in keeping with the spirit of the times. China and Russia are firmly supporting each other on matters concerning the other side’s vital interests and are protecting their national dignity and common interests.

Our bilateral cooperation has shown that it has major political advantages and possibilities. For the first time ever, our trade in the first nine months of the year exceeded US$100 billion. As you have pointed out, it reached US$123 billion in November.

The Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation was a success. We are implementing several large strategic projects. We are promoting the use of national currencies in mutual settlements, streamlining the structure of our investment cooperation, and boosting the aligned development [of the Silk Road Economic Belt] and the EAEU.

Our countries are acting as responsible powers should. They are advocating a unifying international agenda against the pandemic and upholding the true essence of democracy and human rights, which makes them a real stronghold of multilateralism and a defender of international justice and equality.





Next year we will hold the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China, which is a big event for our country. And Russia will enter the main phase of its development programme through to 2030. Our countries should exchange and share the opportunity to openly promote the implementation of the global development agenda, thereby setting an example of a new type of international relations and the community, of a common destiny for humanity.

I hope that you will visit China and will also attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. I look forward to our “Olympic” meeting.

I am ready to move forward together with you and to jointly open a new page in China-Russia relations in the post-pandemic period.

Thank you.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67364






Telephone conversation with Tatyana Trotsenko



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with 13-year-old Tatyana Trotsenko from the Stavropol Territory, who attended a performance of the ballet Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre.



December 15, 2021 - 13:30






On December 5, while attending the International Volunteer Forum, the President joined the New Year Tree of Wishes national campaign for the fourth time. Vladimir Putin fulfilled the dream of 13-year-old Tanya from the town of Izobilny, Stavropol Territory, who is currently undergoing treatment in St Petersburg.





The girl was taken on a guided tour of the Mariinsky Theatre, after which she watched a ballet, Swan Lake. She also talked to the cast.

In addition, the President suggested that the girl and her parents see the Swan Lake ice show in Moscow.





Vladimir Putin ended the conversation by wishing Tanya a happy New Year, good health and high spirits.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67365






Greetings on the opening of the 30th exhibition of Russian folk arts and crafts, LADYA. Winter Fairy-Tale 2021



Vladimir Putin sent a message of greetings to participants, organisers and guests of the 30th exhibition of folk arts and crafts of Russia, LADYA. Winter Fairy Tale 2021, that opened in Moscow.



December 15, 2021 - 15:00



The message reads, in part:

“Your wonderful project is performing an important and noble mission; it serves to maintain the centuries-old traditions of folk arts and crafts and familiarises craft lovers with unique items made by talented and skilled masters that our country has been known for over the centuries.

I am confident that the present display being held ahead of the New Year celebrations will be a grand, memorable event for Moscow residents and visitors to the city, allowing them to immerse themselves into a shining, fantasy world of original folk creativity, and of course, will help strengthen cultural ties between Russia’s regions and promote personal, human contact.”




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67369
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Last edited by Alex Him; December 20th, 2021 at 03:17 PM.
 
Old December 18th, 2021 #42
Alex Him
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Meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects



Vladimir Putin held a videoconference meeting of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and National Projects.



December 15, 2021 - 16:35 - Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Colleagues, good afternoon.

As is traditional, the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects is meeting at the end of the year to review this year’s performance and discuss the details of what has been done to achieve the national goals – as a reminder, those are the main benchmarks for the country's development through to 2030.

I would like to note that, despite the unfavourable epidemiological situation, Russia has never stopped working on its national projects. Moreover, some of the indicators show that the dynamics and intensity have been, if anything, growing. Consider that in 2019, the first year of implementing these projects, cash spending on them was lagging behind – not much, but nevertheless – lagging compared to the execution of the general federal budget, but now these indicators have levelled off.

For reference, as of December 1, 2019, 78 percent of the federal budget was implemented, and spending on national projects accounted for 70 percent of the plan. As of December 1, 2021, 80 percent of spending on both the federal budget and national projects was executed.

Of course, for all the importance of budgetary discipline, using the funds intensively and sticking to the plan is not the only thing that matters – this, as we understand it, is just a tool for attaining the goal, and naturally, it should be made good use of. What matters most – and I will stress this again – are the results that have been achieved, how specific they are, how tangible and visible to people, how they affect the development of Russian regions and all territories across the country.

I am pleased to note that some results have been achieved. There are shortcomings as well – we will talk about them too, but we have seen results. I would like to note that the annual plan for the repair of the road network in urban complexes has been carried out; such conurbations are home to about a half of Russia’s citizens.

Overall, the relocation of people from dilapidated housing is proceeding ahead of schedule. In 10 months of 2021, 120,000 people moved to new modern apartments – as many as over the whole course of the two previous years.

Allow me to remind you that we will launch a new relocation programme very soon, in January 2022, which will embrace buildings that were recognised as dilapidated as of January 1, 2021. The money to finance the programme over the next two years, 45 billion rubles, has been included in the federal budget.

As for preschool education, some 180,000 places have been created at nurseries over the past few years. The queue for places at nurseries throughout the country has been halved, and the problem has been resolved completely in 31 regions. Virtually every family with children under three years can send their kids to a nursery there, if they want to.

However, there are not enough nursery places in several regions, where 73,500 kids are waiting for a place. This is just for your information. It is clear that we will eventually resolve this problem in accordance with our plans.

Free hot meals are provided to over 7 million primary school pupils. This is part of our systemwide efforts to support families with children. At present, targeted state assistance is provided to Russian families with some 7 million children. As I mentioned, our task for the next few years is to create a comprehensive system of assistance for families with children from birth to school graduation.

It should be said that some 800,000 people in difficult circumstances receive support under a social contract. The fight against poverty is a clear priority. We regularly discuss this issue, which is directly connected to our response to the demographic challenge.

Everything is important for increasing people’s incomes, including targeted social support, assistance for families with children, new jobs, which is a key element, balanced development of the regions and economic sectors, as well as improving the affordability and quality of education at all levels, which I have already mentioned.

We will accelerate the construction of new schools. Over the past three years, 271 schools for 177,000 pupils have been built in 78 regions. I would like to remind you that we plan to build another 1,300 schools by the end of 2024. In addition to this, in the next five years we will implement an ambitious programme of capital repairs and technical upgrades at existing schools, which will cover 7,300 buildings.

As for the teaching staff, over 800,000 school teachers and 100,000 advisors at vocational and technical schools will receive additional payment for class supervision and guidance. The work of classroom teachers and advisors is extremely important for educating our young people, for their personal and professional development and hence for the future of Russia.

The healthcare infrastructure is being upgraded. Since 2018, 1,750 paramedic centres and outpatient clinics have been put into service. The regions have received over 1,000 mobile medical complexes. As a result, the amount of medical assistance in rural areas has doubled.





Children’s outpatient clinics, oncological and cardio-vascular centres are being refurbished. Over 40,000 units of new medical equipment have been supplied to them under national projects.

I would like to add that over 350 outpatient oncological aid centres have been opened in the regions, while local patients prone to cardio-vascular diseases have been entitled to free medication since last year. This year about 600,000 people receive them.

I would like to add that national projects have produced one more result that is important for enhancing living standards in Russian cities, notably, the improvement of ecological well-being. We have set ourselves the task of eliminating 88 of the most dangerous facilities that have produced cumulative environmental damage by 2024. Sixty facilities of this kind have already been shut down and another six will be removed by the end of the year. Thirty unauthorised dumping sites within city limits have been also shut or recultivated. Another 12 must be removed by the end of the year.

I would like to emphasise that national projects are very important for Russian people. They should help enhance the welfare of Russian families, improve the urban environment, social sphere, and create new opportunities for businesses.

That said, it is very important to hear what people think about the changes brought about by national projects. We know that not everything is as smooth here as we would like it to be, as I said at the beginning of my speech. Unfortunately, problems do not go away.

I will repeat that the goal of every national project is not just to build a certain facility, put it into service or repair. We must learn to make national projects resolve people’s most sensitive issues. This is the main criterion of the effectiveness of our common performance.

The participants need to be involved in national projects, and they need to act responsibly and in earnest on a daily basis at the federal and regional levels. I urge our colleagues to constantly monitor the status of national projects and to analyse bottlenecks or failures to keep up with the schedule in order to be able to make additional decisions based on an objective situation, taking into account arising problems and difficulties.

So, this year, rising prices have become a major challenge in implementing national projects. Prices went up for a wide range of products, including construction materials. Faced with higher prices, governors and regional leaders are increasingly reporting failed competitive bidding, construction delays and problems with contractors.

I am not going to give you reference data regarding higher prices for reinforcement steel, sheet steel, bitumen and so on. You are well aware of them. These risks must be reduced as much as possible, better yet, nullified. The projects and sites planned under national projects must be completed.

I would like to emphasise again that we are talking not about the amounts of allocated or used funds, but about newly built kindergartens, schools and infrastructure facilities, renovated hospitals and paramedic centres, phased-out landfills, and the like.

The Government needs to prepare a clear-cut algorithm for actions regarding the federal and regional facilities under construction. Everyone participating in this work must understand what they need to do, and how this process will be funded.

Also, at one time, we had lively discussions concerning the proportionate participation of the federal and the regional budgets in funding national projects. As a result, specific agreements were reached, and it is important for these agreements to be strictly implemented by all participants in the current difficult circumstances.

This is what I wanted to say at the outset.

Let us get to work. We will then sum up our discussion, draw certain conclusions, and outline the next steps for the next year and in the longer term.





<…>


Vladimir Putin:

Colleagues, a few words in conclusion.

First, I want to thank all of you. Yes, we spoke about problems, but overall work is underway in a consistent manner and at a good pace. The decisions and approaches that we discussed today – I just spoke about them in respect to a specific area – are of special importance for our country and our citizens. I am talking about national projects, the main tool for achieving the national development goals. We have done a lot already to implement these plans, and they are quite ambitious. This is obvious.

It is important to reinforce and continue positive trends in the economy, social sphere, in solving environmental problems and improving the quality of life of our citizens in order to reach real, more tangible and substantial results for each family in Russia, and for the country in general.

While implementing national projects, we are addressing complex tasks; there are difficulties and problem areas. Colleagues from the State Council commission, the Council’s working group for National Projects and the Russian Popular Front spoke about them; the chairman of the executive committee just spoke about them. I ask the Government to monitor the problem areas and include them in the agenda for the first half of 2022.

I also suggest we regularly review the implementation of national projects at meetings of the Council for Strategic Development presidium and hold reviews of project documents mostly in the in-person format with an open and detailed discussion.

While summarising the results of our meeting, I would like to go back to several issues.

As for construction. Mr Khusnullin suggested a detailed plan of action that would ensure the implementation of construction plans both at the federal and regional levels. It is crucially important that it covers the budget for the next three years, which means it will provide the necessary planning horizon and predictability for the regions and contractors. I support these initiatives and ask the Government to adopt decisions for their implementation in the near future.

At the same time, I repeat that the Government is directly responsible for the completion of the construction of not only federal, but also regional projects. There is no need to wait and blame our colleagues in the regions for not having finished something or done it at the wrong time. Help them, please. It is necessary to put their facilities into operation as scheduled. This is what we agreed on when we launched the national project.

Also, some colleagues mentioned earlier that the actual co-financing of national projects by the regions differs from the planned arrangements. We all understand that this is caused by higher prices. It is also obvious that the outline of work in each area and the list of objects are not always clearly defined. I ask the Government, together with the State Council commissions, to eliminate this so that all the co-financing agreements get fulfilled.

Now, about modernising primary healthcare. We must not lower the bar that we have set ourselves in terms of modernising healthcare infrastructure. This means that the spending in this area should be adjusted for inflation.

The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on public health around the world. Unfortunately, we are not an exception. In our country, it superimposed on the objective demographic trough. I think the right thing to do in the next two years will be to seriously step up work to strengthen primary healthcare. There is nothing unusual about it – these are our plans, which we have agreed upon long ago.

According to experts, we will shift the main costs involved in solving this problem a little to the left. I understand that many things have been arranged and determined, it is very difficult to do this but please work on this, so as not to wait for future budget periods, and invest already now in the business, in creating and re-equipping healthcare facilities and in building up their capabilities.

At the same time, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the issue is about protecting people’s health – we understand very well what this is about. And the level of people’s satisfaction with the quality and availability of medical care is the main integral indicator of our work’s effectiveness, and here we need to achieve the greatest progress. So far, this figure has been quite modest, as you are aware. Nevertheless, I want to end with where I started: work is underway, and the pace is good.

Once again, I thank all the participants in our meeting today and, of course, I wish you and your colleagues success and a happy New Year.

Thank you. All the best.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67366






Greetings on Kazakhstan’s Independence Day



Vladimir Putin sent greetings to President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym Jomart-Tokayev on the occasion of the country’s national holiday, Independence Day.



December 16, 2021 - 10:00



The Russian leader gave a high appraisal of Kazakhstan’s economic, social, scientific and technological achievements and also noted the country’s high prestige on the international stage.

“Relations between our countries are developing dynamically in the spirit of strategic partnership and allied collaboration. Bilateral cooperation in various fields, as well as interaction within such organisations as the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the UN, are yielding good results,” the President of Russia noted in his message.

Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that constructive Russian-Kazakhstani ties will be further strengthened for the benefit of the friendly peoples of the two countries and in the interests of maintaining stability and security in the Eurasian region.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67370






Talks with President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh



Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin with President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, who has come to Russia on a working visit.



December 16, 2021 - 14:50 - The Kremlin, Moscow






After a conversation in restricted format, the talks continued in the working breakfast format.

Following international consultations, the presidents of the two countries made statements for the press.

In addition, a Joint Declaration was adopted on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Mongolia.







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Mr President,

First of all, I would like to thank you for accepting the invitation to come to Russia. As far as I know, this is your first foreign visit since your election. It is a good sign.

Your visit is taking place in the year of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries, which are based on the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that we signed several years ago.

Moreover, our relations are developing in nearly all spheres, despite the pandemic, including the economy, political ties, in the area of military cooperation and on the international stage.

I know that you have a very busy agenda during your trip to Russia. I am confident that your visit will be successful and will yield good results.

Regarding the economy, our trade went down by 20 percent last year because of the pandemic, but in the first three quarters of this year it increased by approximately 25 percent. There are reasons to believe that we will return to the pre-pandemic level and that we can surpass it.

Mr President, I am delighted to see you. Welcome.





President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh (retranslated):

Thank you very much, Mr President.

I am very happy that after the presidential election in Mongolia, my first visit abroad is to the Russian Federation.

I also want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to organise my visit as part of celebrations of our historical anniversary, the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Russia, despite the difficulties the pandemic continues to pose, unfortunately, all over the world.

I believe that our relations are truly historical, remarkable and good. A hundred years ago, representatives of our country arrived in Moscow, and we fought together for the independence of our country and sovereignty. During the hard years of war and in the post-war times, our peoples worked together and wrote this great history.

They did so during the Battles on the Khalkhin Gol in 1939, and during the Great Patriotic War. As you know, we have great respect for the historical role Russia played during those times. We believe that Russia played an important role in global security and in the victory over Nazism. This is why we highly respect the Great Victory holiday.

Over the past years, we have had a rich history together. We cooperated closely with the Soviet people in the Virgin Lands campaign and in the construction of large industrial facilities; we even went into space together. At the moment, we do not have any political disagreements and have had truly brotherly relations for the past 100 years. The Mongolian people feel that our friendship and comradeship are an example of good relations not only in our region, but in the world in general.

Prior to my visit, we had several important meetings, in particular, with deputy prime ministers Alexei Overchuk and Viktoria Abramchenko. A regular meeting of the intergovernmental commission was held. The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces also visited our country. Many economic issues were dealt with before my visit to Russia.

We believe the time has come for us to talk about new undertakings in our relations.

I would also like to stress that during the years of your work as President and Prime Minister, relations between our countries have been actively developing. You have visited our country four times. The Mongolian people and our country as a whole have very friendly feelings, respectively, for the Russian people and for you personally.





There is one question though about promoting trade and economic relations between our countries. When I took office as President, I set myself the goal of implementing the Transit Mongolia national project. I believe that, as part of this project, coordination with the initiative you mentioned – the creation of the Greater Eurasian Partnership – is also very important. We strongly support this initiative.

We live in a region that connects Asia with Europe and Russia with China. The Mongolian-Russian border is over 3,500 kilometres long, and our border with China is 4,700 kilometres. We are also closely following relations between our two great neighbours, Russia and China. Yesterday, you had a meeting with the head of the People's Republic of China [Xi Jinping], and we are observing your cooperation with great interest, and I think the whole world also pays great attention to it.

That is why we are putting forward the initiative to promote the Transit Mongolia programme, since the shortest route connecting Europe with Asia and Russia with China passes through our territory.

Our plans include the construction of two railways – eastern and western – which run through the eastern and western parts of our country. On the eastern side, this railway connects China with the Trans-Baikal Territory and goes to Far Eastern ports. And in the western direction, this railway continues the Kyzyl-Kuragino Railway and goes further across our territory to China.

We also have a question about upgrading the central railway corridor that runs through Irkutsk.

We are very pleased with the results of the project to build a gas pipeline from Russia to China across Mongolia.

In 2019, as Prime Minister, when I was in the Russian Federation on a visit, you and I, Mr President, initiated this project. I am very pleased that this project is a success.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67373






Press statements following Russian-Mongolian talks



Vladimir Putin and Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh made statements for the press on the results of the Russian-Mongolian talks.



December 16, 2021 - 16:40 - The Kremlin, Moscow







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen.

We are delighted to welcome the President of Mongolia to Moscow.

After being sworn in as head of state, Mr President is paying his first foreign visit precisely to Russia, and this, of course, shows that Mongolia attaches great significance to developing neighbourly ties with Russia. Certainly, we are also interested in maintaining a close partnership with our Mongolian friends.

Mutually beneficial cooperation between both states has a long history. This year marked the 100th anniversary of the establishment of official diplomatic relations. I would like to recall that Russia became the first country to recognise the independence of the Mongolian state. Since then, Russian-Mongolian interaction has grown stronger and expanded, hinged on the principles of respect and consideration for each other’s interests. The people of Russia and Mongolia remember their war-time friendship, which Mr President has mentioned today and which was consolidated in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol and during World War II.

Today’s talks were held in a business-like and constructive manner. Mr President and I adopted the joint Political Declaration that builds upon the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed in 2019. And, most importantly, the Declaration sets forth clear guidelines for further deepening bilateral ties in various spheres of cooperation.

Apart from that, both parties have drafted and will sign during this visit a package of intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents covering many aspects of our interaction and cooperation, including the economy and trade.

Russia is one of Mongolia’s largest foreign trade partners. Despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, mutual trade increased by 24 percent in the first nine months of 2021.

The Russian-Mongolian Intergovernmental Commission on Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology is working effectively. This past November, Ulan Bator was the venue for its latest meeting, and the participants charted new specific plans for interaction in such fields as infrastructure, ore mining industry, power industry, agriculture, and digital technologies.

The Ulaanbaatar Railway is our flagship and quite successful joint commercial project. Over the past decade, the bilateral freight volume on this system has doubled from 15 to 30 million tonnes annually.

In recent years, Russia has supported a large amount of work to modernise and expand the Mongolian carrier’s rail lines as well as to strengthen its financial stability. In particular, a regular indexation of transport fees has been established, a debt-restructuring plan has been drawn up with regard to old loans from the 1990s, and a number of long-standing land issues have been resolved. We hope that all these steps will make rail transport across Mongolia more attractive and profitable.





Mr Khurelsukh and I have substantively discussed our energy cooperation. Russia is a reliable supplier of energy resources to Mongolia, providing about 80 percent of the country's demand for petroleum products. Russian energy companies are interested in working in the Mongolian market for fuels and lubricants and expanding their presence. In particular, Rosneft is now being registered as an operator of bulk fuel installations at the new international airport in Ulan Bator.

A project to build a Russia-China gas pipeline across Mongolia is under consideration. The discussion is progressing steadily. The new pipeline could be a branch of Russia’s Power of Siberia 2 pipeline. We have identified the best route, length and other parameters, and a feasibility study is underway. I think it will be available in the next few weeks.

Russia and Mongolia have gained solid experience in cooperating on electrical power engineering. Last year, our companies ROTEC and Ural Turbine Works completed the modernisation of the CHPP-4 thermal power plant in Ulan Bator. The upgrade increased the Mongolian national energy system’s capacity by 15 percent. Another joint project to modernise CHPP-3 is under consideration.

Good prospects are opening up for nuclear energy cooperation. Rosatom is exploring the possibility of building a Nuclear Science Centre in Mongolia which would be used to research the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in various sectors of the Mongolian economy, including industry, medicine, and agriculture.

Russia and Mongolia plan to continue to jointly pursue important environmental projects, which the President and I discussed in depth today. In particular, we will cooperate to preserve our cross-border rivers, including the Selenga and the Uldza, which form the unique ecosystems of Lake Baikal and Torey Lakes, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

I would like to emphasise that Russia and Mongolia have partnered in fighting the coronavirus infection. We have organised deliveries to Mongolia of our Sputnik V vaccine and test systems for detecting COVID-19. In addition, there are two Russian mobile laboratories working in Mongolia to identify dangerous viruses.

During the talks, we touched on the topic of humanitarian cooperation. We agreed to step up scientific, cultural and sports exchanges, and to continue the practice of regularly holding Russian-Mongolian Friendship Days and Days of Culture.





Russia provides assistance in training highly qualified specialists for all sectors of the Mongolian economy. Mongolian students are allocated 500 budget-funded places a year at our universities. We are satisfied with the fact that Mongolia has a well-established system for studying the Russian language.

I would like to note that Russia and Mongolia are successfully cooperating in defence and security, contacts between law enforcement agencies are getting stronger, and joint military exercises are held on a regular basis. In particular, within the framework of the annual Selenga exercises, joint tactical methods of fighting illegal armed groups are being practiced.

Russia and Mongolia’s positions on pressing regional and international problems overlap or are very close. Our countries coordinate their actions at the UN.

The possibility of including our Mongolian partners in the EAEU integration processes is being studied. A joint research group has been formed, which is studying the feasibility of creating a free trade zone between Mongolia and the EAEU.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The visit of the President of Mongolia continues, and he has an extensive programme which includes a meeting with the Prime Minister, the heads of both chambers of the Federal Assembly, and a meeting at the Security Council. With this in mind, we can be confident that President Khurelsukh’s visit will be successful and, without a doubt, productive. We have covered practically all aspects of our interaction. I am confident that the agreements to be reached will lead to expanding the comprehensive development of the Russian-Mongolian partnership.

Once again, I would like to thank the President for making his first state visit to the Russian Federation.

Thank you.





President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh (retranslated):

I am happy that my first foreign visit is to the Russian Federation. It is timed to the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Russia. This visit is of historical significance. During the talks with Mr Putin, we summed up the development of relations over the past century, exchanged in detail our views on further goals and areas of cooperation and on major joint projects, and mapped out prospects for joint actions for the next century.

Both leaders noted with pride our good tradition of mutual assistance, which took shape during the struggle for freedom and independence, in the years of the Great Patriotic War, during peaceful development. We also expressed our intention to develop political dialogue in accordance with principles of equality and respect for territorial integrity and international law.

Close friendly cooperation over 100 years is a rare historical precedent. Our relations are a model of historical relations.

During President Putin’s visit to Mongolia in 2019, we signed a Treaty of Friendly Relations and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for an indefinite term. Both leaders confirmed that it had become a foundation for enriching our comprehensive strategic partnership with new content and for its intensive development.

We have opportunities to develop cooperation in energy, supplies of fuel and lubricants, natural gas, in road and transport sector, communications, infrastructure, agriculture, environmental protection and other areas of trade and economic cooperation.

We consider it necessary to substantially expand our trade, economic and investment cooperation and raise it to a new level. During the visit, our country expressed its desire to develop intensive mutually beneficial cooperation. We invited our Russian partners to take part in infrastructure, railway, energy and other projects. We exchanged views on upgrading the checkpoints on our state border, increasing their throughput capacity and creating a cross-border zone of bilateral cooperation.

We plan to cooperate on the Mongolia-Russia-China economic corridor project, which was approved in 2016, and we are also satisfied with the successful implementation of the trilateral project for the construction of a gas pipeline from Russia to China through Mongolia.





In order to develop transport connections between Asia and Europe, as well as to fulfil Mongolia’s national goal, Transit Mongolia, we exchanged views on stepping up cooperation to increase the economic efficiency of the joint Mongolian-Russian company Ulaanbaatar Railway, upgrading its infrastructure and creating new railway, motorway and energy corridors.

Our two countries have a strong tradition of cooperation in humanitarian sphere, in culture, education and scientific research. We are grateful for the Russian Federation’s decision to increase the number of Government grants for Mongolian students.

Our countries closely cooperate within regional associations and international organisations and have confirmed plans to coordinate their efforts at the UN, ASEAN, and the SCO. We support the initiative of the Greater Eurasian Partnership put forward by President Putin, and we are willing to cooperate to implement joint projects to develop trade, economic and infrastructure related interaction.

During the visit, at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, we approved a joint declaration on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Russia. Important documents on cooperation in the area of checkpoints and customs offices’ operation, as well as in the sphere of intellectual property, education and culture, were signed as well.

Our relations are moving forward despite the pandemic. We are in favour of overcoming the pandemic as soon as possible, restoring the spirit of cooperation and bringing it to a new level. I am pleased with the results of my visit.

On behalf of the Mongolian people, I would like to express gratitude to you, Mr President, and to our eternal neighbour, the great Russian people, for the efforts to promote traditionally friendly cooperation, and I wish you all the best.

Thank you.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67374






Meeting of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Supervisory Board



Vladimir Putin chaired a videoconference meeting of the Supervisory Board of the autonomous non-profit organisation Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects.



December 16, 2021 - 22:05 - Moscow



Before the start of the meeting, the President visited an exhibition of ASI’s achievements and future projects. The President was shown seven stands featuring ASI’s main projects and plans for its activities in 2022–2024.






President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Colleagues,

Today – we have just learned about the projects, and I will tell you about them later – but I would like to start by saying that today we are holding an important and, even in some sense, a special meeting of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) Supervisory Board. The Agency should determine its goals and tasks for the next three years and record the key areas of its work, which should logically continue its entire history. I would like to start with its landmarks.

A decade ago, in December 2011, the Agency was instructed to implement the National Business Initiative. Its efforts produced not only up-to-date regulations and procedures for doing business that were new and more effective.





The changes proved to be much more profound. The regions saw more managers that make decisions with due account for the interests and requirements of people doing their own business.

Supporting ideas and individual projects, you have always striven for proactive, systemic changes. When I say “you,” I am primarily addressing the Agency as such. Thus, the WorldSkills championships have actually developed into a nationwide movement in Russia, new programmes of vocational training and a broad network of additional education for children, very often in the professions of the future.





I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the WorldSkills junior section and the team of the Boiling Point project on winning Knowledge Society prizes for their outstanding educational activities.

I believe these prizes are evidence of the contribution by the entire Agency to promoting advanced approaches and views, and to uniting around common values a large community of people that are ready to see changes and get involved in developing their cities, regions and the entire country.





It was important to carry out this work. It is being carried out now as well, as I see from the projects that we reviewed, and is focused on uniting people who are passionate about a particular cause. These people are entrepreneurs, researchers, people from the non-profit sector and creative industries and, of course, young people.

I have no doubt that during this new, equally dazzling and effective stage of the Agency's future development, its key mission, which is to engage citizens in achieving our national development goals, should remain unchanged. It is imperative to help them realise their ideas and initiatives.





Now, as we know, the Agency has over 4.5 million like-minded partners in Russia. I know that in three years the Agency plans to more than double this community to 10 million people. This is already a large “army.”

Most importantly, these should not be perfunctory numbers or some kind of indicators, but a really powerful community, a force made of energetic people capable of making a meaningful contribution to the general national agenda.





In this regard, I would like to note that with the participation of VEB – I see the head of VEB on one of these screens – a comprehensive mechanism for implementing civil projects will be created, and the Powerful Ideas for New Times forum will become a permanent platform for collecting meaningful and constructive proposals. By the way, I propose holding this forum in the first quarter of 2022.

Next, and I already mentioned this, we had a chance to see at the exhibition how the digital platform, which brings together best regional practices, works. They have proven effective in helping people resolve everyday problems.





I want the relevant State Council commissions to team up with the Agency and build an effective system for spreading the management teams’ experience locally. During our tour of the projects, we heard many requests to ask the Government, to instruct the Government, to develop in conjunction with the Government – in a word, it is necessary to include the most important decisions in national projects and state programmes, including in the sphere of infrastructure improvements.

(Addressing General Director of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Svetlana Chupsheva.) I hope, Svetlana, that you and I will not forget the words the young people said at the exhibition, and their proposals will need to be summarised and properly drafted in the form of instructions.





Of course, it is important to share your best practices and be open to new ideas. Again, I am saying this to the Agency. It is important to form teams and bring onboard like-minded people from our country and other countries as well. I see that this work is underway, which is good

I know that Boiling Point is already underway in Kazakhstan. I would like to hear from you about other plans to expand international cooperation and projects at the global level, because this entails access to the markets of third countries, which invariably increases the competitive environment, which means that ultimately it will increase competitiveness as well.





A whole ecosystem, as they say now, has formed around the Agency, which brings together initiatives in the social sphere, nature conservation, personnel training, and the development of advanced technology.

Here is what I would like to emphasise. All our state work and the Agency's work should, of course, revolve around people and their well-being. We have just reviewed a project which does exactly that: it puts in the centre the individual with their interests, requests, plans, etc. Of course, in fact, every project should be lined up this way. These goals should be linked together and run across all programmes and projects.





The Agency must concentrate on its activities in the regions, help local management teams achieve visible changes at schools, outpatient clinics, hospitals, social protection institutions, and to take into account the residents’ requests and suggestions. As a matter of fact, this is how things are, and I hope not only on paper, but in real life as well.

By the way, much depends on the Government here. We have just now talked about free school meals and so on, and also about amendments to the current legislation. We will need to work on this later.





I also expect the ASI to make a substantial contribution to the establishment of the Federation of New Development Centres in the regions, the development of a modern urban environment and the promotion of national technologies and the so-called green technology, the environmentally friendly solutions in energy and construction, including within the framework of your new system-wide project, the National Environmental Initiative.

In this context I would like to point out (I see that members of the Presidential Executive Office and Government ministers are attending this meeting) that our colleagues who presented their projects have asked us to amend the law to add industrial waste, including construction waste, to the regions’ competence, because they would be unable to regulate these activities otherwise. There is much to do in that sphere, and the regions are ready to do it, whereas now they are only responsible for general waste. They have no control over construction waste, and so they cannot address the issue quickly or properly. I see that the Economic Development Minister is taking notes. I would like to thank him and to express the hope that we will follow this issue to its logical end.





As we agreed, we will keep an eye on the indicators of the national quality of life rating. The ASI initiative on assessing the integral results and the regional teams’ efforts to improve the quality of life is very important and we must support it. During the St Petersburg International Economic Forum last summer, we discussed the first tentative results of this project. Today we will take a look at the situation in individual regions based on the analysis of the available data.

Next, one of the Agency’s major tasks is to help people in all age groups to find their place in the changing technological world. The main thing here is to ensure that learning new skills and competencies increases the people’s real income. It is in accordance with this logic that the Agency should launch convenient learning formats, including for those who would like to start a business or work for themselves in the positive sense, that is, become independently employed.

I would also like to tell the Agency’s Youth Initiatives Centre that it should continue working to create a comprehensive modern environment for the development of children’s, youth, business and technology teams, especially considering that we know examples when teenagers, very young people indeed, want to run a business and start very successful businesses. There are some wonderful start-ups. Their goal for the first ten years of operation is not only to succeed in the national market but also to take their projects to international markets.

And lastly, another important goal is to work together with like-minded organisations to analyse and forecast the development of technologies and social projects and processes in the next 20–30 years and possibly in a longer term. This is very important for properly organising their own operation.

This vision of the future has a huge, applied importance already at the current stage in this rapidly changing world. It helps set the guidelines, reconsider some things, promptly respond to arising challenges and look at the current stage from a different perspective. It is a crucial job, including in terms of education. It is extremely important, and I am sure that the country and society need it.

Let us get down to the issues on our agenda today.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67376






Meeting with ASI General Director Svetlana Chupsheva



Vladimir Putin met with General Director of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) Svetlana Chupsheva.



December 16, 2021 - 22:30 - Moscow







ASI General Director Svetlana Chupsheva:

Mr President, you have set us a task to boost economic growth and to launch a new investment cycle. I would like to say a few words about how the Agency for Strategic Initiatives is contributing to this.

We have just been discussing the quality-of-life ranking. I would like to add that we are now finalising the investment appeal ranking as well – on a national scale – taking into account the new tasks that you have set, that the regions have set, and most importantly, taking into account entrepreneurs’ requirements for the ease of doing business.

What have we done? We have added several new indicators for evaluation, such as obtaining permits, gaining access, connecting to gas and water, as well as issues and procedures with the lease of land, land plots. There is a whole new block for the evaluation and creation of infrastructure for technology entrepreneurship.

There is something I wanted to ask. We have always measured administrative pressure on business for the ranking – everything related to inspections by various authorities. We have repeatedly raised the issue of forceful pressure on business. Now we can take a second step here: the For Business platform we have been implementing together with the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee, the FSB, and the Ministry of the Interior – representatives of all these agencies at the level of deputy heads are included in the platform’s supervisory board. Entrepreneurs from any region can submit a complaint to this platform, a petition, a report saying the business disagreed with an inspection, with investigative actions or criminal prosecution. And it is very important…



President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

No intermediaries.



Svetlana Chupsheva:

Yes. And it is very important that each complaint is considered by these agencies’ central offices. The effort has already become systematic, and it is very important that our colleagues in the regions have joined in – we organise joint meetings at the [federal] district level, and discuss matters with regional authorities, with entrepreneurs, and law enforcement agencies; we do awareness-raising work, and we get lawyers involved in that. Would it be possible to add these measurements as monitoring indicators to the national investment ranking methodology, to measure annual changes in all constituent regions? We could use it for adjustments. We will see which regions record the greatest pressure from the law enforcement agencies, and will work this out with the central offices of the respective departments. If you support us, we are ready to work it out with our colleagues.



Vladimir Putin:

Yes, this is a good idea.





Svetlana Chupsheva:

Mr President, here comes the second part. I mentioned this as a new strategy as well and it is about targeted work with the constituent regions of the Russian Federation, when we, guided by an analytical toolkit in the form of feedback from residents and entrepreneurs, decide what projects or breakthrough growth points can be launched in the territories. After that, we will join efforts with the local teams, analysts and the governor to create such projects. Some governors have already come up with their first reports. It is critically important that Maxim Oreshkin works with us.

Most importantly, the region receives federal support for these projects, which are needed primarily by residents and businesses, in terms of infrastructure support and being included in national projects and federal programmes.

The third block, where we also see major opportunities for new drivers for the regional economies, includes interregional projects that will provide a multiplier effect. We are currently carrying out several such projects. One of them concerns the social sphere and medicine. It is an interregional project for children’s centres providing specialised high-tech medical help for children.

Today, we have regional and federal centres, but there are many complicated cases across the country where specialised medical help is needed.

Doctors in Moscow or St Petersburg have constant practice, whereas specialists in remote regions in Siberia and the Far Eastern Federal District simply cannot gain enough experience in such operations or building such a system for providing medical help. An interregional project for an interregional centre can help. I am not talking about new infrastructure. All of that can be based on existing regional infrastructure.

We propose launching a pilot project in the Far Eastern Federal District which has the highest infant mortality rates nationwide. The Far Eastern Federal District’s regions are supportive of this idea. We went there and toured the regional children’s hospitals in the Primorye Territory and the Khabarovsk Territory together with federal specialists, experts, and officials from the Ministry of Healthcare.

What makes a medical centre? First, human resources, including proper staffing and mentoring by federal specialists. It also includes properly equipping such centres to comply with international and domestic protocols, with federal centres providing such medical help. Proper routing and transport services are also part of this, since logistics must be brought up to code as well.

One way or another, we have estimates by territory, and we have practical experience. We are prepared, in conjunction with the Ministry of Healthcare, federal specialists, and the Association of Russian Surgeons, to develop regulations governing such interregional centres, as well as requirements and criteria to identify the diseases that make particular young patients eligible for treatment at the interregional centres. The tentative bases include the Khabarovsk Territory (Khabarovsk Regional Children’s Hospital No. 1) and Vladivostok (Territorial Children’s Hospital No. 1) which have adequate staff and the necessary infrastructure. So, with your support, we are prepared, in conjunction with the Ministry of Healthcare and the regions, to work on this pilot project. According to the experts, child mortality rates can be reduced by 10 to 20 percent in one year.





Vladimir Putin:

We will discuss this with Ms Golikova and Mr Murashko. We will work on it together, this is a good idea.



Svetlana Chupsheva:

Of course. Thank you, Mr President.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67377






Greetings to the team of System Operator of the Unified Energy System



Vladimir Putin wished all the best to the staff of System Operator of the Unified Energy System on the 100th anniversary of operations control in the Russian power industry.



December 17, 2021 - 09:30



The message reads, in part:

“December 17 is rightfully considered the date of birth of operations control in the Russian power industry. On this day 100 years ago, the first dispatchers began to supervise the coordinated operation of six power plants in the Moscow Region.

Today, SO UES is the backbone of the national energy system, managing thousands of power plants, electrical grids and serving millions of electricity consumers as a single technological entity. Dispatch centres supervise the reliable operation of the country’s entire energy system to provide a stable power supply to social facilities, industrial enterprises, and transport infrastructure, and to ensure a comfortable life for people.

It is important that the team is a worthy successor to the strong traditions of many generations of energy workers, building on their experience, widely introducing advanced digital technologies, and making a significant contribution to augmenting the solid potential of the Unified Energy System.”




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67381






Greetings on the opening of the Taishet Aluminium Smelter



Vladimir Putin sent a message of greetings to the participants and guests of the Taishet Aluminium Smelter opening ceremony.



December 17, 2021 - 09:45



The message reads, in part:

“The implementation of this large project is very significant, not only for the Irkutsk Region, but for the entire country. And, of course, this is an important and significant event for the plant’s future personnel and RUSAL. The new enterprise, complying with the advanced environmental standards, will manufacture highly demanded high-tech products for both Russian consumers and for global car companies and engineering holdings.

Let me stress that largely thanks to RUSAL and its focus on a fundamental upgrade of the aluminium industry as well as the construction of a powerful energy and metallurgical complex in Siberia, the regional economy is developing, modern jobs are being created, the infrastructure of cities and villages is radically changing, schools, kindergartens, outpatient clinics and hospitals are being built, and the quality of life of people is improving.

Special words of gratitude go to researchers, engineers, and specialists in other professions: everyone whose labour and energy put the Taishet Aluminium Smelter into operation.”




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67384
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Congratulations to Pope Francis on his birthday



Vladimir Putin congratulated Pope Francis on his 85th birthday.



December 17, 2021 - 12:15



The message reads, in part:

“You dedicated your whole life to promoting high spiritual and moral values. You have made an invaluable contribution to developing relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church and to strengthening ties between Russia and the Vatican.

I have many pleasant recollections of our meetings and our constructive and meaningful talks, which reaffirmed the similarity between the attitudes of Russia and the Holy See to the key international issues. I am confident that by working together we will be able to do a great deal to protect Christians’ rights and interests and to maintain interfaith dialogue.

This year we marked the 200th birth anniversary of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, whose works you are familiar with. Please accept the gift of a sculptural portrait of this great Russian writer and thinker.”

The President of Russia wished Pope Francis good health, wellbeing and success in his noble and responsible mission.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67382






Plenary meeting of the RSPP Congress



Vladimir Putin took part in the plenary meeting of the 30th RSPP Congress.



December 17, 2021 - 16:50 - Moscow






President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, colleagues,

Friends,

I am happy to welcome all participants in the Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. First, I would like to congratulate the RSPP on the anniversary. This year your highly respected organisation which united the country’s biggest, leading companies and enterprises, celebrates its 30th anniversary.

During these years – and this was a complicated, difficult period in the development of new social relations, a period of “moving into adulthood” of the domestic market economy – the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has earned a reputation of a reliable partner of all branches of government and all civil society institutions.





Constructive relations between the state and business are growing stronger with your direct participation in the interests of the development of Russia and our regions. We are working together to ensure economic growth and resolution of priority social tasks, including the renewal of the labour market, professional education and strengthening of such important institutions as charity and volunteering.

I am grateful to you for such active participation in and major contribution to the implementation of our national agenda and to the increasing of Russia’s personnel, investment, industrial and export potential.

I know that shortly before out meeting – Mr Shokhin has just told me this – Alexander Shokhin was reelected as President of the RSPP. I congratulate you and wish you all the best and future success.





Colleagues,

I highly appreciate our format of communication and regular meetings, which, as a rule, take place at the end of the year. Before the pandemic, they took place in an informal setting as well, but, unfortunately, there are restrictions now, which I will talk about a little later.

Traditionally, at this time, both businesses and government bodies sum up the results, analyse what they have managed to accomplish or are just planning to do; in a word, they are balancing the books. I will allow myself to outline certain results and trends as well.





The objective figures – I will not list them now, as you already know everything about them, in general – are still saying that by the middle of this year the Russian economy had recovered from the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and reached the pre-crisis level. The employment figures are also back to where they were in 2019.

This relatively quick recovery of economic dynamics is a tangible and visible result of the work done by the entire business community, including large, small and medium-sized Russian companies. The absolute majority of our entrepreneurs has acted and continues to act responsibly with regard to their teams. They do not think only about how to overcome the current challenges, but about how to move forward as well.





I am sure that thanks to precisely this approach by the business community, large-scale measures to support the economy, employment, and system-forming industries that have been implemented by the state have been effective.

Of course, we all need to strengthen this experience of partnership which we need if we want to respond to unconventional, sometimes even extraordinary, challenges and, no less important, to properly address the country’s long-term development goals.

We are now entering precisely this phase. After a quick recovery, we need to achieve fast and high-quality growth. A large-scale transformation of the economic life is lying ahead, including digitalisation, environmental agenda, the creation of novel industries, and frontal development of infrastructure. We will address these tasks as a team, because it is impossible to imagine it done otherwise.





I digress, but all the key economic decisions during the pandemic were taken as a result of a dialogue, and we discussed specific steps with the participation of business associations and trade unions. This, by the way, largely made it possible for us to strike a balance between forced restrictions associated with the pandemic, protecting public health and ensuring stability of the economy and preserving jobs, employees and teams, and individual incomes.

It is important to maintain this balance. This task requires flexible, well thought out decisions. Nothing should be done in the midst of some frontal attack.

In this context, I would like to talk about the issue that concerns all branches of the economy and, most importantly, all citizens of our country. I am referring to vaccination certificates.





As you know, the discussion of the draft law that was supposed to establish a mandatory requirement for this certificate on transport – on a plane or in a train – was removed from the Duma’s agenda.

As for a law on mandatory certificates to enter public places – shopping centres, cafes, restaurants and cultural institutions, the State Duma adopted it yesterday in the first reading.

Of course, this draft law requires adjustments because in drafting such sensitive norms and regulations it is necessary to consider the nuances and real-life situations.





In this context, I am instructing the Government to complete the work on vaccination certificates in public places in cooperation with the State Duma, the Federation Council, employer associations and civil society representatives. We need to consider all the issues that worry our people. The law must be clear-cut, explicit and understandable.

I would like to add that prior to the adoption of any changes, our Government colleagues must be completely prepared, technically, for the use of a system of certificates. This system must work reliably to protect the health of our people rather than create more difficulties for them.

But I cannot just end this at a point that is expected so much by some public organisations and figures. I cannot do this for moral considerations or by virtue of my official duties, because the situation on countering the coronavirus remains very serious and tense.





Look, just recently we had 41,000 new cases a day. Now we have 26,000–28,000 cases. It appears the incidence rate has been almost cut in half. Still, this is also way too much for us. The mortality rate has increased and COVID is largely to blame for this in different ways. This is not happening because people are hiding anything; it is simply impossible to predict all the consequences. Look at what is happening in relatively well-off countries. I am talking about the spread of the new omicron strain. The consequences of this are still unknown. Some researchers say this is a lighter version whereas others talk about potential serious consequences after recovery. There is a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus cases among children and they have serious consequences. We need to be aware of this.

What is happening in the countries with a relatively favourable situation in public health? From what I have seen, and oddly enough, Germany has fairly low vaccination rates compared with other European countries. Now, word is that there are not enough vaccines for booster jabs. By the way, according to preliminary estimates, our Sputnik V is working well, perhaps, even better than other vaccines in combating the omicron variant. We will have a definite answer within a week when the researchers give a final assessment.





In this regard, we can even share the vaccines that we have, I mean, for booster jabs, for the European countries as well, provided, of course, they need and want it. It is necessary to work more energetically and more substantively with the WHO, to heed its recommendations and the recommendations provided by specialists.

To follow up on the European countries, Great Britain’s population is 67.2 million. We have 146 million people in our country. I already mentioned that 26,000–28,000 people are falling ill with COVID-19 every day in our country, whereas in Great Britain, according to their official figures, it’s more like 88,000. Their population is almost half of ours, but the number of cases is almost three times as high.






Why am I saying this now? The New Year’s holidays are fast approaching, and people will move around a lot. Some enterprises, your enterprises, in fact, are integrated non-stop works, and will remain operational during the holiday. I want to reach out to you and once again remind our people that, no doubt, the New Year’s holidays are a special period in the life of every person and every family where people want to see their loved ones and visit them. The New Year’s holidays always evoke some positive fairy-tale-like expectations for the future. This is good, and, of course, the holiday is a time for celebrations. But it is also important to heed the recommendations of the specialists if we want to have a really happy future. This is a serious matter.

You know how it works. After the first toast, people tend to forget about precautions. This should not be the case today. Everyone needs to take a careful look at these recommendations and do their best to follow them.





To reiterate, we are ready to provide Sputnik Light to the countries that would like to use it for booster jabs, since we have enough of it to share with other countries.

As you are aware, our specialists are now working in the Republic of South Africa, and I want to thank our colleagues from South Africa for hosting them. In conjunction with their colleagues from South Africa, they are studying this virus variant. By the way, 75 percent of the people in South Africa that are ill with COVID-19 have come down with the new omicron variant.

Let’s continue. I was just talking about one specific bill, but the requirements for high quality and clarity apply to all our legislative and law-making activities, to regulatory practice. This is important for every person, and this is the most important condition for business growth and investment activity in the country.





With your direct involvement, we have already done a lot to improve both legislation and regulatory enforcement practices. But many problems remain; I know you face them. But life is complex and diverse, as we say in such cases, and we will have time to talk a little more and exchange views on the practice of applying the legislation we have developed, and possibly on other issues that need to be regulated legislatively.

So, we will certainly continue to cooperate with you, and will apply and fine-tune the best international and domestic practices to support investment activity and private initiative.

This is fundamentally important now that, once again, the national economy has recovered; we need to transition back to long-term, high-quality growth immediately, without a pause. We have substantial state resources and great business potential for this, primarily when it comes to the flagships of our economy.





So, congratulations – most large companies’ financials have gone up of late. Companies have been reporting growing profits, especially in industries that are now benefiting from active foreign markets.

Each company reports its own statistics, so we have some generalised figures: from January through September 2021, total net profits came to 21.6 trillion rubles, or 63.7 percent more than in same period of 2019, the pre-pandemic year. And compared to last year, the increase is 79.6 percent.

Obviously, businesses primarily channel their growing revenue to financing current expenses, to repay loans and raise employee salaries, and so on. Average salaries are also increasing, not just in numerical terms, but in real terms, and this is very good. It is no secret that significant resources are being spent to pay higher dividends to shareholders.





By the way, the Federal Tax Service’s monitoring of Russia’s largest groups of companies’ performance confirms these trends. They monitor their profits, dividends paid and investment projects and of course, the tax benefits specific groups of companies enjoy are taken into account. The Government always analyses this carefully and reports back to me in a timely manner.

Let me emphasise the following: the steady revenue flow that our leading companies are now receiving cannot be simply scattered or used up. If we yield to temptation, it will, in the long run, lead to defeat and a decrease in domestic businesses’ competitiveness in global markets which are undergoing rapid change. We must think strategically and see the growth perspective.

To reiterate, the financial resource that we have is a powerful base for expanding production, increasing capital investment, and launching new promising business initiatives, basically, things that drive the national economy and improve the well-being of our people.

We met with many of the people in this audience in March. Back then, we agreed that the Government, along with the business community, would draft additional measures to support projects that are financed from the equity capital provided by the private sector.





Today, I propose exchanging views on the progress in this respect, the remaining problems that need to be solved, and the investment areas that you and your management teams consider the most attractive and promising.

Of course, when assessing capital investment, business looks carefully at return on investment numbers, economic and financial efficiency, as well as stability and predictability in the investment environment. But here is what I would like to add to this.

Over the past few years, sustainable development has taken a special place on the global business agenda. Business owners and shareholders now focus not only on expanding or upgrading production facilities, but also on the environmental well-being of cities and regions, entire countries and even continents, infrastructure development and improvement of territories.

Modern international terminology has an acronym for this approach: ESG; no doubt, you are aware of this better than anyone else. In fact, though, the issue is about something that has long been called in Russia the private sector’s social responsibility. There is nothing new or surprising in this for us.

I know each of you can share your own experiences in this area and the steps taken by your companies to implement sustainable development principles. I am prepared to discuss this today as well.






Before we move on to the discussion, I would like to once again wish the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs a happy 30th anniversary. I hope you are also aware that an executive order was signed on December 3 awarding the RSPP team with an honorary badge of the Russian Federation For Meritorious Service. Today, in this audience, I am pleased to present you with this well-deserved state award.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67383






Meeting with permanent members of the Security Council



Vladimir Putin held a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council, via videoconference.



December 17, 2021 - 18:10 - The Kremlin, Moscow







The participants discussed current issues of domestic and foreign policy.

The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin, Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67385






Telephone conversation with Pope Francis



December 17, 2021 - 19:00



During a telephone conversation, President of Russia Vladimir Putin extended warm wishes to Pope Francis on his 85th birthday, emphasising the authority enjoyed by the Pope around the world and his great personal input in fostering relations between Russia and Vatican. Typical of these relations are a high degree of understanding and a similarity of approaches to many problems facing the world today.

It was agreed to continue the concerted efforts to defend fundamental moral and humanistic values. The importance of a constructive inter-faith dialogue was underscored.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin sent a message wishing Pope Francis a happy birthday.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67386






Congratulations on Security Agency Worker’s Day



The President congratulated current officers and veterans of Russia’s security agencies on their professional holiday.



December 20, 2021 - 09:00







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Comrade officers,

Dear veterans,

I would like to congratulate you on Security Agency Worker’s Day.

This professional holiday has been celebrated for more than 25 years and has become a symbol of respect and gratitude to people who safeguard the security of our citizens, society and the state, protect the sovereignty and stability of Russia’s constitutional order, combat terrorism and extremism, defend the interests of their Motherland while being far away from it.

I would like to express my warmest words of gratitude and wish good health and prosperity to the security agencies’ veterans. You have honourably withstood many difficult challenges and have overcome them both in time of peace and war, and despite the risks you have faced, you have always displayed professionalism and commitment in performing the tasks before you. With unprecedented courage and determination you have proved that there is nothing more valuable than faithful service to the Motherland and your people.

New heroic pages in the history of national special agencies are now being created by current generations within your ranks. I am confident that you will always toe the line of your legendary predecessors and will honorably continue the traditions they have established of being the reliable protectors of the Motherland.






Comrade officers,

We are witnessing a very difficult international situation today, the nature and the scale of today’s challenges and risks impose high demands on security agencies officers in, first and foremost, resolving our primary, top-priority objective, which is waging a fierce and an uncompromising battle against terrorism.

Over the last few years, we achieved significant success and maintained an overall positive dynamic in this difficult, enormously responsible area.

We have managed to dramatically reduce the threat of terrorism. In the last 11 years more than 200 terrorist acts were prevented, and the number of terrorist crimes committed was diminished exponentially over this same period. The vast majority of such crimes are prevented in the early stages of preparation.

Some 61 crimes, including 32 acts of terror were prevented in the 11 months of this year thanks to your coherent and efficient work. This is a strong result.

Yet many problems remain. It is important to stay on the offensive and do so with efficiency, liquidating cells of international terrorist groups in coordination with the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, identifying and cutting off their contacts, and not allowing their recruiters and emissaries to undermine us.

Other priority objectives include continuing our offensive tactics in counterintelligence and the fight against corruption and securing reliable protection of state borders.

Our citizens expect new successes from you in fighting extremism, which poses a direct threat to Russia’s unity. Any demonstration of xenophobia, social or religious animosity must be dealt with harshly, and we must not all allow people, especially young people to be drawn into in illegal anti-state activities.

The role of the Foreign Intelligence Service in ensuring our comprehensive security is growing. First and foremost, this requires the prompt and high-quality analysis of information coming from abroad, the drafting of forecasts on developments in the world overall, and in specific regions.

I would also like to highlight the professional and precise work of the Federal Guard Service and the Chief Directorate for Special Programmes. I have no doubt that you will continue to work just as reliably and efficiently.

Friends,

You are well aware that both the state and our people are doing everything necessary for you to carry out your productive work and for the further strengthening of the special agencies, technically, operationally and in terms of personnel. And this potential needs to be used to its full extent, to efficiently carry out all the objectives set before you.

I am confident that you will continue your conscientious work and will achieve substantial results in all the key areas that your agencies are responsible for.

I would like to thank Russian special agencies’ officers for the loyalty to their duty and the oath they have taken.

Congratulations on this holiday once again. I wish good health and all the best to you and your families.

And, of course, happy upcoming New Year of 2022!




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67387






Meeting with Promsvyazbank CEO Petr Fradkov



Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with Promsvyazbank CEO Petr Fradkov.



December 20, 2021 - 13:45 - The Kremlin, Moscow







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

It’s obvious that the organisation you head has established itself. You have succeeded in doing this.

Today I would like to discuss separately and to give priority attention to two items: the state defence order and its servicing, and the military mortgage scheme.



Promsvyazbank CEO Petr Fradkov:

Mr President, as per your instructions, we are establishing a base bank for the defence industry at Promsvyazbank. Of course, our main task is to service the state defence order and to finance defence industry enterprises.

At this moment, over 70 percent of enterprises on the register of the Industry and Trade Ministry are our customers.

If I may, I would like to give several figures, Mr President. The financing limit for defence industry enterprises is 1.5 trillion rubles, where at least 800 billion rubles’ worth of loans are issued at a preferential interest rate of 5–5.5 percent annually. In this sense, we are acting in accordance with our mission to implement the task you have set us, which is not only to remove sanction risks from the banking system in general, but also to provide soft-term financing to defence industry enterprises.

The same principle is being applied to the servicing of the state defence order and the contracts proper. We are servicing nearly 70 percent of state contracts signed by the Defence Ministry as a government customer. This is quite a lot. Back in the best periods, authorised banks serviced approximately 40 percent of contracts. In our case, the volume of transactions is huge: between 40,000 and 47,000 per day. Moreover, we also guarantee fail-safe service, which is of crucial importance to us.

At the same time, I would like to point out the following. We are not only working with enterprises and the Defence Ministry proper, but it is also extremely important for us to make our banking products available to military personnel. This is an important sphere. One such product is military mortgage. This is a broad subject.

Our bank is an absolute leader when it comes to this banking service: our portfolio of military mortgages is worth 82 billion rubles. This form of assistance has been recently provided to 50,000 military personnel families. We also take competitive terms into account and continue to develop this segment: as of now, our market share for this product is nearly 45 percent, and we will continue to make use of and strengthen our status as the base bank.

I would like to give several more figures, if I may. It is clear that our main function is to service the defence industry, but it is also extremely important to develop as a universal banking institution, in accordance with the initial decision. It is very important that we have tried to find a suitable format for remaining an effective market institution and to grow stronger as a bank while working to accomplish our special mission. We have grown a lot stronger recently. Our assets are currently worth 3.7 trillion rubles, which means that our bank confidently holds sixth place in the banking system, and we continue to actively develop.





Vladimir Putin:

Profit is growing.



Petr Fradkov:

Profit is also one of our main indicators – we are guided by it. As for such a strictly market indicator as return on equity, we are also at the same level as our competitors in a positive sense. It is very important for us to remain an effective institution rather than simply an instrument for distributing budget funds.

Finally, the corporate civilian sector is important for us too. We are also working with small and medium-sized businesses where we have strong positions as well. Thus, our portfolio for small and medium-sized enterprises is almost $800 billion rubles. Importantly, these are not only businesses involved in state defence order but, as a matter of fact, civilian companies – civilian mortgage and civilian aircraft leasing. All this is done through us, under the programmes you know well, for instance Sukhoi Superjet and helicopters, to name a few.






Vladimir Putin:

It is, of course, necessary to prop up defence industry enterprises when resolving diversification issues.



Petr Fradkov:

This is a separate area of our work. We understand that this is also our mandate. It is natural because we are working…



Vladimir Putin:

This applies precisely to medium and small-sized businesses.



Petr Fradkov:

…we are laying emphasis on this as well. Now the diversification portfolio amounts to 200 billion rubles.



Vladimir Putin:

In other words, you have singled it out as a separate area?



Petr Fradkov:

It is a separate area of our business. It is closely tied to defence.



Vladimir Putin:

I see. What can you say about the implementation of the tasks assigned to the defence industry in this context? How quickly will they be carried out?



Petr Fradkov:

We are conducting a special rating of corporate readiness for this work. In general, we are seeing that businesses are finally coming to realise that this is a natural environment for their existence and development. This is not something imposed on them from above but a natural way for them to survive in the near future. I am referring to a swing: either they will have to work in some areas of state defence order or compete in civilian markets. We are seeing that not all companies are ready for this, sometimes due to some difficulties with personnel. On the other hand, they do not know how to compete in market conditions.





Vladimir Putin:

Civilian market conditions.



Petr Fradkov:

These things are a bit different. It is not that they do not want to do this. Probably, they do not always know how to do this. Apart from using strictly financial instruments, we, also as a bank, are trying to draft non-financial support measures for them, to help companies focus on this area.



Vladimir Putin:

Diversification will certainly increase their technological potential, and, hence improve their work in their main line – defence production.



Petr Fradkov:

I think more and more businesses are coming to realise this.



Vladimir Putin:

Good.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67389






Telephone conversation with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi.



December 20, 2021 - 14:50



Vladimir Putin warmly thanked Narendra Modi for the hospitality extended to the Russian delegation during its top-level visit to New Delhi on December 6. The leaders discussed the practical aspects of efforts to implement the agreements reached following the talks. They expressed mutual intention to continue the further all-round development of relations of special privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India.

The two leaders continued to exchange views on the international stability and security problems, including the situation in the Asia-Pacific, continued.

The President of Russia and the Prime Minister of India exchanged greetings ahead of the New Year holidays.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67392






Condolences to President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte



Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to President of the Republic of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte in connection with the tragic aftermath of the typhoon that struck the central regions of the country.



December 20, 2021 - 17:00



The message reads, in part:

”Russia shares the grief of those who lost their family members and friends as a result of this natural disaster and wishes a speedy recovery to all those injured.“




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67396






Greetings to the IV Congress of Russian Popular Front



Vladimir Putin sent his greetings to the participants and guests of the 4th Congress of the Russian Popular Front nationwide movement.



December 21, 2021 - 09:00



The message reads, in part:

“Over the past decade, the Russian Popular Front (ONF) has come a long way, rallying many respected public organisations, and more importantly, hundreds of thousands of concerned citizens in all regions of Russia for implementing ambitious and much needed projects. It is notable that you not only monitor the efficiency of bodies of power at all levels and openly and frankly pinpoint problems, but you also actively contribute to their settlement in the interests of citizens.

The main ONF initiatives include support for the volunteer movement, organising free meals for primary school pupils and additional payments to doctors, as well as creating the system of environmental inspectors. I would like to emphasise the #WeAreTogether project designed to consolidate society against the dangerous pandemic based on the values of solidarity and mutual assistance. Of course, I am also grateful to you for your painstaking, caring and consistent work with millions of requests people send to the Direct Line.

I am confident and new proposals made during the Congress will become a substantial, integral part of the nationwide agenda and will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the bodies of power.”




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67411
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Old December 23rd, 2021 #44
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Expanded Meeting of the Defence Ministry Board



Vladimir Putin took part in the annual expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre.



December 21, 2021 - 14:30 - Moscow







Apart from the Armed Forces leadership, representatives of bodies of state power and public organisations, the meeting was attended by command officials from military districts, fleets and flotillas, military formations and units, as well as cadets and students of the Russian Defence Ministry’s higher education institutions, who have been invited to attend for the first time.

Following the meeting, the President toured a theme exhibition dedicated to the Defence Ministry Board’s final meeting in 2021. Accompanied by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, the President inspected promising samples of weapons and logistical support of the Russian army – advanced models of armaments, equipment, communications, intelligence and control.







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, comrade officers,

Let us get down to work.

We have always prioritised and still prioritise the development of the Armed Forces and efforts to strengthen Russia’s defence capability, and we will continue to do this in the future.

Today, at the annual expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board, we will discuss what has been accomplished in the field of military development throughout 2021, what results have been achieved in the main areas, and, of course, we will chart future tasks. This is what we always do at the Board’s annual meetings.

I would like to note right away that, just like 2020, the outgoing year has been something extraordinary, mostly due to the continued coronavirus pandemic. You and I realise this. And it is of paramount importance that the Armed Forces efficiently and smoothly accomplish all of their tasks in this challenging context.

For example, work continued on the modernisation of the Army and Navy on a grand scale. Consequently, the share of modern weapons exceeded 71 percent in the troops and 89 percent in the strategic nuclear forces.

We continued to actively develop cutting-edge weapons systems. Some of them, namely the Avangard and Kinzhal systems, have been put on combat duty.

The Navy accomplished a wide range of tasks. Russian ships and submarines constantly patrolled all important sectors of the world’s oceans. A combined naval grouping and long-range aviation units successfully accomplished combat-training tasks in the Baltic and Northern seas and in remote areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A group of submarines and other ships did the same in the Arctic Ocean, operating in difficult ice conditions.





I also want to note a further increase in the level of troops’ combat training. The results of the Zapad 2021 joint strategic exercises have shown this convincingly as the participants successfully practiced accomplishing the tasks of ensuring the security of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

Our military members in Syria acted honourably, as befits Russian soldiers. Their presence and assistance to the civilian population in solving humanitarian problems is making a tangible contribution to strengthening stability in that republic.

Our peacekeepers have been helping to maintain stability in Nagorno-Karabakh for over a year now. Largely thanks to their efforts, the humanitarian situation has improved in the region; several districts have been demined, the social infrastructure has been restored, and historical and cultural landmarks have been preserved. I would like to thank the personnel performing peacekeeping tasks for their professionalism, endurance and perseverance.

Military doctors deserve the highest praise for their hard work in difficult conditions, for their invaluable help to the civilian population: more than 30,500 patients have been treated at the Defence Ministry’s medical facilities, almost half of them civilians.

Military doctors have helped the civilian population in nine regions fight the coronavirus; they have even helped with the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered moderate or severe cases of the coronavirus infection and continue doing it. People continue to undergo rehabilitation treatment at 32 Defence Ministry health centres. Thank you.

I would like to emphasise that the army itself has taken the necessary measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus in its ranks. Almost 100 percent of military personnel have been vaccinated. This made it possible to stem the tide of infection and protect service members’ health, thereby ensuring high combat readiness among army units and divisions. True, the army has suffered from the coronavirus; there have been severe cases and losses – non-combat casualties. But overall, the Armed Forces have dealt with this problem successfully.

The military construction force has been operating with high efficiency. I am referring to more than building a significant amount of infrastructure for the army and navy on time. The military builders have also helped to ensure uninterrupted water supply to Crimea and Sevastopol. They have also helped build multifunctional medical centres and other socially significant facilities in many regions.

Comrade officers,

Relying on the solid foundation and a powerful research and technology achievements of the past few years, we must definitely continue to improve and strengthen our Armed Forces, which is exactly what we will do.






The military political situation in the world remains complicated, with increased conflict potential and new seats of tension in several regions. In particular, the growth of the US and NATO military forces in direct proximity to the Russian border and major military drills, including unscheduled ones, are a cause for concern.

It is extremely alarming that elements of the US global defence system are being deployed near Russia. The Mk 41 launchers, which are located in Romania and are to be deployed in Poland, are adapted for launching the Tomahawk strike missiles. If this infrastructure continues to move forward, and if US and NATO missile systems are deployed in Ukraine, their flight time to Moscow will be only 7–10 minutes, or even five minutes for hypersonic systems. This is a huge challenge for us, for our security.

In this context, as you are aware, I invited the US President to start talks on the drafting of concrete agreements. Incidentally, during our conversation he actually proposed appointing senior officials to oversee this sphere. It was in response to his proposal that we drafted our proposals on precluding the further eastward expansion of NATO and the deployment of offensive strike systems in the countries bordering on Russia. As you are aware, we have sent the drafts of relevant agreements to our American colleagues and the NATO leadership.

We need long-term legally binding guarantees. Well, we know very well that even legal guarantees cannot be completely fail-safe, because the United States easily pulls out of any international treaty that has ceased to be interesting to it for some reason, sometimes offering explanations and sometimes not, as was the case with the ABM and the Open Skies treaties – nothing at all.

However, we need at least something, at least a legally binding agreement rather than just verbal assurances. We know the worth of such verbal assurances, fine words and promises. Take the recent past, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when we were told that our concerns about NATO’s potential expansion eastwards were absolutely groundless. And then we saw five waves of the bloc’s eastward expansion. Do you remember how it happened? All of you are adults. It happened at a time when Russia’s relations with the United States and main member states of NATO were cloudless, if not completely allied.

I have already said this in public and will remind you of this again: American specialists were permanently present at the nuclear arms facilities of the Russian Federation. They went to their office there every day, had desks and an American flag. Wasn’t this enough? What else is required? US advisors worked in the Russian Government, career CIA officers gave their advice. What else did they want? What was the point of supporting separatism in the North Caucasus, with the help of even ISIS – well, if not ISIS, there were other terrorist groups. They obviously supported terrorists. What for? What was the point of expanding NATO and withdrawing from the ABM Treaty?





They are to blame for what is happening in Europe now, for the escalation of tensions there. Russia had to respond at every step, and the situation was continuously going from bad to worse. It was deteriorating all the time. And here we are today, in a situation when we are forced to resolve it: After all, we cannot allow the scenario I mentioned. Is anyone unable to grasp this? This should be clear.

Sometimes I wonder: Why did they do all this in the then conditions? This is unclear. I think the reason lies in the euphoria from the victory in the so-called Cold War or the so-called victory in the Cold War. This was due to their wrong assessment of the situation at that time, due to their unprofessional, wrong analysis of probable scenarios. There are simply no other reasons.

I would like to emphasise again: we are not demanding any special exclusive terms for ourselves. Russia stands for equal and indivisible security in the whole of Eurasia.

Naturally, as I have already noted, if our Western colleagues continue their obviously aggressive line, we will take appropriate military-technical reciprocal measures and will have a tough response to their unfriendly steps. And, I would like to stress that we are fully entitled to these actions that are designed to ensure Russia’s security and independence.

As we know well, they are operating thousands of kilometres away from their national territory under different pretexts, including the need to ensure their own security. When international law and the UN Charter get in their way, they declare them obsolete and unnecessary. However, when something meets their interests, they immediately refer to the norms of international law, the UN Charter, international humanitarian law and so on. These manipulations are annoying.






In this connection, as I have already said, it is important to continue planned, steady, systemic development of the Armed Forces, including in line with their priorities, set forth in the latest version of the National Security Strategy and the Concept for Building and Developing the Armed Forces through to 2030.

Next year, we will have to focus on the following main tasks.

First, it is necessary to continue the planned and well-balanced procurement of modern weapons and equipment for military units and to devote special attention to deliveries of high-precision systems, cutting-edge reconnaissance, navigation, communications and control systems.

Second, combat and tactical training programmes should prioritise efforts to master modern weaponry, as well as new forms and methods of combat operations. In this connection, combat training programmes should be modified, so that they can be taken into account during exercises next year, including the Vostok 2022 strategic command post exercise.

Third, all-out success in many spheres now directly depends on well-thought-out and rapid decision-making. In the military sphere, during combat operations, decisions are made in minutes or even seconds. It is therefore necessary to develop systems to support the decision-making process by commanders at all levels, especially at the tactical level, and to introduce elements of artificial intelligence into these systems.

Fourth, it goes without saying that effective operational algorithms should be established at all levels, and advanced automatic systems should also be introduced. At the same time, we can see that modern military conflicts do not take place under pre-set patterns. As before, commanders play a key role in these conflicts. A lot depends on their knowledge, experience, personal qualities, and those who make truly unconventional decisions win battles. Consequently, during operational and combat training, it is necessary to train versatile commanders who possess knowledge in all fields. They should be listed in the personnel pool of top military commanders, and it is necessary to keep an eye on them even now, to guide them and to provide them with opportunities for subsequent promotion.

And, finally, here is the fifth aspect. Given the complicated international situation, it is necessary to develop military and military-technical cooperation with states that are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and to pay special attention to strengthening the defence capability of the Russia-Belarus Union State.





Colleagues,

One of our absolute priorities is to increase the level of social guarantees for the military personnel. Defenders of the Motherland perform special tasks which are often highly complicated, demanding and perilous. We will make sure that they are duly rewarded for their service.

As in the previous years, the military allowance must be equivalent and even higher than the wages in the leading industries. We agreed on this with the Government several years ago.

For your information, we have managed to maintain this correlation. According to forecasts, the average wage across the economy as of the end of the year will be 55,000 rubles and the average wage in the leading industries (oil, finance and transport) will be 63,200 rubles. According to my data (the Finance Ministry’s numbers are slightly higher), the Defence Ministry’s average military allowance for lieutenants in 2021 is 81,200 rubles. The figure may differ as all lieutenants are different and serve differently – but the average level of compensation is 81,200 rubles while the leading industries show 63,200 rubles.

The Government must adjust the allowance for inflation and, of course, increase military pensions, in a timely manner and to the extent that will ensure that this correlation is maintained.





We continue to provide military personnel with permanent housing as planned. This year, 4,350 servicepeople purchased new flats using housing subsidies. In the course of the next three years, some 9,000 servicepeople will receive the subsidies. We plan to allocate around 113 billion rubles for this purpose from the federal budget.

The accumulative mortgage system continues to work effectively. Thanks to this programme, 15,000 military personnel have fulfilled their right to housing in 2021. Another 34,000 will obtain new housing in 2022–2024.

Service housing is provided at the same rate. Some 35,000 servicepeople will have obtained it by the end of the year, which is 14 percent higher than our plan.

We will continue to focus very closely on these and other issues concerning military personnel’s social security.

Finally, I would like to thank the leadership and staff of the Defence Ministry for their honest service and good performance. I am confident that you will continue to demonstrate professionalism and competence and use your best efforts to achieve high results. I wish you further success in your service for the benefit of Russia and our people.

Thank you.






Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu:

Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,

The global military political situation is deteriorating, and tension is growing on Russia’s western and eastern borders. The United States is increasing its forward-based deployment on Russia’s borders: a total of some 8,000 US rotation troops have been stationed in East European countries.

Regarding the US group of forces in Germany, the United States has re-activated the Theatre Fires Command, which was responsible for the use of intermediate-range missiles before 1991. The new Multi-Domain Task Force was formed which will be armed with various offensive missile systems.

Infrastructure for the deployment of a US armoured brigade is being created in Poland. The Aegis Ashore anti-missile capability will become operational soon. A similar BMD facility in Romania has already been put on combat duty.

The deployment of the Pacific segment of the global US BMD system is ongoing. A Joint Force Command of the Allied Command Operations (ACO) has been established in Norfolk to control maritime communications in the North Atlantic and the Arctic.

The United States and NATO are consistently increasing the scale and intensity of military training near Russia. These drills increasingly include the use of strategic aviation and simulated nuclear missile strikes at Russian targets. The number of flights by strategic aircraft near Russian borders has more than doubled. NATO pays special attention to redeployment of troops to the bloc’s eastern flank, including from the continental part of the United States.

The military drills include various scenarios involving the use of coalition groups of forces and non-NATO troops (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) against Russia. The desire of the Alliance to involve the Ukrainian armed forces in its military activities is threatening security, considering Kiev’s attempts at a military solution in Donbass.

The military development of Ukraine’s territory by NATO countries is underway. The situation is being further aggravated by the deliveries of US and allied helicopters, unmanned combat aerial vehicles and guided anti-tank missiles. The presence of over 120 members of US private military companies in Avdeyevka and Priazovskoye, Donetsk Region, has been proved reliably.

They are setting up firing positions in residential houses and social facilities and are preparing the Ukrainian special operations forces and far-right armed groups for active hostilities. Unidentified chemical warfare agents have been delivered to Avdeyevka and Krasny Liman for the purpose of provocations. The Ukrainian military keep up the shelling of civilian neighbourhoods in Donbass and the positions of the people’s militias of the Lugansk and Donetsk republics to provoke a response.

Destabilisation in Afghanistan is fraught with the export of terrorism and drugs to the CSTO countries.

We are closely monitoring the developments and promptly responding to all threats to military security.

The growing spread of the coronavirus is an additional factor that is affecting the situation. The Defence Ministry is making systemic efforts to counter it. Owing to the adopted measures, the rate of infection in the Armed Forces is 2.3 times below the national average, and the death rate is 50.4 times below it.

The number of laboratories in the Armed Forces has been increased by 8.5 times and the number of tests brought to 50,000 per week, which is 32 times more than the figure for civilian healthcare. The time for PCR tests has been reduced from 24 hours to 1.5 hour. The registration of a new test that produces results in 30 minutes is nearing completion.

Vaccines have been administered to 100 percent of army personnel and 70 percent of civilian staff. Planned booster shots are being administered under constant monitoring. Full-scale herd immunity has been achieved and maintained.

Owing to your support, a complex of high-tech facilities of the 27th Defence Ministry Research Centre has been built in less than a year. Medications against new infections are already being developed there.

The Defence Ministry is playing an active role in helping the civilian population. All your instructions on helping 16 regions and seven foreign countries with 5,000 medical workers, as well as supplying 71 tonnes of medications and over 1,000 tonnes of oxygen, have been fulfilled. All 32 hospitals built in 2020 are actively involved in eliminating the pandemic in all regions of Russia.

A series of measures on countering the coronavirus will allow us to maintain the high combat readiness of the Armed Forces, carry out all planned assignments and improve the quality of the army and navy.





As for the status of the Armed Forces, the staffing of officer positions has exceeded 96 percent. This year an additional 13,000 officers have been sent to the troops. The number of army personnel under contract has been double that of conscripts. Sixty seven percent of them have higher or secondary vocational education. Overall, the demographic setback of the past has been overcome and the staffing of the Armed Forces has reached 91 percent.

Today, all ground troop commanders have combat experience. The relevant figure for pilots is 92 percent, for air defence specialists 58 percent, and for the Navy 62 percent.

The chronic problem of permanent housing has been resolved after many years. Since 2018, army personnel have been receiving housing according to schedule. Over 19,500 people have been provided with permanent housing this year. The rates of providing service housing are not going down. This year, 35,000 people have received flats. Subsidies for housing sublease have been paid to over 64,000 army personnel.

The absolute majority of the service personnel support the defence activities of the state and trust the country’s leadership.

About increasing the combat capabilities of our Armed Forces: the Strategic Missile Force has completed the rearmament of the first missile regiment with the Avangard ICBMs with hypersonic glide vehicles. The first Yars launchers have been put on combat duty at two other regiments of the Strategic Missile Force.

The nuclear strategic aviation component has received four modernised Tu-95MS strategic missile platforms. One more Borei-A class nuclear-powered missile submarine armed with Bulava ballistic missiles has been put on combat duty in the Navy.

As the result of consistent, large-scale efforts undertaken at the direction of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the share of modern weapons in the country’s nuclear triad has reached a historic high of 89.1 percent.

A modern infrastructure is being created simultaneously with the delivery of the latest weapons to the Strategic Nuclear Forces. This year we have built 690 high-tech facilities.

Over 2,400 new and upgraded weapon system have been delivered to the Army, and motorised and tank divisions and missile as well as air defence brigades have been deployed.

Aviation and air defence missile brigades have been created in the Aerospace Forces. As many as 151 new and upgraded pieces of aviation equipment have been delivered.

The air and missile defence forces have been equipped with over 30 new systems, including the S-400 Triumf and S-350 Vityaz air defence systems. A separate aviation regiment has been created and equipped with the MiG-31K interceptors armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.

The combat capabilities and command technology of the Integrated Space System (ISS) are being improved. The fifth Kupol satellite has been put into orbit. The construction of the western modernised ISS command station has been completed, and the station is operating in pilot mode. The trials of the Altius-RU long endurance UAV are over. Delivery of the Inokhodets and Forpost reconnaissance-strike UAVs is underway.

The runways and basic infrastructure have been renovated at 29 airfields over the past seven years as part of upgrading the Armed Forces basing system, so that the new aircraft delivered there can use them.

The Navy received three modern submarines, four surface ships, 10 assault boats, 17 ships and support boats, as well as three coastal missile systems. This year, the Navy saw four new military units formed, including an artillery regiment and a naval engineering regiment.

State tests of the Zircon sea-based hypersonic cruise missile are nearing completion. Serial deliveries will begin next year. The coastal infrastructure facilities in Baltiysk and Novorossiysk have been commissioned. The construction of service housing in Gadzhiyevo is nearing completion. It will fully cover the needs of families of submariners, including the crews of the new nuclear-powered cruiser submarines that will enter service within the next four years.

Almost 500 units of new and modernised equipment, 13,000 sets of landing equipment and parachute systems have been supplied to the airborne troops, and two airborne parachute regiments have been formed.





Thus, the rearmament task set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief is being fulfilled diligently. The share of modern weapons in the equipment of the army and navy stands at 71.2 percent.

Measured in terms of modernisation, our Armed Forces are a global leader, while we rank ninth in terms of defence spending. As a result of the operational management of financial resources, over 258 billion rubles will be allocated to supply high-precision weapons. By 2026, the number of long-range high-precision weapon carriers will increase by 30 percent, and the number of cruise missiles of various types of deployment will double.

A number of innovations are being introduced to implement the state armament programme and the state defence order. This concerns the conclusion of long-term, up to 10 years, state contracts, ensuring timely delivery of weapons and equipment to troops, as well as technological preparedness and uniform workloads for industrial enterprises. The share of such state contracts amounted to 83 percent in 2021. The construction by 2030 of 34 surface ships and submarines, 20 of which are ships of the high seas range, is a positive example of their implementation. This approach will ensure continuity between the state armament programme in force until 2027 and the new programme until 2033 currently in the works.

An integrated approach to the maintenance and repair of aviation equipment is being implemented as part of the life cycle contracts that are concluded directly with the manufacturers based on the operating cost per flight hour. The terms and conditions of these contracts provide for the maintenance of 100 percent of the airplanes and helicopters in service. This made it possible to maintain the level of properly functioning aviation equipment at 83 percent or higher, which is more than double what we had in 2012.

The unified information system for state defence order settlements created by the Defence Ministry has become the country's first tool for ongoing automated monitoring and control over the use of budget funds. Today, it is a key tool for taking decisions on making advanced down payments to the defence industry companies and adjusting the state defence order. As a result, despite the existing restrictive measures, the state defence order was 99.4 percent fulfilled in terms of purchases, and 99.7 percent in terms of repairs and modernisation.

With regard to the force’s readiness to perform assigned tasks, the main event of the exercises was the joint Russian-Belarusian strategic exercise West-2021, which showed the ability of the newly created rank-and-file groups to effectively perform tasks to ensure regional security. About 200,000 servicemen were involved, including 2,000 from the CSTO, the SCO and other countries. Serially produced assault robotic systems were used on a large scale for the first time in battle formations.

The Armed Forces have carried out all planned combat training exercises, including 45 international exercises of various levels. This year, in the course of snap checks to test combat readiness of the troops, units and formations carried out regrouping at a distance of over 3,500 kilometres while carrying out training and combat missions at ranges outside assigned areas of responsibility.

For the first time in modern history, an operational exercise was conducted with a group of the Pacific Fleet forces in the high seas area, where the forces of the fleet carried out a covert deployment in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean.

An unparalleled integrated Arctic expedition Umka was conducted on the Franz Josef Land archipelago. All tested weapons have complied with their technical specs in high latitudes and low temperatures.

There is growing interest among foreign countries in the International Army Games. It is the largest event of its kind and took place on the territory of 11 states. More than 6,200 military personnel from 42 countries took part in them. The Games were attended by over 1.5 million spectators. Intense combat drilling made it possible to increase the level of training of commanders and staffs in performing tasks on unfamiliar terrain, as well as to improve the cohesion of the Armed Forces’ formations and units.

In terms of implementing tasks abroad, the Russian contingent continues performing its peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh. It has discovered and destroyed 26,065 explosive devices and conducted 222 humanitarian operations. As a result, Nagorno-Karabakh has been living in conditions of ceasefire, peace and security for more than a year now.

The Russian contingent is the main guarantor of preserving peace in Syria. Aid was rendered to the Syrian state in settling the tensions that had escalated in the south of the country in summer. The direct participation of Russian advisors made it possible to avoid bloodshed and stabilise the situation in Daraa Governorate. Russian military personnel carried out over 3,000 humanitarian operations and delivered over 5,000 tonnes of cargo. Military medical workers rendered assistance to 132,000 civilians. Over 2,300,000 Syrian citizens returned to their pre-war places of residence.

We continue improving the military and social infrastructure of our military bases abroad. The work on expanding the Western runway has been completed at the Khmeimim air base. The construction of a cultural and leisure centre and a sports complex on an overall area of over 8,000 square metres has been completed in Armenia.

The Defence Ministry maintains cooperation with the armed forces of 109 countries. This graphically shows the futility of Western attempts to isolate Russia on the international arena.

We continued strengthening allied relations with the CSTO, the CIS and the SCO. This year we conducted the third joint air patrol with the People’s Liberation Army of China and the first marine patrol. We will continue this work.





China, India, Algeria, Egypt, Vietnam and Myanmar remain our main partners in military-technical cooperation. Delegates from 109 countries took part in the Ninth Moscow Conference on international security last June. This was the world’s largest military-political event in terms of its participants’ lineup.

The Army annual forum promoted international military-technical cooperation. It was attended by delegations from 117 foreign states, while the number of visitors exceeded 1.7 million people.

Advanced military training. We have completed the establishment of a network of Defence Ministry universities and the digital transformation of military education, creating an integrated digital educational environment at schools and research establishments. We have organised the enrolment of over 13,000 cadets and trainees. The number of male enrolment applicants was over six and female applicants – 17 per place.

As per your instructions, we have started to gradually increase the system of military training at civilian schools. At present, over 63,000 students are attending 104 military training centres.

New blocks have been completed and equipped with the latest educational and material facilities at the Omsk Cadet Corps. The construction of a sports centre with a swimming pool and a skating rink has been completed at the Tver Suvorov Military School. In the next two years, we will establish a Suvorov military school in Irkutsk, schools for girls in Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk, and a school for gifted children at the ERA Military Innovation Technopolis in Anapa.

Social protection. Mr President, thanks to your decisions, we have implemented additional social support measures for the military personnel who are protecting the security of the state under conditions involving risk to life.

The Defence Ministry has allocated an additional 180.2 billion rubles to increase the number of military personnel serving under contracts in 2021–2023. Military pay has been raised by 3.7 percent this year. In 2022 and 2023, it will be increased over and above the initial plan. These measures are increasing the attractiveness of military service and the number of highly skilled professionals willing to join the Armed Forces.

The Defence Ministry has created an efficient system of interaction with the authorities on issues of social support for military families. As a result, the number of military wives in need of jobs has decreased 19 times, and the number of children waiting for kindergarten places, 15 times.

Work is ongoing to provide additional opportunities and privileges to military personnel and their families. Under the Russian Army Partners loyalty programme launched on November 1, military personnel have access to a 30 percent discount for a broad range of goods sold at Voentorg partner stores.

The Defence Ministry’s decisions on military medicine made it possible to bring it to the most advanced positions in the country. Today, 50 military medical organisations are offering telemedicine services, with more than 1,500 of such services provided in 2021, which helped reduce overall morbidity among military personnel.

This year, the military construction complex has put into operation advanced Defence Ministry-operated medical facilities in Moscow, St Petersburg and Vladikavkaz, which made it possible to make qualified and specialised medical assistance available to a greater number of military personnel and civilians.

In addition, in accordance with your instructions, a new diagnostic centre has been built in Kyzyl. Work is underway to build medical centres in St Petersburg, Moscow, and Tula Region. The total area of the sites under construction will amount to almost 80,000 square metres.

Troop accommodation. Two military bases have been built on the Arctic islands and archipelagos, and in remote coastal areas. Combat duty of air defence units and coastal missile systems has been organised there. The renovation of five air fields to receive all types of aircraft is nearly complete. These measures made it possible to reliably protect Russia’s Arctic borders against foreign states’ aggressive military activities.

Special attention is paid to northern deliveries. This year, more than 72,000 tonnes of various cargoes were delivered to 152 hard-to-access deployment stations. The deliveries were completed by October 1.

Work to clean up the environmental damage to the Arctic continued. During the year, 3200 tonnes of scrap metal were collected and removed from the area. In all, over 28,000 tonnes of debris have been removed since this work began.





This year, the military construction complex has implemented major infrastructure projects on a tight schedule within three, four and seven months. This was achieved through the use of standard and modern technical projects. As a result, one ruble invested returned more than two rubles worth of newly introduced fixed assets.

Military settlements are being developed as planned. This year, 692 park and barrack housing area buildings and structures were built.

Teamwork to build refuelling complexes at military airfields continues with four more refuelling complexes built this year. Oil companies invested 21.4 billion rubles in this project.

The missile and ammunition storage system is continually improved with 66 new modern storage facilities built, which brought their total number to 602.

In accordance with the instructions issued by the President of the Russian Federation, a Railway Force unit is reconstructing the Baikal-Amur Mainline at the Ulak-Fevralsk section, which is 339 kilometres long. The preparatory work was completed in full ahead of schedule. New railway track is being laid at the Drogoshevsk-Skalisty section.

Property that is not used for the needs of the Armed Forces was transferred to municipal owners. This is an ongoing effort with 2,982 properties transferred this year. The funds thus saved were used to build new military infrastructure.

Military-political work. Commanders-in-chief and commanders of military-political bodies continued to maintain the high level of moral and political state of the forces and their readiness to perform combat missions in any conditions. At the same time, the range of tasks addressed by the military-political bodies is widening. Much is yet to be done in this sector.

In the year of the 76th anniversary of Victory, the Ministry of Defence has implemented major patriotic and cultural projects. Military parades were held in 28 cities. By tradition, the Main Naval Parade took place.

In order to preserve the historical memory, 86 combat standards have been handed over to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The museum and temple complex has become a destination for a true Russian pilgrimage. Over 100 major events were held on its territory since the start of the year, which were attended by nearly three million people. A total of 248 Patriot parks have been opened across the country, 29 of these this year alone.

Systematic work to educate young people in the military patriotic spirit has continued. Its core is the Young Army movement, which has embraced all the regions of Russia and includes over one million teenagers. This year, it has marked its fifth anniversary.

Jointly with the leadership of Moscow and Moscow Region, we have organised the Avangard Centre for Military Patriotic Education of the Youth. Since the start of the year, over 10,000 young men and women have undergone primary combat and military training there. Identical centres are being created in all cities with a population of over 100,000. In keeping with your instructions, 40 such centres have been established to date.

Earlier this year, the Defence Ministry organised a multi-function TV complex with studio hardware and equipment. It makes it possible to inform the public about the Armed Forces’ development and activities at a new qualitative level. Thus, all conditions are available for making patriotic films on this basis on orders from the Defence Ministry and other armed agencies.

Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,

All the tasks assigned to the Armed Forces for 2021 have been accomplished. The Armed Forces’ combat capability has grown by 12.8 percent; the prescribed level of national defence capability has been ensured. The implementation of all signed contracts has ensured the delivery of over 5,000 main armament models. The rearmament of the Army and the Navy and regular servicing have made it possible to maintain military equipment in good condition at the level of 95 percent.

Over 3,000 buildings and facilities with a total floor area of 2.5 million square metres have been commissioned. In 2021, the overall volume of capital investment transferred to users has exceeded 155 billion rubles. Thereby, the number of unfinished construction projects has been considerably reduced.

Russian society has a high regard for the Defence Ministry’s activities. Over 90 percent of Russian citizens are confident that the Armed Forces are capable of defending the country, and 88 percent are proud of the Army and Navy.

I would like to outline high-priority tasks for 2022.

Under the rearmament programme, we need to provide the Strategic Missile Forces with 21 launchers, with Yars, Avangard and Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles and place them on combat duty. The Air Force’s strategic nuclear units should receive two Tupolev Tu-160M strategic missile carriers. The Generalissimo Suvorov, a Borei-A-class strategic ballistic missile submarine, should enter service with the Navy.

Regarding general-purpose forces. Ground Forces, the Airborne Forces and the Navy’s coastal troops should receive over 1,000 modern armoured vehicles, tanks and artillery systems. The Air Force and the Navy should receive 257 new and upgraded aircraft, as well as S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems for five air-defence battalions. The Navy should receive five submarines, 11 ships and three gunboats. Military units should receive two coastal missile systems.

The number of contract service personnel should increase by 14,700. It is necessary to prepare and conduct the Vostok and Grom strategic command post exercise. We have to commission 3,000 buildings and structures simultaneously with procuring new weaponry and equipment. The digital transformation of recruiting offices should be completed in the next two years. On the one hand, this will make it possible to reduce personnel and on the other hand, to raise wages.

The Defence Ministry has accomplished a lot for the sake of boosting the country’s defence capability, but much remains to be done.

Thus, over the years, huge overdue infrastructure-overhaul projects have accumulated at military bases and settlements. We are taking action, but this is not enough. We will ask the Government to triple funding for these purposes. We will complete an inventory of housing for officers by the end of the first quarter of 2022, and we will later suggest a plan for financing the allocation of such housing, as well as the required funding for housing sub-lease contracts.

Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,

In accordance with your instruction, we will continue to ensure the sustainable development of the Armed Forces and to enhance their combat capabilities throughout 2022. We will discuss the results of our activities in great detail at our limited-attendance meeting.

That concludes my report.





Vladimir Putin:

On an informal note, I would like to add a few words to what the Minister said and what I said in my opening remarks. Everyone is discussing this and, of course, primarily the Armed Forces. I am referring to our documents, our draft treaties and agreements on ensuring strategic stability that we sent to the leadership of the United States and NATO.

We already see that some of our detractors are interpreting them as Russia’s ultimatum. Is it an ultimatum or not? Of course, not.

As a reminder: everything that our partners – let us call them that – the United States has been doing in previous years, supposedly ensuring its interests and security thousands of kilometres away from their national territory – they have been doing these tough things, the boldest things, without UN Security Council authorisation.

What was the pretext to bomb Yugoslavia? Was it authorised by the Security Council, or what? Where is Yugoslavia and where is the United States? They destroyed the country. Indeed, there was an internal conflict, they had their own problems, but who gave them the right to conduct airstrikes against a European capital? No one did. They just chose to do so, and their satellites were running behind them yelping along. So much for international law.

Under what pretext did they go into Iraq? It was Iraq developing weapons of mass destruction. They went in, destroyed the country, created a hotbed of international terrorism, and then it turned out that they made a mistake: “The intelligence failed us.” Wow! They destroyed a country. The intelligence failed – that is all they had to say to justify their actions. It turned out there were no weapons of mass destruction there. On the contrary, everything had been destroyed as agreed.

How did they go into Syria? With Security Council authorisation? No. They do as they please. However, what they are doing, or trying or planning to do in Ukraine, is not happening thousands of kilometres away from our national border. It is on the doorstep of our house. They must understand that we simply have nowhere further to retreat to.

There are experts here, sitting with us, I stay in constant contact with them. The United States does not possess hypersonic weapons yet, but we know when they will have it. It cannot be hidden. Everything goes on record, successful or unsuccessful tests alike. We have a sense of when it might happen. They will supply hypersonic weapons to Ukraine and then use them as cover – that does not mean that they will start using them tomorrow, because we already have Tsircon and they do not – to arm extremists from a neighbouring state and incite them against certain regions of the Russian Federation, such as Crimea, when they think circumstances are favourable.

Do they really think we do not see these threats? Or do they think that we will just stand idly watching threats to Russia emerge? This is the problem: we simply have no room to retreat. That is the question.

Armed conflicts and bloodshed are absolutely not our choice. We do not want to see events go that way. We want to use political and diplomatic means to resolve problems but we want to at least have clearly formulated legal guarantees. This is what our proposals are all about. We set them down on paper and sent them to Brussels and Washington, and we hope to receive a clear and comprehensive response to these proposals.

There are certain signals that our partners appear to be willing to work on that. However, there is also a danger that they will attempt to drown our proposals in words, or in a swamp, in order to take advantage of this pause and do whatever they want to do.

To make it clear to everyone: we are aware of this, and this turn of events, these developments, will not work for us. We look forward to constructive and meaningful talks with a visible outcome – and within a definite timeframe – that would ensure equal security for all.

This is what we will strive to achieve, but we can do so only if the Armed Forces are developing properly. In recent years, we have been able to manage this, and we have achieved a good level of combat readiness. I mentioned this, and the Minister has just reported about it. We are moving forward at a decent pace – the kind of pace that we need.

There are matters that need more attention, such as the production side, which we deal with on an ongoing basis. As you may be aware, we meet in Sochi twice a year. Why Sochi? It is not because of the good weather, but because everyone is going there, and we tune out distractions such as routine matters and focus on the defence industry and the development of the Armed Forces. These meetings are quite meaningful and effective.

To reiterate, there are many questions, but we are on top of them. I very much hope that we will continue to keep up this pace as we move forward in our efforts to ensure the security of Russia and its citizens.

Thank you very much. Happy New Year!




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67402
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Old December 26th, 2021 #45
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Underwater missile cruisers Knyaz Oleg and Novosibirsk join the Navy



The President took part in a ceremony marking the induction of nuclear missile submarines Knyaz Oleg and Novosibirsk into the Russian Navy.



December 21, 2021 - 16:10 - Moscow






Deputy Defence Minister Alexei Krivoruchko and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Nikolai Yevmenov reported to Vladimir Putin, via a video linkup from Severodvinsk, about the missile carriers’ readiness for raising the naval flags.







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Comrade officers,

Greetings and congratulations on a new important milestone in the history of the Russian Armed Forces.

Today, naval flags will be raised on nuclear submarines Knyaz Oleg and Novosibirsk as the new missile carriers are becoming part of the Navy.

I would like to thank the workers of Sevmash, which is our leading manufacturer of nuclear-powered submarines, and to thank everyone who participated in designing and creating these modern ships. You have done an excellent job.

The new submarines have a formidable striking power. Knyaz Oleg is equipped with Bulava ballistic missiles while all-purpose submarine Novosibirsk has Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles and is able not only to effectively neutralise sea-based targets, but also to deliver high-precision strikes against targets on land.

Very soon, Knyaz Oleg and Novosibirsk will become part of the Pacific Fleet and will significantly boost its combat potential. They will ensure Russia’s security and reliably protect our national interests in the World Ocean.





The new submarines are the first serial ships built under these projects, and we will continue to create these ships. Under the current state armament programme, five more Borey-A project submarines and six Yasen-M project submarines will be built and will join the fleet. Sevmash will build them all.

We will step up our efforts to renovate the Navy, to build modern submarines and surface ships of various designs and classes, to simultaneously develop coastal infrastructure and, of course, to improve the social guarantees for military personnel and boost the prestige of military professions.

Service in the Navy has become the life calling for many generations of sailors. The Defence Minister has just told me that seven family members of the Novosibirsk underwater missile cruiser commander, Captain 1st rank Shpirko, seven officers, have devoted their lives to service in the Navy at different times. This is a good example of preserving the glorious traditions of the Navy, devotion and loyalty to the Navy and the Motherland.

In conclusion, I would like to once again thank everyone who was involved in creating these formidable ships. I am confident that Knyaz Oleg and Novosibirsk crews will make a worthy contribution to strengthening Russia’s defence capability and protecting our people.

I wish you every success in your service.

I propose that we raise the flags.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67424






Telephone conversation with Mark Koblenev



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with 14-year-old Mark Koblenev from the Moscow Region, a participant in the New Year Tree of Wishes national campaign.



December 21, 2021 - 17:10






The President, who is taking part in the campaign for the fourth time this year, made Mark’s New Year wish come true and gave him a guitar.

Apart from the musical instrument and a guitar training course the boy received, Mark and his mother got to visit the Igor Krutoy Academy. After touring the academy, Mark attended a tutorial organised by composer and Distinguished Artist of Russia Viktor Zinchuk.





The boy shared his impressions of the visit during his telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin and discussed his first guitar lesson.

Earlier, the President fulfilled the wish of 13-year-old Tanya from the Stavropol Territory: the girl saw the ballet Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67425






Telephone conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron as part of the regular top-level contacts between Russia and France.



December 21, 2021 - 18:00



Vladimir Putin began the conversation by wishing Emmanuel Macron a happy birthday. The two leaders also exchanged Christmas and New Year greetings.

They continued discussing ways of enhancing stability and security in Europe, with a focus on the drafts of a Russia-US treaty on security guarantees and an agreement on measures to ensure the security of Russia and the NATO member countries, which were sent to the addressees, including France, and then published. Vladimir Putin informed his French counterpart of Russia’s diplomatic efforts in this area.

The discussion also touched on the recent complications with settling the internal conflict in Ukraine, caused by Kiev’s unwillingness to honour the Minsk agreements. The President of Russia emphasised that the possibility of holding a new summit in the Normandy format depends on Kiev taking practical steps to implement the Minsk Package of Measures.

The situation in Mali was reviewed at Emmanuel Macron’s initiative.

During an exchange on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, the leaders expressed satisfaction with how the situation has stabilised and with the efforts to return to peaceful life and restore economic and transport links in the region. It was noted that Russia and France are coordinating actions on these issues and intend to continue doing so.

Vladimir Putin directed attention to the restrictions that continue to be imposed on Russia Today news channel in France. Hope was expressed that our channel will be given the same opportunities to work without discrimination that French media enjoy in Russia.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67426






Telephone conversation with Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz.



December 21, 2021 - 19:05



Vladimir Putin congratulated Olaf Scholz on the start of his work as Federal Chancellor. Both sides expressed interest in further developing bilateral ties and contacts via different channels. It was noted in this context that as the First Mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz was in charge of sister-city ties with St Petersburg for many years.

Vladimir Putin spoke about the Russian proposals on long-term legally binding security guarantees that rule out any further expansion of NATO eastwards and the deployment of offensive weapons systems in the countries adjacent to Russia. In this context, detailed comments were provided on the content of the draft Russian-US treaty on security guarantees and the draft agreement on measures to ensure security of Russia and NATO member states, which were sent to Russia’s Western partners, including Germany.

Hope was expressed that serious talks would be organised on all issues raised by Russia.

The problem of settling the domestic conflict in Ukraine was reviewed in detail at the request of the Federal Chancellor. Vladimir Putin gave an extensive update on the situation in this area, noting, in particular, that Kiev still refuses to honour its commitments under the 2015 Minsk agreements, which impedes the potential holding of a new summit in the Normandy format.

It was agreed to continue exchanging views on the topics discussed and other international and bilateral issues during future contacts.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67427






Meeting with permanent members of the Security Council



The President held a meeting, via videoconference, with permanent members of the Security Council.



December 21, 2021 - 20:55 - The Kremlin, Moscow



The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin, and Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov.







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Colleagues,

Today, we will discuss the draft Basic Principles of State Policy in Aviation through to 2030.

Let us get down to work.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67430






Meeting with Delovaya Rossiya head Alexei Repik



Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Head of the Delovaya Rossiya National Public Organisation Alexei Repik.



December 22, 2021 - 14:05 - The Kremlin, Moscow







President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Good afternoon, Mr Repik.



President of Delovaya Rossiya Alexei Repik:

Good afternoon, Mr President.



Vladimir Putin:

I can see here that the organisation has just marked 20 years.



Alexei Repik:

That is correct. Twenty years have gone by just like that. As you rightly noted, this year on December 10, Delovaya Rossiya marked its 20th anniversary. The Ministry of Justice registered the organisation on that day. We have come a long way since then.



Vladimir Putin:

How many members do you have right now?



Alexei Repik:

The organisation currently unites more than 7,000 entrepreneurs, mainly representatives of private non-commodity businesses. I hope that we can rely on such companies in our transition to a new model of economic growth, thus helping to improve the welfare of our citizens, fulfilling all the presidential executive orders and achieving the national goals you set.

I would like to thank my colleagues in Delovaya Rossiya for their tireless work and for being the driving force for important changes, including national entrepreneurial initiatives that we spoke about not so long ago, during the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Supervisory Board meeting, and the national technology initiative. But it was your support that made it happen.



Vladimir Putin:

It was your active effort.



Alexei Repik:

Our effort actually met with a serious response. As an example, I would like to mention our most recent forum that was held before COVID-19, in February 2019. You issued a series of instructions, and a great number of proposals were almost immediately implemented. New families that had to sell their only home to improve their living situation were exempt from personal income tax. Regions started working on the tax rebate from investment. There are still adjustments to make here and there – and I will speak about this in more detail today.

The profit tax exemption for educational organisations and healthcare providers has been extended. The donation procedure has been simplified. Payment systems have lowered their acquiring fees. They tried to bump the fees up again, but I think that we will still be able to fix it.

By the way, simultaneous administrative action against a legal entity and its worker for the same violation has been removed from the new version of the Code of Administrative Offenses. In fact, I can say that there has been much progress.



Vladimir Putin:

You know, this is not the first time many of these matters have been raised. This is why it is so important for the state to keep up the dialogue with representatives of the business community. Of course, it is essential not only that we engage in dialogue, but also that both sides adequately contribute to it, and overall, we have been quite successful on this front.



Alexei Repik:

Mr President, thank you very much for your assessment. First, taking this opportunity, I would like to invite you to Delovaya Rossiya’s annual forum. We usually hold it in early February, so in early February 2022 there will be a very packed agenda.

We had to take a break in 2020 and in 2021, because of the pandemic, but I do think that if you can find an opportunity to take part in the forum in person, despite your very busy schedule, this will guarantee the event’s success. We have already framed the forum’s agenda by singling out the main blocks.





Vladimir Putin:

I will try to make it. Attending your events has always been a very interesting experience for me, because far from routine events, these forums are about substance and are held in a business-like manner.



Alexei Repik:

Yes, Mr President. In fact, we have already articulated a whole range of ideas. If you will allow me, I will briefly outline the discussion topics for the forum that enjoy the largest support among businesses.



Vladimir Putin:

Could you simply list them, so that we can discuss them later?



Alexei Repik:

Of course. I will just name them, as you have asked. The first one deals with the performance of the so-called regulatory guillotine. Much has been done in this regard, you know. The Government phased out more than 12,000 old, inadequate instruments and adopted 447 to replace them. These efforts are headed in the right direction. When this is the case, one always feels compelled to aim even higher. We would like to expand this effort to cover departmental letters and excessive reporting. There are topics where this approach is especially effective.

Another block of issues relates to coordination efforts with regulators. In this field, the Federal Taxation Service brilliantly launched a project on consultations, substantiated opinions and explanations, which enables investors to inquire about future developments, get an opinion and proceed from there.

If we succeed in expanding this pilot project to cover other agencies as well… We are proactively working together with the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, which is currently a key structure when it comes to launching new investment projects, and we got a lot of help from the senior officials. This also applies to the Federal Customs Service. If we get a chance to build on this initiative…



Vladimir Putin:

Every agency is special in its own way, but this does preclude them from being guided by shared approaches.



Alexei Repik:

Investment incentives are probably the largest segment.

The economy is now posting high interest rates. Unfortunately, this is so, and we have to activate new lending mechanisms and to provide assistance. Today, I have already mentioned investment tax deductions and tax loans. By the way, I would like to thank the Government, which provided businesses with tax deferrals worth almost 55 billion rubles during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perhaps we should now talk about investment incentives, rather than only efforts to bail out businesses. It should be noted that the Russian economy probably coped with this tremendous stress and blow better than most, if not all, other economies.



Vladimir Putin:

This is correct. According to the Central Bank, investment volumes did not subside.





Alexei Repik:

They did not subside. But you see, we have to provide regions and sectors with diverse and wide-ranging investment. It appears that we should help those regions which lack well-balanced budgets and reimburse them for part of the federal budget’s revenue shortfalls.



Vladimir Putin:

When I mentioned the Central Bank, I mostly meant lending volumes, of course. But, to be honest, investment levels…



Alexei Repik:

Corporate lending plans have now become more expensive, and we all realise this. This is probably linked with inflation that we import. Some of our foreign colleagues are not behaving very responsibly, they are printing money and saturating the economy with it.



Vladimir Putin:

We were even forced to implement some measures, as well, and to issue a small amount of money. What is to be done? But we did this much more prudently.



Alexei Repik:

This is absolutely correct. But I hope that we will be able to implement our most ambitious projects in these situations. And now, I would like to show you some of them and to discuss them, and many new projects can be launched. Although they may not be the largest projects, they are important for various entities and regions of the Russian Federation.



Vladimir Putin:

This is how it will be.



Alexei Repik:

Thank you very much.




The source of information - https://www.youtube.com/c/TheKremlinStories/videos






Telephone conversation with Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel



Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel.



December 22, 2021 - 18:15



The leaders discussed in detail issues related to the prospects of settling the conflict in the southeast of Ukraine and the migration problem at the border between Belarus and European Union countries.

The President of Russia gave a principled assessment of Kiev’s destructive actions that have led to a deadlock in the talks on settling the domestic crisis in Ukraine. Emphasis was placed on the need for a full and unconditional implementation of the Minsk Package of Measures by the Ukrainian authorities.

At the Prime Minister’s request, Vladimir Putin told him about the Russian initiative on long-term, binding security guarantees that would rule out NATO’s further eastward expansion and deployment of weapons systems that threaten Russia in adjacent states, primarily Ukraine.

Xavier Bettel supported the idea of increasing contact between EU structures and Russian representatives.

The two leaders exchanged Christmas and New Year greetings.




The source of information - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67435
__________________
Where should they dig the Very Deep Pit?
Piglet said that the best place would be somewhere where a Heffalump was, just before he fell into it, only about a foot farther on.
(c) Alan Alexander Miln
 
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