Press Conference of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin
Began a press conference question the representative of "Komsomolskaya Pravda." The question was as follows: does the president’s forecast remain that it will take about two years for Russia to overcome the crisis?
The president began the answer with a joke:
At the same time, the president himself used the question to provide data on the economic dynamics. The data presented by the president are as follows:
GDP declined by 3,7%, inflation is 12,3%.
At the same time, investment in fixed assets increased over 10 months by 5,7%. From September-October GDP growth is fixed at the level of 0,1-0,3%, from September-October the growth of industrial production amounted to 0,1-0,2%. In the Far East, the growth of 3,1%, and in the agricultural sector - no less than 3%. The second year's grain harvest exceeds 100 million tons. Unemployment is about 5,6%. Positive balance of trade balance - $ 126,3 billion. Reserves of Russia - 364,4 billion dollars. In the 3 quarter of 2015, even a net capital inflow was noted, which Putin believes is an indicator of the attractiveness of the economy for investors.
According to the president of Russia, the peak of the economic crisis has already passed. It is worth recalling that earlier, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the crisis itself was left behind ...
Vladimir Putin:
Vladimir Putin noted the increase in life expectancy in Russia to 71, the increase in the availability of kindergartens to 97%.
At the same time, the president specified an earlier statement made by Medvedev on forecasts of economic growth. According to the head of state, GDP growth in 2016 will be 0,7%, in 2017 - 1,9%, in 2018 - 2,4% - but this growth will take place only if oil prices rise to 50 dollars per barrel. The President says that the forecasts can be adjusted if oil remains extremely cheap - at the current level or even cheaper.
Vladimir Putin once again noted the substantial dependence of the economy on the export of oil, gas and other raw materials. What is not noted, frankly, difficult. At the same time, the president raises the issue of increasing the efficiency and productivity of labor, raising the quality of jobs, their adequacy to modern requirements.
A whole series of questions was devoted to how Vladimir Putin relates to the work of various officials, in particular, to the work of the government and the Central Bank.
No sensation about the announcement of high-profile resignations, as someone might have expected, did not happen again. The president said that the work of the government as a whole is satisfactory, but he added that the Cabinet allows a considerable number of flaws. So, according to the president, about 35% of the points of the so-called anti-crisis plan remain unfulfilled. Nevertheless, according to Putin, there is no need to try to solve problems with a personnel leapfrog in the same cabinet, but you need to substantively and jointly work on each of the issues without switching to some separate personalities. According to the president, he feels personally responsible for the mistakes that are made by representatives of the Cabinet.
Reflecting on the work of the Central Bank, the head of state noted that the rate in 11% is high, but he supports the decision of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, since this decision helped stabilize the macroeconomic situation in the country and did not slip into the area of deep recession. The President believes that the task of reducing inflation is something that should be addressed first.
If, when discussing economic indicators, Putin was very restrained and focused solely on advantages, then the President’s questions about relations with Turkey caused a flurry of emotions. The most memorable moment, perhaps, is related to the question of a Turkish journalist about why it is so difficult to defeat ISIS, and whether there is a 3 side to the Russian-Turkish relations in the outbreak of a cold snap.
Vladimir Putin said that he certainly doesn’t know about the presence of the 3 side, but does not rule out that someone in the Turkish leadership decided to lick one place from the Americans.
At the same time, the head of state once again reminded that Turkey had committed a hostile act against Russia - shot down the plane, although literally several days before the incident, she asked Russia for assistance in some (Putin did not disclose all the details of the conversation with Erdogan) very sensitive Ankara question. Russia agreed to help resolve the Turkish problem, but immediately received a stab in the back.
What did this Turkey, who ran to hide under the umbrella of NATO, has achieved? - the president of the Russian Federation asks. Putin notes that Russia has increased the number of its anti-terrorist group in Syria, has delivered C-400 complexes to Latakia, and also modernized Syria’s air defense system. Speaking of the fact that earlier Turkey had repeatedly violated the Syrian air borders, Vladimir Putin pointedly noted:
Answering the question of why it is so difficult to resist ISIS, Vladimir Putin was extremely frank. He expressed his personal point of view on the question of where the barbarian caliphate came from, so to speak. The Russian president notes that the same Turkish authorities, after Iraq was rattled by the Americans, made an attempt to steal oil theft in this country. Oil traffic had to be controlled and protected by someone. For this purpose, groups were created that acted and continue to operate under the slogan of Islamism, having nothing to do with Islam itself. Putin called such persons cannon meat of Islamism.
Vladimir Putin cited the latest data from the Ministry of Defense that in one of the squares, the reconnaissance assets recorded a cluster of as many 11 thousand gas tankers that smuggle oil from the deposits controlled by the militants (their patrons). According to the president, this criminal business brings huge profits to interested parties and is actually the basis of the policies of certain states in the Middle East.
According to the president, Russia began to contact to counter the ISIL militants with the so-called moderate opposition, and this fact was noted by Vladimir Putin as a positive moment.
As if after, but closer to the end of the press conference, the question from an Egyptian journalist was asked whether the head of Russia considers the new Saudi coalition, consisting of Sunni states, anti-Russian?
Vladimir Putin noted that he has contacts with the Saudi leadership, and that it is unlikely that anyone would need to put together an outright anti-Russian coalition. In this case, I would like to be filled with optimism of Vladimir Putin, after all, I remember that a couple of months ago it was difficult to believe that Turkey could reach the attack of the Russian aircraft ... And she came ...
Answering one of the Egyptian journalist's questions about when Egypt will be open for Russian tourists, Putin said that the law enforcement system of Egypt and its special services, unfortunately, are not yet ready to guarantee the safety of Russian citizens in connection with the terrorist threat, which is also for citizens Egypt itself.
Other questions were posed to the president regarding the situation in Syria. Firstly, what can be considered the final point of the operation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the SAR, secondly, whether such an operation takes too many funds from the budget, thirdly, will Russia continue to support Bashar Assad, fourthly, can generally solve the Syrian crisis by political means?
Vladimir Putin noted that it is only through political means that the Syrian crisis will ultimately be resolved, and that no country in the world has the right to interfere in the political process, declaring who should be and who should not be put on the presidency. According to Vladimir Putin, the Syrian people will answer the question about the president of Syria, just as the American people answer the question of who will be the next president of the United States.
The final point of the operation will be set when the successes of the Syrian army will be such that the political process will end the terrorist threat. At the same time, Putin added that we (Russia) are not going to be more Syrian than the Syrians themselves. It is the Syrians and must say the main word. At the same time, the international community, in coordination with the people of Syria, can help with the preparation of a constitution that will determine both the structure of the country, the political palette and all forms of state power in the course of a transparent expression of will.
At the same time, Putin added that the cost of the operation in Syria does not significantly go beyond the budget of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. According to him, many of the teachings in the Russian Federation itself were much more ambitious. And Putin compared the operation in Syria to some extent with the training of the Russian army, to which ultra-liberal "colleagues" in RuNet responded with extreme sarcasm.
Answering the question of Sergey Brilev about whether the military base in Latakia will be left, Vladimir Putin said that in fact a big question is whether we need such a base at all. The President recalled that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have cruise missiles that, with a strong desire, can get anyone, anywhere.
The second press conference in a row asked the Russian president a well-known Ukrainian journalist who, for his sweater, worn last year, got the nickname “dill”. "Dill" accused Putin that he lied, stating that there are no Russian military in the Donbass, apparently passing on his own initiative greetings from Russians Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov. Then the same person asked if Russia was going to exchange Russian prisoners for Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov for Ukrainian prisoners, and how the Russian Federation would behave after the expiration of the Minsk agreements — is it going to forget about Ukraine? ..
Vladimir Putin said that he did not give up on his words that there are no regular Russian troops in the Donbass, there are servicemen, as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief put it, who perform "certain kinds of tasks." Answering the question about the exchange of prisoners, Putin said that it was the Ukrainian side that refuses to exchange according to the “all for all” formula, believing that residents of the south-east of Ukraine who are in Ukrainian prisons do not fall under this formula. According to the President of the Russian Federation, the Minsk Agreements are not really implemented, and it is Kiev that does everything to torpedo their implementation process, then adopt a law on special status for a period of just three months, or declare that the agreements are fulfilled only after they conduct elections in the Donbass.
After the head of state switched to economic relations with Ukraine, once again reminding why Russia is forced to suspend zero customs duties for Ukraine. The president noted that the European Union even tried to pressure Russia in order for Russia to adopt uniform European standards for phytosanitary control, clearly intending to overwhelm the Russian market with its goods through Ukraine, intending to be in the 2 FTZ immediately. To this Putin proposed that the European Union adopt Russian standards, since they (standards) can be better than in the EU itself. The EU said that such proposals have not yet read ...
One of the questions was about the Georgian subject. The President of Russia noted that the issue of the territorial integrity of Georgia depends only on the peoples living in the region. According to the head of the Russian Federation, if Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia develop a unified approach, then Russia will accept the choice of the peoples, adding that the actual disintegration of Georgia is the fault that lies entirely with the former Georgian authorities, and above all with Saakashvili. Referring to this political figure, Vladimir Putin recalled that Saakashvili now represents one of the regions of Ukraine, which in fact looks like spitting at the Ukrainian people. Putin expressed his opinion that by such appointments the West shows that it has switched Ukraine into manual control, demonstrating that it also intends to place its own henchmen at the government levers.
At the end of the answer to the “Georgian” question, Vladimir Putin declared that Russia was ready to consider abolishing visas for Georgian citizens, which caused a clearly positive reaction in Georgia itself, which follows from the reports of the local media.
During the press conference, there was also a question about the Plato system, which is so painful for motorists, and that the children of many major political figures and oligarchs take the lead in large-scale business projects. The names of Chaika and Rotenberg were spoken.
Putin said that the involvement of children of well-known representatives of political and business circles should be checked using regulatory bodies. At the same time, the head of state made it clear that the same “Plato” would not be canceled, but at the same time he explained that the government could have worked on this “front” in due time and more carefully so that the wave of popular anger would not be so impressive. Putin stated that he understands the concerns of truckers, while he offered, as a way out, to acquire seasonal patents for work, which can significantly reduce costs. The president noted that there are roughnesses in the Plato system itself, but these problems cannot be called unsolvable.
There was a question about the lath of retirement age. The head of state made it clear that, sooner or later, the retirement age will still be raised, while refuting the statement that pension payments for working pensioners will be canceled next year.
In addition, Putin promised to return naval officers who retired daggers (after a question from a journalist-military pensioner from Sevastopol) to contribute to the issue of a fair trial in the case of a journalist who showed excessive zeal in highlighting the issue of improper spending of funds during the construction of the Vostochny spaceport.
Responding to a question about the likelihood of freezing the state defense order, Vladimir Putin said that there would be no freezing. If the projects are started, they will be completed, as it is more expensive for the budget to freeze them. If industrialists are not in a position to execute one or another segment of the order, the start of work will be postponed for several years, but work will be done for 2022, since this year is considered final in the program of large-scale re-equipment of the Russian army and navy.
The presidential press conference lasted just over three hours.
- Alexei Volodin
- http://www.kremlin.ru
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