Putin’s State of the Union Address, to Compare with Biden’s on March 7th

On March 7th, US President Biden will be delivering his SOTU to the American People; and, so, I offer here a representative 55% of the SOTU that Russian President Putin on February 29th delivered to the Russian people, the complete one is at http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73585.

Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly

Vladimir Putin delivered his Address to the Federal Assembly. The ceremony took place in Gostiny Dvor, Moscow.

29 February 2024 [8,576 words in an Address of 15,501 words = 55% of the original]

I am grateful to the parliamentary parties for uniting around national interests. Russia’s political system stands as one of the pillars of our country’s sovereignty. We will continue to advance democratic institutions and resist any external interference in our internal affairs.

The so called West, with its colonial practices and penchant for inciting ethnic conflicts around the world, not only seeks to impede our progress but also envisions a Russia that is a dependent, declining, and dying space where they can do as they please. In fact, they want to replicate in Russia what they have done in numerous other countries, including Ukraine: sowing discord in our home and weakening us from within. But they were wrong, which has become abundantly clear now that they ran up against the firm resolve and determination of our multi ethnic people.

Our soldiers and officers, Christians and Muslims, Buddhists and followers of Judaism, people representing different ethnicities, cultures, and regions – proved with their actions which are stronger than a thousand words that the centuries-old cohesion and unity of the people of Russia are a formidable and invincible force. All of them, shoulder to shoulder, are fighting for our shared Motherland. …

We are aware of the challenges we face. They do exist. That being said, we also know what needs to be done to address them. There is an ongoing and unrelenting effort unfolding both along the frontlines and in the rear in this regard in order to improve the striking power of the Army and the Fleet, to make them more tech-savvy and effective.

The Armed Forces have expanded their combat capabilities many fold. Our units have seized the initiative and will not surrender it. They are confidently advancing in several operational theatres and liberating more territories.

We were not the ones who started the war in Donbass, but, as I have already said many times, we will do everything to put an end to it, eradicate nazism and fulfil all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as defend sovereignty and ensure that our people are safe. …

The strategic nuclear forces are on full combat alert and the ability to use them is assured. We have either already accomplished or are about to accomplish all our plans in terms of weapons in keeping with what I said in my 2018 Address.

Kinzhal, the hypersonic air launched complex, has not only entered combat duty, but has been effective when carrying out strikes against critical targets during the special military operation. By the same token, Zircon, a ship based hypersonic missile complex, has already served in combat. It was not even mentioned during the 2018 address, but this missile system has also entered combat duty.

Avangard hypersonic ICBM‘s, as well as the Peresvet laser complexes have also entered combat duty. Burevestnik, a cruise missile with an unlimited range, is about to complete its testing stage and so is the Poseidon, an unmanned underwater vehicle. These systems have proven that they meet the highest standards and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they offer unique capabilities. Our troops also received the first serially produced Sarmat heavy ballistic missiles. Soon, we will show them to you on their combat alert duty in the areas of their deployment.

Efforts to develop several other new weapons systems continue, and we are expecting to hear even more about the achievements of our researchers and weapons manufacturers.

Russia is ready for dialogue with the United States on issues of strategic stability. However, it is important to clarify that in this case we are dealing with a state whose ruling circles are taking openly hostile actions towards us. So, they seriously intend to discuss strategic security issues with us while simultaneously trying to inflict strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield, as they themselves say.

Here is a good example of their hypocrisy. They have recently made unfounded allegations, in particular, against Russia, regarding plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space. Such fake narratives, and this story is unequivocally false, are designed to involve us in negotiations on their conditions, which will only benefit the United States.

At the same time, they have blocked our proposal which has been on the table for over 15 years. I am referring to the agreement on preventing the deployment of weapons in outer space, which we drafted back in 2008. There has been zero reaction to it. It is totally unclear what they are talking about.

Therefore, there are reasons to suspect that the current US administration’s professed interest in discussing strategic stability with us is merely demagoguery. They simply want to show to their citizens and the world, especially in the lead up to the presidential election, that they continue to rule the world, that they would talk with the Russians when it will benefit them and that there is nothing to talk about and they will try to inflict defeat on us otherwise. Business as usual, as they say.

But this is unacceptable, of course. Our position is clear, if you want to discuss security and stability issues that are critical for the entire planet, this must be done as a package including, of course, all aspects that have to do with our national interests and have a direct bearing on the security of our country, the security of Russia.

We are also aware of the Western attempts to draw us into an arms race, thereby exhausting us, mirroring the strategy they successfully employed with the Soviet Union in the 1980‘s. Let me remind you that in 1981 – 1988, the Soviet Union’s military spending amounted to 13 percent of GDP.

Our current imperative is to bolster our defence industry in such a way as to increase our country’s scientific, technological and industrial capabilities. We must allocate resources as judiciously as possible, fostering an efficient economy for the Armed Forces, and maximising the return on each ruble of our defence spending. It is crucial for us to expedite the resolution of social, demographic, infrastructural and other problems we face while simultaneously advancing the quality of equipment for the Russian Army and Navy.

This primarily applies to general purpose forces, refining the principles of their organisation and deploying advanced unmanned strike systems, systems of air defence and electronic warfare, reconnaissance and communications, high precision weapons and other types of weapons to the troops.

We need to shore up the forces in the Western strategic theatre in order to counteract the threats posed by NATO’s further eastward expansion, with Sweden and Finland joining the Alliance.

The West has provoked conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and other regions around the world while consistently propagating falsehoods. Now they have the audacity to say that Russia harbours intentions of attacking Europe. Can you believe it? We all know that their claims are utterly baseless. And at the same time, they are selecting targets to strike on our territory and contemplating the most efficient means of destruction. Now they have started talking about the possibility of deploying NATO military contingents to Ukraine.

But we remember what happened to those who sent their contingents to the territory of our country once before. Today, any potential aggressors will face far graver consequences. They must grasp that we also have weapons, yes, they know this, as I have just said, capable of striking targets on their territory.

Everything they are inventing now, spooking the world with the threat of a conflict involving nuclear weapons, which potentially means the end of civilisation, don’t they realise this? The problem is that these are people who have never faced profound adversity, they have no conception of the horrors of war. We, even the younger generation of Russians, have endured such trials during the fight against international terrorism in the Caucasus, and now, in the conflict in Ukraine. But they continue to think of this as a kind of action cartoon.

Indeed, just like any other ideology promoting racism, national superiority or exceptionalism, Russophobia is blinding and stupefying. (…)

Look, the G7 countries’ share in global GDP in terms of PPP [Purchasing Power Parity, what consumers experience, instead of traditional GDP which is what producers or corporations experience for their investors, the owners of businesses] stood at 45.7 percent in 1992, while the BRICS countries (this association did not exist in 1992, accounted for only 16.5 percent. In 2022, though, the G7 accounted for 30.3 percent, while BRICS had 31.5 percent. By 2028, the percentage will shift even more in favour of BRICS, with 36.6 percent, and the projected figure for the G7 is 27.8 percent. There is no getting away from this objective reality, and it will remain that way no matter what happens next, including even in Ukraine. (…)

The principles of equality and respect for each other’s interests guide us in our interactions with our partners. This is why more and more countries have been proactive in seeking to be part of the activities of the EAEU, the SCO, BRICS and other associations involving Russia. We see a lot of promise in the project to build a Greater Eurasian Partnership and aligning integration processes within the Eurasian Economic Union and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

There has been positive momentum in Russia’s dialogue with ASEAN. The Russia Africa summits have been a real breakthrough, with the African continent becoming increasingly assertive in pursuing its interests and enjoying genuine sovereignty. We sincerely support these aspirations.

Russia has long standing and positive relations with Arab states, which have their own unique and vibrant civilisation spanning across North Africa and the Middle East. It is our belief that we must find new points of convergence with our Arab friends and deepen our partnerships across the board. The same vision will guide our relations with Latin America.

On a separate note, I would like to ask the Government to allocate more funding to international programmes for promoting the Russian language and our multi ethnic culture, primarily within the CIS space but also across the world. (…)

Everything I have already said is important, but now I will speak about the most important issues.

I will begin with a major issue, to put it mildly, which is the low incomes experienced by many large families. In 2000, more than 42 million Russians lived below the poverty line, but the situation has changed dramatically since then. As of the end of last year, the number of people living below the poverty line declined to 13.5 million which is also a lot, though. But we are constantly focused on finding a solution to this problem.

A number of measures have been adopted relatively recently. For example, a single monthly allowance for low income families was introduced on January 1, 2023. It is payable from the time a mother becomes pregnant until the child reaches 17 years of age. Last year, more than 11 million people received it.

We have drastically simplified the procedure for concluding a social contract [marriage], prioritising large families. Now, an application for a social contract can be submitted through the Gosuslugi (Government services) website with a minimum set of documents. We will work to expand the availability of this service, which will require extra funding to the tune of 100 billion rubles. This money has already been set aside. In general, all the additional spending I am going to mention has been budgeted.

To reiterate, poverty remains an acute problem which now directly affects more than 9 percent of the population. According to experts, the poverty rate among families with many children is about 30 percent. We must set clear goals and consistently achieve them. By 2030, the overall poverty rate in Russia must be below 7 percent, and for large families, it must be no more than 12 percent, or less than half of today’s 30 percent. That is, we must place special emphasis on the effort to reduce poverty, first and foremost for families with many children.

I know that overcoming poverty is not easy and is an absolutely systemic and multi vector effort. So, to reiterate, it is important to make sure that everything we do in this area, and every tool we use, is effective and efficient and produces tangible real results for our people and our families.

What we need is an uninterrupted effort aimed at improving the quality of life of families with children and supporting the birth rate. To achieve this goal, we will launch a new national project titled “Family.”

I will now talk about a number of specific initiatives.

First, in addition to federal programmes, Russian regions are implementing their own measures to support families with children. Above all, I would like to thank my colleagues for this work and propose providing additional assistance to the regions where the birth rate is below the national average. This is especially important for central and northwestern Russia. In 2022, 39 regions had a total fertility rate below the national average. By the end of 2030, we will channel at least 75 billion rubles to these regions so that they can increase their family support programmes. The funds will begin to be disbursed next year.

Second, last year, more than 110 million square metres of housing were built in Russia, or 50 percent more than the highest Soviet era level, which was achieved in 1987. At that time, 72.8 million square metres were built, and now, the result is 110 million.

More importantly, over the past six years, millions of Russian families have moved to bigger or better housing; over 900.000 of them took advantage of the family mortgage programme, the one launched in 2018, for reference. We have been steadily expanding eligibility for this programme over time, from families with two or more children, to families with one child today. The programme will continue until July 2024. I propose further extending it until 2030 while maintaining its basic parameters. Particular attention should be paid to families with children under six; the preferential loan interest rate will remain at six percent for such families.

There is something else. The government currently subsidises 450.000 rubles of a family’s mortgage when they have a third child. I also propose extending this measure until 2030. This year, this support plan will require almost 50 billion rubles; the amount will increase further, but we have the money for this.

Our wider goal is to make the housing that is now under construction more affordable for families, and to ensure a system wide renewal of the housing stock in the country.

Third, there are over two million families in Russia with three or more children. It goes without saying that we are very proud of these families.

Here is what I wanted to say in this regard. Look at these numbers, these are real world figures. Between 2018 and 2022, the number of families with many children in Russia increased by 26.8 percent, which is a positive result.

I signed an executive order creating a single national status for families with many children. This is what people have been asking for. We must follow up on its provisions by taking concrete federal and regional decisions in keeping with people’s aspirations, of course.

Families with many children have so many matters they have to take care of, so parents must have more resources on hand to deal with their everyday challenges. I suggest doubling the tax deduction parents get when having their second child to 2.800 rubles per month and increasing this benefit for the third and every consecutive child to 6.000 rubles.

What does this mean? Let me give you an example: this will enable a family with three children to save 1.300 rubles per month. I also suggest increasing the annual income counted towards this deduction from 350.000 to 450.000 rubles. And this support measure must apply automatically without people having to apply for it.

On a separate note, I would like to mention the maternity capital benefit. Today, parents can receive 630.000 rubles when their first child is born, and when the second one arrives, the family gets another 202.000 rubles. We have regularly adjusted this benefit for inflation. For now, the maternity capital programme is set to expire by early 2026, but I suggest extending it until at least 2030.

Colleagues,

I would like to thank charity foundations and community service non profits which are helping the elderly, people suffering from various diseases and children with disabilities. They have done a great deal to raise the issue of long-term care at the national level. They were the ones who constantly raised these issues.

I believe that we need to allocate more federal funding to this system and follow a single high standard of care. This includes improving its availability for about half a million Russians who are most in need of this kind of assistance.

By 2030, we need to make sure that 100 percent of the people who need this kind of long term care can benefit from it.

Presently the average life expectancy in Russia has exceeded 73 years. We have returned to the level we were at before the COVID 19 pandemic. By 2030, life expectancy in Russia should be at least 78 years, and in the future, as we planned, we will reach the level of 80 plus.

Particular attention should be paid to rural areas and regions where life expectancy is still lower than the average in Russia. The Long and Active Life national project will focus on achieving these objectives. It is especially important to prolong the healthy and active period in a person’s life, so that he or she can enjoy family activities, be with loved ones, children, and grandchildren.

We will continue to implement federal projects to combat cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes.

Furthermore, I propose launching a new comprehensive programme to protect motherhood and help children and adolescents maintain good health, including their reproductive health, ensuring that children are born healthy and grow up to be healthy adults, and produce healthy children in the future.

The new programme’s priorities should include expanding the national network of women’s health clinics and upgrading perinatal centres, children’s clinics and hospitals. In total, in the next six years we will additionally allocate more than a trillion rubles for the construction, repair, and equipping of healthcare facilities alone.

Next. The number of Russians who engage in sports activities on a regular basis has increased significantly in recent years. This is one of our major achievements. We need to encourage people who take responsibility for their own health. As early as next year, we will introduce tax deductions for those who regularly undergo scheduled medical examinations, as well as successfully pass the standard GTO physical fitness test.

Do you remember this popular slogan? Everyone remembers that joke, “Stop Drinking, Start Skiing!” Appears to be the case, the time is now. By the way, on the subject of drinking, we have achieved a noticeable, positive result. In fact, we have significantly reduced the consumption of alcohol, primarily strong alcohol, without imposing any extreme restrictions, which should certainly improve the health of the nation.

I suggest channelling federal money into building at least 350 additional sports facilities every year in the regions, primarily in small towns and rural areas. This could include multi purpose venues, as well as structures that can be erected quickly to be used by children, adults, and families. We will allocate some 65 billion rubles in federal money to this effect over the next six years.

Universities, vocational colleges, schools, and preschool institutions must also create conditions for doing sports. By the way, many of our kindergartens opened back in the Soviet era and need refurbishing. Next year, we will launch a major renovation programme for them. I have been hearing about this issue from the people I talk to all the time.

As for the schools, about 18.500 buildings need major repairs. We will help the regions deal with their backlog of issues in this sector so that they can switch from urgent to planned repairs. Judging by what has been achieved so far, we are on the right track. Overall, we will allocate over 400 billion rubles for undertaking major repairs at kindergartens and schools.

In addition to this, I propose renovating or opening medical rooms in schools that are in need of this type of service. Today, I mean in 2022 – 2023, only 65 percent out of 39.000 schools we have,and we have 39.440 schools in total, had medical facilities, which means that we have room for improvement here.

There is another important topic. Many big cities are rapidly expanding, which in turn increases the burden on their social services. Many schools have had to switch to double or even triple shifts. Of course, this is a challenge and we must deal with it. We will have to engage federal resources for resolving this issue by building at least 150 schools and over 100 kindergartens in the worst-affected cities facing overcrowded educational institutions. (…)

The average pay in the economy differs from region to region, which means that people’s incomes in the public sector are sometimes widely different even in neighbouring entities of the federation. But the jobs of teachers and doctors are difficult and demand that they accept extreme responsibility no matter where they are. Without question, this large difference in salaries between regions is unjust.

I know that it is an old, complicated, and capital intensive issue, if I may address it this way. I have discussed this with my colleagues from federal agencies, the heads of regions, teachers, doctors, and other professionals. And it is clear we must do something about it.

I will not go into detail now, but it is most certainly a complicated matter. The members of Parliament and the Government know what I am talking about. I ask the Government to coordinate in 2025 a new system of payment for public sector employees within existing pilot projects in the regions and to adopt a final decision for the country as a whole in 2026.

A separate issue has to do with creating additional incentives for attracting young professionals to schools where they will see professional and career opportunities. Towards this end, we will approve targeted allocations of over 9 billion rubles from the federal budget for improving the infrastructure of teacher training universities.

Our system of school education has always been famous for its innovative teachers and unique teaching methods. It is teams of such teachers that will take part in creating forward-looking schools. The construction of the first leadership schools of this kind will begin this year in the Ryazan, Pskov, Belgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, and Novgorod regions. They will subsequently be built in all the federal districts, in the Far East, Siberia, and Donbass. Overall, we will open 12 such schools by 2030.

As for educational content, the workload of our children must be reasonable and balanced. And it is definitely not good when children are taught one thing during lessons and asked completely different things during exams. This discrepancy, to put it mildly, between the curriculum and the questions asked during exams, which regrettably happens, is forcing parents to hire private tutors, which not every family can afford. I ask our colleagues in the Government to work together with teachers and parents to settle this most evident problem.

In this connection I would like to say a few words about the Unified State Exam. which is a matter of broad public discussion and debate, as we all know. It is true that the mechanism of the unified exam must be improved.

What do I suggest at this stage? I propose taking one more step by giving high school graduates a second chance. In particular, they will have an option to re sit an examination in one of the unified exam subjects before the university enrolment period ends so that they can resubmit their new grades. Such matters may seem mundane, but they are in fact quite important to the people.

Colleagues,

Last year, Russia’s economy grew faster than the world economy, and we outperformed not only the leading EU countries, but all G7 economies as well. Here is what I would like to note in this regard: the massive reserves created over the past decades have had much to do with that.

The share of non commodity industries in the growth structure now stands at well over 90 percent, which means that the economy has become more complex and technological, and thus, much more sustainable. Russia is Europe’s largest economy in terms of gross domestic product and purchasing power parity, and the world’s fifth largest economy.

The pace and, most importantly, the quality of growth make it possible to hope and even assert that we will be able to take another step forward in the near future and become the world’s fourth largest economy. This kind of growth should have a direct effect on household incomes.

The share of wages in the national GDP should increase within the next six years. We are adjusting the minimum wage ahead of inflation rates and average wage growth rates in the economy. Starting in 2020, the minimum wage has increased by 50 percent from 12.000 to 19.000 rubles per month. By 2030, the minimum wage will have almost doubled to 35.000 rubles, which will certainly make a difference in the number of social benefits and salaries in the public and economic sectors.

We are aware of the risks and factors that may lead to a slowdown in economic growth and our progress in general. These include, primarily, shortages in skilled personnel and our own advanced technology and even total lack of it in some areas. We need to be proactive in this regard, so I will discuss these two strategically important topics in detail today.

I will start with personnel. Russia has a large young generation. Strangely enough, we are facing demographic issues related to population growth, but still have a fairly large young generation. In 2030, this country will have 8.3 million people aged 20 to 24, and 9.7 million, or 2.4 million more than now, in 2035. Without a doubt, this is the result of the demographic measures in previous years, among other things.

Importantly, today’s teenagers should become professionals primed to work in the economy of the 21st century. This is the focus of the new Personnel national project.

We have been discussing this a lot, but we really need to strengthen the link between all levels of education from school to university. They should work as one for a common result. Of course, the involvement of future employers is important. A career guidance system has been launched in all schools nationwide this year. Sixth graders and up can get familiar with different specialties.

I am now urging the heads of enterprises, research and medical centres to encourage schoolchildren to visit them. Let them see the workshops, like I was offered to do during one of my trips, the museums, and laboratories. Please make sure to join in this effort.

Promoting close cooperation between educational institutions and the real economy has guided us in the Professionalitet project for promoting vocational training. It enabled us to update educational programmes for the aviation, shipbuilding, pharmaceutical, electronics, and defence industries, among others.

We will have to train about a million highly skilled workers for these sectors by 2028, while making sure that the vocational training system as a whole transitions to these approaches, including in terms of developing human resources for schools, hospitals, outpatient clinics, the services sector, tourism, cultural institutions and creative industries.

On a separate note, I am instructing the Government to work with the regions on a programme to refurbish and equip vocational training institutions. This effort must go beyond renovating educational facilities and also cover athletic facilities, as well as student dormitories serving these vocational training schools and colleges. We will allocate 120 billion rubles in federal funding for these purposes over the next six-year period.

We will also spend an additional 124 billion rubles to carry out major repairs at about 800 university dormitories over the next six years.

As for higher education in general, our task is to develop research and educational centres all across our country. For that, we will build 25 university campuses by 2030. We have already discussed this but it bears repeating. I suggest that we expand this programme to build at least 40 student campuses of that kind.

To do so, we will have to allocate some 400 billion rubles from the federal budget in order to ensure that students, post-graduates, faculty members and young families have all they need to study, work and bring up their children.

Overall, we must sift through all the different situations young mothers or young parents face in their lives and use this information to fine-tune and improve public services, the social sector, healthcare, as well as urban and rural infrastructure. I am asking the Government and the region to take due care when working on this agenda.

Moving on, in last year’s Address, I announced major changes in the way our higher education system operates and talked about the need to use best national practices. The foundation of future success in a profession is laid in the first years of university, when core subjects are taught. I believe that we need to offer those who teach these subjects higher salaries. Therefore, I am asking the Government to suggest specific modalities for making this happen and launch a pilot project beginning September 1.

This will require additional resources. According to preliminary estimates, this would amount to about 1.5 billion this year and 4.5 billion down the road. We have factored these amounts into our projections.

It is important for us to bolster the capabilities and quality of the national higher education system, to support universities that are striving for development. These targets are being met by our Priority 2030 programme. The funding for this has been allocated through the end of this year. I certainly propose extending it for another six years and allocating an additional 190 billion rubles.

The efficiency criteria for participating universities should include personnel and technology projects with Russia’s regions, industries and social sector, the creation of effective innovative companies and start-ups, and the ability to attract foreign students. In addition, we will certainly assess all Russian universities, colleges, and technical schools by the demand for their graduates from the labour market and their pay growth.

Friends,

I would like to say a few words about the technological foundation for development, and here, science is certainly the cornerstone. At a meeting with scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, which marked its 300th anniversary this year, I said that, even during the most difficult periods, Russia has never given up on addressing its fundamental imperatives, has always thought about the future, and we must do the same now. As a matter of fact, we are trying to do exactly that.

For example, no other country in the world has such a range of mega science facilities as Russia has today. These centres provide unique opportunities for our scientists and for our partners, researchers from other countries, whom we invite for collaboration.

Russia’s scientific infrastructure is our strong competitive advantage, both in the context of fundamental research and in creating innovations for pharmaceuticals, biology, medicine, microelectronics, chemicals, and new materials, as well as for space programmes.

I believe that we should more than double the total public and private investment in research and development, to as much as two percent of GDP by 2030. This should secure Russia’s place as one of the world’s leading scientific powers.

I would like to reiterate that private business should simultaneously increase investment in science, at least doubling the current programmes by 2030. It is understood that these funds should be spent effectively, should be instrumental in achieving a specific result in each specific research project. In this regard, we need to use the positive experience of our federal research programmes in genetics and agriculture, as well as projects promoted by the Russian Science Foundation. (…)

In 1999, the share of imports in our country reached 26 percent of GDP meaning that imports accounted for almost 30 percent of our market. Last year, it was 19 percent of GDP, or 32 trillion rubles. Before 2030, we need to reach a level of imports of no more than 17 percent of GDP.

This means that we must produce ourselves many more consumer and other goods, including medicine, equipment, machine tools, and vehicles. We are unable to produce everything, and we do not need to, but the Government knows what it needs to work on.

I would like to point out that in the next six years the gross added value in manufacturing should increase by at least 40 percent compared to 2022. This accelerated industrial development implies the creation of thousands of new enterprises and modern highly paid jobs.

We have already prepared an industrial “Menu” of sorts. The companies that implement industrial projects will be able to choose suitable support measures, agreements on investment protection and incentives, special investment contracts, a cluster investment platform, and the like. We have devised and are already implementing a great deal of such instruments. And we will further develop these mechanisms.

In the next six years, we will additionally allocate 120 billion rubles to subsidise corporate R&D projects and to bolster the system of industrial mortgages. We will also use this programme to additionally build and renovate over 10 million square metres of industrial floorspace.

I would like to add the following for the sake of comparison, in addition to the pace we have already achieved.

So, let’s draw some comparisons. Today, in Russia we build about four million square metres of industrial floorspace every year. It is a substantial indicator of the modernisation of our industrial capacities as it is, and we will additionally build 10 million square metres, as I have stated.

Next, we will invest 300 billion rubles in the Industrial Development Fund. We will almost double its capital and will focus its attention on supporting high tech projects. At least 200 billion rubles will be additionally allocated within the framework of a cluster innovation platform to subsidise interest rates for projects that manufacture prioritised industrial products.

I propose increasing the depreciation calculation base to stimulate the modernisation of industrial facilities in the manufacturing sector. It will amount to 200 percent of spending on Russian made equipment and R&D. It may sound boring, but I will explain what it means. If a company buys Russian made lathes for 10 billion rubles, it can reduce its tax base by 20 million rubles. It amounts to substantial assistance.

We will continue to develop industrial technology parks focused on small and medium-sized companies in the priority technological spheres. It is important to make use of the advantages of the cluster approach, when companies grow together with their subcontractors and suppliers, and their cooperation will have a beneficial effect on all parties. I would like to point out to the Government that we must create at least 100 such platforms by 2030. They will act as growth points throughout the national territory and encourage investment.

We have set a goal to add 70 percent to investment in key sectors by 2030. By the way, we have had good dynamics here, very good, I would say in fact. Good.

In 2021, the cumulative growth of investment was 8.6 percent, against a target of 4.5 percent. In 2022, it was 15.9 percent, with a target of 9.5 percent. In the first nine months of 2023, the increase was 26.6 percent, when the plan for the year was 15.1 percent. We must continue to move ahead of the plan.

Our banking system and the stock market must fully ensure the influx of capital into the economy, into the real sector, including through project and equity financing. In the next two years, industrial projects worth more than 200 billion rubles will be supported through equity funds. Essentially, this means that the VEB.RF Development Corporation and several commercial banks will join the share capital of high- tech companies and assist them during the most active growth phase.

I have already issued instructions to introduce a special IPO regime for companies in priority high tech industries. I would like to point out to my colleagues in the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank that we need to expedite the launch of this mechanism, including compensation for the company’s costs associated with floating securities. This needs to be done without delay.

Again, the Russian stock market needs to play a bigger role as a source of investment. Its capitalisation should double by 2030, from the current level to 66 percent of GDP. At the same time, it is important that individuals have the opportunity to contribute to the nation’s development while also benefiting from investing their savings in low risk projects.

A decision has already been made, voluntary investment in non state pension funds of up to 2.8 million rubles will be insured by the state, which means a return is guaranteed.

In addition, long term individual investment accounts will be insured up to million rubles. We will extend the unified tax deduction to individual investments in long term financial instruments up to 400.000 rubles per year.

At the same time, I deem it expedient to launch a new tool known as a savings certificate. By purchasing this product, individuals will deposit their savings in banks for more than three years. The certificate will be irrevocable, therefore, banks will offer their clients a more attractive interest rate. In addition, the holders of savings certificates will have their money insured by the state up to 2.8 million rubles, which is twice as much as regular bank deposit insurance.

I would like to emphasise that all the measures of state support for investment, and the creation and modernisation of industrial facilities, should lead to higher salaries and better working conditions, and social packages for employees.

Of course, as a matter of principle, Russian companies must operate within our national jurisdiction and refrain from moving their funds abroad where, as it turns out, you can lose everything. So now, my colleagues from the business community and I have to hold brainstorming sessions for coming up with ways to help them get their money back. Do not transfer your money there in the first place. This way, we will not have to figure out how to recover it.

Russian businesses must invest their resources in Russia, its regions, in developing companies and staff training. Our strong and sovereign country offers them unrivalled protection for their assets and capital. (…)

We are faced with another system-wide challenge. With the federal backup, many regions have significantly increased the pace of relocating residents from dilapidated blocks of flats. A total of 1.73 million people have moved into new flats over the past 16 years, and it is important not to lose this momentum in the next six years. I urge the Government to draft and launch a new programme for relocating residents from dilapidated and structurally unsafe buildings.

With regard to housing and utilities, we will step up the pace of updating the utilities infrastructure. A total of 4.5 trillion rubles, including private funds, will be allocated for these purposes until 2030.

We will continue to implement the Clean Water Project. Clean water is a top priority for many of our urban and rural areas. We are primarily talking about a reliable supply of high-quality drinking water.

Gas distribution is a separate subject. Our plans include providing this environmentally friendly fuel to towns and districts in Yakutia and Buryatia, as well as the Khabarovsk, Primorye and Trans-Baikal territories, the Murmansk and Amur regions, the Jewish Autonomous Area, Karelia, and the major Russian city of Krasnoyarsk. We will also supply LNG to the Kamchatka Territory and certain other regions.

Naturally, this will make it possible to expand the social gas supply programme which was already used to build the gas distribution infrastructure free of charge to the property lines of 1.1 million land plots. Applications continue to be accepted, and we are helping entitled groups of citizens, including the families of those in the special military operation, install gas lines within their plots of land.

On a separate note, there are horticultural non commercial partnerships within the boundaries of many communities outfitted with gas grids. For years, sometimes from generation to generation, people have been tending to their land plots, and are now building houses suitable for year-round living, but they are unable to hook up to the grid because these partnerships are not included in the Social Gas Infrastructure Development programme.

This problem affects millions of households and must be resolved in the interests of our citizens, meaning that the social gas infrastructure development programme should be expanded to include them, and the grid should be extended to the boundaries of the partnerships.

Residents in remote northern and far eastern territories, where grid gas will not be available any time soon, will also be supported. Today, they heat their homes with coal or wood. Now, with the state subsidies, they will be able to purchase modern and domestically produced, environmentally safe equipment. The neediest families should be supported first. We will allocate an additional 32 billion rubles for these purposes.

We will develop public transport considering today’s environmental standards and lower its average age. The Russian regions will receive an additional 40.000 buses, trolleybuses, trams, and electric buses by 2030. We will allocate an additional 150 billion rubles from the federal budget for this public transport renewal programme.

We will also replace the school bus fleet at a rate of at least 3.000 vehicles per year, which is especially important for small towns and rural areas. Both residents and heads of municipalities and regions are talking about this. This programme is indeed very important. Therefore, we will allocate an additional 66 billion rubles for the purchase of school buses. And, of course, they must either be entirely made in Russia or with a high degree of localisation.

As you know, we have managed to reduce harmful emissions in the atmosphere in 12 industrial centres of Russia as part of the Clean Air project, with 29 more cities having joined it last year. The volume of harmful emissions into the atmosphere across the country must be halved. We will move towards this goal step by step. A comprehensive environmental quality monitoring system will be created to assess the results.

Over the last five years, thousands of kilometres of rivers and banks have been cleaned, and dirty runoff into the Volga has been almost halved. Now I propose setting a goal of halving the pollution of Russia’s main bodies of water.

Over the last five years, 128 large landfills in cities and 80 sites of accumulated environmental damage that were literally poisoning the lives of people in 53 regions of Russia have been cleared. The territories of the Krasny Bor landfill, the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill and Usolye-Sibirskoye have been brought to a safe state.

In this regard, colleagues, I would like to emphasise that only the most urgent measures have been carried out so far at these sites, but that is far from the end. Under no circumstances should they be left in the condition as they are now. We must complete this work and create all the necessary infrastructure there.

Overall, we will continue clearing the most hazardous sites of accumulated environmental damage. In the next six years, at least 50 of these sites must be cleared.

It is necessary to create incentives for businesses, introduce green technologies, and switch to a circular economy. Moreover, we have in fact created an advanced waste management industry from scratch: 250 enterprises have been built to process and dispose of waste. The goal by 2030 is to sort all solid waste and everything that needs to be sorted and reuse at least a quarter of it. We will allocate additional financing for these projects, and together with businesses we will build about 400 new waste management facilities and eight eco-industrial parks.

What else do I want to say? At meetings in the Far East, Siberia and other regions, people spoke a lot about the need to preserve our wealth of forestland, deal with illegal logging and protect our forests. This issue hugely resonates with the public. It is important to almost every person. All of us are pooling efforts here and the situation is gradually changing.

A very important milestone, since 2021, Russia has been restoring more forestland than it clears. I would like to thank all the volunteers, school and university students and everyone who planted trees and took part in environmental activities, and, of course, businesses that supported such projects. We will certainly continue restoring forests, parks and gardens, including those surrounding metropolitan areas and industrial centres. (…)

I would like to make special mention of something. I meet regularly with participants in the special military operation, including career military personnel and volunteers, as well as people of civilian professions who were mobilised for military service. All of them took up arms and rose in defence of our Motherland.

You know, I look at these courageous men, sometimes very young men and, without exaggeration, I can say that my heart overflows with pride for our people, our nation and these people in particular. Without a doubt, people like them will not back down, fail or betray.

They should take leading positions in the system of education and upbringing of young people, in public associations, state run companies and privately held businesses, federal and municipal administration. They should head regions and enterprises, as well as major national projects. Some of these heroes and patriots are quite low key and reserved in everyday life. They do not brag about their accomplishments, or talk big. But at pivotal moments in history, such people come to the fore and take responsibility. People who think about the country and live as one with it can be entrusted with the future of Russia.

You know that the word “Elite” has lost much of its credibility. Those who have done nothing for society and consider themselves a caste endowed with special rights and privileges, especially those who took advantage of all kinds of economic processes in the 1990’s to line their pockets, are definitely not the elite. To reiterate, those who serve Russia, hard workers and military, reliable, trustworthy people who have proven their loyalty to Russia by deeds, in a word, dignified people are the genuine elite.

In this regard, I would like to announce a new decision which, I believe, is important. Starting tomorrow, March 1, 2024, the veterans of the special military operations, as well as soldiers and officers who are currently fighting in active units, will be able to apply to be in the first class of a special personnel training programme. Let us call it Time of Heroes. Truth be told, this idea came to me when I met with the St Petersburg students who served in the special military operation. This programme will be built according to the standards of our best projects, namely, the Higher School of Public Administration, also known as the “School of Governors,” and the Leaders of Russia contest. Their graduates tend to reach high positions in many spheres, and even become ministers and heads of regions.

Active military members and veterans with university degrees and managerial experience will be welcome to enroll, regardless of their rank or position. What matters is that those individuals have shown their best qualities, have shown that they know how to lead their comrades.

The course of study will begin in the coming months. The first cohort of participants will be mentored by senior officials from the Government, the Presidential Executive Office, federal ministries and agencies, heads of regions and our largest companies. In the future, we will expand such personnel training programmes, launch management courses at the Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, and I deem it expedient to raise the status of the Academy at the legislative level.

In addition, veterans and participants of the special military operation will have priority entitlement to join higher education programmes in civilian specialties at our leading universities.

I would like to ask the Defence Ministry and all unit commanders to support their soldiers and officers’ interest in joining the new personnel training programme, to give them the opportunity to apply and to physically attend classes. I would like to note that the special military operation participants, including privates, sergeants and combat officers, are already the backbone of our Armed Forces. And, as I have said, those who intend to continue their military careers will receive priority promotion, enrollment in command courses, military schools and academies.

Friends,

Independence, self sufficiency and sovereignty must be proven and reaffirmed every day. This is our responsibility for Russia’s present and future, something no else can do but us. This is about our Motherland, the Motherland of our ancestors, and no one will ever need it and treasure it the way we do, except our descendants, to whom we must pass on a strong and prosperous country.

Over the past few years, we have successfully built a management system, and implemented our national projects relying on large amounts of data and modern digital technologies. This has enabled us to increase efficiency, manage risks, build on the entire amount of available information, and continuously fine-tune our projects and programmes while relying on feedback from our people.

I would like to thank my colleagues from the Government, agencies and regions that were meticulously building this system all these years, during the pandemic and in the face of the sanctions aggression against Russia. I know that this was a challenging and difficult job, but the main point is that it is already paying off. We are seeing this in the results.

We will continue following precisely this logic. It is necessary to endorse and coordinate with each other all the national projects I spoke about today. I would like to emphasise again that these are not projects of separate departments. They should work for common system wide objectives and for our national development goals. That said, I would like to ask the Russian Popular Front to continue monitoring the implementation of decisions at all levels of Government.

I would like to stress that the main result of our programmes is measured not in tonnes, kilometres or money spent. The main thing is that people see changes for the better in their life. The scale of historical challenges facing Russia requires extremely clear, coordinated work of the state, civil society and the business community.

I consider it necessary to not only prepare a draft budget for the next three years but also to plan all major spending and investment further on, up to 2030. In other words, we must draft a perspective six-year plan for our national development that we will definitely supplement with new initiatives. Naturally, life will make its own adjustments to it.

We are mapping out long term plans despite this complicated period, despite the current trials and difficulties. The programme that I set out in the address today is based on facts and tackles fundamental matters. This is a programme of a strong sovereign country looking to the future with confidence. We have both resources and enormous opportunities to achieve the goals we set ourselves. (…)

¶

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s latest book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL, Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to US and allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘News’ media but the social ‘Sciences’  , duping the public.
Eric Zuesse blogs at https://theduran.com/author/eric-zuesse/.

https://theduran.com/putins-state-of-the-union-address-to-compare

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