OREANDA-NEWS. September 15, 2011. “Everyone here is speaking very professionally about concrete issues. This means the primary elections were a success, because people have emerged who can see to the core of the problems, and are able to formulate them clearly and propose solutions.” 
Vladimir Putin
At a meeting with parliamentary candidates after primary voting

Transcript of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. The seats have been arranged in a somewhat unusual way today. I am very pleased to see you all because, as you know, I have been very active in supporting this format of primary voting. I believe it has been successful because the process involved a huge amount of people of different ages and professions (and in fact, here you all are today in this room), and with different views on how to address the problems we are are facing today. This is also good, because it means we are unified by our common goal of resolving these problems and moving Russia forward.

On the other hand, there are subtle differences that arise out of personal experience, occupation and so on. Let me cite a few figures for your information. The primary voting involved a total of 4,700 candidates. Incidentally, only about 38% of them (just over 37%) were from United Russia, while 58% were nominated by different public associations that joined in on the primary voting process through the Russian Popular Front, and 5% were self-nominated candidates. So on the whole, I think it was a success.

Of course, we must now take the next step. What does this step consist of? First, I very much hope that all of you present here, as well as those who aren’t, all 4,700 people, will participate in the next stage of our work. That stage will be directly connected with the upcoming State Duma elections. It will involve working with voters and other campaigning efforts. This has nothing to do with competition between candidates, but mostly with working directly with voters. I don’t think I'm saying anything new about this, or anything you don’t already know; everybody knows this, and I can only reaffirm that, to effectively address the problems of the people and of the country requires knowledge of these problems and a clear understanding of them. We need to focus on the problems that people expect us to resolve, not some abstract goals that we may think are important. To identify the right goals, we need to communicate with the people. Therefore, this part of our work – our campaigning – is important not only in terms of results (although the result is important too, as everyone certainly wishes to get elected eventually) but also in terms of the process, which is a kind of general voting on our problems and their solutions. This is the second point I wanted to make.

As you all know, we will finalise our election lists on September 23 and 24 at the United Russia conference. As I said, the preliminary list consists of 600 candidates. At least a quarter of the candidates will be people who are not United Russia members but have passed the preliminary voting, a fact that will be the most important consideration for making it onto the final list of 600 candidates.

The United Russia group in parliament will be significantly renewed. This is a normal and natural process. It goes without saying, and I have mentioned this already, that our colleagues who have been working in parliament for a long time up till now will find an outlet for their experience. We’ll think of ways to help them advance their lives outside of parliament, and of ways to apply their skills. But it is also clear that this country’s legislature needs an infusion of new people who have innovative ideas about the current situation, future development, and solutions, that is, people who are ready and know how to solve these problems.

There are many goals, including social issues, defence and security, healthcare, education, the notorious issues of housing and utilities, transport and other issues. We need skilled professionals in all of these areas to adopt laws that will create the conditions necessary for the removal of administrative barriers, and that will promote civil initiative in every sphere of life in Russia.

It's likely that not everyone who passed the primary voting will eventually make it into parliament, as much as I would like this. But in any case, we need to ensure – I will certainly discuss this with our colleagues in United Russia, as well as with regional governors – that all of these people are involved in building an effective system of public control over the implementation of the decisions made at the legislative and executive level and over the work of regional and municipal bodies; and that these people are involved in the next stage at the regional and municipal levels.

In general, I think that there will be enough work to go around, and I would like to wish you all success. Please, we can, and I believe we must discuss and debate among ourselves. That’s why we have gathered here. If there are any questions or proposals, I will be happy to hear them and to speak with you.

Valery Yakushev: My name is Valery Yakushev. I have retired as of four months ago. As I have already told you about, I had worked at the famous Uralvagonzavod (Ural Railroad Car Plant) for 52 years.

Vladimir Putin: I visited it recently.

Valery Yakushev: At that time, I turned to you for help, to direct your attention to the fact that we lacked a defence contract. Thank you so much for visiting our exhibition and inspecting our famous T-90-S tank from the inside and out. We now have a three-year contract -- thank you so much for this.

Vladimir Putin: It is very good that you are currently beginning to work on advanced equipment.

Valery Yakushev: Please don’t forget about us; I will not ask any more questions. My colleagues will direct some questions to you today. They will list all the main issues that should be promptly resolved in the run-up to the elections. My colleagues will tell you about everything. You have already listed the issues of housing and municipal utilities services, our notorious roads and many other issues that need to be settled.

Vladimir Putin: Thank God Uralvagonzavod is expanding production.

Valery Yakushev: Indeed.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I am confident that the plant has a good future ahead of it. I have already said that we plan to set aside tens of billions of roubles worth of federal budget allocations to go towards various activities. The plant has been awarded stable contracts for railcar and defence-systems production for the next three to four years. You have excellent prospects in terms of developing fully new armoured vehicle models. I very much hope that your designers, or your engineers to be more precise, with their wealth of experience and with numerous good developments to their credit, will not only reach international standards, but will be one step ahead of them. What they have just shown me is quite impressive. They have reinforced the armour and provided a greater degree of protection. Most importantly, they have installed extremely powerful weapons systems, which our rivals lack … I will not talk about enemies and adversaries today …

Valery Yakushev: The T-95 tank will be designed.

Vladimir Putin: Another model is currently being considered -- the extremely advanced Armada model, which should be the focus of attention.

Valery Yakushev: And please don’t forget about the city of Nizhny Tagil, which has problems of its own. If I’m elected to the State Duma, I will, of course, bring these up publicly. The city faces major problems …

Vladimir Putin: Yes. They city has always been walled-in, concealed and off limits. I have spoken with the governor who, incidentally, completely shares your point of view. Of course, we will devote attention to Nizhny Tagil at regional and federal level.

Valery Yakushev: Our Governor is smart.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, he is very knowledgeable.

Valery Yakushev: He is off to a good start, and I hope that he keeps it up. Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Please.