OREANDA-NEWS. In his Address, President Putin outlined the main areas of work, instruments and techniques to achieve Russia’s future development goals.

In the portion devoted to domestic policy, the President touched on the issue of local self-government, stressing that it is necessary to clarify the basic principles of its organisation and provide the relevant legislative support, so that local authorities become strong, independent, and financially sustainable.

Vladimir Putin emphasised that it is necessary to improve political institutions, encourage political competition and broad public debate. Russia’s federal and regional executive authorities must establish public councils, and for this a draft bill On Public Oversight is being prepared. The President referred to interethnic relations as a major theme requiring frank public discussion.

Mr Putin considers that the implementation of the May 2012 presidential executive orders – ones that contain specific measures to ensure Russia’s dynamic development in all spheres – require that the country optimise budgetary spending by eliminating inefficient spending, removing barriers inhibiting the full independence of public institutions, and creating a system for independent assessment of their performance.

The Address also touched on issues concerning the development of healthcare and education systems, and the large-scale construction of affordable housing.

In the economic portion of the Address, Mr Putin stressed the need to resume sustainable economic and labour productivity growth, in which factors such as high-quality education should be fully implicated. A flexible labour market, favourable investment climate, and modern technologies are also necessary. In particular, together with the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Government has been instructed to refine promising fields of science and technology. The President also proposed creating a National Council for Professional Qualifications, which should approve the whole range of professional standards within two years.

The President paid a great deal of attention to the agro-industrial sector, improving living and working conditions in rural areas, and establishing modern, comfortable infrastructure there.

The head of state also addressed problems associated with foreign labour migration, which is connected with social imbalances, ethnic conflicts, and rises in crime. The Address outlines specific proposals to improve the current situation, particularly via changes in the patent system, increasing the responsibility of employers, and strengthening oversight of the reasons why foreign nationals enter the country.

The President also drew attention to improving the business climate in Russia. For this purpose, a national investment climate rating will be launched in the regions in 2014, and incentives will also encourage the regions to develop their economic bases.

The President recalled that in his 2012 Address he talked about limiting the extent to which the Russian economy operates offshore, but as of yet there are few results. The Address contains a number of concrete steps to improve legislation in this area.

The development of Siberia and the Far East was a separate topic in the Address. In this respect, the President proposed, among other things, creating a network of special territories that can offer attractive conditions to non-resource industries (primarily export oriented ones). In turn, this will facilitate economic development.

The foreign policy part of the Address communicated that Russia will strive to be a global leader, defend international law, and ensure respect for the sovereignty, independence and unique identity of each people. Moreover, Russia does not aspire to be called a superpower, understanding that as a claim to world or regional hegemony.

The President described the current situation in Syria, stressing that the Syrian example reaffirmed the UN’s central role in global politics. Vladimir Putin also noted that a serious step towards resolving the Iranian nuclear problem has been taken. He also talked about preparations for the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty and the Customs Union’s expansion.

The last part of the Address was devoted to improving the Armed Forces. In particular, President Putin talked about developing new strategic missile systems for land, sea and air, developing general purpose forces, creating reserve forces, as well as the defence industry’s development.

Members of the Council of Federation, State Duma and Government, presidents of the Constitutional, Supreme and Arbitration courts, heads of the constituent entities, chairpersons of regional legislative assemblies, heads of traditional faiths, public figures, including heads of regional civic chambers, and executives of major media outlets, are in attendance at the ceremony taking place in St George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace

This year, the Address is being delivered on the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution, which was adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993.

* * *

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Citizens of Russia, members of the Council of Federation and the State Duma,

The President’s state-of-the-nation annual Address to the Federal Assembly is a requirement set forth in the Russian Constitution, that which is exactly 20 years old today. I congratulate you on this important date for our state and our society. And of course, I also congratulate you on the 20th anniversary of the Federal Assembly, Russia’s parliament, which was created in accordance with the provisions of our country’s basic law.

Our Constitution brings together two fundamental priorities – the supreme value of rights and freedoms of citizens and a strong state, emphasising their mutual obligation to respect and protect each other. I am convinced that the constitutional framework must be stable, above all in what concerns its second chapter, which defines the rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens. These provisions of our fundamental law are inviolable.

But life does not stand still, and no constitutional process can ever be regarded as finally completed or dead. Targeted amendments to other constitutional chapters, deriving from law enforcement practices and from life itself, naturally are possible and sometimes necessary.

You know that we have proposed to amend the Constitution and to unite the Supreme Court and Higher Arbitration Court. Today these courts often differ, sometimes quite substantially, in their interpretation of various laws. Sometimes they take different decisions in similar cases, and sometimes they agree. This results in legal uncertainty, and at times in injustices that affect concrete people.

I believe that unifying these courts will allow us to bring judicial practice onto one track, and therefore strengthen the guarantees protecting a crucial constitutional principle, the equality of all before the law.

Colleagues,

The Constitution contains crucial unifying national ideas.

The meaning of its provisions on the welfare state consists in the mutual responsibility linking the state, society, the business community, and every Russian citizen. We must support the growing desire of citizens, representatives of public and professional associations, political parties, and the business class to participate in our country’s life.

Among other things we must support civic activism at the local level, in communities, so that people get a real opportunity to participate in managing their village or town, to deal with everyday issues that actually determine their quality of life.

Today quite a few problems have accumulated within our local self-government system. Unfortunately, and you know it well, the responsibilities incumbent on municipalities and their resources are not evenly balanced. This often leads to confusion regarding their authorities, which are not only blurred, but are constantly thrown from one level of government to another: from districts to regions, from towns to districts and back again. Local self-government authorities are being constantly shaken by corruption scandals.

The powers at the district level have been significantly watered down. Those that existed in education, healthcare, and social welfare have been transferred to the regional level of government.

In addition, local authority – because it is the closest power to the people – should be organised so that any citizen could reach out to it, figuratively speaking. In this connection I am addressing the All-Russian Council for Local Self-Government Development, All-Russian Congress of Municipalities, governors, and members of the Federal Assembly, of the Government of the Russian Federation – let’s comprehensively go over these issues again and finally bring the situation in line with common sense and attune it to the times.

Let me repeat: I think the most important task is to clarify the general principles of local self-government organisation, develop strong, independent, financially sustainable local authorities. And we need to start this work and give it sound legal foundations already next year, 2014, the year of the 150th anniversary of the famous Zemstvo Reform of 1864.

Incidentally, at the time it was precisely the development of zemstvos, of local self-government that enabled Russia to make a breakthrough and find competent people capable of implementing major progressive reforms, including Pyotr Stolypin’s agrarian reform and the restructuring of industry during the First World War.

I am sure that today as well strong local self-government can become a powerful resource for enhancing and renewing our country’s human resource potential. And of course, we are all interested in ensuring that elections bring to power qualified, motivated, professional people who are ready to perform their duties responsibly. For this reason we shall continue to work on developing the political competition, improving political institutions, and creating conditions for them to be more open and efficient.

Recent elections demonstrated that today there is less officialdom, bureaucracy, and predictable results in our political life. I consider it important that many new parties have made their presence felt. By winning seats in municipal and regional bodies, they have laid a good foundation for participating in upcoming federal election campaigns. I am sure that they will act as worthy competitors to longstanding political actors.

Today’s Russia requires broad public debate that would yield practical results, when public initiatives become part of public policy, while society monitors their execution.

I think that all draft bills, key government decisions, and strategic plans should pass a so-called initial public reading involving NGOs and other civil society institutions.

Both the federal and regional executive authorities must establish public councils. Of course many such councils already exist within various levels of authority, but they are not everywhere. And most importantly, these councils should not be formal or decorative structures. On the contrary, they should act as expert groups, and sometimes as the government’s constructive opponents, and be active participants in anti-corruption efforts.

I would ask the Civic Chamber, the Human Rights Council and other non-governmental and human rights organisations to be actively involved in drafting the bill On Public Oversight that would establish the legal basis for such civic participation.

Supporting the human rights movement should be a priority of joint work between the state and society. We expect that such organisations will not act in a way that is politically biased, and that they will engage as closely as possible with the interests and concerns of every citizen, every individual.

In this context, the role of the Civic Chamber is increasing. It must become a platform where various professional and social groups, associations, and unions can express their interests. More professionals should be involved in this work. I believe that members of these unions must compose at least half of the Civic Chamber’s members proposed by the President. Such an approach would balance the interests of different social and professional groups, and enable the Chamber to be more responsive to their concerns.

The most important topic requiring frank discussion in our society today is interethnic relations. This one topic concentrates many of our problems: challenges relating to socio-economic and regional development, corruption, shortcomings in the work of public institutions, and of course failures in educational and cultural policies, which often produce a distorted understanding of the true causes of interethnic tensions.

Such tensions are not provoked by representatives of particular nationalities, but by people devoid of culture and respect for traditions, both their own and those of others. They represent a kind of Amoral International, which comprises rowdy, insolent people from certain southern Russian regions, corrupt law enforcement officials who cover for ethnic mafias, so-called Russian nationalists, various kinds of separatists who are ready to turn any common tragedy into an excuse for vandalism and bloody rampage.

Together we must rise to the challenge; we must safeguard interethnic peace and thus the unity of our society, the unity and integrity of the Russian state.

Colleagues,

The May 2012 executive orders contain specific measures designed to ensure the country’s dynamic development in all fields. In fact, the orders amounted to a unified action programme, reflecting the will of millions of people, the desire of all Russian people for a better life. Sometimes we hear that there are insufficient funds to realise all stated plans and goals, that we need to lower our standards and simplify our tasks.

Colleagues, let me turn to a very important subject with profound implications. I think that it is impossible to elaborate policies following a formal approach. Yes, of course we all know that economic trends may and do change. But that is no reason to talk about revising our goals. We need to do real work, seek solutions, and clearly lay out budgetary and other priorities. I would ask you to update all state programmes accordingly.

Already within the next two years, all budgets should be changed to conform to our budget plan. This does not mean rewriting everything mechanically. It means increasing the personal responsibility of each manager for the achievement of results. What we need to do is to focus resources on achieving substantial changes in specific sectors.

For this reason we are raising salaries in education and healthcare so that the work of teachers, professors, and doctors becomes prestigious once again, and attracts strong university graduates. But as we agreed, decent wages must not only reflect budgetary transfers, but rather reforms designed to improve spending efficiency and, most importantly, the quality of social services. We need people to see how our schools, universities, clinics and hospitals are changing for the better.