OREANDA-NEWS. April 21, 2011. "Together, we should address our common goals of development and qualitative changes in the structure of the Russian economy. We keep talking about modernisation, which is a perfectly good objective, but modernisation should lead to structural changes in the economy and ensure sustainable growth."

Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Ladies and gentlemen,

As you know, yesterday I delivered a report on the government’s performance in the State Duma. I spoke not only about our performance, however; in point of fact, I spoke about the results of our common endeavour because the government only organises the work of the social sectors and the economy, while the real work is done in the real economy. The people who ensure our achievements are sitting before me now, so it was largely a report on our joint efforts. I spoke not only about what we accomplished last year but also about some plans for the future.

Together, we should address our common goals of development and qualitative changes in the structure of the Russian economy. We keep talking about modernisation, which is a perfectly good objective, but modernisation should lead to structural changes in the economy and ensure sustainable growth.

We have regained two-thirds of the pre-crisis GDP, but we cannot say that we have overcome the crisis. We have reached a stage of stable recovery, and we will have overcome it only when we fully return to our pre-crisis level. We have not yet achieved this goal; we still have one-third of the pre-crisis GDP  to recover. And when we get there, we will need to keep up the tempo.

We have big plans concerning large projects in industry, infrastructure, and high technology. We are launching serious programmes in professional education, healthcare, and culture.

What I’d like to draw your attention to today is the goal of doubling our labour productivity. It grew 3.1% last year, which is clearly not enough. We must accelerate our pace, although it is true that the growth of labour productivity was even lower in 2009.

It is obvious that extensive methods alone cannot ensure the doubling of labour productivity. We must modernise production, adopt new technologies, and train personnel. We must improve the quality and change the structure of the labour market by creating modern, high-tech, and well paid jobs and by raising the skills and educational standards of the workforce.

It should be said that the government will allocate about 2 billion roubles for professional retraining under regional programmes of market stabilisation, including over 800 million for enterprises that are modernising production.

We also plan to adjust the system of professional education to the requirements  of the labour market. We have discussed this issue at length and keep talking about it because this is what the government, people, and, of course, businesses need.

We will provide scholarships and grants to pay for onsite training and  retraining.

Our priorities include labour protection, improving the working environment, and occupational safety. We know that this is something one must not stint money on, but I still want to draw your attention to these issues. We plan to compile a list of obligatory measures to be financed by employers for ensuring occupational safety, and to introduce a new system for defining hazardous jobs.

When I drove a Lada Kalina on the Amur Highway last summer, I met with workers, and one of them, a simple man without any complaints about the business or administration, which I liked, said calmly, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary: “I work on a crusher, we crush gravel. You know, you can only work with a mask there, but it is not considered a hazardous occupation. That's a little unfair, don’t you think?”

When people see such injustice, they don’t work as well as they could, and the results are not as good as they could be either.

Everyone in this audience knows about that when accidents occur, we have to pay much more than we would have, had we invested in routine operational improvements. So, we should do everything when and as necessary, drafting proper standards and then respecting them. We will invite independent expert organisations to contribute to this project.

One more important issue is the tragedy at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in Japan. It is being widely discussed, and our experts are now considering the need to…