OREANDA-NEWS. May 18, 2011. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested that the positions of director and department heads for the agency for strategic initiatives should be opened to applicants starting on May 25, 2011. According to the prime minister, the idea behind the new agency is to allow young talents to translate their ideas and projects into reality. "Positive experience in working as an independent professional will be the key selection criterion," said Mr Putin.
Transcript of the beginning of the session:

Vladimir Putin: Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'd like to begin our meeting today by discussing issues that are not directly related to its agenda. I am referring specifically to an initiative voiced at the United Russia regional conference in Volgograd on May 6.

We've repeatedly spoken about the need to create additional mechanisms for young, talented people to be able to realise their ideas and proposals.

I know that each of the agencies and departments represented here produces such proposals, in one form or another. But for our day-to-day work to run smoothly, the government will have to adopt the appropriate laws, by-laws, and other regulatory acts to filter out dishonest activity undertaken with a view to misappropriate budgetary funds.

But we all know just how difficult it is at times to get through all the bureaucratic red tape. That is why we presented the idea of establishing an agency for strategic developments, a mechanism intended to open up new social mobility for young talent.

The agency's work is to be arranged in three areas. The first has to do with new projects and initiatives of a practical nature.

The second is related to the assessment of qualifications. As I said earlier, we arranged for the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs to develop a special qualification system for us. Unfortunately, it is progressing rather slowly. But it represents yet another attempt to create this kind of mechanism with the help of people who know how to achieve tangible results.

And, finally, the third area is related to social projects for NGOs and individuals involved in culture and the arts, public health, and education.

I believe that the agency could organise work in all three areas. The Russian government could found such an agency under the purview of the prime minister.

The agency will need to develop a regional network so as to expand its outreach in finding and supporting fresh talent and promising projects.

The selection of projects and of candidates to work at the agency should be done as openly as possible. I propose using a special website for this purpose.

Everyone willing to cooperate with the agency will be able to submit his or her application via the website. Projects and candidates for staff positions should be assessed by independent experts. We have yet to decide whom our expert panel should consist of and how its work should be organised. In my view, that’s an important responsibility, and I’d like you to come up with the relevant proposals.

Anyone interested will be able to apply, including for the positions of director general and department heads. Positive experience in working as an independent professional will be the key selection criterion.

I suggest we open the positions of director and department heads to applicants starting on May 25. We could set the agency for strategic initiatives’ official presentation for the same date. That’s something I discussed earlier with the Minister of Economic Development. I would now like Ms Nabiullina and First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov to execute this decision without delay.

There's another thing. I received a letter from the rector of St Petersburg University. He’s asking that some of the Defence Ministry’s land and buildings not in active use be handed over to the university. I wouldn’t mind, personally, provided no damage is done to the Defence Ministry’s interests. The Ministry of Economic Development should arrange for some form of compensation to be paid to the Defence Ministry. But, prior to that, the issue should be agreed upon between the Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Education and Science. The idea is to put the grounds to good use with the assurance that the Defence Ministry’s interests aren’t undermined.

Now I’d like to return to some of our abundantly financed anti-crisis measures.  I’ve asked the Finance Ministry to look into the effect those measures made in 2009 and 2010.  Mr Kudrin will report to us on that now.

Alexei Kudrin: Ladies and gentlemen,

In February 2009, with the economic crisis at its peak, the government decided to allocate some 300 billion roubles in bailouts to companies involved in manufacturing industries. Two ad hoc commissions were set up to consider bids from civilian and defence-sector companies. The commissions provided 132 bailouts, worth a total 242.8 billion roubles.

Vladimir Putin: Meaning that almost all of the 300 billion roubles were disbursed?

Alexei Kudrin:  Yes. Another 35.7 billion roubles was put on offer, but the bid for that bailout failed to meet the requirements. So, only 81% of the projected amount was released, in the end.

A total of 93 companies benefited from that money; 80.3 billion roubles has been paid back by now, some of it early.

There’s been one case of recalling a bailout over a break with credit regulations. The beneficiary of a 150-million-rouble bailout tried to change the contract in a manner not provided for in the regulations.

In a separate instance, a bank asked for 67 million roubles in overdue payments. There are other such cases currently under consideration, totaling 2 billion roubles. We’ll settle them with the creditor banks and will then force the recipient companies to meet their arrears. The banks that issued such loans will not be affected as they will receive our guarantee. The security used to be as high as 70% of the borrowed amount. The banks were also partially responsible, at a rate of about 30%. Therefore, 81% of the limit was used. The work is underway, and there are returns already. There are also cases under guarantee that involve budgetary claims, which is to be expected given the risks faced during the crisis. 

Vladimir Putin: What’s your take on the outcome of this work?

Alexey Kudrin: Mr Putin, by late 2009, 81% of this limit had been spent. As I said before, 93 enterprises used it, most of them major industrial enterprises. For some of them, it was a pivotal event that prevented their bankruptcy and allowed them to keep working.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Mr Zubkov, I asked you to check on fuel and lubricant supplies for agricultural producers.

Viktor Zubkov: Mr Putin, colleagues. Last week, I chaired a conference call with the regional authorities and invited the heads of all of our petroleum companies to participate. We discussed fuel and lubricant supplies for the spring sowing campaign and fuel prices.

We are moving ahead, and the government resolution is being implemented. As far as we know from the regions, there are no unresolved issues with fuel and lubricant supplies.

Although, as we know, spring has come 10-12 days late this year, spring sowing works proceed much more quickly than last year. Farmers have already planted some 600,000 hectares more out of 25 million hectares than in the previous year. This is almost half of the area that needs to be planted this spring. The total amount of fuel and lubricants necessary stands at around 2.7 million tonnes, of which 2 million tonnes are diesel fuel and 180,000 tonnes are petrol.

The issues raised by the regions have been settled. The amounts that I’ve mentioned were broken up by months. For instance, if a particular region has used all of its April supplies, it naturally wants advance supplies for May or June to be able to do work due in May. We sent a letter to the Energy Ministry and settled the issue. There are certain problems in a few regions, for instance, when they thought that previously farmed areas were insufficient. They will plant more as a result, and they will need more fuel for harvesting and the winter sowing campaign than was previously agreed upon by the Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture. This week, I instructed the Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture to come up with proposals for these regions and adjust the volumes that were agreed upon. This work is being done, and I believe they will complete it this week. 

Now, as for special prices. The price for diesel fuel in almost all Russian regions is 6,000 – 8,000 roubles per one tonne and in a few of them even 9,000 – 10,000 roubles cheaper than present market prices. For example, diesel fuel in the Saratov Region is sold at 16,900 roubles, while at the market, it’s available at the price of 25,000 roubles. That’s a good price. I believe that with all the work we’ve done, we will have no problem supplying fuel and lubricants to the farmers until the end of the year. 

There are also issues involved in Ai-80 motor petrol. You know that new technical specifications are due to be introduced. I spoke with people from the Federal Agency for State Reserves and appropriately instructed the Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture. We have identified approaches to solving the issue, since we still have a shortage of about 260,000 tonnes. There is a way to address this problem, and we will report back to you as our work proceeds.

Vladimir Putin: Keep an eye on it.

Viktor Zubkov: I have also instructed the relevant authorities to make budgetary funds available to agricultural producers. We’ve discussed this issue with the regions. Overall, the state programme is being financed as scheduled..

As I reported to you earlier, making most of these federal funds available to farmers does not affect the spring sowing campaign. However, I instructed the Agricultural Ministry to continue supervising the compliance of the regions with the provisions of the agreements that are being signed. All the more so as they’ve signed these agreements and filed applications for the allocation of budgetary funds. Now they must fulfill their obligations. We monitor this work closely, and the regions agreed to transfer their budgetary funds as co-financing to federal funding before June 1. We keep tabs on this work.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Mr Basargin, your ministry was supposed to compile the regional ratings of Federation members that passed the fall-winter peak with the best and worst performance results. Have you done so?

Viktor Basargin: Yes, Mr Putin, we have. We will finalise the discussion of the fall-winter peak during a teleconference due on May 19. The work is already completed for almost all Russian regions except two northern ones, where certain municipal districts finalise the work on June 10. 

We have compiled the rating in accordance with your instruction based on the results we were given and used 20 objective performance indicators to do so. First, this is about fulfilling the plan for getting through the fall-winter peak – and recording the number of glitches, emergencies, and accidents. It is also about fuel reserves, the failure to submit data or incorrect data, and a number of other indicators.

Such information and performance assessments have been executed for all 83 Federation members. I can name the regions that are on top and those that are at the bottom.

Vladimir Putin: Please name the best and the worst.

Viktor Basargin: The Tyumen Region and the Republic of Bashkortostan received the highest rating at 0.971 points.

Vladimir Putin: And who was the worst?

Viktor Basargin: The lowest ratings go to the Arkhangelsk Region (0.437) and the Republic of Khakassia (0.463). Unfortunately, these regions in particular experienced glitches and emergencies this year. I am, of course, referring to Nyandoma, a town in the Arkhangelsk Region that everyone is familiar with. There were problems with the utilities supplies in Khakassia, as well. There is a village there in which two power lines lost power, and life-support facilities didn’t have any back-up energy supplies. So, there was no heating, no power. They defrosted the boiler room and so on.

Vladimir Putin: What about Kamchatka?

Viktor Basargin: Kamchatka is also at the bottom of the list – third from the bottom with 0.481 points, or 81st place.

Vladimir Putin: Please take note of this…