OREANDA-NEWS. March 04, 2011. “We must find solutions that allow the country to develop steadily while also giving the majority of citizens the opportunity to experience the impact of this development in their own lives, to see for themselves how it has improved their lives and the lives of their children, to reap the benefits of this development – not in the remote future, but today.”

Transcript:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

Bryansk has welcomed us with good weather, which instantly puts one in a positive, spring mood. We are holding our first interregional party conference in the new year of 2011 in this almost festive or at least pre-holiday atmosphere. We are to discuss projects concerning the development of the Central Federal District. First, I'd like to say a few words about what we have achieved, and then allow me to make a number of proposals.

We realise full well that if a political party claims the support of the people, it should know these people and their needs and put them at the top of its agenda. It is no accident that United Russia has undertaken to draft development projects for all regions of Russia – from the Far East to Kaliningrad. At our interregional forums, we discussed many important and urgent issues and, most importantly, we started implementing our initiatives.

Following the party's conferences, our government has made a number of decisions – for instance, to reduce the price of gas for Kamchatka. I will simply remind you of the decisions that have been made at preceding regional party conferences and what has been done. So, to repeat, we have decided to reduce the price of gas on Kamchatka and expand the programme of discount flights for the residents of Siberia and the Far East. We have allocated funds to restore the forests burnt by fires in the Central Region and launched the programme for modernising AvtoVAZ and improving municipal development in Togliatti and other single-industry cities. VEB is taking part in establishing a fund for direct investment in the projects in the Far East. We are also working on institutions of development for the North Caucasus.

We have supported these measures with more than 3 trillion roubles spread over 100 investment projects in the Volga, Siberian, and Far Eastern Regions. In the North Caucasian Federal District alone, 37 major projects worth 400 billion roubles will be started this year alone. This is quite a significant sum for this district. No doubt, we will accomplish all our plans despite attempts to hinder the normal development of the North Caucasus.

Last year, our GDP grew by 4% and the real incomes of the population increased by 4.1%.