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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Nechayev, what is your party working on in the parliament?

Alexei Nechayev: We are currently working on adopting the budget. Of course, this budget is complex, but it is important that this is a victory budget, both in military and technological terms. This is the main thing. Our party supported the budget in the first reading, but I am concerned that it is a deficit budget.

Vladimir Putin: But the deficit is small.

Alexei Nechayev: That is true. However, we got used to having a budget surplus for many years, and we want to maintain a reserve so that there is always something available.

I told this to our faction and came to discuss potential ideas with you on how to fill the budget.

Vladimir Putin: Go on, please.

In fact, I expect that there will be more revenue, which will reduce the deficit.

Alexei Nechayev: Let us hope so, but we all need to work to make it smaller.

Vladimir Putin: I would like to hear your opinion because you work directly with entrepreneurs and understand this environment.

Please.

Alexei Nechayev: Eighteen months ago, we discussed smart protectionism. I remember that you supported this idea. Thanks to the duties introduced for unfriendly countries – which existed before, but were small, at just six percent – ​​we have raised them to 35 percent for a whole range of goods, specifically for these imported items. Together, we discussed whether prices would go up. We can see now that the answer is no: prices did not go up as a result of this.

This has already generated 27 billion rubles for the budget in several product categories. The Government has set a plan for next year: to collect over 50 billion. I propose further expanding the list of countries, because we are currently targeting only a select few. Alternatively, we could consider introducing these increased duties for all Western countries, the collective West. I wanted to bring this to your attention today as well.

What can be concluded from the budget? We need to collect money not from our people, but from others. This is the most appropriate approach.

Vladimir Putin: But in a way that does not harm our people.

Alexei Nechayev: Yes, that is our common task.

It is clear that there will be 100 billion rubles and more. I think you are right: if we improve our efforts, there will be even more. That’s the first point.

The second issue is quite sensitive, but I believe it is possible to ensure that migrants will contribute 85 billion rubles to our budget next year.

It is necessary to regulate this issue very carefully. If I may, I would like to explain why we should not overdo it. What is the current situation today? A migrant earns about 90,000 rubles per month in Moscow, which amounts to approximately 1.5 million rubles annually, while the annual work permit costs 90,000 rubles. Even our self-employed businesspersons pay less, not to mention rank-and-file employees.

We need to implement multiple measures to boost this figure. For example, we could raise work permit costs by 50 percent, introduce paid registration and charge duties for these work permits. Currently, people receive all these services for free; if an employee pays 5,000 rubles, this will increase annual budgetary revenues by 10 billion rubles.

This extra funding will enable us to install biometric equipment at border checkpoints, so we will know for certain who has arrived, and where these people are staying and working across the country. You see, only some migrants have work permits.

I would like to ask you to discuss this issue if you support it. We even suggest issuing migrant IDs to monitor the situation. This is the second point.

Thank you very much for supporting the cryptocurrency mining bill. The document has been discussed, and the Government has supported it. Without your support this would not have happened.

Vladimir Putin: Regions with surplus power are already hard pressed for electricity.

Alexei Nechayev: Yes, we must not mine cryptocurrency there; we should limit this activity to the regions with surplus power. A member of our party co-authored this bill. I have attended several meetings, and we can see how much the sector will net throughout 2025.

We need to establish a leading global sector, rather than one that ranks third or fourth in the world. To achieve this, we need to expand our volumes by about five times. We should closely examine areas where this expansion should occur, as we should not mine cryptocurrency in areas that lack electricity.

But this could provide the budget with up to 200 billion rubles in annual revenues. We will certainly benefit from these revenues today and in the future as well.

Perhaps most importantly, it is not just about money; such development could make it possible to gain superiority in artificial intelligence. Yes, Russia, has had a good head start and we are already among the leaders, thanks to Yandex, VK, Sber, and other our companies.

Vladimir Putin: That is true.

Alexei Nechayev: However, it is one thing to be one of the leaders and another to be ahead of the curve, as we once were in space. Therefore, I think that this task should be set – also carefully, but firmly and steadily.

I want to say that in this difficult time, we – the party, our activists and supporters – are confident that we will emerge victorious, including thanks to you and your work.

Vladimir Putin: Thanks to the people of Russia.

Alexei Nechayev: And thanks to the people of Russia. Thank you very much.

I also want to thank you for organising the BRICS summit here in Russia, in Kazan. I know many young people were watching, and there were a lot of conversations. The fact that we showed them there is a new world, a big world, inspires many people. Because the whole idea that “there is some global world and they do not want us there” … Everybody can see that they do want.

You did it. Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: Our objective is not to prove something to someone, but to move forward, to develop with those who want to do so.

Alexei Nechayev: To be real.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I agree.

Alexei Nechayev: Itis a pity Fukuyama was not there. Remember, he talked about the end of history. We can see now that there is no end of history. On the contrary, a new history is beginning, and it began in Kazan.

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