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Among the meeting participants were leaders of the Central Headquarters of the Russian Student Brigades, commanders of regional branches and winners of national labour projects.

Today, the Russian Student Brigades movement comprises 240,000 people who work in various fields – construction, medicine, agriculture and many others – in their spare time. Its members took part in building the venues for the APEC Summit in Vladivostok, the World Summer Universiade in Kazan, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Young people help with the construction of energy and shipbuilding facilities, and work as conductors on railway transport and counselors at Russian children’s centres.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.

You all look so nice.

I do not think that our meeting will be very long, but I wanted to see you to congratulate you – active members of the student brigade movement, organisers (as far as I understand you are also engaged in this activity) and all members of the movement represented by you, both those who consider themselves veterans and current members.

As we know, 19 million people have been involved in the student brigade movement over these years; this is quite a big number. And today, the movement comprises 240,000 people, which is also quite a lot. Young people work in various fields – industry, agriculture, construction, the services – and volunteer in various important and interesting areas.

The student brigade movement always lent a hand to the state, to the country, often working in very difficult conditions, and mostly succeeded in fulfilling its tasks. Honestly speaking, I do not know any cases when construction brigades failed to fulfil their tasks. Perhaps there were such cases, but I have never heard of any. On the contrary, students always coped with all the problems that arose during work.

And obviously, they earned money, which motivated students in the past and still motivates them today. However, taking part in construction, work, and sticking together as a team united by a common cause is always pleasant in and of itself; it always puts you in a good frame of mind and creates a very good and unforgettable atmosphere. I am saying this based on my own experience and on the experience of my friends who worked in construction brigades. I hope you have the same experience.

I would like to congratulate you once again, and I hope that thanks to you the construction brigade movement, having received a new impetus from you, will move forward and fulfil all its tasks, and you and future generations of construction brigades will enjoy your work and gain additional skills and life experience, which is no less important, and maybe even more important than skills.

Congratulations! I wish you all the best.

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