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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

I want to once again congratulate you on your graduation, on completing the first public administration training programme. From among the participants of this programme, seven people present here were appointed to the high positions of regional leaders, acting governors of major regions with great industrial, agricultural and scientific potential, while they were still in training.

You are now responsible for the quality of people's lives; I can even say, without exaggeration, for the future of the people, because the well-being, and sometimes the lives of the people in the territories that you are currently running will depend on the efficiency of the services entrusted to you.

I very much hope that both your background knowledge and your life experience, which is ample, as well as the knowledge gained during training, will be used as much and as effectively as possible to address the tasks facing the regions that you are now heading.

I would like to draw your attention to two things and discuss them with you today. First, you have completed your training and started work. You are aware that that we will continue this programme in June, and I would like you to tell me how this programme can be improved to make the training of young public servants even more effective and focused.

Second, this request is related to your current activities – please, use open competitive methods for selecting public administration personnel at all levels in your work as you go about your functions.

Of course, the necessary influence can and should be exerted, within the confines of current law, on the formation of the municipal level of government. However, the regional level of government must also include ambitious, in the best sense of the word, and goal-oriented public administrators who love their work and treat people with respect. I believe this is how you will form your teams. This is what I wanted to say in my opening remarks.

Now, I would like to hear what you have to say about the question that I asked about training public administration personnel as part of the programme that you completed, and I would also like to hear your opinion on the situation in the regions where you work, and the goals that you have set for yourselves.

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Vladimir Putin: First of all, thank you very much for the proposals to improve the Management Personnel Pool programme. We will absolutely keep them in mind. I think they are correct. This concerns holding classes in the regions and inviting specialists from other countries. Indeed, it is critically important to listen to them and to go there, especially for our colleagues who work in regions close to the CIS countries, and those who are part of our economic union. This is something we will absolutely have to do. This is my first point.

Second, I can see that despite the limited time you have been in these regions, you are making quite good progress in getting up to speed and are already familiar with the situation. I am pleased to know that. You have already come up with specific proposals. There have also been requests, and the very nature of the questions and the requests clearly shows that you are familiar with the situation. This is good to know.

I want to wish you success in your practical work. I hope that your practical activities will be appreciated by the residents of your regions during the upcoming September elections of leaders of the regions where you are currently serving as acting governors.