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Established as per Presidential Executive Order of May 22, 2018, Russia – Land of Opportunity platform carried out over 60 projects, contests and Olympiads over the past seven years, including Leaders of Russia, This Runs in Our Family, Flagships of Education, Top BLOG, I’m a Professional, the International Construction Championship, etc. These initiatives brought together 25 million participants from 89 regions of Russia and over 150 countries.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends, good afternoon.

I am delighted to see you and to offer you my greetings.

Our programme, Russia – Land of Opportunity, marks its seventh anniversary. It has proven its worth as an inspiring, major and ambitious project. I would like to start by congratulating Supervisory Board members and the big and friendly team within the Russia – Land of Opportunity platform, as well as all its participants on this occasion.

I know that there are winners of various contests and competitions here alongside Supervisory Board members. We will have an opportunity to praise your efforts and to congratulate you on your achievements and, of course, you will be able to take the floor. That said, as we begin this meeting, I wanted to thank you for your contribution to these joint efforts and to congratulate you on your achievements.

Since its establishment, this platform has attracted over 25 million people who took part in various programmes. This is a serious number which clearly demonstrates that this initiative is very much relevant, people need it, and its participants believe in its importance, are looking forward to take part in it, and place their trust in it.

The platform has built an impressive track record of success, which shows that our country has so many proactive, dedicated people who are ready to move forward, improve their skills and acquire new knowledge, reach new heights, and succeed for the benefit of our people, society and the country in general. Of course, it also empowers its participants to fulfil their potential and achieve tangible results.

Let me highlight what I think is another important aspect. According to opinion surveys, 37 percent of people in Russia believed in 2017, when Russia – Land of Opportunity platform was created, that young people had everything it takes for fulfilling their potential. However, this figure has reached 80 percent over the past several years. These are objective data, which demonstrate that there are many changes underway, and these changes are headed in the right direction thanks to your efforts.

The key principle of the very first project, the Leaders of Russia, which was launched in 2017, was open and fair competition aimed at helping identify promising managers and giving them an opportunity for professional development in their own interests and for the benefit of the Fatherland.

These are not mere words, for they reflect the state’s actual recruitment policy and ensure effective social mobility. What I mean here is that, to date, five governors, nine deputy federal ministers, and sixteen mayors and municipality heads have graduated from the Leaders of Russia programme. Moreover, more than 600 participants have received new appointments since the competition was established. This is most certainly an impressive achievement.

The contest winners make use of a support programme and an opportunity to work with experienced mentors. In this context, I would like to mention the role of the Senezh workshop, which is very good at promoting the best modern practices of mentorship, using the potential of personnel and teaching teamwork skills, which is extremely important now.

The competitions of this platform help identify energetic and creative people. The Senezh workshop has provided an example for and used as a prototype for nearly 20 other year-round youth educational centres, such as Mashuk, Istoki and Meganom in Crimea, which have become popular.

These centres, just as the functioning of the platform in general, offer opportunities for effective self-realisation, for finding one’s mission in life and kindred spirits.

The same model of a direct competitive selection has been used for the Leaders of Russia project. Politics project, which was launched in 2020. As many as 23 of its graduates have been elected State Duma deputies, two have been appointed senators, and there are also social and political leaders among them.

The second season of that project began in December 2024. Its winners will be chosen in 2026, when we will hold elections to the State Duma, and many of them will certainly try to win the support of the electorate, the citizens of Russia. I would like to wish them success and hope that they will take yet another step in their careers in the best and direct meaning of the word.

As I have said, the competitive principle has proved to be effective and has also been used for other projects of this platform, which offer new opportunities not only for managers but for Russian society as a whole. Take, for instance, This Runs in Our Family project, about which we will talk later. It is certainly a success, with 600,000 people, if I am not wrong, taking part. The figure speaks for itself, does it not? It is a success.

The work of the Russia – Land of Opportunity platform is centred on the interests of people of all ages, and its primary objective, as we initially planned, is to create a unified, expansive space for self-realisation for all citizens of our country, irrespective of their place of residence, profession, or income level.

To achieve this, over 60 diverse projects have been launched in total. Furthermore, some of them have now gained independent status, such as the Big School-Break competition for children and teenagers or the More Than a Journey programme, which assists the younger generation in better understanding their homeland and appreciating its diversity.

Moreover, the Russia – Land of Opportunity platform has effectively given rise to entire public organisations that have already demonstrated their relevance.

I would like to remind you that it was during meetings of the platform’s Supervisory Board that we made – at the initiative of participants in this joint work – decisions to relaunch the Russian Znaniye Society on a new, modern foundation, to establish the Russian movement of children and youth Movement of the First, and to hold the Your Move student competition. In general, all of this is operational, functioning quite successfully, and yielding positive results.

I anticipate that today we will also hear interesting, vivid, and promising proposals.

Importantly, the platform’s work extends beyond Russia – citizens of over 150 countries, including states in both Western Europe and North America, are participants in its projects.

The number of foreign representatives – despite, or perhaps because of, the information campaign unleashed against us – is increasing. They share our views and observe how the so-called ruling elites in some Western countries have turned freedoms, democracy, rights, and human opportunities into mere facades, effectively ignoring the opinion of their societies.

We will not focus on the negative today, but I would like to emphasise that a lot of our colleagues and like-minded people from abroad are taking an active part in our joint creative efforts.

Moreover, they have been saying that they see Russia as a stronghold of traditional spiritual and ethical values shared by people all over the world. And – I think this is no secret, nothing particularly unusual – we observe that in many countries, these ideas are being embraced by individuals who currently hold considerable and broad authority, which cannot but please us.

Friends,

I consider it absolutely correct and significant that all the examples and projects we are discussing today are built on a unified logic, aimed at supporting – without any exaggeration – the boundless creative and constructive energy of people to address shared objectives and ensure our country’s sustainable, confident long-term development.

Colleagues representing various fields are, I would say, creating traditions. These traditions will undoubtedly, I am certain, be upheld and further developed.

Before we proceed to the discussion, I would note that since the previous meeting of the Supervisory Board, several changes have occurred in the platform’s leadership. Alexei Komissarov, Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, has become Chairman of the organisation’s Board, while Andrei Betin, Rector of the Senezh management workshop, has been appointed its Director General. I am pleased to welcome you, colleagues, in these new capacities.

Let us now proceed with our work.

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