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The meeting was attended by Government members, senior officials of relevant ministries, and heads of the flood-affected regions and municipalities.

The President heard reports by Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Fayzullin, Orenburg Region Governor Denis Pasler, Kurgan Region Governor Vadim Shumkov, Tyumen Region Governor Alexander Moor, and to the remarks by the heads of municipalities affected by floods.

Excerpts from transcript of meeting on spring flood relief

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good afternoon.

Today, we will discuss issues of relieving the consequences of severe floods in the Orenburg, Kurgan, and Tyumen regions. Our meeting is being attended by Government members, senior officials of relevant ministries, as well as heads of the affected regions, and, at my request, heads of the municipalities affected by floods will also work with us today.

At the moment, the Orenburg Region is in the most challenging situation. Several residential areas remain flooded, and the water level is slow to subside.

Reports on developments in the flooded areas are coming in regularly. We are in constant contact with the Emergencies Minister – I spoke to him this morning – and the Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities. Both travel to the regions to analyse the situation and assess the damage.

According to the incoming reports, enough resources have been mobilised to ensure a proper response to the flooding. The rescuers, jointly with our colleagues on the ground and staff of other federal departments, security and law enforcement agencies, and – I want to specifically mention this – volunteers are taking professional and coordinated efforts.

I want to ask the federal, regional, and local authorities to continue rendering all the necessary support to the flood victims, including monetary compensation, and responding to every complaint or request from our citizens. It is also necessary to keep monitoring the epidemiological and sanitary situation, forestall speculative hikes in prices of essential goods, and provide timely medical and legal assistance to the flood victims.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I find it necessary to hold an expanded-format meeting next time and to discuss the entire range of issues linked with flood prevention and measures to protect communities. As we can see, there are systemic, organisational and administrative problems here. We should clarify what measures should be implemented by the Federation, the regions and local authorities. We will also analyse whether the existing water control structures comply with the requirements, we will assess the implementation of dam construction, renovation and maintenance programmes, as well as those for other engineering structures to protect territories from adverse impact of water flows.

Of course, we have to address a separate and highly important issue. It is important to thoroughly review and adjust, if necessary, the amount of compensation to be granted to the citizens affected by this emergency. This concerns one-time benefits, compensation for partial or full loss of property, and other payments. Regardless of their fiscal capacity, the regions must be fair and aligned in their approaches to the benefits.

In conclusion, I would like to note that, as I have repeatedly said, people absolutely do not care what tier of state authority is responsible for a particular issue; nor do they care about their powers. Most important, we need to effectively address problems that people face, including emergencies. It is necessary to listen to people and to respond to their requests effectively and in a timely fashion so that the entire system of public authority functions in a well-coordinated and efficient manner.

Let us get down to work and discuss all the issues I have mentioned.

<…>

Thank you very much.

There is a lot to do there and I hope are you doing everything on time. I talked with the Governor even before the water arrived and discussed preventive measures. I see that you are working. Hopefully, your work will bring the results people need.

I have already said that we have 18 people – heads of municipalities – on the line. As I see it, in general, all those who spoke formulated the main problems. That said, I would still like to address all participants in our meeting, primarily, of course, the heads of municipal entities. Is there anything you would like to say, anything you would like to draw special attention to? If so, please use the microphone to voice your concerns. Raise your hand, introduce yourself so that the camera can detect you.

No? Has everything been said? Ok then.

Here is what I would like to point out at the end of our meeting.

First, the cost of major repairs of one square metre of housing has been set by the corresponding Government directive and has not been adjusted for inflation since then. But, despite all our efforts to curb price rises, inflation is still here. This requires special attention. It is necessary to look at the real cost of major repairs of one square metre and adjust this figure if needed. I think it needs adjustment.

Second, the amount of payments was set in 2008. Now we are in 2024 and this amount has not been adjusted for inflation either. I would like to ask the relevant federal agencies – the Emergencies Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Construction and social departments to return to this issue and make the adjustments. As a reminder, today these figures are 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 rubles. These amounts must be adjusted for inflation.

Third, there is a sensitive issue linked with employers. If people have to rebuild their households and go to work at the same time they are facing additional difficulties. I would like to ask the governors to discuss this with local employers, or, if someone works at federal agencies or in companies with state participation, in this case you too need to discuss this with employers and make arrangements for an extra leave for them.

Next, the most sensitive issue is related to the share in another residential property. The municipality head said that, with our tools, it is not possible to get anything. It’s not about our tools; maternity capital has nothing to do with it.

To make it clear to everyone, no other country has a support system like this in case of floods or other natural disasters. As a rule, it is the same everywhere: it is just insurance; if you are insured, you get the insurance money; if you are not, you are at your own risk.

We have built this system, and we need to improve it. Compared with foreign countries, we have a different situation, and individual incomes are different, so the system must be preserved, and, moreover, improved. By the way, the same goes for insurances. As a rule, the amount of insurance is small in our country, so if a person is insured, they are not entitled to some payments. It should not be like that, people should be encouraged to take out insurance, and there is no need to deprive them of additional payments now. Please pay special attention to this.

However, if there is a second housing, or a share in other residential property, then, in accordance with current regulations, a person is not entitled to corresponding compensations, or any other compensation, even if the share is only a few metres, as the heads of municipalities also mentioned today.

This issue must be examined more carefully and addressed without formalities. In this case, formalism has nothing to do with the state measures aimed at supporting people in a difficult life situation or at maintaining social justice. This definitely needs to be addressed. Now I will not voice any final decisions, but I am asking you not to ignore this problem and then report on it separately.

Now, there is a list of property for the loss of which compensation is paid, 100,000 or 50,000 rubles, respectively. Depending on whether the property is on this list or not, the appropriate funds are paid. There is a proposal to amend this list, for example, to supplement it and so on. This list needs to be abolished altogether. The property is lost, so appropriate compensation must be paid. What is there to consider: does the list include a washing machine or not? Nonsense. This list needs to be abolished, and that’s it. I am asking you to proceed exactly from what I have just said.

But there is one more question that has not yet been raised; I know it is a sensitive issue, which is not regulated by any law, but nevertheless, I would like to draw your attention to it now. Our colleagues have mentioned the families of the participants in the special military operation. These people certainly deserve special attention, as well as families with children, especially large families.

The usual practice in such cases is to take care of their children’s vacations. I would like to ask you to discuss this issue with our colleagues in the regions, with the heads of the regions. It is spring, and the long May holidays are ahead; so if these families want their children to go on vacation, you need to make the relevant arrangements, and do so as quickly as possible.

<… >

Also, there is another category of flood victims we have not considered today. I am talking about pensioners. This category also requires special attention. People have worked all their lives, have saved some money and bought property for their children or grandchildren. Since they thus effectively own a permanent residence and have a second housing they are not entitled to a compensation. This issue needs to be addressed. Our veterans and pensioners cannot be abandoned in this situation. I am not talking about any decisions now because I do not want to make guesses, but I am asking you in include this category in your considerations. We cannot pretend that everything is fine there.

<… >

We need to work on the issues that I have highlighted, all together. Some of them need to be addressed in collaboration with the regions, of course, when it comes to garden plots or similar property. We certainly need to share the responsibility and burden. In any case, all the issues that I have just pointed out must be considered.

<… >

I would like to say again that families with children and large families require special attention.

All the best. We will return to discussing these issues when water recedes, and we have a better understanding of the scale of the problem we are facing, as well as which categories of the population require targeted support and what kind of support they need.

In particular, the most important issue will be the restoration of housing. The Ministry of Construction is working on this. I would like you to report on the progress of works on a regular basis, too.

All the best.