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Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon,

You know I have just visited the State Duma and congratulated its newly elected deputies on the beginning of its fourth period of work. I also want to draw the attention of the Government to the fact that for our joint work to be effective it must be well-organised. I very much hope that draft laws will be prepared in time and with the right quality.

Today is the last time we are holding this kind of meeting. Therefore, in spite of the fact that there are many unsolved issues, I would like to focus on the positive things before New Year’s Eve.

I think that one of the most vivid indices is the continuing growth of the gold and foreign currency reserves. This is one of the most important macroeconomic indices – the number of months that the country is able to finance imports using its gold and foreign currency reserves alone. In the middle of December, Russia’s gold and foreign currency reserves stood at $72 billion. This means that all imports into the country can be paid for another twelve months. Russia is now second in the world in terms of this index. Only Japan surpasses our country in terms of this index, as its gold and foreign currency reserves allow it to cover the purchase of foreign goods and services for fifteen months.

This index is important and favourable, and on its basis we must solve other tasks and strengthen the instruments that can make our economy more efficient, more competitive and more viable.

In this context I want to remind you that we discussed such important draft laws with the former State Duma as a law on foreign currency regulation, a law on the insurance of household deposits in the Russian Federation, and some other laws. As you know, I signed the currency regulation law some time ago. On December 23, I signed the law on the insurance of household deposits. This law increases the stability of deposit insurance. In this sense it meets the interests of Russian citizens who keep their savings in the country’s banks.

Lastly, I signed a law on amending the law on the tax on securities transactions. I think that this, as we hoped, will reduce the costs of enterprises in attracting resources in the form of securities. A lot has been said about this. The business community has raised the need for adopting such a law in the hope that it will work effectively.