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First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev: First of all I wanted to report that we are currently preparing for the meeting of the Council for the Implementation of Priority National Projects, which will take place on November 29 under your chairmanship.

We have already drawn up a programme of work for the coming months and for the long term too, given that different projects will be implemented over varying timeframes and that implementation will take place over a considerable period of time.

Regarding individual projects, I would like to report that our main task at present in the healthcare sector is to begin payments, monthly payments of 5,000 or 10,000 roubles, for the agreed categories of doctors and nurses. The necessary documents have been prepared and they should be approved very soon.

President Vladimir Putin: When will the payments actually begin?

Dmitry Medvedev: The payments will begin in February, but they will also cover the month of January.

Vladimir Putin: So the payments will be calculated to include January?

Dmitry Medvedev: Yes, January 2006 is included.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

Dmitry Medvedev: The project in the education sector provides now for the beginning of payments to teachers who are also heads of classes. All the organisational and methodological documents have been completed in this respect. I think it would be good to examine these documents at the council meeting.

Concerning healthcare matters, we have also prepared the project for establishing advanced medical technology centres in the Russian regions. We have selected ten regions and it will be proposed that the council approve six regions at its meeting that will open in 2006.

Vladimir Putin: But this project was to encompass 15 regions in all.

Dmitry Medvedev: Yes, there should be 15 regions, but the plan is to open six regional centres next year.

Finally, regarding the affordable housing project, we have already prepared the necessary legal acts, though some remain to be completed. We hope that we will be able to approve all the necessary legal acts very soon, by the end of the year, in order to be able to launch this project. The real work, of course, will concentrate on increasing the number of people able to obtain mortgage loans in 2006, compared to this year.

Vladimir Putin: Good. I would like to note that planned transformations in the education and healthcare sectors need to continue given the need to raise the living standards of other categories of people employed in these sectors. This, of course, goes beyond the scope of the problems that we outlined for the national projects and for which you have personal responsibility. But as you are one of the senior officials in the government, I nevertheless draw your attention to this fact, and to the fact that the relevant ministers should carry out their responsibilities in this area.

Also, there is another area we should not forget – the agriculture sector. I ask you not to forget that agriculture is also one of the sectors we designated as a priority area. In this respect, as you recall, we need to put in place the necessary legal framework for leasing agricultural equipment and for enabling agricultural enterprises to obtain investment loans for developing their activities, including in the stock-raising sector.

Dmitry Medvedev: We will work on this.