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Deputy Prime Minister and Government Chief of Staff Sergei Naryshkin on a meeting of the CIS Economic Council

Sergei Naryshkin: The meeting examined measures to expand economic integration. The main task is to draft the CIS economic strategy through to 2020. This is one of the main items on the work programme for implementing the CIS development concept adopted by the presidents last October.

The meeting also looked at foreign trade protection measures for the CIS countries and at removing obstacles for mutual trade within the CIS.

A number of documents were examined and approved, in particular, on border cooperation between the CIS countries, and on the main currency regulation and currency control policy principles. These matters will all now come before the Council of Heads of Government, which will meet in the second half of May in Moscow.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on strategic financial planning

Alexei Kudrin: The Presidential Address [to the Federal Assembly] gave the instruction to carry out financial planning for the next 10–15 years.

We discussed the main principles for this kind of planning today at a Finance Ministry meeting. The financial plan should guarantee that we have balanced resources for carrying out our social and economic development programme through to 2020. All the ministries will therefore need to carry out this work, using the new planning and modelling instruments. By August 1, we will be ready to present the first such financial planning model, which will take into account all of the different factors that could affect the Russian economy and its finances over the coming 15 years.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: We agreed to hold a series of meetings with me, on the pension system, on healthcare, and on investment activity.

Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive office Sergei Sobyanin: The first of these meetings will take place on Thursday.

Healthcare and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova on a visit to Chelyabinsk Region

Tatyana Golikova: The visit had two main purposes.

Together with the Governor of Chelyabinsk Region, I looked at how work is progressing on building a cardiology centre in Chelyabinsk. The work is running ahead of schedule and construction should be complete in October.

The second issue was a matter raised by a number of civic organisations and by the local people, namely, passing a law on benefits for victims of the radiation accident in Chelyabinsk Region in 1957. The problem is that these people receive lesser benefits than those who suffered as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident.

Vladimir Putin: You mean the accident at Mayak?

Tatyana Golikova: Yes, the accident at the Mayak plant. A working group has been set up that includes federal and local representatives, and the regional administration has already prepared a first draft of the law.

Vladimir Putin: This is clearly an unfair situation and it needs to be dealt with, so I ask you to speed up this work.

Regional Development Minister Dmitry Kozak on the social and economic situation in the Russian regions

Dmitry Kozak: Over the last two years the Government has heard reports on this matter from the governors of 22 of the country’s regions. The next step is to turn our primary attention to the problem regions that need urgent federal intervention. In accordance with the method based on the corresponding Presidential Decree, 12 most problematic regions have already been selected. I think that this regional policy instrument – examination at Government meetings – will bring practical results.

Vladimir Putin: This is correct. Let’s not forget, though, about the other side of the coin, namely, evaluating the work of the Russian Federation Government itself. Criteria for such evaluation have also been drawn up and we now need to set about the practical implementation of all we have agreed on.