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President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Pronichev, let's begin with an event from last year, when we visited the Kazakh section of our national border. It was in the Kurgan Region: we examined what was being done, looked at the technical equipment being used. How do things stand now? What's new?

Head of Russia'S Border Guard Service Vladimir Pronichev: We have taken steps to implement the general plan for strengthening state borders based on decisions made by the government and resolutions of Russia’s Security Council adopted in 2003. Your suggestions were fully incorporated into the new plan, and we enhanced the key areas along our border with Kazakhstan and the borders themselves.

With our colleagues from neighbouring countries, we are working together to prevent threats at remote border crossings. The equipment we currently use is manufactured domestically and developed in our design bureaus, and we believe that the hardware we use today to protect our state borders fully meets up-to-date requirements.

Dmitry Medvedev: This is a good thing: we absolutely must invest in our defence and special equipment. You demonstrated some samples of technology, although it is only fair to say that some of them still require refinement.

We ourselves know what our weaknesses are, so we need to coordinate activities with other agencies to strengthen precisely these technical and technological components, so that everything works the way it does in other countries. When a camera turns on and works for just five minutes and then goes to sleep, we both understand that it’s not the way it should be.

Nevertheless, work in this area must continue, as well as work on giving the Border Guard Service new features. I would like to inform you that to create the appropriate regulatory framework I just submitted to the State Duma some draft amendments to the Federal Law on the State Border of the Russian Federation, amending articles 30 and 35.

This draft clarifies certain wordings, keeping in mind the basic idea of the original legislation, which was reforming border troops and establishing the Border Guard Service of Russia. I hope the State Duma will consider this bill in the near future.

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