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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Ms Matviyenko, Mr Volodin, I know that the parliamentary session has come to an end, and the Federation Council has completed its work…

Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko: Indeed, we have also closed our session.

Vladimir Putin:… and the Duma too. I watched your reports during news conferences, and I also watched the speeches you delivered in your respective chambers.

First of all, I would like to thank the senators and State Duma deputies for all the enormous work they have carried out. Moreover, they were very responsive in their efforts, and worked closely with the Government in everything we do, including specific economic matters and social affairs. This always requires a lot of hard and responsible effort. The parliament adopted 331 laws during the session.

Valentina Matviyenko: Mr President, the session had a very packed agenda, and it was also very effective. Moreover, this was the longest session ever, so that we can even call it spring-and-summer session, rather than simply the spring session.

We, I mean the Government, the Federation Council and the State Duma, worked as a single team under your leadership in these challenging times. And we were effective in coordinating our efforts. Quite often we disagreed and had intense debates on draft laws, introducing amendments. At the end of the day, however, we always succeeded in reaching common ground for the sake of making these laws even better.

You have already mentioned the 331 figure. Of course, the main priority guiding our efforts was to fulfil the provisions of the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, as well as your May executive orders regarding the national development goals until 2030, or until 2036, in some cases.

The Federation Council approved its plan for carrying out the provisions from this Address. Not only have we fulfilled it but went even further by supplementing it with new initiatives. In this context, we focused on addressing the challenges you highlighted in your Address and the May executive orders.

We adopted a series of laws dealing with social affairs. In fact, there were over 150 of them, which amounts to just under half of all the laws we adopted. I am referring to social laws, primarily those designed to support families with children. I know how much you care about this topic, on a personal level, and that you always set a very high standard in this domain. In fact, we enacted several meaningful support measures to improve the well-being of families with children. Four million families raising ten million children benefited from these measures.

Second, of course, is the strengthening of our defence capability, security and laws to support participants in the special military operation and their families.

Together we have paid much attention to changes in the taxation system. We made very many amendments and, actually, our proposals as well as others have been adopted. The Finance Ministry was highly responsive. I would say that this was a social contract between the authorities and society, and it was very calmly received, because the instructions you gave – a fairer taxation system – certainly did not affect the bulk of families. Moreover, as part of these tax changes, families with children and other categories of low-income citizens received additional privileges and additional support.

As for the legislative support for the special military operation, since its beginning we have adopted 238 laws, with 15 during this session. Most of the laws we adopted in dialogue with the Defence Ministry, with the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, with the commanders and soldiers. Nevertheless, I think that this work should be continued and finely tuned.

I will give just one example. I had a meeting in a Defence Ministry sanatorium in Kislovodsk, where participants in the special military operation undergo rehabilitation. The conversation was very substantive, they liked everything. But they said: “You know, we need not just medical and physical rehabilitation, but psychological, too. Let our wives be with us in the sanatorium.”

Vladimir Putin: They are the best psychologists.

Valentina Matviyenko: Exactly so. And the hospital management said: “Ms Matviyenko, discipline will improve, they will comply with all medical advice.” And, of course, they have not seen their families for a long time. We now want to prepare proposals together with the Defence Ministry and submit them to you. I think this is the right thing to do.

The Federation Council has fully exercised its new constitutional powers to hold consultations with the heads of security and law enforcement agencies of the so-called presidential bloc. This is the first time that the powers of the upper house have been extended so much. We have worked out this procedure, made changes to the regulations, and it is now clear how we will continue this work from now on, when necessary.

As the Federation Council represents Russia’s regions – the upper house of parliament comprises representatives of the regions, so we have been naturally focusing on interacting with the regions. We are always in touch with regional governors as well as local legislatures. In fact, the Federation Council has truly become a regional platform – a very important fixture in a federal state, I believe – where we discuss any requests from regions, any proposals or changes to legislation, and work out system-wide solutions. A great deal has been achieved in this respect – I will not list all the solutions now, but each of them has been formalised as a law.

For example, farmers complained to us about problems with marketing their products. Small and medium-sized agribusinesses were predictably better at manufacturing than at marketing – they said, we know how to produce, but not how to sell. So we started a pilot project in two regions – the Tula and Lipetsk regions, where we connected farmers with retail chains. The trial run turned out well and gave us the opportunity to perfect the mechanism. Eventually we drafted a law, which was supported by the relevant committee of the State Duma, and we passed a law creating new additional mechanisms for the sale of farm products, such as digital aggregators and much more.

I have reported to you separately on the situation with children’s health institutions. You supported our plans, and we must give credit to the Government, they are fulfilling your instruction. In two years, we have built 148 new modular centres for children’s recreation and health improvement; 34 facilities (canteens, other infrastructure) have been repaired and so, more than 100,000 children have taken advantage of vacations in new and better facilities. All the projects were co-financed by the regions. The Finance Ministry does not allocate much, but nonetheless, this is a good support for the regions.

We will continue this programme to bring the children’s recreation infrastructure up to standard by 2030, as you have instructed us. It is important for children to commune with nature, practice sports, and re-energise, while being exposed to educational influences. It is a highly relevant programme involving 54 regions. At the moment, one billion rubles is allocated to the regions, and by the end of the year, 13 more regions will receive additional funds.

We have a forestry council. We have prepared a lot of proposals on how to improve forest management, and so on.

Mr President, I want to thank you separately for your decision to write off two-thirds of the debt owed by the regions by converting the debt to budget loans. It is very helpful. I met with many governors and all of them are happy, because these funds will be used for development, infrastructure upgrades and will provide targeted help to encourage regional growth.

I want to say that this session has set a record with the senators introducing many more legislative initiatives than before (either on their own or jointly with other legislators), with 186 draft laws submitted for further consideration.. This is what the regions are asking for and what they approach us with. This brings positive results as well.

The Federation Council’s membership renews every year after the single voting day which is good. Under the Constitution, we are a body that operates uninterruptedly with new senators with new ideas and new experiences coming in non-stop. This year, 38 senators will participate in gubernatorial and legislative assembly election campaigns. This is less than half [of the entire membership]. This means new senators will come aboard. This helps a lot in our work.

We have approved the work plan for the autumn session. The autumn session will be no less eventful than the spring session. Everyone is primed to put in hard work. As you said, everyone must have a front of their own. We plan to continue our work with the same persistence and dedication our military demonstrate on the battlefield.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

Please.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin: Mr President, this session was particularly significant for us as it is the first time in modern Russia that the State Duma took part in forming the Government. You initiated the transfer of the authority to approve ministers, deputy prime ministers, and the Prime Minister to our citizens, who, through their deputies, endorse these appointments.

This process was challenging. We spent eight hours discussing and evaluating the candidacies for ministers, six hours on deputy prime ministers, and four hours considering the Prime Minister’s candidacy, including reviewing programmes and engaging in dialogue. However, this was ultimately beneficial. Previously, when issues arose, deputies often blamed the Government. Now, with the decision made in accordance with the constitutional amendments approved by our citizens, we are more directly responsible and accountable.

Now everyone understands that if we are not performing our duties properly, we must hold ourselves accountable in the first place, not just those in the Government. By endorsing these decisions, we assume responsibility ourselves. I must say that many of our work practices have evolved, marking a new phase in our development. This represents a new stage in parliamentary evolution and democratic practices, as this approach necessitates the development of more transparent and public solutions, along with the establishment of a relevant system.

The Government presents its perspective on how certain draft laws should be considered. At the outset, we request a list of priority laws that the Government wishes the State Duma to review. Simultaneously, we collaborate with the Government on the laws they plan to introduce, as well as any bills we propose. During this session, we enacted 331 laws. While this number is not as high as in some previous sessions, it is important to highlight that these laws are highly significant.

Of course, the law to approve the taxation system was also high on our agenda. We held large-scale open parliamentary hearings and invited people representing civil society and the expert community. The Government was present in the Duma almost around the clock, and we engaged in an intensive dialogue. I must emphasise that this enabled us to perfect this law. There were those who criticised it at first, but we, including the Government and the deputies, demonstrated our ability to listen to each other. Once again, we developed a new kind of relationship. In the past, we would just brush all these concerns aside, and we did not hold hearings of this kind before, but the situation has changed, which has clearly improved our performance.

That said, Mr President, I must say that all the initiatives you have put forward enabled us to bring this law to perfection. Taxing the incomes earned by participants in the special military operation was one of the tax-related issues. You offered a solution. There were questions dealing with people living in the northern regions. You had a meeting with them just then, and your initiative was supported. Eventually, we devised the norms, which our people supported.

In fact, the tax framework will remain unchanged for almost 90 percent of the people, or 87 percent, since there are varying estimates in this regard. However, those who earn bigger incomes will have to pay more in taxes. This way, we fulfil the imperative of fairness and justice. We also talked about creating a stable taxation system as a prerequisite for creating an enabling business environment. We discussed these factors too, and came up with solutions, including by working together with the business community. I must say that the Duma has successfully orchestrated this dialogue, and I am saying it on a positive note. This forms an integral part of our efforts. Before introducing any draft laws, we reach out to civil society and businesses, as well as the expert community, and the regions, too.

When we discuss major laws, the regions – I mean their legislative assemblies – join us via videoconference, or we invite chairs of corresponding committees, or speakers of regional legislative assemblies to discuss draft laws and major reports, such as the Government performance reports, reports by the Central Bank or the Accounts Chamber. This is to say that we have a sophisticated framework. Taken together, all this enabled us to deliver solutions, and almost all parliamentary groups supported them. In fact, the level of support reached 73 percent, which also demonstrates the extent to which we consolidated our efforts. This is a very high indicator for us, meaning that we did not simply rely on our parliamentary majority to come up with these decisions, but were able to work with the opposition and other parliamentary groups who hold different views.

It should be noted that laws are changing significantly. In 2016, you proposed that 50 percent of our committees be headed by representatives of oppositional parliamentary groups although United Russia held the majority. This decision has brought certain results affecting the quality. Yes, of course, the law adoption process has become slower because there are more discussions; however, there have been fewer mistakes. Opposition representatives are able to deliver their point of view and participate in the meetings of the State Duma Council that includes 50 percent of rather important committees. These are committees on finance, agriculture, family, motherhood, childhood and social policy. The opposition is an integral part of the political system.

I should add that over 21,000 sanctions have been imposed on Russia; however, the political system you have built withstood the pressure and demonstrates its effectiveness. More sanctions are creating more challenges. You grant authority to people so that they could take part in the decision-making process through their deputies rather than the other way around.

Speaking about the parliament, despite the sanctions and problems, you confirmed during the election campaign that it would be the right thing to do. Both deputies and parliamentary party leaders praised this decision. This complements responsibility. We are consolidated on the key issues of the country’s development, be it economic issues or defence – and, most importantly, international issues.

The session is also special because, despite the fact that the issue of resources was very complicated and took quite some time to resolve, it was on the agenda. We constantly visited regions and answered questions from voters. They wanted to know when the officials would resume indexation of pensions of working pensioners. I want to thank you on behalf of all the parties in the State Duma and on behalf of our citizens.

Although you suggested that deputies submit this initiative, we called it the Putin’s Law and believe that it is an achievement for the entire country that you found a solution in this complicated situation to resume indexation of pensions of working pensioners. This is fair and will retain a huge number of people in their careers, but everybody understands how difficult it is. It is difficult when you must spend money on defence and other priority issues. This was done during this session.

As for the special military operation, we have adopted 21 laws regarding its participants and their families, and we know that you keep this issue under your personal control so we have set this matter as a priority for ourselves, and it remains our top priority to this day.

Without a doubt, matters outlined in the Presidential Address are a priority for the State Duma. We are aware that by acting upon the Address, we are doing everything to achieve the national development goals. To date, 49 out of the 90 items listed in the Address – the measures that we identified for ourselves when analysing the Address – have been implemented, that is, 54 percent of the work has been completed.

We are not only keeping track of this but are also working with the Government to take legislative initiative where the ministry might be stalling. This helps us a lot to achieve the final result. We are not drawing lines between “our area” or “the Government area,” because the Government was supported by the Duma and the parliamentary parties. There was a major support for the candidacy to the post of the Prime Minister that you put forward, Mikhail Mishustin. He came up with a list of ministers, which provides enough support for them to get a sense of their responsibility.

In this regard, the State Duma’s agenda is made up, among others, of questions that people ask during meetings. We review them and then come up with legislative initiatives which abound. Of course, they need further work, but we have identified decisions with regard to key issues during this session.

Laws have been passed to ban the sale of energy drinks to minors. We banned trash streams; we have identified a solution by banning and transferring the decision-making to the regions on what is known as ‘nalivayki,’ or alcohol retailers in apartment buildings that bother their residents. All of that is part of the State Duma’s mandate.

We have adopted 92 socially oriented laws, and 82 laws in the economic sphere. Thirty-four security and defence laws have been adopted, and 59 laws have been adopted in the sphere of budget, taxes, and finance.

In a word, the result that we can present to society is fairly good. However, we know we need to do more in a number of areas.

Migration issues are of concern, and a lot of people are asking us to look into these matters. We have set up a special commission and tried to sort things out. We know that you have given instructions to the Government, and the Security Council is working on this as well. We ask for engage our colleagues from the State Duma in this effort as well, because we already have a few proposals. We have adopted six laws regarding migration. Actually, new legislation was passed on the very day the State Duma was closing its session and reviewing its work – an amendment to the law on citizenship, which is in fact a full-fledged law. It was adopted in the first reading and in its entirety [in three readings]. The new law requires a person who obtains Russian citizenship to register with the military enlistment office and fulfil their civic duty by serving in the Armed Forces.

We have adopted new legislation that toughens migrants’ liability for offences. We have also proposed that the Government adjust by-laws providing for the deportation of migrants who have entered illegally or violated local laws.

At the same time, while discussing amendments to the federal budget law, we proposed increasing funding for Slavic universities in the CIS countries. Residents of those countries often seek employment in Russia, so it is important for those universities to be as effective as possible in terms of training personnel, teaching the Russian language and culture, so that foreign citizens coming to work in Russia would be better prepared. We are interested in people who speak our language, and respect our laws, traditions and culture. We take the same approach as we build dialogue with our colleagues from the CIS, because many people from these countries come to work in Russia or wish to obtain Russian citizenship, due to attractive social standards in Russia.

It is our view that we need to collaborate with the Government and, most importantly, with law enforcement agencies on this legislation. Most likely, amendments will need to be made to many laws. Clearly, those who deal with law enforcement see all the most sensitive issues. And we would like them to express their point of view not only in words, but by introducing legislative initiatives of a well-developed nature.

We have completed the session. Although deputies will be taking time off during parliament recess, we have agreed to hold a few field meetings of the State Duma Council, and meetings in Moscow on key issues such as the organisation of children’s holidays, ticket prices, and other issues. The deputies understand their responsibility; we no longer have people who only show up once during their term of office to pick up their ID cards. Everyone participates, and everyone works in their constituencies. This is good in all respects and not just today, but in general, when a person is elected and assumes obligations to our citizens.

Mr President, I would like to thank you because we would not have been able to reach these decisions, and discussions would have continued. Your support means a lot to the State Duma. The State Duma discusses and passes draft laws. When we start working on them with the Government and other agencies, we face serious problems. Without your support, we would not have translated the most pressing issues and initiatives into laws.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: The main job of all branches of power, including the representative power, the parliament with both chambers, is to protect the interests of our people, the citizens of the Russian Federation. I am talking about political, social and economic rights. The regulatory and legislative activity must create conditions for further stable and steady development of the Russian economy, and the economy must be the basis for solving social issues.

Certainly, one of our priorities is security. This includes stable operation of the Armed Forces, their development and provision with modern equipment, arms, munitions, and support of our personnel who are fighting on the frontline and on the line of contact and risking their lives and health to defend the interests of the state – and, of course, support of their families. All this will be the parliament’s priority during the autumn session.

A lot has been accomplished during the spring session, but we must keep an ear to the ground as life constantly presents new challenges. Overall, we tackle them confidently and properly, but we must not slack off, but instead continue working hard. A break is necessary, of course, but only a short break. This is the right of State Duma deputies and Federation Council members as Russian citizens who work according to law.

I really count on the Federal Assembly, the Government and the Russian regions, regional teams to continue working together at the same pace and to the same high standard as in the spring session.

Thank you once again for the work done and I hope that you will maintain the same pace and quality of work during the autumn session and until the end of the year.

Thank you.

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