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President OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: During the difficult time when the wildfires were burning, we agreed to hold a videoconference once the fire-fighting operation was over (some problems still remain, but only very small areas are affected now), and talk about how the work to rebuild housing is going and discuss the relief efforts in general with all of the regions hardest hit by this disaster.

I remind you of the sad statistics that this summer produced. The fires spread through 180 settlements. Some of them were burned to the ground entirely. Saddest of all is that 62 people were killed and thousands left homeless. You will recall that by a presidential executive order I imposed a state of emergency in nine regions. It took some time to bring the situation under control, but we finally succeeded through the combined efforts of the Emergency Situations Ministry, Defence Ministry, Interior Ministry, and of course thanks to the tremendous work that volunteer groups did, and with the support of foreign rescuers.

Today, as I said, we have video links to the federal districts, regions and municipalities that suffered from the fires. I propose that we look at three main sets of issues during this meeting.

The first set of issues concerns implementation of my instructions to the Government, the security agencies, the presidential plenipotentiary envoys, and the governors on assistance for the fire victims. We must help people return to normal life as soon as possible. This was our primary task and is what we have put our main effort into. It is essential to act fast, because winter is just around the corner, and it is also essential to do a quality job of rebuilding what was destroyed, build new homes, schools, kindergartens and medical centres.

”I also want to hear about whether children whose homes were destroyed and were facing problems in finding places in pre-school centres have had these problems sorted out, whether places in new establishments have been ensured, and new establishments, new schools been built, because some of our schools were also partially or completely destroyed. I want to hear about what is being done to support elderly people, especially elderly people and people with disabilities living on their own.“

First of all, I want to hear about the timetables for completing the new facilities, new houses, the deadlines for commissioning infrastructure facilities and launching engineering infrastructure.

I also want to hear about whether children whose homes were destroyed and were facing problems in finding places in pre-school centres have had these problems sorted out, whether places in new establishments have been ensured, and new establishments, new schools been built, because some of our schools were also partially or completely destroyed. I want to hear about what is being done to support elderly people, especially elderly people and people with disabilities living on their own. What is being done to ensure they have timely medical assistance? I also want to hear about how payment of compensation is going, and what is being done to find new jobs for people who the fires left without a job. And of course, though it is more of a formality, but nonetheless something important for life in our country, the authorities have to help people to restore the documents they lost in the fire so that they can return to full and normal life. 

Second, the fires, as I already discussed at an earlier meeting, revealed the shortcomings in our legislation, above all in our forestry laws regulating protection and preservation of our forests. The events of this summer also revealed the executive authorities’ inability at the various levels – the ministries and agencies, the regions and municipalities – to control the situation and fulfil their functions. When urgent decisions were needed, rapid responses, a number of mechanisms, including the system for detecting and putting out fires, did not work. We must be frank about this and draw the necessary conclusions. I have already given instructions on this matter. I proposed that the Government carry out an inventory of our forestry legislation. I hope to hear specific proposals now on adjustments that can be made. This work is still underway, but enough time has gone by for some results to be ready. 

Furthermore, the Prosecutor General’s Office was to check the way budget money allocated to fire-fighting work and helping the fire victims has been spent. This work is also still in process, but Mr Yury Chaika [Prosecutor General] could inform us on the interim results.

Third, preventing forest fires and protecting forests is unquestionably part of the forestry management services’ tasks. We need to re-equip our specialised forestry services, re-equip the services working in the forests, and increase the amount of forest regeneration. 

”Preventing forest fires and protecting forests is unquestionably part of the forestry management services’ tasks. We need to re-equip our specialised forestry services, re-equip the services working in the forests, and increase the amount of forest regeneration.“

We need to put particular attention into environmental education, which is something we have already talked about, and also developing the insurance system and insurance culture. I remind you again of the figures that came out of this complicated situation. It turned out that only 16 percent of the homes damaged by fire were insured. I have already given an instruction to change the law in this area. Also, only 20 percent of the crops destroyed by the heat wave were insured.

We have held meetings on these matters and issued instructions. We should work in this area. Our people and producers need to be sure that they will receive compensation in accordance with the mechanisms used throughout the world. I want to say that we will have to make some serious decisions, decisions that will involve considerable expense for the budget. There is no alternative in this situation. But these decisions must be implemented in full.

At the same time, we also are to think about the future. It is obvious that simply reacting to problems as they come is not the best approach. We need to put in place modern protection mechanisms. No one is ever completely insured against these kinds of situations, abnormal weather, climate change, but we must make sure that we are prepared to face these challenges with functioning systems already in place to ensure a modern, law-based compensation system, and not just feverishly make rapid decisions when problems arise. 

This is something that needs to be done once and for good. We should not have to come back to this in the future. Most important of all, our people must be sure that they will receive real compensation for their losses in all similar situations, which should most probably be considered insurance payment cases.

”Our people have showed their best qualities, showed their desire to help in this kind of tragic situation, and have collected money. The Civic Chamber collected 286 million rubles. I appealed especially to the Civic Chamber then. We held consultations, and I recommended allocating 30,000 rubles to each homeowner or tenant affected by the fires.“

Finally, I want to thank all of citizens, public organisations and business community members who are helping to rebuild life in the places hit by the fires, and make this life more modern and quite simply better overall. They are building not just homes, but also schools, hospitals, paramedic centres, clubs, and carrying out long-term projects to support the affected regions.

Our people have showed their best qualities, showed their desire to help in this kind of tragic situation, and have collected money. The Civic Chamber collected 286 million rubles. I appealed especially to the Civic Chamber then. We held consultations, and I recommended allocating 30,000 rubles to each homeowner or tenant affected by the fires. This comes from additional money donated by our citizens and businesspeople in response to the Civic Chamber’s collection effort. The remaining money will be spent on co-financing construction and restoration of social infrastructure facilities where necessary. Some business organisations and individual companies are working in particular settlements. I have met with them too. They are doing a lot, and I want to thank them once more for this work.