#6323
#4
Parlamentskaya Gazeta
June 25, 2002
RUSSIAN PEOPLE IS MY MAJOR ADVISER
Author: not indicated
Source: Parlamentskaya Gazeta, June 25, 2002, pp. 1 - 2
- EXCERPTS FROM PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN'S INTERVIEW.
President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media on government policy for domestic
and international affairs
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN'S NEWS CONFERENCE BECAME THE EVENT OF THE DAY. 500 RUSSIAN AND 200 FOREIGN JOURNALISTS WERE ACCREDITED TO PARTICIPATE. THE DECISION TO CALL THE NEWS CONFERENCE WAS PROMPTED BY A MASSIVE INFLOW OF APPEALS FROM THE MEDIA FOR A MEETING WITH THE HEAD OF STATE. THE SESSION WAS SUPPOSED TO LAST 90 MINUTES BUT IT ENDED UP TAKING 40 MINUTES LONGER.
About Russian citizens who subscribe to no definite political view and are therefore likely to fall victim of extremist appeals in the next electoral campaign
Vladimir Putin: In private meetings with my foreign counterparts, I regularly drew their attention to these alarming symptoms. It has happened in Germany, Holland and France. As I see it, this is a result of a certain bias in priorities of domestic policy. As for Russia, I do not perceive this problem here. This threat only exist when national leaders ignore or neglect the basic needs of the population. Getting the country out of poverty is our major task. We want the people to be secure and Russia's prestige in the international arena facilitated. If this happens, the population will react accordingly. About problems of agriculture and support of domestic manufacturers
Vladimir Putin: The Russian Ministry of Agriculture is now much more demanding in relations to importers, but I want to emphasize that it is not any worse in this regard compared to its analogs abroad or their policy. We hear a great deal about adhering to liberal values in economic policy making whenever it has to do with demanding for privileges from Russia. I have said much on the subject. You know that the European Union has a scale that automatically ups the price of cereals. For the first time in perhaps 80 years or so Russia has the chance of exporting up to 5 million tons of cereals. And what happens? The European Union immediately slapped what can only be termed as a prohibitive duty. If it is not a restriction imposed on Russia goods, then I do not know what is.
The European Union knows that we cannot handle this amount of grain but use it as fodder. It follows that the competitiveness of Russian cattle-breeding will rise. So what does the European Union do? It opts to subsidize its own cattle-breeding. What does this have to do with liberal economic policy?
As for agriculture in general - and this is the first time I'm going to say this - those who suggest a common tax for agriculture are right. After all, the federal treasury does not get high dividends from agriculture. About the so called negative myth about Chechens residing beyond Chechnya and on improvement in the cleanup operations going on in Chechnya
Vladimir Putin: The Chechen people is not to be blamed for the negative image that exists nowadays. As I see it, it is the fault of the federal center which abandoned the Chechens. Let us abstain from seeking personalities to pin the blame on, but it is clear that the Russian state apparatus failed here. What can an ordinary man do when his village is invaded by a heavily armed gang of 100-200 men strong? When the state failed to protect him or his interests. Fanatical extremists and destructive elements made use of this failure immediately. What connection is there between the interests of Chechnya and the aggression against Dagestan? Were these men acting in the interest of Chechnya? The Chechens once again found themselves in the position of a live shield.
Unfortunately, the central media does not write often enough on the heroism displayed by Chechen volunteers and the local police. The latest events surrounding Khattab's death became possible due to the involvement of agents among the foreign mercenaries and to the direct participation of Chechens themselves. There are other numerous episodes where Chechens display high level of efficiency in restoring peace in their native republic. This is what should be emphasized first and foremost.
Cleanup operations cannot be improved on, they can only be concluded. This will become possible only when the legislative, judicial, and security components of the Chechen administration have been fortified are and in place. We are working on it. Chechens themselves should protect Chechnya. A year or so ago we were told that we would not find there a single Chechen to support the federal forces. Nobody so much as remembers that today. About corruption and irresponsibility in law enforcement agencies and the police, which exist on taxpayers' money but still robs them
Vladimir Putin: Law enforcement agencies are a part of society. They should not be left to their own devices handling problems of corruption or crime. Society itself should be more mature, cultivating certain values. Shifting all blame and responsibility on law enforcement agencies alone is wrong and actually harmful. We will never get to the roots of corruption in this manner. And corruption is rooted in the social and political spheres.
What war on corruption are we talking about when just recently we had entire regions of the country engaging in things no civilized person would ever imagine? What law or maintenance of the law are we talking about when for almost a decade whole regions quasi-legally never paid anything to the federal treasury? About Russia's official position in the issue of Kaliningrad region
Vladimir Putin: Our position is clear and open in all respects. We advocate closer contacts with the European Union. This is our major commercial and economic partner because we are a part of Europe ourselves. We hope that expansion of the European Union will facilitate our contacts. At the same time, we will never accept an expansion that essentially tears apart a sovereign territory of the Russian Federation, and this is what the special regime for Kaliningrad will inevitably end in. I am very confident that the visa regime for residents of Kaliningrad and for everyone else should be similar. The Prime Minister of Sweden announced after the St. Petersburg summit that if the European Union went on talking to Russia on the issue of Kaliningrad from its previous positions, it would be anything but partnership. It is a dictate, not something to base relations on. I appreciate these words. There are some other national leaders who share this opinion. We hope that a mutually acceptable position will be found in the near future. About the assumption that regional authorities are sabotaging reforms initiated by the federal center
Vladimir Putin: I disagree. As far as key issues are concerned, all regional leaders without exception support the government and the president. There are some problems that concern individual regions but all decisions are acted upon promptly. We encountered some resistance when we ordered the regions to bring their local legislation in line with the federal but we eventually persuaded them that it would only benefit the country on the whole and every region in particular. It does not mean of course that decisions of the federal center are always optimal. Some debates continue but they are not confrontational, something that is destructive for the state as such. About donor regions that account for almost 70% of every federal revenue but remain undeveloped themselves
Vladimir Putin: The problems between donor regions, the federal center, and recipient regions is rooted in the existing state structure itself. The majority of regions are recipients because they are economically weak. This is how Russia is divided, administratively. What could these regions do? They could - and did - fail to pay salaries for years, pensions for months, and social welfare at all. Debts of billions of rubles were accumulated, and we are dealing with them even now. What other solution can there be but redistribution of these resources via the federal center? By the way, all these decisions pass through the Duma and the Federation Council. Have you ever wondered why? Because representatives of recipient regions there vastly outnumber their colleagues from donor regions.
Sure, there must be some common sense to all this redistribution. We cannot strip donor regions bare, we cannot set up the situation where recipient regions lack even the motivation to become economically stronger. And this is the current economic policy that is being solved in the budget debates among the federal center, donors, and recipients. About sale of land and about how the opinions of regions will be taken into account
Vladimir Putin: The draft law the lower house of the parliament has been discussing is fairly flexible. It does take the opinions of the regions into consideration to a considerable extent. I want to emphasize right here and now that in the regions where privatization of land has not yet begun, the decision to begin it or not will depend on the regional authorities.
If some lands are already private and some not, the decision will be made locally too. About Russia's active role in international affairs and what it hopes to gain
Vladimir Putin: Developing the national economy and improving the living standard of the people is our major task. We need several prerequisites to solve this complicated problem. The mind of society should be one. This implies consolidation and understanding of the priorities of the country in politics and economy.
Openness of the market under the conditions of globalization is the second necessary prerequisite. This is the only way to develop today. Effective development is impossible without absolute immersion into the global economy. For it to benefit Russia, higher level of trust in international affairs is needed. Once an enemy for most industrially developed countries of the world, Russia should now become their full-fledged and equal partner.
(Translated by A. Ignatkin)
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