Experts explained all aspects of the President’s message to the Federal Assembly

On Friday, at the Civil Society Development Foundation (one of the key analytical centers of the Kremlin’s internal political bloc), experts gathered to discuss Vladimir Putin’s message. In their own words, they are actually engaged in post-production of the president’s message and for this purpose they emphasized that if it is implemented, then by 2030 it will be possible to talk about a “Russian economic miracle.” One of the discussants tried to slightly criticize the message in the context of the fact that it did not contain all the answers expected by society, but was quickly convinced by his colleagues. The experts also answered questions from Kommersant about who the elite is, which, according to the president, has discredited itself, and what is the likelihood of the risk that the message will not be implemented by the set date.

“In my opinion, what was voiced is a formula for an economic miracle. If all this is done, we will see very impressive indicators of GDP growth, and the solution of problems related to the income of citizens, and tasks related to the development of the country’s infrastructure! Despite the fact that all the plans that were outlined yesterday must be implemented before 2030, everyone understands: the result of what must be done will determine life and politics in Russia for the entire first half of the 21st century,” the head immediately added scale to the discussion Civil Society Development Foundation Konstantin Kostin. He is looking forward to the May decrees, which, in his opinion, will already spell out specific tasks based on the results of the message.

The expert listed at length and in detail all those areas in which Mr. Putin had announced changes the day before. Mr. Kostin clearly believed that there were simply no insignificant things in the message, so he mentioned almost everything: transport infrastructure, equalization of the socio-economic situation of the regions, and all the designated national projects. He also touched lightly on the topic of elites. “We talked a lot about the nationalization of the elite, and now we are reformatting the very idea of ​​​​what the elite of Russia is,” continued Konstantin Kostin. At the end of his speech, he noted that in the next ten years there will be competition to restructure the world, and then all countries will sit down for negotiations, and not only military potential will be important, but also the economy, to which the message was dedicated.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Current Political Affairs Alexey Chesnakov decided to add an internal political component to the discussion. To do this, he made the most of what Vladimir Putin said about it. Let us recall that the president simply thanked the parties for consolidation and noted that the Russian political system is one of the pillars of the country’s sovereignty. “This is a rather succinct formulation that sets out what has been done, what is being done and what will be done. This “was, is and became” (one of the key ideologies of the presidential campaign.— “Kommersant”) applies not only to economic and financial achievements, but also to political ones,” the expert noted. Further, he even developed Mr. Kostin’s idea and noted that the effect of the message will go beyond the effect of 2040. He also reminded everyone that the message relates to key strategic planning documents and what was said yesterday fully complied with the requirements for such documents in its goal-setting, balance, consistency and perspective.

Political scientist Sergei Starovoitov called the message “an appeal to the city and the world” and expressed confidence that everyone, both in Russia and in the world, is trying to unravel its secret meaning. “And, of course, these meanings are embedded there,” he assured. According to him, the message puts an end to the question of what kind of ideology there is in Russia, and noted that the message was “human-centric.” “The country’s political course is clearly outlined. And he is extremely social. But not socialist,” said Mr. Starovoitov, also noting that no governor should any longer be left with the question of what to do and where to develop.

“There was no powerful radicalization. All conversations about Transnistria were left behind, and this is important. Because, in my opinion, every time Russia raises the stakes, it enters a risk zone,” added Mikhail Vinogradov, president of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation, and tried to talk about what was not said in the message, but could have been. Among other things, he noted the topic of telephone scams, the uncertainty of where funds for projects would come from, and the fact that there was no answer to the question of whether we are talking about “a military agenda or a post-war one” (however, the expert admitted that the last question is hardly possible answer). But even such an attempt at light criticism was suppressed by his colleagues. “Wait a second! The day before it was said about a ban on loans,” Mr. Kostin spoke about the problems of fraud. “Mikhail did not work in government and does not know that all the numbers for the message are from Anton Germanovich (Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.— “Kommersant”) checks so that the mouse does not slip through. The money will not only be found, it has already been found,” Mr. Chesnakov noted almost venomously. “Perhaps the post-production of the message lacked emphasis on this topic,” Mr. Vinogradov said conciliatoryly. “What are we doing now?” — Alexey Chesnakov did not give up.

“Kommersant,” in turn, asked the experts if there was an understanding of what kind of elite Vladimir Putin had in mind when he spoke about discrediting this concept, and how they assess the risks that the message by 2030 will not be realized. Let us remind you that the other day the “People’s Front “For Russia”” reported that the message of 2021 was implemented by 61%. “In such situations, it is not worth giving names, appearances and surnames right away. You need to leave yourself some space for further action. We will wait for the moment when there is a new legislature, and then some part of the discredited elite, which was present yesterday in the hall, will somehow leave their occupied seats,” answered Alexey Chesnakov. “In fact, the government’s work is now set up in such a way that everything is controlled quite seriously. There are intermediate indicators, and all those responsible at the federal level constantly monitor them,” Konstantin Kostin answered the second question and assessed this risk for the 2024 message as minimal. “Russia is not in a vacuum… A period of six years is too long to guarantee that all the necessary management decisions will be implemented. Not everything depends on the Russian authorities; much depends on the international economic situation. But something else is more important… The message formulated the ideological, value-ethical foundations for the country more clearly than in previous times,” Mr. Starovoitov carefully added.

Andrey Vinokurov