Mikhail Mishustin gained inter-factional respect in the State Duma

This time the annual speech of the Prime Minister in the State Duma took place in an atmosphere of almost complete agreement and mutual understanding. Having heard Mikhail Mishustin’s report on the work done and his answers to questions from deputies, representatives of all factions agreed that the current government has faced many challenges – from the coronavirus pandemic to “unprecedented sanctions” – but it has successfully dealt with them, including thanks to “constructive engagement” with parliament.

Summing up not only 2023, but also the three previous years of work of the current government, Mikhail Mishustin noted that interaction with the Duma all this time was built constructively and many troubles were overcome together: first, Covid, and then “unprecedented sanctions.”

“We not only adapted the economy, but also dealt with strategic areas, and all this thanks to the new quality of the modern public administration system that was built,” the prime minister emphasized.

Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, taking the floor after the speaker, confirmed that the Duma is now working with the government “in a different format,” more constructive: “Still, now we are thinking more about the end result than about shifting responsibility to each other, what was earlier. This is again the outcome and result of the decisions that were made by the president to transfer the powers of the citizens of our country, who, through deputies, participate in the formation of the government.”

The series of parliamentary questions to the prime minister was opened by Nikolai Kolomeytsev (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), who was interested in ways to attract banks to “more active investment activities.” “What measures does the government see to interest bankers in ceasing to be rentiers, and becoming the main investor of the country?” – asked the communist. Mikhail Mishustin replied that benefits alone cannot be achieved here; it is necessary to create special regimes and instruments of a different nature – like the already existing priority development territories.

Sergei Leonov (LDPR) spoke about the complaint of a resident of Smolensk, who could not obtain sick leave in connection with the examination of her child for a difficult-to-diagnose disease. The prime minister said that the issues of issuing sick leave have been regulated by law, but asked the Ministry of Health to provide information on the facts of such refusals in order to “examine each case separately.” Vyacheslav Volodin immediately moved from the specific to the general, saying that to make a correct diagnosis “you need knowledge,” which means you need to think about the quality of medical education. Pointing out that medical faculties are now opening in many universities, the speaker expressed the opinion that the Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko should be responsible for this process. “Because now the Ministry of Higher Education is opening faculties, and it is unknown who will graduate there later,” warned Mr. Volodin, suggesting that Mr. Murashko “does not fight for this issue due to natural modesty.” Mr. Mishustin promised to discuss this topic with both the head of the Ministry of Health and the Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov in order to “ensure control at the highest level.”

Alexey Didenko (LDPR) proposed adjusting the spatial development strategy for the balanced development of small and medium-sized cities (the Prime Minister assured that its updating is already underway, and Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who is in charge of these issues, “has most effectively flown around the whole country”). Yana Lantratova (“A Just Russia – For Truth”) was concerned about providing citizens with vital medicines (81% of the drugs on this list are produced in the Russian Federation at 258 enterprises, Mikhail Mishustin reassured her). And Evgeniy Revenko (United Russia) was concerned about supporting socially oriented NGOs (for this purpose, a unified register was created on the portal of the Ministry of Economy, the head of government recalled).

Dmitry Novikov (KPRF) asked whether the government plans to make it easier for “Russian sympathizers” who want to move here from other states “for moral reasons, for ideological reasons” to obtain citizenship. And he even proposed non-standard solutions: for example, to speed up the granting of citizenship on the recommendations of universities, research organizations and parties represented in the Duma. Mr. Mishustin generally agreed that for people who want to become Russians and “worthy of this by our standards,” procedures need to be simplified, but he did not comment on the idea of ​​“party recommendations” for citizenship applicants.

Oleg Smolin (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) returned to the problem of the shortage of qualified specialists, complaining that only 16% of students study in the secondary vocational education system. The prime minister, however, doubted these data and asked Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov to check them: “If this is so, we, of course, need to seriously look into this.” Speaker Volodin again took the floor, proposing to create a joint working group of the Duma and the government to improve the personnel training system.

The final speeches of the representatives of the factions, despite the different accents, turned out to be generally similar.

Thus, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov emphasized that although this government “has been hit by all the troubles – Covid, 19 thousand sanctions, and a military operation,” its members work “more disciplined and intensely” than their predecessors. But just in case, he urged them “not to delude themselves,” but to force the banking system to “work for production” and at the same time introduce a progressive tax scale. LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky recognized the government’s work as “absolutely successful,” and noted disproportions in socio-economic development among the problems. Vice-Speaker Alexander Babakov (SRZP) also recalled the “extreme conditions” in which the Cabinet of Ministers worked “literally from the first weeks,” and proposed first determining “what and when we are going to pay pensions, wages, and how much to finance the participants of the SVO “, and only then make other plans. And the leader of the “New People” Alexey Nechaev especially noted that for the successful operation of the military industry “it was not necessary to transfer the entire economy to a military footing” and this fact “shows that Russia is really strong.”

Finally, the head of the Duma Budget Committee Andrei Makarov (ER) recalled Mikhail Mishustin’s very first report in 2020, in which he “proclaimed basic values”: “build all state services around the needs of people, act openly, conduct dialogue based on mutual respect and trust.” Since then, according to United Russia, the situation began to change, decisions were made much faster and the government “became ready to work with parliament.”

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Mishustin once again thanked the deputies for the “constructive dialogue” and “caring position” and promised to do everything with them “to make our best country in the world prosper.”

Ksenia Veretennikova