Mikhail Mishustin presents the government’s report for 2022 in the State Duma

The State Duma is passing the government report for 2022, which is presented by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin recalled that the agenda of the meeting on March 23 is only this one issue. According to him, the government report for 2022 is “a year of challenges and overcoming,” so “the conversation will not only be lengthy, but also frank.” The deputies greeted in the hall members of the government, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, experts, trade union members, as well as representatives of legislative assemblies, who are connected via videoconferencing.

At the beginning of his speech, Mishustin recalled that he was presenting the fourth government report. He said that there was no need to explain the conditions under which they had to work in 2022. Russia was dealt a sanctions blow that was unparalleled, the prime minister said. “The West at the very beginning tried to assure that the sanctions were not directed against our citizens. And then there were no special illusions about this, but now even a person far from global politics understands that the main goal was precisely the Russian people, ”he said. Mishustin also believes that Western countries wanted to provoke unemployment in Russia, recalled the explosions at Nord Stream, the blocking of the financial system, and the seizure of property of Russians abroad.

Literally every day in 2022, the government reacted to the sanctions and worked head-to-head on countermeasures, and constantly tried to answer the question of what would happen next, Mishustin said. He said that the most difficult issues of the past year were resolved. He thanked the State Duma, the Federation Council, governors and citizens for their help. He also recalled that analysts estimated the decline in Russian GDP in double digits, and the decline was indeed inevitable in such conditions, but it turned out to be quite moderate: “However, we returned the economy to a growth trajectory. Now even some international organizations are predicting positive dynamics for us in 2023 and reaching a growth rate of gross domestic product higher than that of developed countries in 2024.”

This is not the first time the Russian economic system has shown such flexibility, Mishustin said – a similar situation was in 2020, when the pandemic began.

Before the report, Mishustin met with Duma factions: on March 13 – with United Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party, on March 15 – with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Just Russia, on March 16 – with New People. And the ministers met with relevant committees. Meetings were held with Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov, Minister of Construction Irek Fayzullin, Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Industry Denis Manturov and other members of the government. In addition, on March 16, the State Duma hosted the report of the Accounts Chamber for 2022, which was presented by the acting chairman of the department, Galina Izotova.

According to Art. 114 of the Constitution, the government annually submits a report on its activities, including on issues raised by deputies, in the State Duma. This will be the fourth report in the State Duma, which will be presented by Mikhail Mishustin after his appointment in January 2020 as Prime Minister. And this is the penultimate report of the current government. Following the presidential elections in March 2024 and the presidential inauguration in May, the composition of the government will be adjusted.