Six “Putin’s blows”: the President delivered a keynote speech on the economy

Vladimir Putin formulated six key tasks for the development of the Russian economy for 2023. Technological and financial sovereignty, wage growth, protection of motherhood and childhood, bringing interaction with key partners to a new level and outstripping industrial growth – these are the points of support on which the country should stand, despite the sanctions pressure from the West. The President stressed that the ministers and vice-premiers will be personally responsible for the fulfillment of the tasks.

“We will definitely become stronger, we will bring Russia to a new technological level,” the head of state said at a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects on December 15.

How to achieve this, Putin laid out point by point, outlining six tasks for the development of the economy for 2023.

The first task is to bring interaction with partner countries to a new level. “Foreign trade has already been switched to new, dynamically developing markets,” Putin stressed and added that Europe punished itself with sanctions against our country.

“Europe has a forced jump in inflation – 10% in the Eurozone. US policy is leading to the de-industrialization of Europe. Sometimes in their statements there are even words of resentment. And what did you want? What else is done with those who allow their feet to be wiped on themselves? Vladimir Putin said.

At the same time, Putin announced striking statistics: in the first nine months of this year, deliveries to the EU increased by 1.5 times. The total Russian export increased by 42%.

– The EU continues to consume our goods, and restrains reverse flows. It can’t last forever. What do we do? Look for partners in the market of friendly countries,” the president summed up.

For this, a large-scale development of port and pipeline infrastructure in the southern and eastern directions, the creation of a gas hub, and the development of digital payment instruments are planned. In the coming months, the launch of an electronic platform has been announced, which will determine the final price of energy resources.

“What they have done at their sites is insane. And now they are trying to make us look guilty for what they did with their own hands,” Vladimir Putin said.

The second task, outlined by the President to the members of the Cabinet, is technological sovereignty and faster growth of industry.

“It is important here not just to replace commodity positions, but to achieve leadership in the field of artificial intelligence, computing and data transmission, and new industrial technologies,” Vladimir Putin stressed.

– It is necessary to increase capacities, create new production lines. The main thing is that there are raw materials, personnel, platforms. An industrial mortgage has already been launched, a loan of up to 500 million rubles at 3 or 5% for up to 7 years. I propose to extend it not only to the acquisition of production facilities, but also to their construction and commissioning.

The third challenge is financial sovereignty.

– Russia’s balance of payments is strong, we don’t need to borrow. We are not going to go into bondage,” the president assured and outlined the areas where money should be invested in the first place. These are important production and industrial projects, as well as a fast-growing business.

The fourth task: infrastructure development. These are roads, housing construction, mortgages and the development of housing and communal services. The head of state reminded members of the Cabinet: 85% of all routes should become modern and safe in the coming year.

The situation with preferential mortgages will also take an interesting turn. The program officially ends on December 31st. But it won’t turn abruptly. Vladimir Putin announced the extension of the program until mid-2024. At the same time, the rate will be raised to 8%, now it is 7%. In addition, access to family mortgages will be expanded. Now it can be received by those whose children were born after 2018. The President said that now families with two children under 18 can take a family mortgage at 6% per annum.

Fifth task: growth of salaries. The head of state instructed to increase the minimum wage at a rate higher than inflation.

– Among those who work, there should not be poor people. It is work that should provide a person with a decent income,” the president emphasized.

The sixth task: protection of motherhood and childhood. In particular, a new approach to the payment of child benefits is proposed. So, if the salary of parents grows a little, but this does not have a tangible effect on the financial situation of the family, officials will not remove such a household from benefits. The president also announced innovations for doctors. The position of trainee doctors for residents of the second year of study will be introduced, from January 1, there will be an additional payment for primary care physicians from 4.5 to 18.5 thousand rubles per month. In addition, it is planned to launch a program to combat diabetes. The “Circle of Kindness” fund, which finances medical care for seriously ill children, will expand its “mandate”. From the funds of the fund it will be possible to pay not only for treatment, but also for the rehabilitation of children, including expensive technical equipment in addition to an individual rehabilitation program.

Separately, Putin touched upon new regions. By the end of the first quarter of next year, he instructed the government to prepare a program for the economic development of the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. This order of the president sounded especially menacing: “The new regions must reach the all-Russian level of development. Responsibility for this will be personally borne by the relevant ministers and vice-premiers.”

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28934 dated December 16, 2022

Newspaper headline:
“Putin’s Six Strikes”