United Russia’s plans for 2023 are 96% fulfilled

United Russia (UR) on Thursday summed up the implementation of its “People’s Program” in 2023. During the year, 96% of its provisions were implemented, said party chairman Dmitry Medvedev. This fact gave United Russia a reason for optimistic conclusions, but the leadership reminded them that it was too early to stop, because the presidential elections were ahead.

At the December congress, United Russia supported the nomination of Vladimir Putin for a new presidential term, and the party results are an important contribution to his future victory in the elections, Dmitry Medvedev recalled, opening the meeting of the program commission: “That’s why no one should relax!” In 2023, it was possible to implement 96% of the program’s provisions, but the United Russia leadership approaches the assessment of results “carefully and critically,” he said, advising his colleagues to pay attention to the remaining 4%. Among the achievements, Mr. Medvedev especially emphasized successes in the development of healthcare, improving social support for the population, construction and repair of social infrastructure, support for SVO participants and their families, as well as assistance to new constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Secretary of the United Russia General Council Andrei Turchak familiarized his comrades with the details of what had been achieved. After presenting them with inspiring statistics (1,338 schools, 1,676 kindergartens, 882 medical institutions, 145 sports complexes, etc. were built), including in terms of lawmaking (752 multi-level documents were adopted for the development of the program), Mr. Turchak made it clear that it was too early to stop: “We also have tasks that we have not fully completed. And I believe that we should talk about this publicly – maybe this is exactly the same 4% (we were talking about the renovation of a number of facilities and the adoption of a law on mentoring.— “Kommersant”)”.

Andrei Turchak identified new regions as a guideline for the implementation of the “People’s Program,” where 4 thousand houses and over 760 social facilities were restored, and residents began to receive pensions and benefits according to Russian standards. “The new regions are in maximum compliance with the structure of the federal program and the principle of counting parameters: each has a meaning, a date and a responsible executor,” emphasized the secretary of the General Council and proposed instructing all regional cells to bring their programs to the same standards and, following the example of the center, publicly report to residents of the regions .

“All types of party activity contribute to the replenishment of our mobilization base,” added Mr. Turchak. During the implementation of the “People’s Program,” the United Russia supporter base increased by 15 million people and exceeded 30 million “current personal participants,” the politician reported: “In general, the assessment of the results of the program’s implementation allows us to speak with confidence about its successful implementation by the end of 2023.” “I wouldn’t want our meeting to turn into reports of achievements,” Dmitry Medvedev slightly dampened his optimism. And he recommended that colleagues preparing for presentations “concentrate on what still needs to be done, or simply on the problems.”

The head of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, Badma Bashankaev, heeded this call, noting, on the one hand, “good progress” in his field, but mentioning, on the other, problems with capital construction, the use of locally produced medical products and the procurement of aviation work, and promising to involve the party control. “As for control powers, perhaps this is most important,” Dmitry Medvedev supported him.

Labor Minister Anton Kotyakov listed achievements in the field of employment, rehabilitation and measures to support the population, 100% of which should be transferred to electronic format by the end of 2024. And the head of the Ministry of Construction, Irek Fayzullin, reported on the high pace of housing commissioning (conditions improved for 4.4 million families over the year), renewal of the urban environment (more than 11 thousand territories were improved) and restoration of new regions. The minister called for increasing the pace in terms of resettling dilapidated houses and modernizing utility infrastructure: “The deterioration of networks and the number of incidents, unfortunately, require the implementation of this program throughout almost the entire country.” “There’s really a lot of work to do,” agreed the chairman of United Russia, simultaneously highlighting the political meaning of the program for courtyard areas: “This is a popular story, it very well involves the residents themselves in discussing issues of the life of the city.”

Senator Olga Zabralova reported on the implementation of 14 out of 15 “family” points of the program, outlining five directions for the next year: fair social guarantees, family education, family health, preservation of traditional values ​​and increasing the economic sustainability of the family. Separately, she planned to work out the regulatory framework with the regions and consolidate the status of the student family. “I consider the extension of the preferential family mortgage program an important task for this year,” added Ms. Zabralova.

Senator Andrei Klimov, who reported on the international agenda, also stated that the plans were huge. Signals for cooperation, he said, are coming from all continents, and United Russia’s initiatives (in particular, about organizing a global movement for the freedom of nations) have already aroused the interest of “six dozen foreign parties and organizations.” Details of cooperation specifically with Belarus were presented by the Ambassador in Minsk and the head of the Supreme Council of United Russia Boris Gryzlov, in particular, talking about the successes in collecting humanitarian aid for Donbass and the preparation of the 25-volume publication “Gatherers of the Russian Land.” “I hope that the work will continue and interesting books will be published, but not all Akunin (writer Boris Akunin is included in the register of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice.— “Kommersant”) read,” Dmitry Medvedev was delighted.

Vice Speaker of the State Duma Anna Kuznetsova spoke with specifics about the new regions. Among the problems requiring attention, she named the insufficient availability of medicines, the state of social facilities and the lack of personnel. However, the deputy also reported on successes: the restoration of housing and social infrastructure (2 thousand km of roads, 6.5 thousand buildings), the development of the regional economy, and the increased coverage of support measures for residents. “Every time I come to the regions of Donbass, I see with my own eyes how the situation is changing,” admitted Mrs. Kuznetsova.

Thematic reports were summarized by the first deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Education, Alena Arshinova, who oversees education. Among other things, she recommended involving regions in the work of the People’s Program Companion portal, where, as planned, “residents will be able to register and give feedback on the quality of work or wishes for them.”

The totality of successes made it possible to bring into the open part of the meeting the report of the head of the central executive committee of United Russia, Alexander Sidyakin, who assessed the effectiveness of managing the “People’s Program”. “So the level of our openness has reached unattainable heights?” – Mr. Medvedev clarified ironically. “I’m not ashamed to tell you: the level of execution is such that the weakest indicator is 89%,” Mr. Sidyakin was not embarrassed and listed the coordinators of the areas with one hundred percent results (there were seven of them out of 17).

“At first glance, the picture is decent, but we understand that the citizens of our country, United Russia voters, have a huge number of unresolved problems,” Dmitry Medvedev summed up the conversation. The tasks of implementing the program are large-scale, and their implementation overlaps with the election campaign and “a whole series of events” in the country and the world, he concluded: “This does not make the work easier, but it increases responsibility.”

Grigory Leiba