Kremlin.ru
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April 26, 2007
[Putin] Annual Address to the Federal Assembly
Marble Hall, the Kremlin, Moscow
[DJ: Continued. Earlier part in JRL#87, April 27]
I would like to look now at the sectors that will play an important part in developing an innovation-based economy.
Russia has historically been a leader in aircraft manufacturing, both military and civilian. Over the last decade, however, we have seen our civilian aircraft manufacturing industry decline.
We have adopted a programme to develop this sector and have established the United Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation.
This new aircraft manufacturing corporation should become an engine for modernising the entire sector. Ultimately, Russia will develop a modern aircraft manufacturing sector producing the main different types of civilian aircraft.
This year, we need to choose an international partner for mutually beneficial cooperation, while continuing to implement the projects already begun.
Russia is also a major sea power. We have a fairly well developed sea traffic market , but we have practically stopped building civilian vessels.
Over the last decade, our ship owners have placed orders for more than 90 percent of their new vessels with foreign shipyards. If we do not take action now, the shipbuilding sector in our country will go into decline and this will ultimately have a negative impact also on our country’s security, on military shipbuilding.
In order to rectify this situation, we have decided to establish the United Shipbuilding Corporation, which will work in all segments of the market, from designing and building ships to carrying out maintenance and repair work. The corporation’s mission is to win itself a decent niche on the global shipbuilding market. This is a goal within our reach.
I expect us to decide very soon on state support measures for the shipbuilding sector in Russia.
We cannot modernise our economy without also developing science in our country.
Last year, a federal law was passed which will see scientific work in state academies take place based on a five-year programme for fundamental research. This programme will be approved by the Government based on proposals made by the Russian Academy of Sciences and other state institutions.
A total of 48 billion roubles will be allocated to this fundamental research programme in 2008 and another 8 billion roubles will be allocated to funds supporting fundamental research. I ask that provisions be made to increase these allocations in the future.
Special targeted programmes introducing open tenders for state orders for applied scientific research and development constitute another source of funding. Based on the results of these tenders, contracts will be signed with individual scientific organisations and teams. This will also help to encourage the competitive spirit that is essential in science.
This thus gives us two sources of financing ¬ through the Academy of Sciences and other institutions, and directly to the scientific centres through open tenders. The targeted programmes represent a total of more than 33 billion roubles in funds for 2008, and this is in addition to the financing through the Academy of Sciences. I also propose that we introduce the practice of holding tenders for development programmes for scientific research institutes, similar to the system of tenders for developing innovation in universities we began using last year.
We have the task now of developing our science and technology potential and ensuring it is up to the challenges of global technological development. In this respect, I particularly want to stress the need to establish an effective system of research and development in the area of nanotechnology based on atomic and molecular constructions.
For most people today, nanotechnology is as abstract a concept as was nuclear technology back in the 1930s. But nanotechnology is already a key direction in the development of modern industry and science. In the long term, nanotechnology will provide a foundation for raising living standards, strengthening national security and supporting high economic growth rates.
Scientists predict that goods making use of nanotechnology will become a part of our everyday lives, and that they will help us to conserve non-renewable natural resources.
I recently approved a development strategy for the nanotechnology industry, setting out the main priorities and the legal and organisational mechanisms for creating the infrastructure in this sector. This infrastructure will encompass state scientific centres and universities and also private corporations’ laboratories.
The state must make available the necessary resources for the material, technical, personnel and organisational implementation of this work. These funds will be managed by the specially established Russian Nanotechnology Corporation. These funds total at least 130 billion roubles. I ask that you complete the drafting and adoption of the corresponding federal law as soon as possible. I call on you, colleagues, to please do this as swiftly as you can.
In total, taking into account the federal targeted programmes, the federal budget will allocate around 180 billion roubles to this work.
I draw your attention to the fact that this new area of work will receive funding comparable to the funding we give to science in general, almost the same amount!
The main question is that of putting in place the conditions for increasing private investment in nanotechnology development. I hope to see intensive joint work by the Government, the state organisations being formed, and private companies, to carry out specific projects, including in aircraft manufacturing and shipbuilding and in the rocket and space industry, nuclear energy, medical technology and the housing and municipal services sector.
Given the scale and unique nature of the nanotechnology project, I think we could propose that the CIS countries also become involved. This could be yet another forward-looking and mutually beneficial project that brings us closer together. Regarding the nanotechnology corporation, I think that its directors should include representatives of both houses of the Federal Assembly.
Colleagues,
We must continue our work to strengthen the country’s armed forces. Our military reform and development programmes have already brought about significant changes, and this is in large part thanks to the consolidated position of the main political groups and the coordinated work of the executive and legislative branches of power.
The implementation of the federal targeted programme, Transition to Contract-based Service in a Number of Military Units, has led to two thirds of armed forces units now being manned by contract servicemen. The length of compulsory military service will be reduced to 12 months starting in January 2008. We will carry out this task.
The re-equipment of military units with new and modernised arms and equipment, which will form the basis of the arms programme through to 2020, is going according to plan.
We have begun implementing the State Arms Programme for 2007-2015. The bulk of the spending under this programme will go on series procurement of new arms and military equipment. In order to use these funds effectively, contracts will be concluded by a new specially set-up federal agency. The security agencies will all delegate to this new agency their functions for placing procurement orders and paying contracts.
One of the most important indicators of the state of the armed forces is the situation with the social protection system for servicemen and their families. Two 15-percent wage increases are planned for servicemen, one in December this year, and one in September 2008.
These increases will have a direct impact on military pensions too. Increases to military pensions depend on the level of wages of current servicemen.
Yet another matter: last year, more than 40,000 apartments were made available for servicemen and armed forces veterans. By 2010, we should have fully resolved the problem of providing all servicemen and veterans with permanent housing, and by the end of 2012, we should have completed construction of service housing stock. We also need to take additional measures to encourage housing construction for servicemen in the Far East.
I say again that we must work consistently to keep strengthening our armed forces, keeping our objectives in this area commensurate with our economic possibilities and with the nature of potential threats and the changes in the international situation.
This brings me to the following matter.
As you know, the Warsaw Pact countries and NATO signed the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty in 1990. This treaty would have made sense if the Warsaw Pact had continued to exist.
But today all that this treaty means is that we face restrictions on deploying conventional forces on our own territory. It is difficult to imagine a situation where the United States, for example, would accept restrictions on such a basis on the deployment of troops on its own territory. However, not only did Russia sign and ratify this treaty, but it has also observed its provisions in practice.
We have carried out considerable troop reductions. We no longer have any groups in the northwest of army or corps size. Practically all types of heavy arms have been withdrawn from the European part of the country. We are essentially the only country facing so-called ‘flank restrictions’ in the south and north. Even when the situation flared up in Chechnya, Russia continued to observe its commitments under this treaty and coordinated its action with its partners.
But what about our partners? They have not even ratified the adapted treaty, citing the Istanbul Agreements providing for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia and Trans-Dniester.
But our country has been working consistently towards resolving these complex tasks. More importantly, the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty is not in any way legally bound to the Istanbul Agreements.
This makes us fully justified in saying that in this particular case, our partners are not displaying correct behaviour, to say the least, in their attempts to gain unilateral advantages. While making use of an invented pretext for not ratifying the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, they are taking advantage of the situation to build up their own system of military bases along our borders. Furthermore, they plan to deploy elements of a missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland.
New NATO members such as Slovenia and the Baltic states, despite the preliminary agreements reached with NATO, have not signed the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty at all. This creates a real threat and an unpredictable situation for Russia.
In this context, I believe that the right course of action is for Russia to declare a moratorium on its observance of this treaty until such time as all NATO members without exception ratify it and start strictly observing its provisions, as Russia has been doing so far on a unilateral basis.
It is time for our partners to also make their contribution to arms reductions, not just in word but in deed. At the moment, they are only increasing arms, but it is time for them to start making cutbacks, if only in Europe.
I propose that we discuss this problem at the Russia-NATO Council. If no progress can be made through negotiations, then I propose that we examine the possibility of suspending our commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (Applause). I was about to say that I call on the Federal Assembly to support this proposal, but I understand from your reaction that you do support it.
I also call your attention to the fact that elements of U.S. strategic weapons systems could be deployed in Europe for the first time. It is clear that the U.S. plans to deploy a missile defence system in Europe is not just an issue for bilateral Russian-American relations.
This issue, in one way or another, affects the interests of all European countries, including those in NATO. In this respect, this subject should be, and I would even say must be, discussed in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe as part of this organisation’s political and military dimension.
It is time for us to give the OSCE real substance and have it address the issues of genuine concern to the peoples of Europe rather than just hunting for fleas in the post-Soviet area.
Incidentally, we support the candidacy of Kazakhstan for the presidency of this organisation and we hope that Kazakhstan’s presidency would help to give the organisation the needed positive boost to its work.
Colleagues,
Our foreign policy is aimed at joint, pragmatic, and non-ideological work to resolve the important problems we face.
In broader terms, what I am speaking about is a culture of international relations based on international law ¬ without attempts to impose development models or to force the natural pace of the historical process. This makes the democratisation of international life and a new ethic in relations between states and peoples particularly important. It also calls for the expansion of economic and humanitarian cooperation between countries.
This explains the attention we must pay to building up the common humanitarian space within the CIS, making our work with Russians abroad more effective, and making greater use of cooperation between civil society organisations that has proved its worth. Youth, education, cultural and professional exchanges are all an important part of humanitarian cooperation.
As it rebuilds its economic potential and becomes more aware of its possibilities, today’s Russia seeks to develop equal relations with all countries avoiding any attitude of arrogance. We will do no more than defend our economic interests and make use of our competitive advantages in the way that all countries around the world do.
We support the development of institutions and mechanisms that give equal consideration to the interests of all partners. This is true for projects in all fields ¬ in the energy sector, in industry, and in the area of international transit. These projects exist and are being implemented.
Russia will continue to show initiative in pursuing economic integration in the CIS area and, more broadly, throughout the Eurasian region. We need to bolster the integration processes taking place in the Eurasian Economic Community and in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. This, I stress, is precisely a case where economic development is synonymous with security, including the security of our borders.
I would like to reiterate our approach to building the Union State between Russia and Belarus.
Russia is open to all forms and models of integration. We are prepared to go as far in this respect as our Belarusian friends are ready to go. The pace at which we build the Union State depends only on the substance and the real depth of the integration processes underway.
We are not hurrying anyone. We are ready to hold frank discussions with our partners on any of the problems that arise on the way. But we remain unswervingly committed to our policy of comprehensive development of relations with Belarus in vital areas such as the economy, transport, social protection, healthcare and humanitarian cooperation.
Whatever the case, we will act in keeping with the interests of the peoples of both Russia and Belarus.
I note also that we are developing an increasingly constructive partnership with the European Union. We believe that all of these positive elements in our relations should now be cemented and developed in the new basic strategic partnership agreement between Russia and the EU.
Overall, we need to conduct a serious discussion involving the politicians and members of the business and academic communities on ways to facilitate the free movement of capital, goods, services and labour on the European and Asian continents. Russia, with its geopolitical position, can and will play an important part in this respect and will do all it can to encourage these processes.
I propose that we begin this discussion at the International Economic Forum in June 2007 in St Petersburg.
In conclusion, I would like to make a small and almost lyrical digression from the purely businesslike format of this Address. My presidential term comes to an end in the spring of 2008 and the next Address to the Federal Assembly will be delivered by the next head of state.
In this respect, of course, many of you expected that today’s Address would concentrate mostly on summing up and evaluating what we have accomplished in our work together since 2000. You expected to hear, no doubt, some philosophical recommendations for the future. But I think that it is not proper for us to evaluate our own work, and not time yet for me to set out my political testament.
Of course, we should always be thinking about the future. Here in Russia we have this old tradition, a favourite pastime, of searching for a national idea. This is something akin to looking for the meaning of life. It is, generally speaking, a useful and interesting pursuit, and also one that is never-ending. Let us not launch into discussions on such matters today.
But I think that many of you will agree with me that in working towards the goals we have set, making use of everything new, modern and innovative in doing so, we must and we also will rest our endeavours upon the moral values that our people have forged over the more than 1,000 years of their history. Only in this case will we be able to set the right course of development for our country, and only in this case will we achieve success.
No matter what times we have lived through, be it revolutionary upheavals or the stagnation years, we have almost always yearned for change. True, each of us has our own idea of what kind of change we need, our own priorities, our own preferences and dislikes, and our own vision of the past, present and future. This is natural and understandable, for we are all different.
But there is also something that unites us all without exception: we all want things to change for the better. But we do not all know how to achieve this. You and I, all of us present here at the Kremlin today, are not only duty-bound to know how to achieve this, but are duty-bound to do everything possible to come up with plans for practical, concrete action. We must do everything we can to convince the majority of our citizens that these plans are effective and to genuinely involve them in this constructive process.
I would like to note in this respect that each of my eight Addresses to the Federal Assembly has not only evaluated the situation in the country and its place in the world, but has also set priorities, including long-term priorities in the social sphere, in the economy, in foreign and domestic policy, and in defence and security. Though perhaps not complete, this constitutes in effect a fairly concrete and substantial conceptual programme for Russia’s development. Its implementation requires constructive work from all sections of society and calls for immense effort and huge financial resources.
It is my conviction that our country will take its deserved place in the world, and we will be able to preserve our statehood and our sovereignty, only when our citizens see and feel for themselves and are confident that all of the state’s endeavours aim at protecting their vital interests, at improving their lives and bringing them greater prosperity and security. Only when our people are able to feel proud of their country. Each citizen should feel that he is a part of the nation, involved in its fate. And each citizen should be able to improve his own life through lawful means and add to our nation’s wealth through his labour. All of us who are involved in administrative, public, and all the more so political work, bear particular responsibility. This applies fully to everyone present here today, to the Russian Government, the federal ministers, the regional governors, the members of both houses of parliament, the judges, to the representatives of all the branches of power. We must make the utmost effort and give all our strength to the very last minute of our lawful constitutional mandates and use effectively the time that destiny has given us to serve Russia.
Thank you.