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September 24, 2004
President Putin's Speech at the World Congress of News Agencies

President Vladimir Putin:

Esteemed colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

I am glad to welcome you, the leaders of the World Information Market, who decided to hold their first congress here in Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation.

You know that a short time ago, our country experienced serious, really tragic events. And I appreciate the compassion and support, which the world community extended to Russia in those dramatic days.

I am convinced that the series of terrorist acts that descended on Russia is a direct threat to all the civilized states. And the response to it has definitely to be united.

In order to effectively counter the terrorist threat today, we have to mobilize all of its internal resources. Consolidation of the civil society, liquidation of loopholes in legislation, strengthening of law enforcement agencies, consolidation of all branches and bodies of power is far from a full list of tasks that we are facing today.

As you know, serious work has been done in this direction both in the United States after the terrorist acts of September 11, 2002, and in the entire range of other states. A program of adequate measures is being implemented also in Russia.

We believe that its consistent implementation ­ in full accordance with the constitutional-democratic and international legal norms ­ and I want to stress this particularly - will enable Russia to effectively rebuff acts of aggression on the part of international terror.

I will stress once again: the ultimate aim of the series of terrorist acts organized in Russia was not only to destabilize the country’s life, but to deal a blow to its integrity.

It is in this connection that I deem it necessary to implement the provisions of the Constitution, to be more precise, of its Article 77, and to ensure the unity of the executive branch of authority in Russia, with close coordination of action between the regions and municipalities. The issue of the day is about the protection of the rights of citizens across Russia: above all, the guarantees of their right to safe life, and efficient solution of social problems.

It is understandable that we shall improve the work of the law enforcement agencies and special services and streamline the system of their activity. Special proposals will be made on this issue. But we consider it extremely significant to do so under close control on the part of society.

With this in view it is proposed to cerate the national Public Chamber. Its objective is to conduct civil expert evaluation of the most important state decisions, including those in the form of law bills.

I am confident that cooperation of this kind will improve the quality of the work of bodies of power and will eventually facilitate the consolidation of the entire Russian society.

Esteemed colleagues,

You hold in your hands a powerful instrument of information, which is capable of disuniting or uniting the world community.

By the way, the UN Secretary General convincingly spoke about that yesterday.

I am confident that in conditions of the global terrorist threat ­ when people die ­ the mass media cannot simply stand on the sidelines. We have no right to forget the terrorists are cynically using the potentialities of media and democracy in general to multiply the psychological and information impact in the event of hostage taking and staging other terrorist acts in order to eliminate the freedom of the press and democracy.

It is obvious that the struggle against terrorism must not become a reason for impairment of the freedom and independence of the press. But the information community can and should design such a model of work that would make the media an effective tool in the struggle with terrorism. That would rule out any, even unintentional, form of assistance to terrorists.

And, of course, reports from the sites of events must by no means do harm, primarily to the people who become victims of a terrorist act.

Dear colleagues,

As the workers of news agencies, you transmit real-time information, which is awaited by millions of people. Apart from the printed media and television, this information is welcome in the organizations of state power, diplomatic services, international organizations and financial institutions. In a word, everyone, who needs prompt and truthful reporting and expert analysis of developments, awaits it.

Your work exerts direct influence on the globalization processes that give a boost to markets, accelerate healthy competition, and build up the coordination of international efforts in every sphere of our life.

And yet, when we say globalization, we also mean a common information space. In this sense, the growing inequality of opportunities that different countries have in the field of information policy cannot escape anyone’s attention. Far from everyone is capable of using the benefits of globalization with regard to getting objective information these days.

We know the reality well. Three-fourths of all the international mass media are concentrated in Europe and North America, the regions the population of which stands at less than a third of the world’s total. Hence it is not accidental that the UN, UNESCO, and other international forums keep the problem of information imbalances, which really exists, in the focus of their attention.

We are seeking to make information accessible to people anytime and anyplace. We realize the importance of a broad application of the IT in the industrial sector, public services, and institutions of culture, science, and education. The federal program titled Electronic Russia offers precisely this innovative path of development. And there is every ground for accomplishing this task in this country now.

As you may know fairly well, the Group of Eight Industrialized Nations endorsed at its 2000 summit conference in Okinawa the Charter on Global Information Society. Its basic provisions were specified later at the world summit on the problems of information society.

These documents point out the important role that the developing nations have to play in adopting their national programs of IT development. I am convinced the problems worry the overwhelming majority of colleagues who gathered here today and you will discuss the problems during you work.

Esteemed colleagues, friends,

There is a huge market for the mass media in Russia at present, including regional ones: 2,240 television companies, 1,453 radio stations, more than 40 thousand newspapers and magazines work in the country. Few countries in the world can boast such quantity, so many voices of the printed and electronic mass media.

This is a whole interrelated infrastructure of editions, people, financial flows and, finally, business relations. And we set an utmost value at what has been gained, what has already become a fact of our political and everyday life.

Ten years of reforms, ten complex years hard won by the people have shown much to us. We have made sure more than once: only the consistent putting in practice of the principles of democracy and sovereignty of the people can ensure sustainable development of Russia. And the freedom of the press is one of the supports of our democratic foundation, a guarantee of irreversibility of the democratic changes in the country.

There is no doubt: criticism by the press is useful for the authorities of all levels, even though it is sometimes painful and representatives of authority do not like it sometimes. It is not for nothing that our people say: “When you open the window, it’s noisy, when you close the window, it’s stuffy.”

We are creating in practice legal possibilities for openness and transparency of power. However, we also expect from the mass media both responsibility and honesty. I believe that only mutual fulfillment of these obligations by both bodies of power and by the mass media can be productive.

In conclusion, I want to say: talent, honesty and professionalism of journalists carry much value in present-day Russia. And I am sincerely glad that professionals sharing just these approaches have gathered here in Moscow.

Let me again thank you for deciding to hold the event in Russia, in Moscow and wish you successful work.

Putin’s answer to a question from an Australian journalist

They (foreign mass media) cover (these events) in different ways. I try to watch all major, significant channels that influence the world opinion, to watch news bulletins practically of all of your news agencies, both excerpts and in live presentation. Answering a previous question I’ve already mentioned that the world has changed. All of us know this very well, earlier in the previous system, when the Soviet Union suppressed its satellites on the one hand and, as it has turned out, posed a threat to many other countries, it faced corresponding attitudes. It was seen as an evil empire, as some wild, frightful, uncurbed animal. This is not so today, but many people still have not understood that the situation in our country has changed radically. They do not try to understand, but simply act in an old way, on inertia. Very many things are interpreted from a wrong understanding of the internal essence of the present-day Russian society. Almost no difference is made between the Soviet Union and today’s Russia.

Russia is still either feared in the inner mind. Or imagine a lion that fell into a trap and jackals run around and bark maybe from fear or maybe from joy - such things happen too.

But most often we certainly deal with professionalism and objective assessment. We may like it or not, but I must say in any case that it is always useful for us; even if we consider information not objective, it all the same is of a certain value for us, as it is food for analysis of events happening in the world and in our country.

For this reason I am grateful to all who give attention to Russia in their reports.

Putin’s answer to a question from an Algerian journalist

I believe that Russia should seek deregulation of the economy, reduction of tax rates and gradual termination of unjustified interference of the state in the economy, including a stop to the subsiding of ineffective sectors of production.

Naturally, we should act delicately, refraining from “shock therapy” in order to go this way without serious damage to the economy as a whole and to people.

As you may have noticed ­ and it is surely well-known in Algeria, in OPEC countries and in the whole world ­ an overwhelming majority of our energy companies are private, unlike those in the OPEC countries, where the whole oil and gas sector is state-owned in almost every country.

We shall adhere to such scenario of the development of our economy further on. As for YUKOS and the announcement of the merger of Gazprom and Rosneft, these things are not related to each other absolutely. YUKOS is a private company and the state suspects it of tax evasion. Tax services already have made respective claims against it, YUKOS appealed against these claims in courts of law and has lost practically all those cases. The state has the right to secure its interests and, moreover, must do it. We shall do this in strict accordance with the law. I want to stress it ­ in strict accordance with the law.

The state did not set before itself the task to nationalize this company or lay hands on it. And there is no such aim now. If it comes to a sell-off of, let us say, assets or anything like this, any company, including that with state capital in it, can certainly take part, but, I repeat, there was no, there is no and there will be no plan for (YUKOS’s) nationalization or the state assuming control of it.

The situation with Gazprom and Rosneft is quite different.

As you may know, the state controlled over 38 percent of Gazprom shares. Gazprom at a certain point bought out part of this stake for its subsidiaries. There emerged a cross ownership situation. That was done to retain control of one of the leading companies extracting fossil fuels. It was done back in the early 1990’s. As the market in Russia kept developing, that arrangement began to harm both the stock market and the Gazprom company itself.

Moreover, as you may also know, there are two types of Gazprom shares ­ those traded inside the country, and others, on offer in foreign markets. This is an abnormal situation, too, and it must be eliminated.

It was for this purpose, for better meeting market economy standards and at the same time preserving the government’s control of this key enterprise operating in the raw materials market that the decision was made in favor of merging the state-owned company Rosneft and Gazprom.

It was an absolutely market-economy-friendly decision, and it is expected to bring about - and I am pretty certain it will bring about - a far more transparent situation inside Gazprom proper, cause a proper effect on Gazprom share prices, and make it more lucrative to investors and better serve the purpose of its development.

In my opinion it will benefit and give a powerful boost to Russia’s stock market in general.

The state will control that company for the time being. What we shall have later, in several years to come, will depend on how the Russian economy develops.

It is common knowledge our top priority is the development of innovation industries, new economy, information technologies. The government will at some future date make a decision what is to be done next.

The government’s plans certainly include perfection of this company’s operation. We shall approach this and be working on this very delicately.

Gazprom has every chance to become one of the world’s leaders in the field of oil and gas production.

Putin’s answer to a question from a Danish journalist

You’ve said the latest developments, the string of acts of terror in Russia mean a turning point in the life of our country. Definitely, this is not so. There will not be any turn. Russia made its choice ten years ago. Russia wants to be and it will be a democratic, market and social-oriented state. But we must derive conclusions from the situation that we face. Indeed, international terrorism has declared a war against Russia. In my previous remarks I mentioned that terrorists are looking not for destabilization, but for the collapse of the Russian Federation. Hence, we must respond to these challenges. We must find efficient tools that will help us oppose this menace.

As you have linked your question with the menace of terrorism, I may probably give you just one example. Imagine, walking outdoors, you meet a bandit and he says he will take either your purse or your life. If you are in your right mind, you will prefer to part with your purse. But if he claims either your head or your heart, do you have any choice?

For us democracy and stability are equally important.

I’m positive Russia will be able to realize a plan for its development that will let it develop in a situation of stability and democracy.

Putin’s answer to a question from Xinhua

After September 11 in the US, after a series of terrorist acts in other countries, after Beslan, the whole world, leaders of different countries, including your president, have been talking more and more about the need for efforts of the international community in the struggle against international terrorism. Is this talking or real acts? How the world must change in order to really counter terrorism?

It seems to me that the world already has changed in order to effectively counter terrorism. However, all participants in the struggle should realize the depth of these changes, must understand prospects of world development, must develop a common approach to ensuring international security in the 21st century. Such a security system is taking shape, it has not been created yet. And a platform, a foundation here must be very solid. Only a multi-polar world can give, in our opinion, solidity and thoroughness to this foundation. A world in which norms of the international law will be respected. In which international law will rule and will be a system that will defend those peoples and countries who in some way feel themselves hurt by arbitrariness. This is one thing. Besides, it is necessary to ensure all participants in this process realize that the already changed world is no longer bi-polar, that stereotypes that were the basis of world security in the past have sunk into oblivion, that previous mechanisms cannot be used in achieving one’s geopolitical interests.

We have created too many problems, we have let the nuclear genie out of the bottle, and now we must together drive it back into the bottle. Once, the so-called socialist camp tried to export the socialist revolution. This is a thing of the past, but prerequisites have been made in the course of that struggle for the emergence of extremism based on religious fanaticism. That genie was also let out of the bottle. We must together force it back now. One link of the international terrorist net must not be used for achieving geopolitical interests in relations with other countries, asserting that two heads of a hydra are dangerous and one is not. It should be understood that this is a common threat; I repeat, one should cast away everything that hindered the unity of the international community in the past, and go into the future. I am sure this is possible.

President Putin’s answer to the final question on Iraq

In making our policy, we proceed from the understanding of the philosophy of international relations development and from certain principles rooted in international law rather than from good, friendly or bad relations with the leaders of one or another country.

That is why there can be no change whatsoever in our position as regards the different turns that the situation in the U.S. may take on the eve of the presidential election. We are confident that solutions can be found and the [Iraqi] situation will be untangled only when the people of Iraq fully takes its destiny in its own hands. I mean all aspects of the problem.

The ways of reaching that goal are a separate story, and we are ready to cooperate in tapping them with all the countries concerned, primarily with Iraq itself. Our relationship with Iraq goes back many years and is profound and diversified. We will build it up and will work together with all the countries concerned within the format of the United Nations Organization.

I am sure this is high time for the international community as represented by the UN to begin playing a greater role in the solution of the Iraqi problem. But the world community and the UN can do it only if they get the necessary opportunities. The UN’s role and opportunities in Iraq must be considerably changed and enhanced. And we will naturally cooperate with the United States. I have a deep conviction that the U.S. President, George W. Bush, will do everything in his power to get out of the current complexities. There is the understanding of the need to cooperate with all countries, including Russia, in that area. I talked about it with President Bush over the phone just yesterday. No doubt, we will move along in that direction and will have fair results. Well, of course it would be nice to see them as early as possible.

Now, was your second question about Iran? Did you say something about nuclear weapons?

We strongly oppose the expansion of the club of nuclear states and believe that Iran could meet halfway the requirements of the IAEA on all the positions, which the agency formulated. I met with the Iranian President many a time, and we are keeping contact. Iran is a country with which we have relations of traditional deep partnership. Iranian leaders told me on many occasions that their country does not want to acquire nuclear weapons and we hail their stance, but it needs reinforcement.

The international community must get confidence that this is really so. I personally do not have any doubts. The thing is, it is important to cooperate with Iran and with the entire international community and to create a situation that rules out the emergence of one more nuclear power overnight. I am deeply convinced that Iran does not need nuclear weapons. Getting them will not solve any of the problems that country is facing now.

Well, imagine that Iran has gotten the nukes. And so what is next? Will it really use them? But the situation will be heated to the highest degree and will become extremely explosive. To make the region secure and attain a fair solution to a number of regional problems, including the Middle East, one must look for different options, and this takes much patience and persistence. Russia is ready to facilitate their solution by working together with partners in all parts of the world and at the United Nations Organization.