RIA Novosti
Septembe 28, 2005
The question I would have asked Putin
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Vasily Zubkov.)
President Vladimir Putin has gone on the air once again to answer questions from the electorate. His replies were broadcast to 160 countries in 32 languages.
Out of the 850,000 queries Putin received over the telephone and electronically (there were several thousand SMS messages), most concerned the economic situation in the country. That was natural, since it has a direct effect on people's lives, and many pertinent and concrete questions were put to the president. Russians are now less interested in politics.
But who benefits most from this kind of direct contact - the president or the population? In my view it is the people. Not only because "Vladimir Putin now needs no additional political dividends," as a well-known political scientist Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the Politika Foundation, believes. The president is given credit for the continued strengthening of the economy, stability in society, and rising living standards in Russia.
So why do people need this dialog with the president? All sorts of figures and economic indices are available from statistical sources, the press and television. But Russians want to hear them from the horse's mouth - such is their mentality.
Polls show the majority of the population believes the head of state. Most Russians also share his view of the country's development in the future. According to a recent poll, 52% of those interviewed described the situation in Russia "as difficult but bearable," with another 22% saying "things are not too bad on the whole."
What then is the greatest concern of the population? The rapid growth of energy prices across the world has sent gasoline prices soaring. And the first question reaching the president from the Far East dealt with this issue. Is it possible to stop the price increases? It is not a simple question and concerns over half the population. There are over 30 million vehicles on the roads, carrying people and goods. And although the measures being taken by the government, which managed to get the oil majors to freeze the fuel prices until the end of 2005, seem belated, it is a good sign for the population. It shows that the state seeks and finds levers to remedy the situation.
President Putin also said that the government is now considering changes in taxation, in particular to the mineral extraction tax, in order to reorganize its relations with the oil monopolies and preclude their heavy impact on domestic prices.
Putin's announced preliminary figures for GDP growth this year of 5.9% are down from last year's 7.1%, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also lowered its forecasts for Russia to 6% from 6.6%, although the figure of 5.5% - 5.6% is an average indicator for transition economies, which make sufficient progress in the present situation.
In addition, Russia has one of Europe's best ratios of debt repayment to GDP, or 16%. The debts seemed huge only recently, but now the idea of Russia as a permanent debtor no longer scares the world.
While the state is preoccupied with credit repayment, ordinary Russians are more interested in their wages: this year, according to the head of state, an 8.5%-10% hike in real incomes can be expected (5.5% in 2004), and pensions will rise by 7.9% (5.5% in 2004). Fewer people are classified as poor according to Russian statistics.
Would you like to know what question the author of this article would have put to the president? It is not so much a question as a wish: to make rational use of the state's accumulated gold and hard currency reserves ($155 billion) and the Stabilization Fund (about $20 billion in 2005). The state has become the biggest Russian oligarch because of joint efforts and a favorable international business climate - and the public should have effective control over the spending of these funds.