Johnson's Russia List
2012-#226
21 December 2012
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A World Security Institute Project
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#3
RIA Novosti
December 21, 2012
Putin Focuses on Domestic Issues in 'Tepid' Address

MOSCOW, December 12 (RIA Novosti)  Russian President Vladimir Putin's first
state-of-the-nation address after returning to the Kremlin earlier this
year, delivered Wednesday, outlined a broad strategy for domestic
development, offering no major policy updates and avoiding foreign policy
issues almost entirely.

At times, the speech implicitly acknowledged demands articulated by
opposition activists over the past year, but it did not directly address the
large-scale street protests that were the highlight of Russia's 2011-2012
political season.

Analysts called the address overly general, uninspired and paternalistic.

Putin spoke in the Kremlin before a crowd of about 1,000 legislators and
senior state officials for 78 minutes, his speech frequently interrupted by
rounds of applause.

Key points included (click links for more detailed coverage):

Social policy goals: 

- Improvements in Russia's demographics, to be achieved through monetary
bonuses to families with several children, the promotion of a healthy
lifestyle and improvements to living conditions through cheaper rent and
mortgages. "Three children per family should become the norm for Russia,"
Putin said.

- An overhaul of the country's healthcare, science and education sectors.
(Putin did not mention any increases in funding, which has waned in recent
years.)

- Tackling the country's "moral crisis" by promoting "traditional values"
and revamping education, with a focus on moral and cultural upbringing, and
strengthening national identity, largely through the use of history. Putin
proposed creating a World War I memorial and reintroducing famous
tsarist-era military units.

Policy positions on ethnic minorities: 

- A strong rejection of outright nationalism, dubbed a danger to Russia's
multi-ethnic social fabric. Putin ordered regional authorities to prevent
the emergence of "closed ethnic enclaves with their own informal
jurisdiction."

- At the same time, he promised to tighten migration rules for citizens of
former Soviet republics  except those that choose to join groupings like the
Customs Union, a regional foreign-trade group currently comprising Russia,
Kazakhstan and Belarus. The union is actively promoted by Moscow but
potential members have been wary of joining.

Domestic politics: 

- Putin said he is willing to consider the reintroduction of electoral blocs
and single-mandate voting districts  measures that would open the doors to
more independent lawmakers in the national parliament  though he added that
the matter needs more discussion.

- He spoke vehemently against political actors in Russia accepting foreign
funding in any form or for any purpose. This appeared to be part of a larger
trend in which NGOs critical of the Kremlin have seen impediments to
receiving foreign grants and a number of opposition activists have been
accused of accepting money from foreign governments or their
representatives.

Corruption: 

- Putin proposed to "limit" the right of legislators and top officials to
hold accounts in foreign banks or assets abroad. Real estate abroad would be
allowed if its provenance can be explained  a softening of Putin's own
earlier proposal to ban officials from owning any assets abroad.

Economy: 

- Putin again called for rule of the law in Russia with the goal of
"de-offshore-ization"  in other words, reversing the trend of Russian
businesses officially registering in foreign offshore zones. The government
was ordered to draft and present in 2013 a road map on improving the
country's business climate.

- About 100 billion rubles ($3.3 billion) from the previously untapped
National Welfare Fund are to be invested in unspecified domestic
infrastructure projects starting in 2013.

- Russia will keep its flat income tax of 13 percent while introducing a
"luxury tax" to target the country's rich.

- Russia should ensure its food safety by 2016 or 2017 and move on to become
a major food exporter for the global market.

Not mentioned:

- Putin did not address any specific foreign policy issues, including the
conflict in Syria, the economic crisis in the EU or even the US Magnitsky
Act, which targeted Russian officials over rights violations, triggering
outrage and retaliatory measures by the Russian parliament earlier this
week.

- No explicit mention was made of the opposition protests that were sparked
by allegations of vote-rigging during State Duma elections last December and
continued in Moscow through this year. An opposition rally was due to take
place in the capital this Saturday, but organizers have, so far, failed to
secure permission from City Hall.

- A possible revision of the Constitution, which local media, citing unnamed
Kremlin insiders, had mentioned as a potential focus of the address.

Prior to Putin's address observers had also speculated that he may deliver
some radical proposals, among them tighter measures to silence the
opposition and broad structural reforms, but neither made its way into the
speech.

Instead, much of the address sounded like a compromise between the
expectations of the "angry urbanites" who attended the opposition rallies
and those of conservatives in the ruling establishment, said independent
political analyst Pavel Salin.

Because of this, however, the address largely failed to go beyond "vague
generalities," said Salin, formerly of the commercial Center for Political
Assessment think-tank.

Maria Lipman of the Carnegie Moscow Center said the speech was "tepid" and
others agreed with her assessment.

"Putin is always saying nice and true things, with a few exceptions, but the
question is whether he has the will or the resources to make them come
true," said Dmitry Oreshkin, a political analyst and a former member of the
Kremlin's human rights council.

Putin projected paternalistic attitudes on topics such as family and
morality, and shied away from surprising announcements or controversial
issues, such as the Magnitsky Act, in order to appease the public, Lipman
said.

"It was a pacifying message: Things are mostly alright now, and will be
getting better," she added. "But it remains to be seen whether it will come
to pass."
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