#19

http://premier.gov.ru

December 4, 2008

After the end of the televised question and

answer session, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the press

Transcript of the interview:

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon. Please, go ahead.

QUESTION: A great many questions were asked

today. How will you monitor implementation of the instructions you will give?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Indeed, there have been many

questions, and they are vital for people. Quite

often, these are critical questions, but they

reflect exactly what worries people. I'm indeed

grateful to the Russian people for these

questions, for the open conversation we had about

real problems that the man on the street encounters.

As for monitoring the implementation of my

instructions, I have a mechanism for this.

Honestly, I don't think that fulfilling the major

tasks discussed today is going to be a problem.

Take, for instance, helping people who find it

difficult to pay interests on loans or their

mortgage principals. Or, take permission to use

maternity capital during a year; women and their

families could be allowed to spend this money on

paying off, say, mortgage loans. I don't think

that the implementation of other systemic decisions will be a problem.

All these concerns have been registered, and I

will make instructions literally within the next

couple of days, and they will be sent to the

federal authorities which are responsible for

their implementation. Moreover, we will carry out

some of these instructions together with United

Russia. I am hoping very much that many of them

will be backed by other parties in the Duma.

QUESTION: Mr Putin, I'm attending the live

session for the eighth time. Could you please

tell me roughly whether this session is different

from the previous ones? Was there a question that

has touched you deeply, or helped you discover

something you didn't know before?

You have not answered one question in full. Could

you please say whether the pension age will be increased?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: As for the first part of your

question, I can tell you that I receive questions

in advance, which allows me to analyse what

worries people most of all. Therefore, when

questions are received live, they differ from the

main readout only in their wording. In principle, their gist remains the same.

In general, the problems that worry people are

known and understandable. It is the Government's

responsibility to meet the requirements of society.

I am grateful to you for reminding me that I

didn't answer one question. I simply skipped it.

It was about a potential increase in the pension

age. I can tell you straight away that we are not even planning this.

QUESTION: How would you define Russia's socio-political system?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: A social welfare state with a market economy.

QUESTION: Can you say for certain that you will

not revert to the presidential office in the next 12 months?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Strange as it may seem, this

question interests foreign journalists more than their Russian colleagues.

I would like to note that President Medvedev and

I have established a very good tandem. We have

worked together for many years, and I am very

happy about our effective cooperation.

The next elections in the Russian Federation will

take place in 2012. I think that everyone should

perform his duty in his place. There is no need

to fuss about what will happen in 2012. Let's

make it to that time, and then decide.

QUESTION: Many Russians believe that their living

standards depend on the Government. Now, amid the

global financial crisis, people's salaries have

dropped, and unemployment is on the rise. Aren't

you afraid that your popularity might plummet?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: A person entrusted with serving

their country at this high level and during such

a period should be proud and thankful for the

unique chance to serve the country and the

people, however hard and difficult the service.

The situation was even worse in early 2000, when

Russia's territorial integrity was in jeopardy.

We had to deal with a near collapse of the

economy and the social system then, but we

succeeded. We'll make it this time, too. If one

just sits there thinking of how everything is

plummeting, nothing will ever rise again.

QUESTION: Mr Putin, can I ask a question about

your preparation for this question-and-answer

session? When did you begin preparing for this event?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yesterday.

QUESTION: How come the head of the Government now

uses this format of addressing the nation?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: The reason is that only the

Chairman of the United Russia party can be

addressed through the party's public reception offices.

QUESTION: Will the Government use the last-resort

measure, the devaluation of the rouble, if the crisis intensifies?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: I think I have already mentioned

during this session that we are determined to

pursue a weighted and rational economic policy,

will monitor global prices of key Russian

exports, and closely follow the in- and outflows of foreign currency.

The Central Bank will use this information to

frequently adjust the rouble rate against other

currencies. Furthermore, the substantial

international reserves Russia has accumulated

earlier will now help us to pass through the most

difficult situations smoothly, without shocks.

QUESTION: Mr Putin, how would you evaluate the

Government's work during the crisis? Would you

ever consider any major personnel decisions,

possibly a decision about yourself? I mean, do

you even admit the possibility of resigning from the Prime Minister's post?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: I don't think there is a need to

do anything of the kind now. I have never in my

life fled from problems or responsibility. This

time is no exception: I choose to stay and fight.

I expect all my colleagues to do likewise.

I also don't think it is advisable to threaten to

fire any Cabinet ministers or other Government

members. They could have probably done a better

job in responding more promptly to the

challenges, but on the whole, their actions have

been relevant to the dangers Russia faces.

QUESTION: Some think that what took place at the

Saturn R&D company is an instance of a prosperous

company being nationalised. Does this mean that

the state will start another nationalisation wave

under the pretext of the financial crisis?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: First, Saturn only looks

prosperous. It has huge financial problems with a

formidable non-rescheduled debt and a need for

extra loans to keep essential programmes going.

Second, its management has officially announced

that the company will dismiss 4,000 employees. Is that prosperity?

The company certainly has problems, and the state

is joining its holders to stabilise its

production and the social sphere. The company is

all the more essential in that it works on

government defence contracts, and we cannot put

up with failures in that vital sphere.

Nonetheless, the state is not using it as a

pretext for nationalisation and control, and it will not do so later.

At the same time, we are willing to acquire a

share in industrial and banking capital if the

business itself welcomes it. This is one of the

ways to get industrial companies out of the

crisis and re-privatise them when the crisis is

over, and is in fact what the Swedish Government

did when Sweden was experiencing a bad national

financial crisis. In fact, all banks were

nationalised and then passed back into private hands afterwards.

There is nothing "homemade" about it. We will

rely on patterns that have been tested in the world.

QUESTION: You have not answered a question about

casinos and gambling areas. I dropped into a

casino yesterday. It works as many others, and

none intend to close down. Have they received a respite?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: I did not answer merely because I

forgot a part of the question. Thank you for

reminding me of it. No respites are envisaged.

Gambling houses will be closed down in compliance

with the recently passed law starting January 1, 2009, as the law stipulates.

QUESTION: Mr Putin, will the subsistence wage

rise as it has been going up over the previous five years?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: We will see. We definitely should

respond to the labour market situation-in

particular, concerning guest workers, as we have

said today. This is a closely related issue.

QUESTION: You said the Government intended to

purchase corporate stock. What does the

Government intend to do to overcome the crisis?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: We are discussing the matter with

business circles-with major companies and with

small and medium-size businesses, which certainly

are not affected by the crisis as badly as the

former. The managers and proprietors of corporate

giants deem it possible and an appropriate

trouble-shooting measure for the state to acquire

a share in their capital. I told them from the

start that such acquisition did not imply state

control of the Russian economy but was merely a

means of helping it recover in the global financial crisis.

We are willing to consider the chance of joining

the holders on companies' requests and on just

terms. We will quit in time, and also on just

terms. This does not mean that the state is out

to buy for a song today and sell for a price

tomorrow. There is no way to appoint fair terms

unless businesspeople take part in setting them.

Thank you. Goodbye.

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