Putin Pushes Innovation, Strong Military in Address
MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin called Wednesday for Russia to focus on investment and innovation to win its deserved place in the world economy, keep its military strong, as well as to implement new incentives to stem the nation's population decline.
Mr. Putin's speech didn't directly take on differences with the U.S., which has grown wary of Russia's growing energy power.
In his seventh state of the nation address, Mr. Putin said there was a "consensus in society" that Russia's falling population must be addressed and indicated the government will take measures to encourage young couples to have more children.
[Vladimir Putin]
Noting there is an annual decline of nearly 700,000 people a year in Russia, Mr. Putin said that child-care benefits should be increased and women who have a second child should be supported because they often are out of the work force for a long time. "We must at least stimulate the birth of a second child," Mr. Putin said, adding that concerns about housing, health care and education are prompting many families to stop at one.
He called on the government to work more effectively to raise Russians' standards of living, and made his customary dig at official corruption, saying that a number of state officials "have enriched themselves at the cost of the majority of citizens."
Mr. Putin also said Russia needs a strong military, not only to guard against potential attacks, but also to resist political pressure from abroad. Mr. Putin, whose government has accused the U.S. and others of seeking to influence Russian affairs for their own benefit, said that the more powerful the military is, the more it will deter such efforts.
GDP Goal Unlikely
Mr. Putin also acknowledged that his originally stated goal of doubling gross domestic product within a decade now looks unlikely, due to growth falling slightly short of the required rate in the last couple of years. However, he stressed that overall economic developments have been positive, and took credit in particular for the explosive growth in the market capitalization of gas monopoly OAO Gazprom over the last year. "This didn't happen by itself ... but as the result of certain actions by the Russian government," Mr. Putin said.
He identified obsolete capital equipment and poor energy efficiency as two of the factors affecting the Russian economy's competitiveness. He said much of the capital equipment produced in Russia is "10 years out of date" and added that "even taking into account the climatic conditions of our country, energy efficiency is much lower than in competing nations."
In a barb apparently aimed at the U.S., he said countries shouldn't use Russia's World Trade Organization accession negotiations as a vehicle to make unrelated demands. "The negotiations for letting Russia into the WTO should not become a bargaining chip for questions that have nothing in common with the activities of this organization," Mr. Putin said.
Russia has signed agreements with the European Union, China and Japan, among others, but has yet to reach deals with the U.S. In March, Mr. Putin expressed frustration at the pace of negotiations, accusing the U.S. of coming up with ungrounded demands that were hindering talks. One of the persistent obstacles to Russia's WTO accession has been its poor record on combating the production and sale of pirated goods. "It is our obligation" to protect copyrights, Mr. Putin said.
Rising Tension With U.S.
The speech comes amid rising tensions with the U.S. Last month, U.S. officials have said, a top Kremlin official told his Washington counterparts that Moscow would link the participation of U.S. companies in a major natural-gas project aimed at the U.S. market -- one of the Bush administration's energy priorities with Russia -- to U.S. agreement on the terms of letting Russia into the WTO, something Mr. Putin has long sought. The WTO agreement hasn't been completed yet and Russia continues to delay the announcement of partners for the gas project, although officials in Moscow deny any effort to link the two.
Washington's fears that the Kremlin had reasserted control over the energy sector crystallized in January when Moscow briefly shut off gas supplies to Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Vice President Dick Cheney kept up the pressure on Russia, endorsing criticism of the country's recent repression by a former economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin. The adviser, Andrei Illarionov gave a speech last week charging Russia's central government with eroding the country's civil and economic freedoms over recent years, to the point that effective opposition has become impossible.
Mr. Putin's speech didn't directly take on differences with the U.S., which has grown wary of Russia's growing energy power.
In his seventh state of the nation address, Mr. Putin said there was a "consensus in society" that Russia's falling population must be addressed and indicated the government will take measures to encourage young couples to have more children.
[Vladimir Putin]
Noting there is an annual decline of nearly 700,000 people a year in Russia, Mr. Putin said that child-care benefits should be increased and women who have a second child should be supported because they often are out of the work force for a long time. "We must at least stimulate the birth of a second child," Mr. Putin said, adding that concerns about housing, health care and education are prompting many families to stop at one.
He called on the government to work more effectively to raise Russians' standards of living, and made his customary dig at official corruption, saying that a number of state officials "have enriched themselves at the cost of the majority of citizens."
Mr. Putin also said Russia needs a strong military, not only to guard against potential attacks, but also to resist political pressure from abroad. Mr. Putin, whose government has accused the U.S. and others of seeking to influence Russian affairs for their own benefit, said that the more powerful the military is, the more it will deter such efforts.
GDP Goal Unlikely
Mr. Putin also acknowledged that his originally stated goal of doubling gross domestic product within a decade now looks unlikely, due to growth falling slightly short of the required rate in the last couple of years. However, he stressed that overall economic developments have been positive, and took credit in particular for the explosive growth in the market capitalization of gas monopoly OAO Gazprom over the last year. "This didn't happen by itself ... but as the result of certain actions by the Russian government," Mr. Putin said.
He identified obsolete capital equipment and poor energy efficiency as two of the factors affecting the Russian economy's competitiveness. He said much of the capital equipment produced in Russia is "10 years out of date" and added that "even taking into account the climatic conditions of our country, energy efficiency is much lower than in competing nations."
In a barb apparently aimed at the U.S., he said countries shouldn't use Russia's World Trade Organization accession negotiations as a vehicle to make unrelated demands. "The negotiations for letting Russia into the WTO should not become a bargaining chip for questions that have nothing in common with the activities of this organization," Mr. Putin said.
Russia has signed agreements with the European Union, China and Japan, among others, but has yet to reach deals with the U.S. In March, Mr. Putin expressed frustration at the pace of negotiations, accusing the U.S. of coming up with ungrounded demands that were hindering talks. One of the persistent obstacles to Russia's WTO accession has been its poor record on combating the production and sale of pirated goods. "It is our obligation" to protect copyrights, Mr. Putin said.
Rising Tension With U.S.
The speech comes amid rising tensions with the U.S. Last month, U.S. officials have said, a top Kremlin official told his Washington counterparts that Moscow would link the participation of U.S. companies in a major natural-gas project aimed at the U.S. market -- one of the Bush administration's energy priorities with Russia -- to U.S. agreement on the terms of letting Russia into the WTO, something Mr. Putin has long sought. The WTO agreement hasn't been completed yet and Russia continues to delay the announcement of partners for the gas project, although officials in Moscow deny any effort to link the two.
Washington's fears that the Kremlin had reasserted control over the energy sector crystallized in January when Moscow briefly shut off gas supplies to Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Vice President Dick Cheney kept up the pressure on Russia, endorsing criticism of the country's recent repression by a former economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin. The adviser, Andrei Illarionov gave a speech last week charging Russia's central government with eroding the country's civil and economic freedoms over recent years, to the point that effective opposition has become impossible.
posted by Marko at 5/10/2006 06:33:00 AM
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