Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr Ryazansky, we recently met to discuss the problems faced by veterans and the pension system. Last year we made a very important decision to raise pensions. This year, already on February 1, all labour pensions were indexed by 8.8%.

Valery Ryazansky: And I'd like to thank you very much for that. Many of the pensioners I met in the regions asked me to express their gratitude to you.

Vladimir Putin: That was only the first stage. On April 1, we will index social pensions to inflation, and then on July 1 will index them to the subsistence level. But given that the increase made through the second indexation will be small, I have one suggestion – to carry out the indexation of both pensions...

Valery Ryazansky: At once...

Vladimir Putin: Yes, at once... The indexations scheduled for April and July... So that people start to receive more money earlier, already in April, without having to wait until July. This will certainly require more funding, but we do have the necessary amount – the Pension Fund has raised substantial revenues and there is enough money in the federal budget. But to this end, we will need to introduce an amendment to the law On Pensions. If you agree with this...

Valery Ryazansky: Of course I do. And I am eager to start developing it.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, please draft it without delay and introduce it to the parliament on behalf of United Russia.

Valery Ryazansky: Thank you, Mr Prime Minister.

Vladimir Putin: And certainly – we will revisit this issue later – we will monitor inflation, and if it exceeds 6% we will index labour pensions again.

Valery Ryazansky: That's all very good, and we will certainly raise this issue at our meetings with pensioners. Mr Prime Minister, I would like to express gratitude to you on behalf of my colleagues at the Pensioners' Union of Russia. You know, the initiative on the establishment of a coordination council is very important to us. There should be no room for public organisations that address veterans' problems superficially. Now is the time for big, solid organisations with national networks that can deal with pensioners' problems and even take over some government functions.

I'd like to reiterate what I told you at our previous meeting: the Pensioners' Union of Russia is a big systematic organisation with 1.4 million members and 1,834 branches. Through our national network, we can reach every municipality and perform the functions of... for example, legal support for elderly people. They always have various questions, so we would gladly run this project. If the coordination council, which will probably convene for a meeting soon, tasks us with that, we will be happy to develop a concept.

It is very important for us that people born in the 1950s, who are currently nearing the pension age, join our organisation. They received a good education in the 1970s, many of them worked as directors or senior managers of large enterprises under a planned economy and then during the transitional period. When they retire, they'll just be unable to sit back and do nothing. This is why we are getting many such people involved; many participate in our activities, in election campaigns. It's important for us to work at the municipal level, the ground level of government. Many of our representatives work in municipalities.

We have taken up the very difficult function of popular control through our network. This work is very exacting. We sometimes need to step in to resolve conflicts that may flare up in shops or at drugstores, or resolve a dispute with public utilities. In addition to this, we monitor prices.

And I'd like to thank you on behalf of our pensioners for attending to the problems raised by the leaders of the associations of housing owners at a meeting in Kaliningrad, if I remember it correctly. The relationship between the associations of housing owners and managing companies is an issue of critical importance. While prices remained the same for ordinary people, managing companies took too many liberties. And I'd like to thank you for responding to this issue. We are eager to perform even these functions that are essentially state functions.

Vladimir Putin: Good. That's very good because nothing can replace public control. It is the best measure of the performance of the federal and local governments.

Valery Ryazansky: And corrupt officials at local governments fear it more than anything.

Vladimir Putin: It is the most effective instrument for monitoring the performance of the federal, regional and municipal governments.