Transcript of the beginning of the Cabinet meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Let us first exchange current information. Ms Golikova has been to Kaliningrad.
Tatyana Golikova: That's right.
Vladimir Putin: Could you tell about the public healthcare there?.
Tatyana Golikova: Together with the representatives of some Russian regions which are implementing a pilot public healthcare project I visited the Kaliningrad Region and held a conference there on Thursday. The pilot project will be completed in July. We have already transferred all the funds to its participants and we had an opportunity to review the tentative results of the pilot project, which is basically about the transition of clinical and preventive institutions to single-channel financing.
We have identified several positive elements during the course of this pilot project. The purpose of the meeting was to translate all the positive developments in the Russian regions into proposals on modernizing the healthcare system, which is what we have been working on. We have agreed about it with the regions. They will send us all their proposals shortly, both the policy proposals and proposals on amending legislation in the field of mandatory medical insurance.
In addition, as part of modernization and the transition to single-channel financing, the issues of remuneration in the regions and possible abandonment of the single wage scale were touched upon. Most of the regions engaged in the pilot projects have already scrapped the single wage scale. Most of them have expressed the wish that the federal Government allow them greater freedom in making decisions on incentive payments. At present the existing regulations constrain them in making decisions on wages. But I hope that shortly after these proposals come in we will be able to sum them up and present to you in the shape of complete documents.
Vladimir Putin: We have discussed this problem in a broader context. One of the issues to be discussed is that because some regions have given up the single wage scale, we need to have an idea of the comparative size of remuneration for different categories of workers. So we have agreed that the Government will prepare the necessary methodological recommendations. I urge you to speed that work up.
Tatyana Golikova: Yes. In accordance with the instructions you have given earlier we are to submit proposals on amendments to the text of Resolution No.605 to the Government today. The resolution has been sent to all the federal agencies concerned. We hope to get the final opinion today and submit it to the Government. We expect that the Government will make a decision on the issue quickly. Mr Zhukov has signed today the schedule for the transition of federal institutions to the new system of remuneration. All the colleagues have intensified this work in line with the instructions issued at the previous Government meeting.
Vladimir Putin: What is the situation, Mr Zhukov?
Alexander Zhukov: The timetable is tough. The biggest part of the work has to be completed in July-August. I would ask you to try to meet all the deadlines set in the timetable. Otherwise we won't be able to make the decision by September, and that is the final deadline for introducing the new remuneration system at all the federal institutions, for concluding contracts on a new basis.
Vladimir Putin: In this connection I would like to ask all of you to keep up the momentum. The law on developing housing construction was passed last Friday. It is another serious step, a new stage in implementing the national project of housing construction as a whole. Mr Zhukov, would you please comment on it?
Alexander Zhukov: Our construction industry ahs been growing, including housing construction.
I have looked at the data for the past five months. On the whole the amount of construction work increased by 124%, as against 119% last year. Unfortunately, the commissioning of new housing last year increased by 141% on the same period of 2006, while this year the increase is only 106%. This is partly due to the rising cost of mortgage loans, which has forced down demand. Another important reason is the lack of land with infrastructure suitable for housing development. It is with an eye to developing that basis and the land market, and to making housing construction cheaper that the law on promoting housing construction was passed. It regulates the activities of the Federal Housing Construction Fund. In effect, it is another development institution being created in the country in order to develop the market of affordable housing.
The main goal of the Fund will be to develop land, the engineering infrastructure, the production of building materials for housing. Federal institutions have a lot of land that is not used. That land will be transferred to the Fund, which, together with the regional authorities, will develop it or pass it on to housing developers.
A decision has already been taken to allocate the start-up capital to the fund. It is not very large. In the future the fund will be financed from the proceeds from the lease of the land that will be transferred to it. Also importantly, the proceeds from the sale of this land for the purpose of housing construction will mainly go into municipal and regional budgets.
Vladimir Putin: It is a very important step we are making today, but we should do the job properly. I urge all the heads of agencies - those who are in this room today and those who are not - to rise above narrow departmental interests and to be guided by national interests. Agencies hold on to unused land avowedly for some very important purpose. But in reality nothing gets done. Many sit on this land like a dog in the manger. They don't use it themselves and they don't allow others to use it. That cannot be tolerated.
Mr Kozak, we had a meeting in Sochi on the progress of the programme to prepare Sochi for the Olympic Games, and we decided to relocate some facilities. I gave some instructions. What sort of beginning has been made to this work?
Dmitry Kozak: Pursuant to your instructions made at the meeting with the representatives of environmental organizations, we started implementing it on that same day. Today I can report that we have found the location for the bobsleigh track and have cleared it with the International Olympic Committee. It is a totally acceptable location which does not make inroads on the National Park or on the reserve. It poses no environmental hazards. The designers and surveyors have got down to locating the project on land. The design of the track was prepared for the previous location and the design and cost estimates are ready.
As for the Olympic mountain village, we already have one version (we agreed with the International Olympic Committee that we would submit several options). By tonight we will submit another choice of location for the village that meets the requirements in terms of distance from the main venues and the elevation. Work is in progress.
In connection with the relocation of the two objects - the Olympic mountain village and the bobsleigh track - the configuration of mountain roads has changed. The designers have conferred on this issue and have marked the routes on the map. The roads form loops around the biathlon complex. So, the implementation of the three decisions that emerged from the meeting with the environmental groups is at an advanced stage.
Vladimir Putin: The location of the mountain Olympic Village has to be agreed with the IOC Athletics Commission, doesn't it?
Alexander Zhukov: Yes, that is obligatory. The location of the mountain Olympic Village must be agreed with the International Olympic Committee Athletics Commission. We will send our proposals and we expect to get a quick reply. Vladimir Putin: We should do it expeditiously. There should be no delay.
Mr Levitin, we have adopted an infrastructure development programme, and this week you are planning to visit one of the routes to assess progress on the spot. Can you brief us on this, please?
Igor Levitin: On your instructions, Mr Putin, we, together with the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry for Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Health and Social Development and other federal bodies, are planning to inspect how your instructions regarding the M5 Motorway are being fulfilled. That's an international corridor we have announced for cargoes bound from China, Kazakhstan and Russia to Europe. After M4 Don Motorway this is the second road that will be intensively used by international road carriers. The total length of the motorway is 1800 km. It passes through ten regions.
Vladimir Putin: Moscow-Ryazan-Penza-Samara-Ufa-Chelyabinsk.
Igor Levitin: We are planning to hold a review meeting on July 12 in the final point, Chelyabinsk. I must say that only 35% of the road meets the standards. Out of the 305 bridges, 14% are in an unsatisfactory condition. Regarding road safety: last year there were 1,600 road accidents, in which 669 people died and 2,136 were injured. Therefore the Government Commission on Road Safety, which recently had a meeting chaired by Igor Shuvalov, has issued instructions to use new technologies in the reconstruction of the federal motorway. We will consider these issues with the heads of regions. Organizing prompt interaction in bringing help to victims is a very important task.
Under the Federal Targeted Programme for 2010-2015, which you approved in Sochi, 140 billion roubles will be allocated to build that road. The road will be brought up to standard and its capacity will increase by 2015.
Vladimir Putin: Mr Ivanov, you chaired a meeting of the Marine Board in St Petersburg in July 5.
Sergei Ivanov: Yes, I chaired the Marine Board Meeting in St Petersburg on Saturday. There were many issues on the agenda, but I would single out two key issues. The first was the state of affairs and prospects for the development of ports in North-Western Russia. I must say that last year the amount of cargo handled by Russian ports for the first time exceeded that of the Soviet Union, despite the fact that we have lost very many ports in Ukraine and in the Baltic countries. More than half of export and import is currently handled by the north-western ports.
So, the Marine Board examined the development prospects of all the ports in Kaliningrad, the Leningrad Region, Ust-Luga, which you visited recently, and the St Petersburg port.
By the way, St Petersburg Governor has backed the proposal of the Marine Board that St Petersburg should handle only container freight while any flows of energy resources, especially oil and oil derivatives, as well as coal, should be moved out of the city. It makes no sense to have them inside the city from the environmental point of view. At the same time a new passenger port will be developed in St Petersburg.
We have also considered the port situation in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the light of our plans to develop hydrocarbons in the Arctic Ocean and the Barents Sea. Of course, we need to build new modern ports there, especially in Murmansk and on the western coast of the Kola Gulf. The Transport Ministry has approved these plans.
Another important issue, which we discussed for more than two hours, is measures to attract the graduates of marine higher education institutions - I mean higher education and secondary technical schools in marine specialities -- to work on ships that fly the Russian flag. The situation there gives some cause for concern. On the one hand, there is a positive trend as the number of vessels under the Russian flag is constantly growing. We have passed a new law, and more and more vessels fly the Russian flag.
On the other hand, today 75% of all the ship navigating courses in higher and secondary technical education institutions are financed out of the budget. Any graduate has the full right, upon graduation, to work either with Russian private shipping companies or on foreign ships with foreign companies. Nobody is going to introduce job appointment. But all those who took part in the meeting said that it was not quite right for the Government to pay for the training of a good specialist who then goes to work in a foreign company. The training of a captain, first mate or second mate takes many years. It takes at least 15 years to train a top-notch specialist for navigating modern ships.
Here, and indeed elsewhere in the world, there is a shortage of highly skilled ship navigators. All the European countries experience a shortage. We have recently been building more modern civilian vessels, you have seen new tankers at the Admiralty Shipyard. Such tankers can only be entrusted to a highly skilled professional.
So we have decided together to take a closer look at the experience of the Defence Ministry. The studies can be financed by the Government, but the graduates of military schools sign a contract whereby they are obliged to serve (or work if we are speaking about the merchant fleet) for a certain period on vessels under the Russian flag.
Vladimir Putin: We should look at the situation with the retraining of those who are discharged, including from the Navy.
Sergei Ivanov: Yes. But everybody has approved the Defence Ministry experience because they sign a contract...
Vladimir Putin: I understand that. What I mean is that a contract is all very well, but people retire at a fairly young age.
Sergei Ivanov: They retire from the Navy.
Vladimir Putin: They have good experience working on ships. But the basic education must be improved because they will have to man other vessels. They must be able to use their skills in the civilian sector.
Sergei Ivanov: Another group of issues is enhancing the prestige and pay and social security benefits for those who work on the Russian merchant marine vessels. The Transport Ministry and Rosrybolovstvo have received instructions to prepare a targeted programme to boost the social prestige of work on Russian ships.
The third group of issues that pertains to measures to encourage our graduates to work on our ships is the legal framework, the Convention that Russia has signed with the International Labour Organization. The Convention deals with the hiring and employment of seamen and their work as sea navigators. Under the Convention which Russia has signed we are obliged to set up an authorized agency that will issue licenses to the companies that hire our seamen to man any vessels, whether Russian or foreign. Simultaneously it will see to it that these vessels comply with labour safety requirements with regard to our seamen. There are some problems there. Scandals flare up from time to time, conflict situations arise when the rights of our crews on foreign ships are violated, wages are not paid and vessels are arrested. We must create such an authorized agency to protect the social interests of our seamen in terms of labour safety.
Vladimir Putin: An event called "the Russian Field Day" took place in Belgorod on July 4-5. I would like to hear a more detailed account of the event and of course on how harvesting is proceeding.
Alexei Gordeyev: This is the fifth Russian Field Day Exhibition. Last year you personally took part in this in Rostov-on-Don. It attracts more and more interest every year. This year Belgorod hosted the exhibition. Its main aim is to speed up the introduction of resource-saving technologies. Taking part were 350 companies that produce machines, equipment, fertilizer and seeds. Seventy regions were represented by their delegations, some of which were led by their Governors. Georgy Poltavchenko, the President's Envoy to the Central Federal District, also took part. Most importantly, for the first time 25 countries - both from the CIS and other countries round the world -- took part in the exhibition.
The exhibition was visited by 20,000 specialists. This is important for us. Heads of farms and specialists in various spheres were among the visitors. That was a success.
In addition, a three-way meeting took place. At my invitation the ministers from Ukraine and Belarus had arrived. We had talks on the agro-industrial complex and have agreed to approach the heads of Government to ask their approval for holding such joint exhibitions-cum-conferences every year in one of the three countries - Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. We are aware of the interest in the production and trade in farm produce and food.
The exhibition is still open. It will close in August. The event has highlighted the potential of our agriculture not only as a consumer, but also as a producer.
As for harvesting, it is going at a brisk pace. Four million tons of grain has been threshed. The main areas are Krasnodar, the Stavropol Territory and the Rostov Region.
The average yield is 41 centners per hectare, which is slightly more than last year. In short, everything is proceeding according to schedule and there are evident signs that the harvest in the south will be bountiful.
Vladimir Putin: Under the law we have to make a decision on the preparation of several international agreements for ratification. First and foremost, Russian experts in the United Nations were directly involved in drafting the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has been opened for signing.
We know that most of the principles it contains are already included in the Russian laws. But one has to admit that we have a long way to go before we fully implement all the provisions of the Convention.
It has to do with the work of the Government bodies, social services, the organization of the daily life of the disabled. The cities, the transport and social facilities in our country are still ill-suited for people with disabilities. They still experience problems with employment.
These issues call for serious decisions and for long-term, painstaking, routine work. Russia's signing of the Convention On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities should give an impetus and set important benchmarks. If we sign and ratify such documents we have to comply with them.
Also in collaboration with the UN, its specialized Office on Drugs and Crime, another international agreement has been drafted. It deals with the creation of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordinating Centre on Drug Trafficking.
We have decided to join the Centre because many of our drug-related problems are connected with that region. Unfortunately, we provide both a market for drugs and a transit route for drugs going to other countries, above all, of course, to Europe. So it is a very important issue. I would urge you to pay particular attention to it.
There is one more problem that we have been preparing to discuss for some time. We must make a decision on our financial contribution to the international programme of enhancing basic education in the CIS, Asia and Africa. We are talking about more than $50 million.
I would like to point out that if we allocate such amounts - which is a good idea in principle - we must be confident that the money is properly used. That applies in particular to our close neighbours and main partners, the CIS countries. If Russia allocates the money we should have at least a minimum of control over how it is spent and see what educational programmes that money will finance.