Vladimir Putin's opening address:

Good afternoon,

We've gathered here today to discuss economic issues. But, as you know, there was a terrible tragedy yesterday – a cruise ship sank on the Volga River. These people were vacationing with their families and children. It is already clear that dozens lost their lives. I'd like to express our support for the victims and my most sincere condolences to the families of those who were lost. Let us now take a moment to pay tribute to their memory. (A minute of silence follows, everyone stands.) Thank you.

As I said, we've gathered here to discuss issues of national development. In attendance are members of the Russian Academy of Sciences' economics branch, prominent scholars, and representatives of the most diverse movements and schools of thought. We realise that the recent global economic crisis affected the agendas of many countries and seriously altered the course of world economic development. Today, we bear witness to gradual recovery in many countries and in the world's leading economies, but there are still many challenges we have yet to face. Some measures have been taken, but they are only stopgaps. Their inadequacy as a lasting solution is borne out by problems in the labour market and continuing financial trouble in some European economies. We see how difficult these issues are and the kinds of social effects they produce. People are extremely worried and far from ready to sacrifice their immediate interests in order to address medium-term, not to mention long-term problems.

We were beset with problems during the crisis as well. Needless to say, we also sustained losses in many industries, but we still managed to keep our economy afloat, maintain key social institutions, and, most importantly, preserve our development potential.

It is very important to scrutinise what happened in the world economy – to study the circumstances in which the crisis unfolded, find a cure, and draft measures to preventing such adverse developments in the future. We must make our national economies reliable and productive, and protect them against all kinds of negative factors, risks, and potential pitfalls. Practically every country in the world is now tackling these problems. Our government is no exception.

As you know, we've decided to implement the Strategy for Socio-Economic Development up to 2020. I'd like to emphasise that we will continue pursuing its primary objectives: to improve the living standard and guarantee dynamic economic advancement through the introduction of innovation.

This year, we expect our experts to draft specific proposals designed to help us achieve key goals in economic modernisation and the effectiveness of social services, government management, and budgetary spending. We must involve as many specialists in this work as possible. I'm referring to independent experts, representatives of the regions and of businesses, public associations, and, last but not least, academics. We want to be appraised of every possible perspective. Even if at first glance they seem incompatible and diametrically opposed, I believe that we should be aware of all possible approaches to these issues. Only by holding a broad professional dialogue will we be able to find balanced solutions and eventually guarantee an effective programme of national development.

Your vision is of particular importance because you are engaged in fundamental research. You have the opportunity to look beyond the immediate horizon and calculate all possible outcomes. Therefore, I'd like us not only to discuss current economic issues but also look at the medium-term and at more remote perspectives.

It goes without saying that such long-term forecasts can be a fruitless endeavour, but we can predict what will happen in individual industries based on the general trends of global markets and national economic development with a greater or lesser degree of accuracy. I'm referring to investments made in different spheres. Proceeding from how we manage specific industries, we can even look beyond the horizon of 20 years. I look forward to hearing such estimates today.

Let's also talk about budgetary policy and macroeconomics as a whole. Now, after the crisis, it is important for us to set our priorities straight and considerably enhance the return on government investment. In this context, we should exchange our opinions on the following issues: which industries have the strongest trends towards growth and which industries can become the engines of our economy.

Our next task is to ensure the expansion of balanced and stable development across our vast territory. We view all of our constituent entities with equal importance, but we understand very well that it is now critical to guarantee the dynamic development of Siberia and the Far East. The depopulation that has taken place there over the past few decades is a very dangerous trend, and we must do all we can to prevent it in the future. The relevant programmes and government commissions are in place, but they are strictly administrative and bureaucratic. We must study this issue more thoroughly and make comprehensive decisions on these territories. We must prevent all kinds of environmental, demographic, and social imbalances in this respect and correctly identify ways to build regional clusters and effectively use our natural resources.

Our manpower potential is closely linked with this issue. The multiplication of enterprises and the expansion of production will require a more active policy on the labour market. This boils down to the development of the so-called human factor and is consistent with the implementation of our plans in healthcare, education and culture, or, in brief, with new living standards in Russia.

I'd also like you to speak about integration. In the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, we have merely been marking time. However, with the formation of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, economic integration in the post-Soviet space has now acquired a real outline.

This morning, I talked with our Ukrainian colleagues, and I spoke just now with the Ukrainian president. Our government experts are actively analysing their proposal for a "3+1" arrangement: that is, the three members of the Customs Union – Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan – plus Ukraine. We are still unable to say what decisions this joint effort may produce. Our experts are actively reviewing the Ukrainian proposals, and I hope that future progress along this track will be important and beneficial to all parties. I'd like to hear your opinions on this score as well.

That's everything I wanted to tell you before we begin.

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Vladimir Putin's closing remarks:

Let's bring things to a close. In conclusion, I'd like to say that today we discussed some truly fundamental issues. The country's future will largely depend on how we address them – and that is no exaggeration.

To begin with, however, we must agree on our definitions. When talking about strategic planning, we are not at all referring to the Soviet-style economic planning of old. When speaking about excessive liberalism, we do not mean that we are against liberal values. Let's be frank: over the previous few years, our economic policy has been fairly liberal, and during the crisis we remained confident not only because of our accumulated reserves but because our economy had grown severalfold since the early 1990s.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and what took place in the decade that followed, our economy did not diversify as rapidly and broadly as we would have hoped. But take, for instance, the changes in agriculture: before, one could hardly speak of Russian agriculture so much as of dying villages. Now we have become the world's third largest grain exporter and are close to ranking second. We've seen similar achievements in other areas as well. All this helped us to surmount the very peaks of the crisis with confidence but it does not mean that we can continue to rely successfully upon what we have done in the past. On the contrary, we must look at today's realities and prospects for the future and then elaborate the most effective regulatory methods possible.

First, I'd like to thank you all for today's discussion. Second, I'd like to ask you, Mr Glazyev, to make a brief report and you, Mr Fetisov, and your colleagues to draw up separate notes on regional policy, economic projects, and your proposals in that regard. Please, don't make them too long. Just get at the heart of the problem to which you would like to attract the attention of the government, making point-by-point notes on each issue. That will be more effective.

Mr Glazyev, you used to be a minister, and you know that every document requires a note or resolution to make it work. If the note is too general, it will tumble about endlessly in the bureaucratic corridors. But if we separate each point, the effect may be seen much more quickly.

Moreover, I hope that this is not our last discussion. After you have submitted your proposals, we will review them and decide on a format. Agreed?