Vladimir Putin’s address:
Good afternoon, friends,
We have made a very important decision here in Kuzbass: we have adopted a plan for the development of the mining industry to 2030. This is a big step forward. First of all, I’d like to say that this plan provides for a 100-million-ton increase in coal production compared with the current level (there are miners among us here and they know what this means). Meanwhile, miners have just had a record year even compared with the most productive Soviet times. I congratulate you on this achievement and this victory. You have done a great job!
I regularly visit mining regions both during holidays, and tragedies that regrettably occur in such areas, and simply as part of my working routine, like today. I know that responsible, serious people live and work here, people who know life inside out and not just its bright side. You know and can easily tell the difference between the real taiga and a park, a real river and a swimming pool or aquarium.
People who live here can tell anything straight to your face but these are exactly the kind of people that you can rely on in real earnest. I’d like to emphasise that this country has always leaned on the powerful and strong shoulder of miners or steel workers, especially during hard times. This was the case in the most complicated periods of our history, such as the Great Patriotic War, when hundreds of thousands of miners went to the frontline and heroically fought against the enemy, or worked on the home front. When they left for the frontline, their girlfriends, wives and sisters often filled in for them in the mines.
You have wonderful traditions. They have been laid by our forefathers and remain in our hearts and souls. The step we have taken today is neither the first nor the last one in the development of the mining industry. We will still have to do a great deal together to improve life in Russia, to make work more rewarding, mining conditions safer and the wages reflect your contribution to national development.
I have already mentioned your achievements. We have done much together but we must do even more and we will do it. We will overcome together! I’m grateful for your efforts and your support! Thank you.