Opening remarks by Dmitry Medvedev:
Colleagues,
Contrary to the rumours floating around, I am not planning to discuss the new government structure, nor any personnel decisions. Instead I would like us to focus on one of the key governmental policies, a routine but important issue: the budget policy. We have already discussed a series of Strategy 2020 reports while drafting possible approaches to certain budget policy issues, in particular, our discussion concerned the so-called budget rule for using the country's oil and gas revenues and for limiting the size of the federal budget deficit.
Now we need to discuss results, results of working on the various versions of this rule, and decide how it will be implemented while working on the draft federal budget for 2013 and for the planning period of 2014 and 2015. We must also discuss spending priorities.
The government has to work to achieve its goals – and these goals are complex and ambitious – which include economic development, social security and the demographic policy. All of these goals have been outlined both in the addresses I have made and in the Presidential Decrees signed on May 7. They have been worked out by many experts and by all those present. Let’s begin our discussion.