Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Dmitry Medvedev: Let me say a few words as an introduction to our meeting today. At our last Government meeting, we discussed the budget and some priorities in the social sphere. Kindergartens remain a very important issue, which, as I said, is invariably mentioned by people and Governors whenever I visit some region or other. In this connection I want to inform you that I have signed a subsidy distribution order to encourage the regions to modernise their regional and municipal preschool education systems. Subsidies totaling 1 billion roubles are being allocated to 72 regions in 2012. As is only natural, regional money should be added, and we’ll have to see to it that this money is spent as efficiently as possible. Ms Golodets (Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets), please, monitor the situation. How are things right now?

Olga Golodets: There has been some progress on kindergartens for children aged three to seven, just as the order says. A total of 1.34 million children went to preschool institutions this year, but 364,000 children in this age bracket are still on the waiting list. Hopefully this number will be reduced considerably before January 1, because we have been running a number of programmes, including loan programmes, plus the subsidy you mentioned. This will provide kindergarten places for nearly 200,000 children more by January 1. That means a considerable proportion of children aged between three and seven will be able to attend preschool institutions and have access to preschool education. We expect about 40 regions to accomplish this objective in 2012, that is, by 1 January 2013. From 1 September, some regions provided kindergarten places for all children aged between three and seven. As we know, even younger children would also like to attend kindergarten.

Dmitry Medvedev: We should not forget about these children either.

Olga Golodets: We are trying not to forget about them. Those regions where the overall situation is improving do accept younger children. And I believe that we will solve this problem for all little children in the near future.

Dmitry Medvedev: All right. We absolutely have to address this issue, because it is of crucial importance. Mr Dvorkovich (addressing Arkady Dvorkovich), you chaired a meeting of the Government Commission on Agriculture. Everyone realises that this is a difficult year for the countryside. Unfortunately, there has been a substantial crop failure. We plan to harvest about 70 million tonnes of grain, which should on the whole, considering our surplus grain stocks, ensure food security for the country, enable us to accomplish our domestic objectives in the livestock sector and even to export grain. But right now we have to think about the future and about winter crops too. Most regions have started sowing winter crops, and in good time, within reasonable timeframes. The area under winter crops is also continuing to increase, which is good. Nevertheless, the price situation on the food market remains difficult. This situation is not only typical of Russia, food prices are going up all over the world. This is linked with seasonal and weather anomalies and with trends in the development of mankind in general. But on the whole we have to monitor these processes, which of course influence people’s incomes and are reflected in inflation for obvious reasons, especially when it comes to food imports.

And another issue in this area. We discussed fishing and the fishing industry. In early September, I chaired a meeting and told our colleagues that aquaculture and recreational fishing legislation should be passed more quickly, and that a number of bylaws should also be approved. I told them to draft or submit all the bills and to decide on their future by 20 September. Please tell us what has been done in these two areas?

Arkady Dvorkovich: Mr Medvedev, colleagues. Two issues were examined at a meeting of the Government Commission on Agriculture. The first was linked with the situation for 2012, which you mentioned. The second related to our plans to modify specific approaches regarding support for the agriculture sector as part of Russia’s membership of the World Trade Organisation. On the first issue we drew the following conclusions: Grain harvests are likely to exceed 70 million tonnes, though only slightly. Exports are slower than…

Dmitry Medvedev: We still have about 20 million tonnes of surplus grain stocks.

Arkady Dvorkovich: Almost 20 million tonnes, including about 5.5 million tonnes of grain in the so-called intervention fund, which enables targeted interventions on commodity markets to be made where necessary. Exports so far are running at reasonable volumes so there is no need to fear possible grain shortages. Everything is all right in this respect. Prices are rising more slowly, and the situation with getting the new harvest to market is gradually stabilising. There is still a very difficult situation in some Siberian regions. On Wednesday, we will re-examine this issue at a meeting of a special commission to oversee food markets, and we will decide whether the time is ripe for market interventions. However, the preliminary opinion of most market investors suggests that such interventions are not needed yet, that the situation should be monitored, and that this issue should be re-examined in two or three weeks’ time.

Bread price rises are still slightly higher than inflation but they still fall short of the specific ceilings that we set. Moreover, prices for the so-called social types of bread remain the same in all regions, which makes it possible to continue assisting the neediest sections of society. By late October we will have an idea about whether additional measures for influencing the market and support measures are needed.

We have also agreed that all regulatory documents needed to activate new mechanisms of state support in early 2013 as part of Russia’s membership of the World Trade Organisation have to be approved by the end of October … They were drafted and published prior to signing, and they will be signed after the Federal Budget Law comes into force, so that everyone will know about what type of state support for the agriculture sector will be in place from 1 January 2013. This concerns petroleum, oil and lubricants, fertilisers, loan subsidies and export support, all aspects of agricultural support in other words.

As for fish, all bills were submitted to the Government by 20 September, and on some of them…

Dmitry Medvedev: Some of them have been forwarded to the State Duma rather than the Government.

Arkady Dvorkovich: I was referring to the amendments for the second reading where they were necessary.

Some bodies of power have reservations on some issues. We will coordinate everything in the Government Executive Office this week, so that the State Duma can know the Government’s opinion on the draft laws prepared for a second reading and so that the planned draft documents can be prepared for submission.

Dmitry Medvedev: Don’t let them drag this issue out, because there are too many groups lobbying for it, and as a result we cannot get it moving, everything has come to a standstill and it takes years for a law to be adopted.

As for the food market, we must monitor it very closely so that we know what’s going on there. Of course, we need to take into account the opinions of the farming community on the issue of [market] interventions and discuss the issue with experts. But don’t waste time because we have to take the necessary and well-thought out decision by the deadline to suit the market and in terms of expediency.

Arkady Dvorkovich: I will report to you on the results of the meeting and its conclusions on Wednesday.

Dmitry Medvedev: Good.

There is one more issue, or rather two issues. One concerns the situation in the Russian Far East, on the Kuril Islands. You know that I have been there several times, and on my orders deputy ministers and ministers have visited the region. I want to say that I have signed a government resolution on the socioeconomic development of the Kuril Islands, which will change the programme until 2015. As a result, additional funds will be allocated, in particular for the Kurilsk-Reidovo motorway (126 million roubles and other additional resources). I hope that all these decisions will be implemented quickly, without unnecessary red tape, and the construction project will get moving, because we should not forget about these outlying regions of the country.

I’d like to outline one more issue: the series of horrific road traffic accidents. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of them are the result of drunk driving. In this sense, the situation with these crimes in Russia is much worse than anywhere else. United Russia deputies raised this issue today. Maybe we should think about harsher punishments for these types of crimes, because currently the punishment for them is quite moderate, even though some of them have terrible consequences, as was the case during the recent road traffic accidents in Moscow and several other cities. Responsibility for such crimes should be stricter, but the issue is not just one of responsibility. I believe that we need to once again review the relevant legislation, the programmes which are being implemented – unfortunately, some of them ineffectively – and, of course, the punishments they outline. Mr Surkov (Vladislav Surkov, Deputy Prime Minister, Chief of the Government Staff), schedule such a meeting and I will hold it. Agreed? Thank you.

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