Transcript of the beginnig ot the meeting:

Dmitry Medvedev: Hello again everybody. Happy holiday! Let’s have some tea to celebrate.

Let's talk about life. In my opening remarks I set some major objectives for you. I will say a few words about that over tea here as well, but there are some other things I want to discuss.

Clearly, our life has changed, and we are now living in the Customs Union. We have created a free trade zone in the CIS, and this means more work for the customs agencies. Customs legislation is changing. It has become very complicated even for us, because it’s one thing to make quick adjustments to customs rules based on approaches and national priorities of one country... But now it’s about the priorities of three countries at one time, and, of course that makes things more complicated.

But there are advantages to it as well. It’s good that two boundaries are no longer in the way of businesses or ordinary citizens. However, customs authorities now have to work in a new setting. Their range of responsibilities has expanded, and the customs authorities are now responsible for performing all types of government oversight and other tasks that I mentioned in my remarks.

Perhaps, electronic technology is the most important new development for those who work in the field, including new documents, digital paperwork, electronic customs declarations, customs risk management, the remote release of goods and some other things which you are all well aware of. Arguably, this is the main area of work. The customs performance evaluation has changed as well with a new Government-approved procedure in place. On September 29, I signed a directive on customs authorities’ performance benchmarks.

Admittedly, the customs system and customs officials have proven their ability to work in this challenging environment where they have to work hard and even put their lives on the line, because a customs officer’s work is not much different from that of the border guard’s. Customs is a place where lots of interests come together. It’s all about big money, big merchandise distribution, big temptations and as a result big problems. You have to deal with all that in your work every  day.

I’m in touch with businesses a lot, and when they begin to criticise customs officers (which, of course, they never stop doing), I always tell them to ask themselves... Of course, customs is plagued by problems. Any bureaucracy, for that matter, isn’t something that people enjoy going through. We have certain bureaucratic traditions in Russia that don’t make things any better. I ask them: “Are you ready to help improve things?” That’s the key point, because changes in the way any government structure works, especially one involving communication with people and businesses, can only be achieved if both sides want them to happen. Nothing will change if the Government, the head of the Customs Service, keeps issuing directives, but people and businesses remain on the sidelines. People need to change. In the end, all the current problems, including corruption, were not invented by customs. Businesses need certain services – it’s a fact of life - and it’s easier for them to do things the way they are doing them now. This is the bad part.

Speaking about the goals of the customs service, it is clearly not just about collecting tariffs or providing services to entrepreneurs to promote their products on the domestic or international market. I think that you are all aware of this. The issue is also about the general image of our country and a positive investment climate, which we strive to achieve but don’t have much to show yet. At the end of the day, the issue is about the competitiveness of our economy and the living standards of our people. This is how these links work.

We have come up with a road map on how to improve the work of customs. It’s a blueprint, a system of sequential steps, which was created after many discussions. I’m aware of this. Mr Belyaninov, the Minister of Economic Development and several other colleagues have talked to me about it. In any case, it must be a working tool. I hope that it will be properly adhered to and I will be following up on it. Let's adjust the map, if we need to, because it may have excessive requirements or miss important issues. In any case, our ambitious goal is to join the top twenty countries with the best customs administration by 2018. We should always set our sights high in order to be able to achieve something of significance.

Now, let’s talk about an important domestic issue, that is the social security of customs officers. There are two sides to this problem that we are discussing with Mr Belyaninov. The first has to do with salaries and the other with housing. Everything else is of secondary importance in the modern market economy. Compared with the average salary in Russia, their salaries don’t look bad at all. But it isn’t so high if you think about the specifics and risks involved in their work. In 2011, their salary averaged 37,600 roubles, which is average within the system. On top of that, there are bonuses that are not outstanding at all. So, we definitely need to devise a system of material incentives for customs officers to fill the gap between their salaries and those of other public officials and also try to at least minimise the temptation to take advantage of their position. It's a hard thing to do, but we should nevertheless try to do it.

And now let’s discuss housing issues. To the best of my knowledge, 2,362 flats are currently needed, and 922 flats are now available. That’s just 40% of what we need; please correct me if I’m wrong. Mr Belyaninov, there are plans to purchase about 70 flats in 2012. Am I right? As of October, 1,695 people are waiting for flats. This number is not huge, considering the size of our objectives. However, it is a lot for one service, I mean the customs service. How many people now work for the Federal Customs Service?

Andrei Belyaninov: 63,000.  

Dmitry Medvedev: 63,000. It turns out that every 30^th employee is waiting for a flat.

Andrei Belyaninov: But not everyone has requested a flat.

Dmitry Medvedev: This means that the real demand is even higher. We plan to buy 220 flats in 2012. Obviously, this will not drastically change the situation, but nevertheless, it’s good. To the best of my knowledge, some people are waiting for lump-sum subsidies. Perhaps you can tell me more during our conversation, and the Head of the Customs Service will also say a few words.

Well, so much for my opening remarks. I would now like to hear from you…

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