Transcript:

Dmitry Medvedev: Colleagues, today, we will consider another state programme, the one aimed at promoting physical fitness and sport. The essence of the programme is clear: it is intended to improve the health of Russians, to create new opportunities for physical fitness and sport for adults and children and to create favourable conditions for the development of mass sport.

Naturally, the main objective of the programme is to make sport affordable. Recently, we have done a lot to raise the prestige of a healthy lifestyle, and we have accomplished some of these objectives. We must increase the total number of sport facilities in order to accomplish other, new, objectives. I would like to stress that we must do this not only in major cities but also in provincial regions, in relatively small communities and, if possible, in towns and villages, in order to have sport facilities within walking distance for people.

Of course, we need to involve skilled coaches and instructors for professional and amateur athletes.

The total number of sport facilities continues to increase nationwide. Some of these facilities have already been adapted for people with disabilities, and this is good news. But the people of Russia have much fewer sport facilities than people in many industrialized countries. In 2011, the population's access to sport facilities in this country stood at around 25% (by the way, we should look into how this figure is calculated). The programme is expected to increase the share of sport facilities to almost 50% by 2020. This refers to the number of sport facilities per 100,000 people. And, of course, all this should be combined with dynamic work to promote a healthy lifestyle and our sport achievements, and to utilise best foreign experience.

As is known, Russia will be hosting major international sport competitions in the next five years. Kazan will host the World Student Games this July. Preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi are nearing completion. The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup will become the main test event prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.  

Russia must organise all these events in the best possible way. This is why we are focusing on preparations for these events. I am talking about the large-scale modernisation of the sport infrastructure and measures to ensure the civilised behaviour of fans during sporting events. This is very important for our country. And we must improve the system for selecting and training talented athletes, including athletes with disabilities. Moreover, we must focus on the development of fundamental and applied sport research and utilise the potential of Russian science. And, of course, we consider it very important to increase the number of our delegates and representatives at working divisions of international sport organisations. I hope that all this will make it possible to strengthen Russia’s positions on the global sport scene, and that this will ensure our long-awaited victories during sporting events.

On the one hand, these are ambitious goals. And, on the other hand, they are extremely humane because they have to do with human health and the prestige of our country. Representatives of civil society are expected to oversee the implementation of the programme. And, of course, it would be impossible to translate any of these plans into reality, unless regional authorities become actively involved in these programmes. Today, we have invited regional leaders and representatives of the expert community to discuss this issue in line with a good tradition. Mikhail Ignatyev, Head of the Chuvash Republic, and our famed athlete Alexander Popov, a Member of the International Olympic Committee, will be invited to speak up. They will be given the floor a bit later.

I would like to mention another issue, namely, federal-budget subsidies for supporting private farms and expanding the road network, at the start of our meeting. Both issues, roads and food, are of key importance for the people, and they directly influence the quality of life.

The structure of the agro-industrial complex has always been and will always be complicated. It will have both large and relatively small companies. Rural residents, or those who have decided to go into agriculture, should have an opportunity not only to start their business but also to develop it. The initial period is particularly important – people have to organise farms and start working. In 2013 we plan to allocate 1.7 billion roubles worth of grants to those who wish to start private farms. This money will also be paid as a lump sum allowance to farmers who have just started working. We will send almost 1.3 billion roubles to support family livestock farms, which are the most widespread.

The next area is the construction and reconstruction of motorways linking regions, cities and villages. Obviously, the development of the regions and the intensity of economic contacts between them and municipalities depend on the quality of these motorways, especially in a country as vast as ours.

Today we are distributing subsidies for 2013-2015 to many areas. They will be spent on large facilities, such as a motorway bridge in Krasnoyarsk, a road around Lipetsk and some other roads linked with regional development. These funds will also be spent to build a special junction in St Petersburg that is required for holding the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

These two issues are of general importance. There are other issues that are also important, but let’s start with the first one – a draft state programme on physical fitness and sport. Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko, go ahead please.

Vitaly Mutko: Mr Medvedev, ladies and gentlemen. I have submitted for your attention the draft state programme on physical fitness and sport. It is based on the concept for long-term social and economic development of the country, the policy priorities of the Government to 2018 and the strategy on physical fitness and sport to 2020.

The main goal of the progamme is to increase the role of physical fitness and sport in the socio-economic development of the country, improve the quality of life and public health, combat bad habits and increase the country’s prestige on the international arena. As you have already mentioned, Mr Medvedev, the programme provides for measures to create conditions that would allow people to regularly engage in physical training and sport, increase the competitiveness of Russian sport in the world and successfully host major international competitions in Russia.

The programme consists of four sub-programmes and a federal targeted programme on physical fitness and sport. Each of these subprogrammes for 2013-2020 pursues specific goals.

The subprogramme Physical Fitness and Mass Sport is aimed at improving the system of physical training for different categories of people, in particular in educational institutions, developing the infrastructure of physical fitness and sport, including facilities for people with disabilities, promoting student sport and increasing the appeal of physical fitness and sport. I must admit that the measures undertaken by the Government and federal bodies have allowed us to make many changes for the better in the last few years. The 1990s was a very difficult period for our sports and for the country in general. In 1990 about 17.6 million people (or some 11.8% of the population) regularly went in for sports; in 1996 this figure dropped to 10 million, or 6%. The measures I’ve mentioned have allowed us to increase this figure to 29.4 million or 20.6% in 2011 and to 22% in 2012.

A mere 3% of people with disabilities go in for sports. There have not been the necessary conditions, opportunities or environment for this.

In all, in 1996-2011 the number of people involved in physical fitness and sport has more than doubled. It has increased by 19.3 million. Starting in 2000, 1.5 million more people went in for sports every year. As you have already noted, in the next seven years we plan to double this number. It should increase by about 3% each year. By 2020 we plan to increase the number of disabled people going in for physical fitness and sports seven times over. In other words, we must adapt our entire sports industry for them.

Government bodies will be unable to reach this ambitious goal on their own. Naturally, the programme provides for incentives for private business and for the involvement of public organisations. Finally, we are very much counting on establishing cooperation with the regions.

Leading sports nations involve the public in sports mostly by establishing sports clubs. Thus, there is one club for 500 people in America or Europe, whereas in Russia there is one sport club for 9,000 people. The club system is still at its infancy in Russia. We plan to establish clubs at 45% of all physical training and sports organisations, such as universities, schools or sport centres.

To ensure wide-scale involvement of people in sports, the programme provides for measures to involve children and teenagers in sports, develop sports at schools and universities and promote its appeal more actively. Mr Medvedev, I’d like to recall that yesterday President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on sports for children and teenagers at schools. The Minister of Education and I took part in this meeting, and I think we should supplement our programme with Mr Putin’s instructions on developing sports at schools, creating a barrier-free environment, upgrading gyms and increasing the funding of mass sports.

This subprogramme is also aimed at building more sports facilities for the public. According to the recently adopted Policy Priorities of the Government of the Russian Federation, this figure should grow by 50% by 2018. You mentioned this in your opening remarks.

Today, there are 253,000 sports facilities in our country with 19,000 commissioned in recent years alone. Mr Medvedev, we are building such sports facilities in nearly every Russian region under the federal targeted programme. We have an all-time high total number of swimming pools and gyms in Russia today, more than the Soviet Union ever had. The capacity of all our sports facilities stands at 6.7 million people. Our goal is to double this number by 2020. We will address this issue under the federal targeted programme to 2015 and the one to be adopted for 2016-2020.

The subprogramme Developing High-Performance Sports includes all the requirements of the presidential executive order dated December 6, 2012 with regard to making Russian athletes more competitive, expanding infrastructure for high-performance sports, and providing scientific and biomedical support to national teams. We have upgraded federal and regional training centres, such as Krugloye Ozero, Novogorsk, Yug-Sport, and Oka (this is our first training camp at medium altitude based in Kislovodsk) that provide advanced training facilities and equipment for most winter and summer Paralympic sports.

In all, we have commissioned 41 high-performance athletic facilities under the federal targeted programme, High-Performance Sports, since 2006.

Mr Medvedev, you and many other Government members have visited many of these centres and camps. These centres can be used not only for training, but also for recovery, allowing athletes to fully prepare for major international competitions. Our goal is to provide athletes participating in all Olympic and Paralympic sports with such training centres within the next three years.

Russia will host 20 world championships in various sports through 2018. Under this programme, we will need to ensure high levels of organisation and the successful performance of our national teams in these competitions. Notably, comprehensive legislative and organisational decisions have been taken in order to ensure our successful performance, and appropriate organising committees have been created. The State Commission for Preparing and Holding the Olympic and Paralympic Games will address issues of compensation and insurance for athletes, trainers and other professionals working with the national teams. We have established student sports leagues in 15 sports and adopted national anti-doping rules. Currently, Russia is fully compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s code.

With regard to ​​athletic training, we now have about 5,000 sports schools, including 983 specialised Olympic reserve schools providing training to 3.5 million young Russians. We are introducing federal sports training standards across Russia, meaning that there will be a single standard for each sport for all schools. We have also approved the list of core sports to train the succession pool for Olympic and Paralympic national teams and made targeted financial support available to organisations that engage in training athletes from the succession pool. This is a kind of a government contract for training national team members. The first billion roubles for these purposes has been set aside in the budget. The programme will also be used to improve the material and technical base of schools, provide methodological and scientific support to athletes and trainers, and establish a system for selecting and training talented athletes for Russian national teams.

The main goal of the subprogramme for preparing and holding 2018 FIFA World Cup and the Confederations Cup in Russia is to create the proper environment and ensure high levels of organisation for the World Cup and the Confederations Cup. According to the programme, we will need to deliver on the Government guarantee to FIFA and build adequate sports infrastructure, including 12 stadiums, 10 of which must be able to accommodate 45,000 spectators each; two stadiums with a capacity of over 60,000 each; 64 training camps for participating teams and 48 training sites, as well as fan zones and temporary facilities. Issues related to the infrastructure (air terminals, transport and communication systems) will be addressed under relevant state programmes run by federal authorities in accordance with the programme of preparations for the world championship which is now being developed and will be hopefully submitted to you, Mr Medvedev, in April. It will include all infrastructure decisions and actions that we will need to implement before 2018.

The programme provides for adopting a special law on preparing for and holding the 2018 World Cup, which has already been passed by the State Duma in the first reading. We are now drafting amendments to this law. For the first time ever, the programme has a list of measures to ensure public safety during sports events. The draft law was approved by the Government and is now being reviewed by the State Duma.

Improving the effectiveness of management in the physical fitness and sports industry is the main goal of the fourth subprogramme, which includes measures to enhance the quality of services in the sphere of physical fitness, ensure effective finance and property management, improve staffing procedures and the compensation and social support system, improve scientific and information support for training high-performance athletes and the succession pool, as well as to develop international sports cooperation.

Increased numbers of full-time employees in the industry is definitely a positive development. Currently, there are 321,000 full-time employees in the sports industry, up 24,500 compared with four years ago. Their number is expected to grow to 360,000 by 2020. Of course, they are our responsibility, so the programme has provisions for staff training and development.

The federal targeted programme Promoting Physical Fitness and Sport, 2006-2015, and the federal targeted programme for 2016-2020 are key elements of the state programme. The total amount of funding under this state programme is 1.717 trillion roubles, of which 382.3 billion will come from the federal budget and 1.334 trillion will come from the consolidated budget of the Russian regions. The amount of private investment is tentatively estimated at about 342.4 billion roubles. Additional budget allocations in the amount of 107.4 billion roubles may be needed, of which 82.7 billion roubles may be needed for preparing and holding the World Cup (exclusively for building sports infrastructure) and another 24.3 billion for implementing the federal targeted programme Promoting Physical Fitness and Sport. These funds, Mr Medvedev, will be used to modernise youth schools, build additional school buildings and athletic fields. Of course, these additional requirements raised a few eyebrows in the Ministry of Finance. However, additional spending is included in the programme and this issue will be decided when the budget for the next fiscal year is formed.

Mr Medvedev, colleagues, successful implementation of the programme will mean 40% of the Russian people will lead an active lifestyle by 2020; the availability of sports facilities of all types will increase by 50%; Russian athletes will gain a lasting competitive advantage; the 2018 World Cup and other major international sports competitions will be held at a high level in terms of organisation.

The draft state programme was reviewed by the Government Expert Council, the sports community and the Federation Council, and agreed with federal executive authorities. I ask for your support for this programme. Thank you.

Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you, Mr Mutko.

First, I would like the Government members to share their comments and proposals. Please go ahead, Mr Siluanov.

Anton Siluanov (Minister of Finance): Thank you, Mr Medvedev.

I would like to say a few words about financing. The ceiling numbers that we have included in the budget provide for 275 billion roubles under this programme. The draft programme provides for an additional 107 billion roubles, of which 83 billion have been set aside for

hosting the World Cup. Indeed, we want to hold such events, but I don’t quite understand why this priority is included in the programme as an addition. It is not covered by the main portion of funds allocated for state programmes. When we launch preparations for the football championship we may find out that we won’t have the required funds and will have to figure out where to get them. Therefore, I think that if we must prioritise funds for the state programme, allocations for the World Cup should be covered by the budget ceilings. This is the first point.

Second, the federal targeted programme Development of Physical Fitness and Sport is drawing to a close. In 2016 a new one will have to be drafted. We believe that, considering our programme-based budget and the transition to state programmes, it would be possible to implement the measures that have been planned (additional funds have also been allocated for the federal targeted programme) under a state programme rather than a federal targeted programme. That’s the point I wanted to make.

Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you, Mr Siluanov. I don’t know whether you have discussed where these funds should come from, the budget or elsewhere. Please explain where they should come from.

Vitaly Mutko: Mr Medvedev, we have discussed all this with Mr Kozak (Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak) and with Mr Shuvalov (First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov). I don’t understand why we have to return to this issue again and again. A decision on the programme has been taken. President Vladimir Putin instructed us to draft it before 15th. I have already said that the programme will list infrastructure-related measures that we will have to take, and each section of this programme… Sports facilities will be part of the state programme on physical fitness and sport; transport and airports will be covered by other state programmes – this decision has already been made. That’s my first point.

My second point is about the federal targeted programme. This is the most effective programme with small funds – 12 billion roubles a year, out of which we spend 4.5 billion on the entire country. The head of a republic will soon take the floor… We are building or subsidising the construction of sports facilities practically in all 83 regions. Last but not the least the President has given us his instruction. You have also instructed us to carry out this programme but we keep returning to this issue all the time. At yesterday’s meeting Mr Putin spoke about the need to increase spending on mass sport and sport for children and teenagers (and probably he will give us a written instruction on this matter). He called them priorities, but we are endlessly… Apparently, the Ministry of Finance has some other policy…

Dmitry Medvedev: I see. The Ministry of Finance simply has a fiscal policy. Mr Kozak, could you explain where expenses are counted. We understand that they can be listed differently, but in any event we will have to spend money on hosting the World Cup. Where should this money come from?

Dmitry Kozak: We have discussed this programme and endorsed it at the deputy minister level. Mr Gornin (Deputy Finance Minister Leonid Gornin) took part in the latest meeting and we agreed on approaches to drafting this programme. First, I’d like to speak about the ceilings mentioned by Mr Siluanov. Nobody has endorsed such ceilings officially. They do not exist. There is some internal correspondence in the Ministry of Finance, whose employees think it would be a good idea to establish such ceilings.

Second, it is unacceptable to take a methodological approach to setting these ceilings, especially on investment spending, when ceilings up to 2020 are being established based on the current level of investment spending with the use of the deflation coefficient. We may oversaturate the country with sports facilities by 2015 and then deflate these expenses up to 2020 or there will be no need to do so. That’s what I have to say about the approach as such. So what we have agreed on? The law does not set priorities on funding different socioeconomic spheres and there are no precise, Government-approved grounds for justifying investment expenses. In this context we have agreed that such expenses be expressed as a tentative projected requirement. Otherwise, our state programme (it does not involve the expenses directly) would look absurd if we planned zero spending on such expensive events as the World Cup. When we have a precise figure, we will develop a corresponding programme with spending commitments. I think this is the logic we should follow in approaching this public document. It is impossible to include these expenses within the framework of those ceilings, the quasi-ceilings mentioned by Mr Siluanov…

Dmitry Medvedev: Do not frighten us, we are on the air. “To include the expenses within the framework of ceilings” – that’s what the Minister of Finance said.

Dmitry Kozak: I’m just quoting.

Dmitry Medvedev: “When the programme's implementation begins…”

Dmitry Kozak: The programme has been agreed upon; I believe it should be approved as it is.

Dmitry Medvedev: Good. Mr Shuvalov, you also deal with football. Please go ahead. 

Igor Shuvalov: Mr Medvedev, I’m preparing the infrastructure, while Mr Mutko is working on football. Following your instructions, I work on the organising committee.

Concerning the programme – jointly with Mr Kozak and our other colleagues, we have discussed where we should include expenses for building infrastructure for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. We came to an agreement at the last meeting: all expenses for transport infrastructure, healthcare institutions and other necessary expenses will be included in relevant state programmes. These programmes already include some expenses for the cities where the Cup will be held, some expenses for other cities have not been included as of yet. Arkady Dvorkovich is conducting this work to ensure redistribution where possible, where additional expenses are necessary. 

As for sports facilities, Mr Medvedev, we have agreed with Mr Kozak that the sport infrastructure should be included in this programme. But I want to remind Mr Siluanov and our other colleagues – when discussing the budget for 2013–2015, we agreed that at that time we were not discussing sports infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup, because that would be a separate subject, it would be a year later, and precise calculation was needed. Mr Medvedev, ministries and departments have requested no less than 540 billion roubles for this work. We have not approved this approach and we have suggested that currently the allocations will focus on the construction of stadiums, training bases (this is our commitment to FIFA), on upgrading city airports and roads, so that passengers can travel easily from airports to cities.

It has been proposed to exclude from these programmes funding for city infrastructure, for city roads and so on. Therefore the expenses reported by the Minister of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy are the minimal expenses, and we will do our best to meet our commitments. If the regional and city budgets provide for a larger amount of work, we will support this, but we will do our best to spend a minimum of federal resources. 

However, Mr Medvedev, to be precise in details – a year ago we reported that the sport infrastructure was not included in the budget plan in principle. It was not included because we had no calculations. 

Dmitry Medvedev: Good. Thank you. Do the Government members want to make any additional comments? 

I have one concern regarding the activities of all ministers. Colleagues, if your deputies sign documents, I believe, as do other Government members, that this is equivalent to the minister’s signature. If you have no confidence in the relevant deputies, raise the issue of their dismissal. There is no other way. We cannot return to the practice when at Government meetings (at that time I was a Government member for a while) we were ascertaining what deputy signed the relevant papers. Some ministers used to say that they disagreed with the signatures of their deputies. This is unacceptable. I hope that everybody has heard this.

Mr Ignatyev, what is the situation with sport in the Republic of Chuvashia?

Mikhail Ignatyev (Head of the Republic of Chuvashia): Mr Medvedev, meeting participants. This is the first time that such a state programme is being discussed at the government level – this means that the national leadership attaches great importance to national health. I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak.

The support for the sport movement is a major priority in our work. The republic has been creating favourable conditions for sport and physical fitness to become a permanent aspect of each person's life in order to form a strong and competitive individual. Under the federal targeted programme we have reconstructed 50 sport facilities, we have commissioned modern physical fitness and recreation complexes in all rural districts, and this provides access to sport for people of all ages. Currently we see a real sports boom both among young people and older people. Many pensioners work out in fitness rooms and swimming pools, and this is one of their main forms of recreation. We already have informal clubs for various sports. Over the last five years the number of older people who lead a sporting way of life has tripled. Over 30% of Chuvashia’s residents regularly engage in physical fitness and sport. As they say in Chuvashia: “If you want to be healthy, make sport your friend.” Mass physical fitness and sport is one of the most efficient and accessible instruments to strengthen national health. The current programme is proof of this – the sports community and the population has a positive attitude toward it. During its implementation in our republic, instances of temporary disability decreased by about 35%, mortality from cardio-vascular diseases decreased by 16% and teenage crimes have decreased by 60%.    

If a child or youth develops an affinity for sports and healthy way of life, in the future it will be easier for him or her to realise his/her potential, to achieve success and self-fulfilment. Regular sport develops the best moral qualities in a person – discipline, a winning spirit, bravery and purposefulness. State support for children’s and youth sport schools is especially important. In our republic, we have transferred to the balance of these schools all 24 fitness and sport complexes in all municipal districts – 100% of the newly built facilities. This has made it possible to strengthen the material and technical base of sport schools, reduce management expenses and increase the number of coaches. Most importantly, we have offered children access to free sports in a comfortable environment.    

At the same time, we understand that we still have a lot to do. It is necessary to continue the construction and reconstruction of the facilities of sport infrastructure, improve access to sport and fitness for all groups of the population. We have great hope for the state programme on sport development that is being discussed. In our view, this is a serious and well-balanced document incentivising support for physical fitness and sport in regions, including the development of regional centres of Olympic training in basic sports. Our republic has determined ten sports that receive significant state support.  

The creation of adequate conditions for training will make it possible to considerably improve the quality of athlete training for national teams. All these points are included in the state programme under discussion – we believe that its major indicators are realistic and quite attainable. We support this programme and we are ready to actively participate in its implementation. Thank you.

Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you. Mr Popov, please go ahead.

Alexander Popov (member of the Council for Physical Fitness and Sports under the Russian President): Mr Medvedev, Government members, this draft state programme – Development of Physical Fitness and Sport – underwent extensive discussion. On February 26, 2013 a meeting of the expert council under the Russian Government was held at Novogorsk educational and training centre with the involvement of external experts. At the meeting, expert opinions from the Big Government website were also considered.

We set four major goals there. With regard to the first aim, еxperts acknowledged the high significance of the programme and good level of groundwork put in. A number of proposals from the expert community were taken into account by the Russian Ministry of Sport during the drafting of the programme, its sub-programmes, and other rules and regulations. This included delineating the responsibility of sports federations for the programme’s implementation and for finding out the prospects and potential for sport in each region in terms of the development of physical fitness and sports in Russia.

Now onto the second goal. Following the discussion, the expert council advises the Russian Government to approve the draft state programme. The council also considers it necessary to bear in mind the specifics of mass sport and high performance sports while drafting measures for the improvement of the system of administration of the sports industry in line with the action plan for the programme’s implementation. The measures include the following: training managers of sports facilities, major public sport and entertainment events; developing performance targets for specific sports which net the greatest number of medals and including them in the draft federal targeted programme for the development of physical fitness and sport until 2016; developing the infrastructure and the system of training coaches and other sport personnel; monitoring and classifying the current sports facilities in all Russian regions; assessing the regions’ availability of sports facilities for the programme’s implementation. There should also be measures put in place to attract private investors for the construction and reconstruction of sports facilities, including by means of public-private partnership mechanisms established under the federal law On the Basics of Public-Private Partnership. This relevant draft law was discussed during the Government meeting on March 7, 2013. 

As regards the third goal, the expert council recommends that a working group should be created under the Russian Government for the programme’s realisation. The group will be formed by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Sport and the Ministry of Healthcare. This group will be responsible for coordination and public oversight of the fulfillment of certain objectives, including establishing a unified system for the evaluation of the quality of physical training classes at schools; introducing modern physical training standards in schools, colleges, and universities; creating a system for the mandatory regular upgrade of physical training  teachers’ skills; establishing the standard for equipping preschool institutions, schools, colleges, and universities with gyms, stadiums, swimming pools and with all necessary sporting equipment with a view to setting up sport clubs there in the future.

And the last thing. The expert council plans to collect, summarise, and analyse the experience of all Russian regions in implementing the programme for the development of physical fitness and sport and to organize an exchange of the best practices in the Russian regions in this regard. Thank you.

Dmitry Medvedev: Thanks. I would like to support Mr Popov. We need to engage private investors more actively as we are spending a lot of money on developing sports and on building sport facilities ahead of the major sporting events to be held in Russia – the Student Games, the Olympic Games, and World Championships. We must by all means develop public-private partnership, as we need private money to promote sport.

Well, colleagues, any other suggestions as regards the programme for the development of physical fitness and sport? If there are no other ideas I suggest we approve the programme.

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