Vladimir Putin's opening remarks:

Good afternoon,

Ms Golikova, happy birthday! This is a good way to start. I think the rest of our discussion will be festive.

Today we will discuss the Main Guidelines for Government Initiatives. I think we should focus on the goals we must accomplish in the next few years and how to implement these major government initiatives.

Let me remind you that this document formulates our key priorities. It outlines an integral programme for fundamental economic and social transformation and the formation of an innovative, effective and socially oriented development model.

Needless to say, the global crisis has changed our plans considerably, compelling us to concentrate on urgent support for our citizens, the real economy and finances.

In 2009 we spent a handsome 1.2 trillion roubles from the federal budget on anti-crisis measures. These funds were primarily spent to support our citizens and the real economy, as I have just said. Reserve funds were the main source for these expenditures.

At the same time, we had to resort to cutting spending significantly on many items of the budget, which was bound to affect a number of projects outlined in the Main Guidelines for Government Performance. We also had to delay some projects and revise their targets.

Nevertheless, 2009 was not lost for implementing our strategic goals. Our main achievements are that we managed to overcome a decline in production, stabilise the financial system and the real economy and restart growth in GDP.

We have launched programmes promoting healthy lifestyles and have begun introducing an e-government project. Yesterday we discussed regional e-government with regional leaders in detail. We have also considerably updated anti-monopoly legislation and passed a law encouraging energy conservation.

Finally, we have honoured our repeated promises to our citizens and reformed the pension system, thereby substantially increasing revenues for the older generation.

Today, taking into account all we have accomplished, we should define our priorities once again.

We should pay increasing attention to the projects outlined in the Main Guidelines for Government Performance in the mid-term and long-term perspective. First and foremost, we should focus on the projects designed to overcome technological backwardness and increase labour productivity, as well as on efforts to resolve urgent healthcare and educational issues.

Incidentally, all these goals are set forth in the programme for the country's development until 2020. Speaking about specific government initiatives, we should discuss increasing the effectiveness of our spending.

I have just looked at the key figures related to our spending. We will spend 2.9 billion roubles on modernising education and 450 billion roubles on professional education overall. All this money must be spent effectively and pay for modernisation. If we spend more efficiently, we will both ensure that the country will develop successfully in the next decade and substantially reduce the risks caused by global fluctuations.

Implementing these plans requires substantial law-making and organisational efforts. Today we will see whether our federal agencies are ready for this work. No mishaps should be allowed here.

I would like you to remember that our resources are currently limited. We are running a federal budget deficit. Under the circumstances, we must strictly tailor our strategic goals to budget planning and channel as much money as we can into projects outlined in the Main Guidelines for Government Performance. We will base all our decisions when working on the 2011 federal budget on this fact. We are already starting to work on it.

Obviously, this does not preclude anti-crisis measures in the real economy, the labour market and other areas. These programmes will be in place as long as they are required.

Let's start the discussion.