16.04.2015
On April 16, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin
conducted his traditional Q&A televised conference that has become his 13th
conference of this format. By noon, Putin had received about 2.5 million
questions from Russian citizens. Judging from the questions, most Russians are
primarily interested in the issues related to the national economy. The topics
of the Ukrainian crisis and Crimea have moved into the background.
Russian economy to recover in less than two years
Russia, despite the
difficult macroeconomic conditions, was able to prevent the inflation rate from
spinning, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in the beginning of the
conference.
"We have faced
with certain external economic restrictions, and it affected the of growth in
our development. But in general, what we see is the strengthening ruble and the
rising stock market. We have been able to prevent the spiral of inflation from
spinning," the president said.
According to Putin,
the income of the population in 2014 and in early 2015 have decreased due
to the rise in inflation to 11.4%.
Russia's GDP
increased by 0.6% in 2014. "This is insignificant growth, but still this
is growth."
The jump in
unemployment was insignificant as well. The unemployment rate has grown from
5.3-5.4 percent in 2014 to 5.8 percent in 2015," said Putin, Pravda.Ru
reports.
Assets of Russian
banks reached 77 trillion rubles, having thus exceeded the country's GDP for
the first time ever. Putin noted that the banking sector had positive dynamics
in 2014 despite "serious fluctuations in the financial market."
Russia is able to
overcome any threat, if the society stays consolidated, Putin said. "There
are many threats that we can not predict," Putin admitted. "But if we
preserve the stable internal political situation - the consolidation of the
society that we can see today - then we are not afraid of any threat,"
President Putin said responding to a question of what new threats Russia could
face under the conditions of the ongoing pressure on the country.
As for anti-Russian
sanctions, President Putin proposed not to tolerate them, but to take advantage
of the sanctions for Russia's further development.
Putin said that
during the recent meeting with members of the Bureau of Russian Entrepreneurs
and Industrialists the question of sanctions was discussed. "I told them that
one can hardly expect the lifting of sanctions, because this question is of
purely political nature. For some of our partners, this is a matter of
strategic cooperation with Russia - to contain Russia's development," said
Putin.
According to
President Putin, the Russian economy will recover in less than two years.
"I think that maybe it will happen faster - in about two years, as it
seems to me," said Putin.
Putin pointed out the
problem of import substitution in the agricultural industry. Earlier, Putin
said, the Russian agricultural market had been taken for domestic agricultural
producers. Now the market has been cleared for Russian agricultural
manufacturers. "Own production and ensuring food security are extremely
important things that must be in our market," said Putin.
Russia ships S-300 systems to Iran as defensive weapon
The shipments of
S-300 air defense systems do not pose a threat to Israel. They serve as a
deterrent factor against the backdrop of hostilities in Yemen, said Russian
President Vladimir Putin. "It doesn't threaten Israel at all. They are
solely defensive weapons," Putin said.
"Moreover, we
believe that against the backdrop of the conditions that develop in the region,
especially in connection with the events in Yemen, the supplies of such weapons
act as a deterrent," the head of state said, Pravda.Ru reports.
Putin reminded that
Russia had canceled the contract for the supply of S-300 air defense systems
for an Arab country and reinstated advance payment, having taken Israel's position
into consideration.
"Not that long
ago, the Israelis expressed concerns about the supply of S-300 systems to
another country in the region and drew our attention to the fact that should
the delivery takes place, it may lead to fundamental changes, even geopolitical
changes in the region, because the S-300 would be able to reach Israel from the
territory of that country," Putin said.
"We consulted
our buyer, and it should be noted that our partners in one of the countries of
the Arab world treated this with understanding. We have canceled the contract
and returned prepayment conditions," the Russian president said while
speaking, most likely, about Syria.
There is no difference between Russians and Ukrainians
The Russians and the
Ukrainian are one people, and there is no difference between them, Russian
President Putin said.
"The political
situation in this or that country changes from time to time, but people remain.
The Ukrainian people are very close to us. I do not make any difference between
the Ukrainians and the Russians, I think that it is one people," said
Putin.
Speaking about the
relations with the current leadership of Ukraine, the Russian president said
that he is guided by interests of the state in international affairs, rather
than by likes and dislikes. "We do not choose partners. In our work, we
should not to be guided by likes or dislikes - we should be guided by interests
of the country," said Putin responding to a question about his relations
with Ukrainian President Poroshenko, who often changes his position.
"The current
leadership of Ukraine makes a lot of mistakes, and results will be negative,
but this is the choice of both the president and the government," Putin
said.
"There is only
one way out - to execute the Minsk agreements, to conduct the constitutional
reform, solve social and economic problems of the country and the Donbass in
particular," said Putin. "Russia is not going to intervene. This is
not our job - to instruct Ukraine onto how to act," he said.
"But we have the
right to express our opinion. Moreover, we have the right to draw attention to
the need for the execution of Minsk Agreements. We want them to be executed and
we expect all our partners, including the leadership of Ukraine, to act
accordingly," Putin said.
"After all, it
was Mr. Turchynov who first started hostilities in the Donbass, and then Petro
Poroshenko was elected. He had a chance to peacefully resolve issues with the
people in the Donbass. And we tried to persuade him ... It was conducted in the
form of the so-called Norman format. No, they launched combat actions. It ended
sadly for the first, for the second and for the third time. It was a tragedy
for the Ukrainians, primarily for the Ukrainian Army," Putin said
stressing out that it was a "colossal mistake."
"Today, Russia
expects nothing from the Kiev authorities, except for one thing: to treat us as
equal partners in all areas of cooperation. An important aspect for us is, of
course, to respect legitimate rights and interests of Russians living in
Ukraine, and those people who consider themselves Russians," said
President Putin.
Pravda.Ru
Source: English Pravda 17-04-2015
