TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with economists of the Russian Academy of Sciences

(Kremlin.ru – Feburary 19, 2014)

Vladimir Putin had a meeting with an expert panel of economists from the Russian Academy of Sciences.

During the meeting, the academicians shared their vision of the key areas of the nation’s further socioeconomic development. In particular, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov delivered a report on the possible options of creating a modern and effective economy in Russia.

Participants in the meeting included the heads of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ economic and sociological institutes, as well as Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Ivanov, Presidential Aide Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev, Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina and Presidential Advisor and Russian Academy of Sciences member Sergei Glazyev.

Beginning of meeting with economists of the Russian Academy of Sciences

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good evening, colleagues,

I meet with the Academy of Sciences’ representatives on a regular basis and for various reasons; we discuss different topics and problems. Some of our work happens within the framework of the Council for Science and Education – we discuss current issues in applied and fundamental research and the development of particular commercial and public sectors.

It is well-known that the Academy of Sciences has strong traditions of long-term forecasting and research in the field of economics: this has been on-going since Soviet times, and our school of thought has been developing for many years.

I must say that within the framework of our most recent history, the Academy’s researchers have participated very actively in the work to prepare our decisions and development strategy, including in building Russia’s socioeconomic development strategy through 2010. And this comprehensive document provided the outlines for many transformations that allowed us to overcome the systemic crisis of the 1990s.

So overall, I feel that the role of the Academy of Sciences’ members in modern Russian history and in the development of our economy has been significant and has helped Russia take serious strides forward, including during some very difficult years and moments of crisis in the development of our economy and our nation overall.

That is precisely why we have agreed to meet today, to hear your opinions. I will ask my colleagues from the Cabinet and the Presidential Executive Office to express their ideas as well, to work together on seeking concrete measures to promote economic growth.

We believe we can resolve the challenge of faster growth in the economic and social spheres only by resolving this most important, capital, fundamental challenge. Without it, we cannot achieve anything, but it is all the more relevant that the Government of the Russian Federation is currently preparing a long-term forecast for the nation’s socioeconomic development through 2030.

And last week, together with members of the Cabinet and Central Bank leadership, we also discussed concrete steps in the field of economic policy. So our meeting today is very necessary.

We will need to analyse (and not just at this meeting; we must all get engaged – in the Cabinet, Presidential Executive Office, within the expert community, and also engage the Academy of Sciences), to develop and present a coherent policy on mobilising all available resources for accelerated growth.

This includes productivity growth, increasing the efficiency of the economy, and so on. I will not make long speeches here about the structural reorganisation of individual sectors related to the development of the labour market.

I hope that we will discuss all these issues during today’s meeting and in a free discussion format (I very much count on this being a free, engaged exchange of opinions), and touch on all these problems.

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