(AGENPARL) – MOSCOW mer 29 marzo 2023

Taking part in the meeting were Prime
Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office
Anton Vaino, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, deputy prime
ministers Viktoria Abramchenko, Tatyana Golikova, Alexander Novak, Marat
Khusnullin and Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister – Chief of the Government Staff Dmitry Grigorenko, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister – Presidential Plenipotentiary
Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev, Presidential Aide Maxim
Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov. Presidential Aide Igor Levitin, Minister of Healthcare
Mikhail Murashko, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Chelyabinsk
Region, Head of the State Council Commission on Economy and Finance Alexei
Teksler, and Russian Railways CEO Oleg Belozerov were also invited to the meeting.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good afternoon.

As you know, at a recent meeting
with major corporations we discussed a new economic growth model for our country
and what needs to be done to support this growth. I suggest that today we continue
this conversation with Government members and the Central Bank leadership so
that we can once again go over the matters you and I discussed with the business
community.

We all know that since July 2022,
the Russian economy has been generating positive momentum, including by tapping
the niches which were left vacant on the Russian market after Western companies
left it, at the expense of those who left our market, as well as thanks to proactively
expanding ties with the emerging countries in the East and South.

However, this growth trajectory must
not lead to complacency. We need to support and reinforce the positive economic
trends we have in Russia and to improve our economic performance, while also ensuring
our sovereignty in terms of technology, human resources, and finance. And we need
to be responsive and swift in these efforts, acting without excessive red tape
or delays, since the illegitimate restrictions imposed on the Russian economy could
produce a negative effect in the medium term.

In this context, we need to ensure a steady growth in domestic demand. In the current environment, it is domestic
demand that operates as a leading economic growth factor and takes centre
stage.

Let me note that domestic demand
must be consistent with the Bank of Russia’s inflation targets. It is essential
that we prevent the inflation rate from becoming too high, or excessively low.
I will not quote the latest data since you know them all too well.

Next, we should gradually lift the structural limitations that are
hindering business activity. I am referring to bottlenecks in logistics,
finance, the training of personnel, and so on.

We are working in all these areas. One more cycle of the BAM
modernisation project has recently been completed, which is a very positive
result for all our colleagues. I would like to once again congratulate all
those who were involved.

Of course, we should support the projects that are above all focused on Russia’s technological and infrastructural development and on strengthening its
industrial potential and sovereignty. I spoke about this in detail during a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects held
last December, as you remember, and in my Address to the Federal Assembly. I also outlined the main strategic goals for the Government in 2023.

I proposed discussing the interim results achieved so far at our meeting
today. There are certain issues we can discuss, positive issues and achievements.

Let us begin with foreign trade. Trade with our main partners is
growing, thanks to changes in logistics, among other things.

As of the end of February, we have increased the volume of cargo
transportation by rail. The preliminary data for March show that this trend has
continued to improve, which is, as we know, a very good indicator of what is
happening in reality.

We have settled the problem of excess stock in our Far Eastern ports.
Today they are operating on a normal, scheduled basis, both as regards exports
and the westward movement of containers entering the country. I would like to express gratitude for this to the Ministry of Transport and Russian Railways.

However, there is still much to do. This year, for example, we must
finish the deepening of the Volga-Caspian Sea Canal. We will continue working
to increase the capabilities of the Eastern Operating Domain of our railway
system and the ports of the Azov-Black Sea basin and to modernise our border
checkpoints. I expect everyone involved in these projects to work diligently.

I would like to add that Russia’s interaction with its main foreign
partners is not limited to trade. For example, last week we mapped out eight
priority areas of cooperation with our Chinese colleagues. They include the establishment of technological partnerships, the interconnected development of infrastructure, and cooperation in the financial and real economy sectors.

To be continued.

Fonte/Source: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70800