В.Путин.Интервью главным редакторам. Part 1

Excerpts from an Interview with the Chief Editors of the Newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda, Izvestia, Moskovsky Komsomolets and 1 March 22,2001. Moscow. Интервью главным редакторам газет «Комсомольская правда», «Известия», «Московский комсомолец», «Труд» 22 марта 2001 года. Москва. M. KOZHOKIN: Mr Putin, the first question is obvious. It is almost a year since you were elected President. What are the results of the year? In your opinion, what have you managed to do, what have been the successes and setbacks? VLADIMIR PUTIN: Of course, we have not done everything we wanted to, and perhaps what we have done we have not done well enough. But still I think most of what has been planned has been accomplished. I wont go into too much detail although there is much that I can and want to tell you about. First of all, I think it is not only me, but all of us who have accomplished something because it is the result of the efforts not only of the head of state, but also of the State Duma, the whole Federal Assembly and regional leaders. We have made a significant step forward in strengthening the Russian state. Let us recall what kind of country we lived in until recently. As much as 25% of all the legislation in the regions of the Federation contradicted the Constitution and federal law. Two thirds of these have now been harmonized with the Constitution. But that was not the main problem, although there were some incredible discrepancies. Many constitutions and charters of the regions of the Federation featured all sorts of things: they declared themselves to be subjects under international law and all but had their own armed forces. The only thing that was lacking was that an administrative or territorial entity is a constituent member of the Federation. But, I repeat, that was not the worst of it. We did not have a common economic space or a common financial space. I can say it now because it is already in the past, though it became the past only very recently. Some regions of the Federation paid practically no taxes into the federal budget. The Finance Ministry and the Federal Treasury had no writ in some regions. It was only recently that we established Federal Treasury institutions all over Russia And another important thing is that it has been joint work. I wouldnt like to put the blame on anyone or speak ill of anyone. Perhaps the country needed such a period, a period of cleansing. It could not but be accompanied by some destructive processes and centrifugal processes. There was a period of throwing stones. It has now become evident to everyone, including, I repeat, the regional leaders, that our common strength lies in the unity of the state. Everyone has a stake in it. And so another process has set in, the process of consolidating our resources. In my opinion, this is the key thing. By strengthening the state we have made a step towards the consolidation of society. This created prerequisites for achieving economic success. In addition to the favourable global economic conditions from which our country and our economy have benefited, the consolidation of society also had a positive effect. We have achieved a significant rate of economic growth. According to the latest statistics, it is 7.8%. I think that by the end of the year GDP will have grown by about 8% and industrial output by about 9%. The key result is that the Government has been able to meet its social obligations to the population. Arrears on the payment of various benefits to people have been markedly reduced. On the whole we can report an improvement in living standards and real incomes, even though it may be only a slight improvement. That is a fact. And I think that is the bottom line.