The Prime Minister arrived in Kazan to attend a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov
Mikhail Mishustin: Mr Minnikhanov, thank you for organising this event, great job, as always.
Today we are holding a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, in Kazan. This month, Russia is hosting the heads of government from the Eurasian Economic Union member states and guests. Important delegations have arrived in Kazan. As always, everything is well organised, and I hope that we will have a very productive meeting and that our guests will learn more about the economy of Tatarstan and review some interesting joint projects with Tatarstan.
Rustam Minnikhanov: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. It is a great honour that our capital, Kazan, was chosen for such an important event. In fact, it is great motivation for us as well. We have prepared an interesting exhibition and several programmes for our colleagues. In my opinion, this kind of event is very important and we are taking advantage of this opportunity.
Visit
-
Restricted-attendance meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council
-
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan
-
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Ulukbek Maripov
-
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov
-
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda
-
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin
-
Mikhail Mishustin meets with Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko
I would like to report on the general state of affairs in the republic in the context of COVID-19. The situation is stable and all healthcare facilities remain fully prepared. As concerns vaccination, I would like to thank the federal Government for its decisions. We have received a sufficient amount of the vaccine, around 300,000 doses. Approximately 240,000 local residents have been vaccinated as of today, and we continue to work at it. Some 5,000 people are inoculated daily. Our healthcare workers are receiving tremendous support. Since the pandemic, we have received around 6 billion roubles from the federal budget.
Mikhail Mishustin: As incentive payments from the President?
Rustam Minnikhanov: Yes.
Thank you very much for the decisions made regarding the infectious diseases hospital. It is now operating.
Mikhail Minnikhanov: It was completed within 100 days?
Rustam Minnikhanov: Yes, it was built within 100 days, as we promised. And it is operating successfully.
On the whole, if we take the first quarter, I must say that, although we have not yet reached 100 percent because of the OPEC + deal, the situation is stable in most manufacturing industries such as the petrochemical industry, oil refining, and KamAZ. In terms of state budget execution, we are also on schedule at this point. We are paying all social benefits on schedule. As for the National Projects announced by the President, they are all in progress.
Regarding large investment projects, last year, investment in fixed assets amounted to 605 billion roubles. This year, I think it will total as much or even more than that, because large projects are being implemented at the Taneco facilities, at the Nizhnekamskneftekhim ethylene plant. Several promising projects are being implemented at Innopolis, the special economic zone.
The situation is generally stable. Employment has stabilised. After our unemployment rate surged by more than seven times…
Mikhail Mishustin: What is the unemployment rate now?
Rustam Minnikhanov: It is 1.6 percent. The situation is stable.
Mikhail Mishustin: This is a very good indicator.
Rustam Minnikhanov: I would like to thank the President and the Government for promptly making all the necessary decisions: working with banks, allocating subsidies, supporting small and medium-sized businesses. This support is tangible.
A lot of work is being done on digitalisation. We are training people under a programme as part of the Digitalisation National Project. The participants in this project are quite active, including the Innopolis special zone.
As for the situation in agriculture, the spring farm work is in full swing. Farms have completed fertilising and have moved on to sowing.
Mikhail Mishustin: Do you think they will have a good harvest?
Rustam Minnikhanov: With winter crops, about 5–6 percent will need to be reseeded, a small part, this is normal. We had a good year in 2020.
Mikhail Mishustin: So what do you think, compared with last year?
Rustam Minnikhanov: I think we should be at the same level. The past year was very successful. We have an increase in dairy and livestock products, and everything is stable so far.
Mikhail Mishustin: Mr Minnikhanov, thank you. You have been actively involved in the socioeconomic development of the region and the entire country, because now you chair the State Council’s working group, and together with the State Council, we are reviewing all the plans, as the President said, that are necessary for formulating the socioeconomic development initiatives to be submitted to the President soon. This means the decomposition of the national goals, as set by the President, to be incorporated into the programmes of the federal and regional executive authorities. This is very important.
I would also like to ask you to promptly review the initiatives we are presenting today, as you usually do. We will complete them soon; they are being processed at the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance. This means that, in close cooperation with the State Council and your working group, we will decide which initiatives will be submitted to the President and, in the future, implemented as Russia’s main development goals, backed up with the necessary resources.
Rustam Minnikhanov: Thank you, Mr Mishustin. I must say that in fact our working group takes an active part in implementing the national goals, and I believe that this is a very good and effective approach that will definitely achieve much. This is why I would like to thank you and the Government team. All these discussions are very open and the goals are very ambitious, so we are very involved in these processes.
Mikhail Mishustin: I know and I thank you. As you know, the President recently visited the Government Coordination Centre and saw the technologies that are being developed today and that will become the foundation for the next powerful boost in Russia’s socioeconomic development, I believe. And, as he has said many times, feedback is very important, because the ideas, thoughts and national projects that boost socioeconomic development will be implemented effectively only when people support them. In fact, this is what we constantly discuss with the State Council. Today, of course, we want to organise the feedback we get through close contact with the heads of the Russian regions, including you, Mr Minnikhanov.
Once again, thank you for organising this event, and I hope that now we will get down to the items on the Intergovernmental Commission agenda.
