Agenda: The current situation in the regions affected by spring flooding; the action plan for the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Strategy until 2030; expanding opportunities for use of maternity capital funds.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Government meeting
Good afternoon, colleagues.
We will start this Government meeting with a report on the situation in the regions affected by spring flooding.
Many areas in the Volga, Northwestern, Siberian, Ural and Central federal districts are in the state of high alert.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Orenburg Region and several districts of the Kurgan and Tyumen regions.
At the President’s instruction, we set up a government commission in charge of flood preventive and relief measures.
Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov is leading the commission. He is maintaining constant contact with the President. The commission also includes governors and heads of competent bodies and agencies, including from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Healthcare Ministry, the Federal Agency for State Reserves and the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare.
Many members of the government commission are now working in the regions. Mr Kurenkov visited the Orenburg and Kurgan regions and then the Tyumen Region where there have been incidents of flooding. Today he is working in the Orenburg Region again.
At the President’s instruction, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin arrived in Orenburg on Tuesday. He will review the scope of housing and infrastructure recovery efforts. He will also assess the situation in the Kurgan and Tyumen regions considering the developments there.
We prioritise the safety of our citizens and will make sure to provide them with everything they need. Certainly, it is very important to restore reliable power supply and transport operation as soon as possible.
I also expect that all the competent agencies will consider the possibility of compensating the damages incurred by businesses and organisations in the affected areas. Small businesses and agricultural producers are particularly struggling. Our job is to quickly decide on support measures for entrepreneurs and, most importantly, in a timely manner deliver the necessary funds to the people affected by the disaster.
Let us move on to another issue.
Before we proceed to the meeting’s agenda, I’d like to say a few words about the recently signed document. The Government has adopted an action plan for executing the Pharmaceutical Industry Strategy. This direction is very important, directly impacting health and the active life expectancy of people.
In his Address, the President emphasised the imperative of ramping up our domestic medicine production. We extensively discussed the criticality of adequately supplying medicines to the healthcare system during the Government’s report to the State Duma, as the timeliness and efficacy of medical care hinge on this factor. Ensuring citizens receive quality treatment remains paramount.
Over the next seven years, we aim to raise the share of Russian medicines in total sales on the domestic market to nearly 70 percent. To attain this objective, we will persist in enhancing systemic measures to bolster domestic producers. This entails incentivising development and research through subsidies, grants, and tax breaks, while also fostering an environment conducive to expanding the export of such products. Special emphasis must be placed on training highly skilled professionals for the pharmaceutical sector, given its knowledge-intensive nature. It is imperative that we accomplish all our outlined goals, and I urge regional leaders to actively participate in these efforts.
Another decision is related to maternity capital. In his Address to the Federal Assembly, the President outlined the objective of enhancing affordability of housing under construction for families. In line with this, the Government has introduced an additional opportunity for citizens to use maternity capital to improve their living conditions. We discussed this matter in detail during the report in the State Duma.
The relevant resolution has been signed. This will allow the use of such funds for the renovation of houses in terraced housing development, commonly known as townhouses, as well as for payment towards construction work already undertaken in such housing.
We anticipate that these measures will primarily assist families with children in improving their living standards.
