Agenda: Working to upgrade childhood infrastructure, employing veterans of the special military operation, promoting international scientific and technological cooperation.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Dmitry Chernyshenko’s report on the concept of international scientific and technical cooperation
Excerpts from the transcript:
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Marat Khusnullin at a meeting on current issues with deputy prime ministers
Dmitry Chernyshenko at a meeting on current issues with deputy prime ministers
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Mikhail Mishustin: Good morning, colleagues,
Yesterday, 1 June, Russia celebrated International Children’s Day.
The President said that nothing was more important than children for any family and any nation.
This Government, too, regards concern for the rising generation as one of its key priorities. We are creating conditions for them to study, engage in creativity, and enjoy rest and recreation in a modern environment. Much is being done to create and upgrade the so-called childhood infrastructure.
General education institutions – schools and kindergartens – are being built or overhauled across the country. Children’s summer camps are developing as well. We outfit public spaces – parks, gardens, embankments, etc. – to enable parents with children to go for a walk and communicate with comfort and in full safety.
Mr Khusnullin, please tell us how the work to upgrade children’s facilities is proceeding.
Marat Khusnullin: Mr Mishustin, colleagues,
Comprehensive work is in progress to create or upgrade infrastructure orientated to children’s needs and the needs of families with children. The focus is on building new kindergartens and schools and on overhauling the existing educational institutions. Children’s rest and recreation camps are being transformed; public spaces intended for families with children are created or renovated.
Let me dwell on Russia’s large-scale upgrade effort applied to the entire child rest and health improvement system. This year, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Artek. By this date, we will build two dormitory blocks for 1,000 beds and beautify the embankments at the Kiparisny and Solnechny camps.
Before the end of 2025, we are planning to complete the construction of an innovative educational technologies centre for 1,200 students with a multipurpose hall, an amphitheatre, and workshops. In all, 16 facilities will be rebuilt at Artek.
We are winding up a recreation centre for 150 children in Yevpatoria. An identical centre will be built in the Novosibirsk Region later this year.
All these major facilities are being built with the use of advanced technologies and under the supervision of the Unitary Construction Customer. This makes it possible to ensure high quality and speed up the commissioning of facilities. I would like to thank Dmitry Chernyshenko for our extensive joint work in this area.
We are also working actively with Tatyana Golikova, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Construction and regions in order to build and overhaul education institutions for children. This year, we have already opened 12 new schools for 12,000 pupils. In the next two years, we will open 65 kindergartens for 14,000 children.
In 2025–2030, we will renovate over 8,000 schools, 2,000 kindergartens and about 1,500 colleges.
I would like to dwell separately on rebuilding kindergartens and schools in the reunited regions. Since 2022, we have renovated 681 kindergartens. An additional 233 kindergartens will be renovated this year. Since 2022, we have also renovated 858 schools and 457 more will be renovated before the year is out. And we are fulfilling the President’s instruction and will provide all school pupils with hot meals.
This highly important work facilitates the maximum effective integration of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions into the Russian education infrastructure.
I would like to thank all colleagues involved in this work for their systemic approach that allows us to accomplish all objectives set by the President.
We also use budgetary loan mechanisms for implementing childhood infrastructure projects. We have built and are still building about 60 different schools and kindergartens under the Infrastructure Menu project in various regions of the country, including the Bryansk, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Ryazan, Yaroslavl and Volgograd regions. Work is also underway in the Belgorod, Vladimir and Vologda regions, Karelia, Crimea, North Ossetia, Chuvashia, Yakutia and the Khabarovsk Territory.
We also implement projects using infrastructure bonds.
I would like to say a few words about improving the urban environment. This work continues actively in accordance with the Infrastructure for Life national project. We prioritise the creation of modern and safe conditions for children. Renovated parks, public gardens, embankments, sport and pedestrian zones are highly popular across the country. Indeed, they are attracting families with children.
People across Russia are now voting for facilities, subject to improvement. We can see that our citizens are extremely interested in this issue. In all, 13 million people have voted since 21 April when it began, and the final ballots will be cast on 12 June, Russia Day.
In conclusion, I would like to thank President of Russia Vladimir Putin and you,
Mr Mishustin, for supporting us. You personally constantly focus on this issue.
I would also like to thank all colleagues involved in implementing projects to create and modernise the required infrastructure for children. I am confident
that we will be able to jointly implement all projects as best as we can.
We are also working actively with Tatyana Golikova, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Construction and regions in order to build and overhaul education institutions for children. This year, we have already opened 12 new schools for 12,000 pupils. In the next two years, we will open 65 kindergartens for 14,000 children.
In 2025–2030, we will renovate over 8,000 schools, 2,000 kindergartens and about 1,500 colleges.
I would like to dwell separately on rebuilding kindergartens and schools in the reunited regions. Since 2022, we have renovated 681 kindergartens. An additional 233 kindergartens will be renovated this year. Since 2022, we have also renovated 858 schools and 457 more will be renovated before the year is out. And we are fulfilling the President’s instruction and will provide all school pupils with hot meals.
This highly important work facilitates the maximum effective integration of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions into the Russian education infrastructure.
I would like to thank all colleagues involved in this work for their systemic approach that allows us to accomplish all objectives set by the President.
We also use budgetary loan mechanisms for implementing childhood infrastructure projects. We have built and are still building about 60 different schools and kindergartens under the Infrastructure Menu project in various regions of the country, including the Bryansk, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Ryazan, Yaroslavl and Volgograd regions. Work is also underway in the Belgorod, Vladimir and Vologda regions, Karelia, Crimea, North Ossetia, Chuvashia, Yakutia and the Khabarovsk Territory.
We also implement projects using infrastructure bonds.
I would like to say a few words about improving the urban environment. This work continues actively in accordance with the Infrastructure for Life national project. We prioritise the creation of modern and safe conditions for children. Renovated parks, public gardens, embankments, sport and pedestrian zones are highly popular across the country. Indeed, they are attracting families with children.
People across Russia are now voting for facilities, subject to improvement. We can see that our citizens are extremely interested in this issue. In all, 13 million people have voted since 21 April when it began, and the final ballots will be cast on 12 June, Russia Day.
In conclusion, I would like to thank President of Russia Vladimir Putin and you, Mr Mishustin, for supporting us. You personally constantly focus on this issue. I would also like to thank all colleagues involved in implementing projects to create and modernise the required infrastructure for children. I am confident that we will be able to jointly implement all projects as best as we can.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Khusnullin.
Colleagues, it is important to give children comfortable conditions for study and recreation. I ask you to pay special attention to deadlines for construction and repair of children's institutions. This is very important.
One more important issue is the employment of participants in the special military operation.
The President stressed that everything possible should be done to make our defenders feel that they are in demand, that they can work and provide for their families.
The Government has prepared a plan, which should help veterans of the special military operation not just to find a job, but also to increase their skills and competences or even to get a new profession.
Jointly with the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, we need to deal with this proactively. We need to fully and promptly resolve any issues that people may encounter, including the processing of necessary documents, awareness of state support for those who want to start their own business, or the opportunity to study or improve their qualifications.
A lot can be done remotely, without distracting them from the rehabilitation process. Digital tools should be used more actively for all such requests.
Ms Golikova, tell us how the employment support will be arranged for the participants in the special military operation.
Tatyana Golikova: Mr Mishustin, colleagues.
As of 1 May 2025, 57 percent of demobilised participants in the special military operation are working. Most of them, 80 percent, work under employment contracts. The rest work either as self-employed or individual entrepreneurs, or combine several types of activity.
The action plan to increase the employment rate of participants in the special military operation and organise their vocational guidance has been developed in accordance with the President's instructions. The plan is intended to build such interaction between government agencies, organisations and foundations that each returning participant in the special military operation will be covered by appropriate measures, depending on their life situation and needs.
The plan includes seven event blocks. Among them are: involvement of participants in the special military operation in employment, including development of a mechanism to proactively detect those who failed to turn to the employment service for various reasons and to offer them employment support. Assistance in obtaining documents necessary for employment. Training of the employment service staff for assisting participants in the special military operation. Setting up regional employer and job bases for employing participants in the special military operation. Holding of specialised vacancy fairs, as well as creating conditions for their entrepreneurship and self-employment activity, including in rural areas.
To support the employment of disabled participants in the special military operation, promising directions have been identified for developing a special procedure to establish employment quotas and incentivise employers. These efforts complement state support measures under the national project Personnel, including workplace accommodations, professional training, and continuing professional education.
A dedicated set of initiatives focuses on providing psychological, social, and legal support. Key components include mentoring programmes to accelerate workplace adaptation, the establishment of mutual assistance communities, participation in professional skills competitions, and access to free legal assistance.
Best regional practices in employing participants of the special military operation will be shared through information systems to promote effective models across other regions of the Russian Federation. Additionally, a monitoring system will be developed to evaluate the effectiveness of these employment support measures.
The plan will be put into effect immediately upon signing. It is important to highlight its distinctly interdepartmental character. The initiative involves nine federal executive bodies, the Fatherland Defenders Foundation, the Social Fund of the Russian Federation, institutions for medical and social expertise, the Research Institute of Labour, all regions of the Russian Federation, state legal bureaus, social partners, trade unions, employers, and veteran public organisations.
Mikhail Mishustin: It is critically important that all such measures are clearly communicated and accessible in every region. When the President issued these instructions, he emphasised the need for an individual approach, this must be fully reflected in ongoing efforts.
Support must also extend to the families of special military operation participants who did not return home. Their loved ones deserve care, attention, and, where necessary, protection of their labour rights.
I urge you to maintain continuous oversight of this matter.
Let’s move to another matter.
The President emphasised that Russian science should serve as the foundation for developing the products and services of the next technological era. Achieving this requires conducting fundamental and exploratory research on a broad scale, research that advances not only national interests but also contributes to global scientific progress. This work must be grounded in the full range of capabilities offered by Russia’s scientific infrastructure and carried out in close collaboration with those who are willing and eager to cooperate.
This has become one of the central goals of the Concept for International Scientific and Technical Cooperation, approved by the Government. Russia plays a significant role in advancing global initiatives, and it is essential that one of the core principles – openness – is upheld in its implementation. This principle entails the free exchange of scientific knowledge, equal access to information, research outcomes, equipment, expertise, and specific technological developments vital for addressing humanitarian and other challenges.
Mr Chernyshenko, please share the key areas in which enhanced international cooperation is being proposed in the field of science and technology.
Dmitry Chernyshenko: Mr Mishustin,
The concept of international scientific and technical cooperation you have mentioned is aimed above all at achieving the goals of the Scientific and Technological Development Strategy approved by the President, which came as a response to changes in the foreign political and economic situation. One of the concept’s main tasks is to form an effective model of international cooperation in research and development. This cooperation must include the entire innovation cycle from fundamental research to high-tech goods.
The key areas that are expected to be strengthened.
First, is the development of human capital. To this end, we will attract leading international scientists, including through the well-established mega-grant programme launched in 2010. This initiative has already brought in around 300 world-renowned researchers, both Russian and foreign, many of whom were previously living abroad.
Second, we are focused on enhancing our domestic research infrastructure, particularly through the creation of mega-science facilities. A network of seven unique installations is currently under development in Russia, and they are also envisioned as hubs for attracting international experts. For example, we have already reached agreements for joint research with scientists from BRICS member countries under the BRICS GRAIN initiative.
Third, we aim to expand the geographic scope of our scientific cooperation, primarily by strengthening ties with friendly nations in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the former Soviet republics. Meanwhile, we’ll remain open to dialogue with all partners willing to cooperate on the basis of mutual benefit.
The Ministry of Science has supported 263 applied research projects with foreign participation financed to the tune of 3 billion roubles.
At the global level, we will continue cooperating through key regional associations and international organisations, such as BRICS, the SCO, the CIS, the EAEU, and others. Within the SCO, we are introducing mechanisms for contests between multilateral scientific research projects. The same work is being conducted with regard to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union.
BRICS member countries are also discussing the introduction of mechanisms to support large-scale flagship projects in science, technologies, and innovations.
Fourth, I am referring to the funding of international scientific cooperation. The state programme for scientific and technological development allocates about 40 billion roubles per year for this purpose. These funds will be spent on implementing the above-mentioned projects, among other things.
Mr Mishustin, all agencies and organisations concerned will be involved in implementing this concept. A detailed plan of events has been drawn up to this end. We are laying the basis for it as part of preparations for the strategic session on the science development mode, which you will chair.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you. It is very important to maintain dialogue between countries and the scientific community and between the business community and public institutions. The Russian Academy of Sciences plays an important role in this regard. At today’s meeting in Sarov, we will discuss aspects of international cooperation with President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Krasnikov. This is of much importance for coordinating and promoting best practices in the sphere of scientific and technological cooperation between countries.
