Agenda: instructions to the Government following the meeting of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and National Projects; enhancing prizes for winners of the Abilympics professional skills championships; budgetary allocations for strengthening regional industrial bases; and subsidies for preferential lending to agricultural producers.
Government meeting
Government meeting
Government meeting
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Good afternoon, colleagues.
This past Monday, a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects was held. The President underscored that, overall, people see and feel tangible changes, as evidenced by sociological surveys. Simultaneously, emphasis was placed on areas requiring further reinforcement.
Specific tasks have been identified for the Government to address in the coming year. I will now enumerate them.
First, the development of additional comprehensive measures to reverse the negative demographic trend. It is imperative to carry out this work expeditiously. By June, the head of state expects our proposals on this matter.
In the near future, we must conduct a thorough analysis of the measures already being undertaken by the federal centre and Russia’s regions. It is crucial to identify the most effective practices and, of course, explore the possibility of scaling them up nationwide, while simultaneously updating regional programmes designed to boost birth rates.
Young parents must be afforded confidence in the future – the assurance that they can meet their growing family’s needs, continue to pursue careers, and aspire to higher wages.
To achieve this, we must persist in developing the economy, driving its transformation with a focus on strengthening domestic production capacity and convenient infrastructure. This corresponds to the second systemic task set by the President for the coming year.
The Government has prepared a plan for structural economic reforms through to 2030. It aims to create modern jobs, expand the youth participation in various projects, and, of course, integrate veterans of the special military operation. Significant emphasis is placed on attracting talent to the manufacturing and engineering sectors.
The head of state instructed that implementation commence without delay, ensuring that by the end of next year, a platform is established to achieve economic growth rates at least in line with global benchmarks.
Regions must be more actively engaged. We must help cultivate attractive conditions for investors, encouraging businesses to participate in local projects and major investment programmes. The focus must be on development and, critically, swift implementation.
Every region must support its growth drivers. This is vital both for economic progress and for enhancing the quality of life for our citizens, including improvements in housing and utilities, as well as the creation of a barrier-free environment. Currently, a comprehensive programme for the development of key communities is being finalised. Most regions have already endorsed the relevant documents, which cover 16 key areas, such as housing provision, the resettlement of residents from dilapidated housing stock, and the improvement of utility services. Additionally, these include road and public transport upgrades, urban beautification, and the construction of social infrastructure. The President stressed the need to accelerate this work.
Colleagues, I request that all necessary documents be approved as a matter of priority.
As we continue to bolster up the industrial infrastructure, it is strategically correct to look up not only to the domestic market but also to exporting technology-intensive products. We should work to expand the supply of high-value-added products. As for imports, the focus, in keeping with our President’s dictum, must shift towards simple products so as to encourage domestic demand for skilled labour and employment. Modifying the foreign trade pattern is the third task that our President has assigned to the Government.
The important thing is to continue developing elements of the supply-side economy and improve business climate by way of achieving real payoff from efforts to implement the national business model…
For the economy’s stable advancement, it is necessary to observe yet another condition. I am referring to the equalisation of competition: law-abiding business people should not be worse off than those who seek to dodge the law. Not long ago, we held a special strategic session on this issue and discussed a number of measures that would help to redress these imbalances.
The President has supported our initiatives, putting forward the economy’s whitewashing as a systemic task. We will have to do away with the illegal commodity, works and services turnover, including in the digital domain. What is no less important, illegal employment that interferes with the rights of our citizens will have to be curtailed. Conversely, entrepreneurs that do business in good faith should enjoy new opportunities for development.
Higher labour productivity is yet another important element essential for bolstering up economic growth and by this token people’s quality of life. It can certainly be achieved through an accelerated introduction of advanced technologies, thrifty production practices, means of automation, as well as cutting-edge digital technologies and digital solutions, including those based on the use of artificial intelligence.
The President has instructed us to be more pro-active in recruiting companies from sectors with considerable reserves for these projects. I am referring to trade, manufacturing sectors, agriculture, transport, and tourism. We will have to extend these solutions to all public and municipal social organiations without exception.
These efforts should be generally of comprehensive nature. Please prioritise the creation of relevant industry-specific competence centres, as the President has instructed us. He meant the ministries and agencies that had not done this work.
Besides, it is necessary to finalise, before the end of the first quarter in 2026, the detailed elaboration of the industry-specific labour productivity development programmes and streamline the technological policy control system, focusing on creating incentives for developers of new solutions and for consumers. It is also essential to provide funding, including from sources other than the federal budget.
The financial market should be developed for this purpose. I expect the Finance Ministry to submit relevant proposals.
Colleagues,
It is important to engage representatives from the regions, businesses, academia, and, of course, development institutions more actively in addressing systemic challenges. Their contribution must be significantly increased.
Starting next year, the number of national projects will grow, with the bioeconomy to be added. We must complete everything discussed at the council meeting as quickly as possible so that people can see the concrete results of this work without delay.
On to another topic. I would like to address the decision made regarding the large-scale Abilympics project: a professional skills championship for people with disabilities.
For many years, this significant event has helped schoolchildren, students, and professionals working in organisations and industry to discover their talents and realise their abilities in their chosen fields. Recently, during an exhibition dedicated to the secondary vocational education system, we met with students. They spoke about their participation in these competitions and the positive impact they had on their lives and careers.
Abilympics winners receive cash certificates that they can use for additional education or to master a new profession.
This year, 450 people won. The Government has doubled the prize money for winning places. It will amount to 200,000 roubles for first place, 150,000 for second place, and 100,000 for third place.
Over the next three years, more than 220 million roubles will be allocated from the federal budget for this purpose.
It is important to continue providing people with disabilities with the necessary support so that they can find fulfilling careers, develop their professional skills, and overall feel independent and self-sufficient.
Today’s meeting agenda includes a number of issues related to support for Russian regions.
This primarily concerns strengthening their industrial base, increasing investment attractiveness, and drawing in private capital.
As the President emphasised, decisions on financial support for the regions and on economic growth should result in improving people’s quality of life.
The Government is systematically working in this area. Today, we will allocate more than 22.5 billion roubles for the development of several enterprises operating in sectors important to the country, including the coal and automotive industries. This also applies to enterprises in the new regions of the Russian Federation.
This funding will help modernise production facilities, including high-tech operations and those aimed at expanding the country’s export potential.
Such industrial projects have a positive impact on the local social environment, creating better conditions not only for employees but also for all residents, as well as for related companies located across the country. They also create new jobs and increase trade.
The Government will continue to provide necessary support to farmers.
When assessing progress toward national goals, the President highlighted that agricultural production continues to grow.
One of the key factors in the financial stability of the agro-industrial complex is the preferential lending mechanism. In total, around 190 billion roubles have been allocated in the federal budget this year for its implementation.
In order to further accelerate development in the agricultural sector, it is important to prevent an increase in interest rates on such loans. For this purpose, we will allocate an additional 60 billion roubles to credit institutions to subsidise preferential obligations, which will support at least 48,000 previously issued loans. These loans were taken not only for the production and processing of agricultural raw materials, but also for the manufacture of veterinary medicines and the purchase of domestically produced equipment.
We expect that this decision will strengthen our agricultural sector and that its high-quality products will continue to be in demand among citizens.
