The meeting was held in preparation for the Government’s annual report to the State Duma.
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with deputies of the LDPR faction in the State Duma
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with deputies of the LDPR faction in the State Duma
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with deputies of the LDPR faction in the State Duma
Leonid Slutsky and members of the faction at the meeting between Mikhail Mishustin and LDPR faction deputies in the State Duma
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with deputies of the LDPR faction in the State Duma
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with deputies of the LDPR faction in the State Duma
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
LDPR faction head Leonid Slutsky’s opening remarks
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin: Colleagues, Mr Slutsky, deputies, good afternoon.
In just two weeks, the Government will present its annual report to the State Duma on its performance over the past year.
We will discuss how the national development goals set by the President are being achieved, as well as the specific measures we are taking to attain them. Naturally, an important part of this process is dialogue with parliamentary factions, including one of the most experienced parties – the LDPR, which has been represented in the Duma in all convocations.
Your contribution to our country’s development is significant. You owe much of this to the efforts of your founder, Vladimir Zhirinovsky. He was a talented analyst, a distinguished deputy, and until his last days, he championed Russia’s interests.
At the end of April, we will mark the 80th anniversary of his birth. This date offers another opportunity to reflect on his unique political legacy, which continues to inspire liberal democrats in the State Duma to this day.
This includes the pursuit of diplomatic solutions and interparliamentary contacts. The faction – and you, Mr Slutsky, as Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs – have done much to foster such engagement, which is essential for building relations with friendly nations and for adopting legislation that strengthens our country’s standing. I am confident that the LDPR will continue to succeed in this critical endeavour.
One of the key issues your deputies have prioritised is support for veterans of the special military operation. These young men often require practical, targeted assistance.
To enable them to continue their education or acquire a profession, a series of legislative amendments have been introduced. Members of your faction, alongside senators, co-sponsored these changes. The results of the Unified State Exam for these young men remain valid for the entire duration of their service in the Armed Forces, until they return to their studies.
The same deferral has been granted to winners of academic Olympiads. Previously, their right to enrol in higher education without exams, earned through such achievements, could expire during their service. Now, talented young people retain this privilege if they intend to resume their studies.
I would also like to highlight the deputies’ proposal to grant veterans of the special military operation – from law enforcement agencies – additional leave. They will receive an extra 15 days of paid leave.
Taking your initiatives into account, the mechanism for social contracts has been expanded. Participants in the special military operation can now use these contracts, including to start their own businesses. Mr Slutsky, you raised this issue at our meeting last year, emphasising the need to support veterans in reviving their entrepreneurial activities.
Overall, the LDPR faction has successfully adopted a targeted approach in its work, preparing proposals for support measures. It is clear that many such proposals emerge from direct engagement with people in Russia’s regions, reflecting the feedback the President always stresses.
This was the case with improving employment opportunities for citizens with health limitations. Regions can now introduce quotas (ranging from 2 to 4 percent of a company’s workforce) for each corporate department. This will create more tangible job opportunities for those who need special attention.
The Government has also issued a positive conclusion on another draft law aimed at assisting mothers with young children returning to work after maternity leave. Deputies and senators proposed extending the ban on probationary periods for women with children under three (currently, the limit is 1.5 years). This measure will help protect mothers’ rights in the labour market.
The Liberal Democratic Party has always been highly active in sporting events. With your support, alongside colleagues from other factions, amendments were introduced to regulate relations between professional leagues, athletes, and coaches across a broad spectrum of personnel matters – from contract rules and player transfers to the formation of national teams.
I have mentioned only a few of the significant initiatives – most of which have already come into force. We anticipate that our dialogue will continue to be as open, effective, and productive as ever.
Thank you.
Mr Slutsky, the floor is yours.
Leonid Slutsky and members of the faction at the meeting between Mikhail Mishustin and LDPR faction deputies in the State Duma
Leonid Slutsky: Mr Prime Minister, colleagues,
A little less than a year ago, we held a meeting in this very hall ahead of the Government’s report to the State Duma.
What can I say now? The year 2025, which we have just seen out, was not an easy one. But Russia is a strong country. We are weathering the storm. We have rallied around the President of Russia, and we support Vladimir Putin. Today, as has always happened in moments of truth – and now, perhaps, we are facing the defining moment of truth in our modern history – the citizens of this country have united around the President, regardless of age, faith, place of residence, or even the party card in their pocket.
However, to support does not mean to conceal problems, manipulate figures and statistics, or turn a blind eye to ordinary people – the very people for whom we exist as a political party.
The LDPR stands shoulder to shoulder with the President and the Government. Never before, Mr Prime Minister, colleagues – and for this, I thank you – have we had such close and, I believe, effective communication. Never before have so many of our legislative proposals received the Government’s backing. This means we are on the right path in supporting those who are enduring difficult times today. This very moment of truth will determine the future of our country, the future of the Russian world, and indeed, more than that. Today, a new global majority has formed – precisely around the President of Russia.
Confronting the West in today’s world is anything but easy but we, Russians – and by Russians I mean those who are Russian by spirit rather than by birth, we will get through this. Nevertheless, there are objective shortcomings, and we can see them. We have been proactive in raising these matters in our exchanges with you Mr Mishustin, and with your colleagues, including those who are present in this room, and those who are not. In any case, we remain in touch all the time. People expect us to be strong not only on the battlefield, but also in our everyday affairs and as applied to the lives of ordinary people.
The LDPR turned 36, and we have been arguing that Russia needs a strong state that sets high standards of living regardless of the region since the time our party came into being. We say Russia is more than Moscow. No matter how utopian we may sound when we say that Moscow and the regions should enjoy equal standards of living, this remains our strategic goal. And we are in agreement with you on that.
A strong state is a state where people are respected regardless of their status or age. You just mentioned that we initiated a number of draft laws, programmes, and initiatives aimed at supporting the elderly.
April 25 would have marked the 80th birthday anniversary of the LDPR founder Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Thank you very much for mentioning this today. A one-of-a-kind organising committee is busy preparing events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the birth of one of the most prominent politicians in modern-day Russia, a man who, by virtue of his intellect, could offer a glimpse into the future. His predictions continue to come true.
Many thanks go to Mr Chernyshenko, and our other colleagues such as Mr Siluanov and many others members of the organising committee. The original plans were overfulfilled by the federal executive bodies. They are genuinely interested in everything related to preserving the memory of Vladimir Zhirinovsky. We are acting in unison in this regard. The organising committee is headed by Mr Volodin.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s ideas, including his concept of a strong state, are more relevant today than ever. Faced with high risks for individuals and major financial uncertainties which we are combatting together, the state must demonstrate its strengths.
Once again, Mr Mishustin, thank you for ensuring our coordinated work.
Our opposition today does not consist of criticising anyone and blaming people, or voting against certain things, such as the budget… We are all for the budget which has been painstakingly and thoroughly drafted. We worked as a team every day to draft it.
We believe we are constructive opposition, and we are focused on quickly finding the best and quickest solutions to infrastructure-related issues that matter to people. We are in favour of strengthening the state oversight efforts many times over when it comes to overseeing the actual implementation of presidential instructions (not merely running numbers and indicators to fit target values), and overseeing market participants whose market moves, if left unchecked, may impoverish regular people. Speaking on this floor a year ago, I proposed creating a working group to monitor price hikes. Now, a year later, the problem remains even more relevant than a year ago. According to our analysts, food prices have risen by 1.26 percent since the beginning of the year — six times more than in January 2025.
Mr Mishustin, I’m not here to seek attention with proposals that would place unrealistic obligations on the state. We share responsibility before the people, and we are working as a team more closely than ever. Thank you for that once again. We are clear-eyed about the situation at hand. The LDPR has a workable solution which we would like you to consider seriously. We need state price discipline. The state must take back reasonable system-wide price control, check the validity of price increases, and prevent any kind of price gouging.
No offence, but the Federal Antimonopoly Service is slow in responding to unfolding developments. We have reached out to them on many occasions and continue to do so as we focus on rising prices, but complaints we keep receiving show that nothing is really happening. It may well be that the ongoing processes are beyond the capacity of the FAS. In that case, we need to join efforts and work together in a deeper and more systematic manner.
The Regulations on the FAS state that it is the duly authorised federal executive body in charge of state regulation of prices and tariffs for goods and services. But what is the agency’s role today, and what exactly is it regulating if prices are edging up daily? Again, no offence intended. Perhaps, we should give them a hand. Their efforts are not enough. Price control efforts are inadequate.
Is systemic price monitoring mechanism in place? That’s a big question. During several case studies and brainstorming sessions — which we welcome and which you are very good at — you set the goal of establishing system-wide price monitoring. Are big data analysis mechanisms being used? May be, but only partially so far, if you ask me. Do the FAS and our other colleagues have data on production costs and markups, including those of retail chains?
Mr Mishustin, you effectively oversaw similar efforts in other spheres, and this kind of system-wide control should be established here within a few months as well.
The pricing dynamics analytical data are not readily available. These data may exist, but we have no access to them. As legislators, though, we should possess this information and use our interaction to create synergy for the benefit of the people.
The problem is bigger than food prices. The lack of proper price control has called into question housing affordability for millions of people. Subsidised mortgage loans provide an opportunity to improve housing conditions for families with children, which is critically important. However, should subsidies alone be the tool to address this issue? Confronted with sky-high housing prices, what are the young people and young families whom the state- you and us — encourages to have children supposed to do? As it happens, one of Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s famous papers was titled “Give Birth!”
To reiterate, there must be oversight in place over developers and pricing mechanisms. We maintain close contact with Mr Khusnullin in this regard.
Not to escalate the situation, but it’s a matter of utmost importance. I believe that if we tackle this macro-problem systematically, we will be able to identify an expedited solution.
Price hikes can always be substantiated with higher VAT, changes in the US dollar exchange rate, or weather, if nothing else. However, prices are rising out of proportion to the causes, and we can tell that based on elementary math. That’s not the market at work; in some sense – I’d rather not say that word out loud — but it’s a manipulation engineered by someone who are accustomed to profiting from instability. I’m confident that, with your support, the Government will cope with this challenge. We are ready to cooperate in this matter of utmost importance to the people.
Improving oversight should cover more than pricing.
Unfortunately, annoying occurrences do happen. Ms Golikova has an excellent grasp of these matters and coordinates solutions in this area. Nevertheless, let’s consider this: food poisonings at schools and kindergartens in a number of regions need Rospotrebnadzor to play a more active part. We have much respect for this agency which, led by Anna Popova, played a tremendous role during the pandemic. However, we need to be pro-active rather than just reactive.
We are prepared to work with Rospotrebnadzor and other agencies. We maintain contact with Ms Golikova at all times. We cannot have children eat substandard food. Parent-teacher associations are, of course, on top of it. High-quality food is a major way to support families. We have thousands of complaints on this matter. Therefore, please take this issue under special control as part of the social policy bloc of issues.
I will not cite isolated cases as they are clear enough. The authorities must assume responsibility for making decisions in situations that are truly acute.
Look at what is going on in the Voronezh Region where 27 commuter trains have been cancelled. Widely used services have become unavailable. Thousands of people have signed petitions. We have received petitions with thousands of signatures demanding to restore train service. For more than a month now, the authorities have been trying to figure out why this happened, who is to blame, and who made the decision. For more than a month, no one has been able to resolve the problem. This kind of circular handling of the issue is destructive. This is just one example.
I would ask the Government to draft proposals to strengthen the oversight function of the authorities. This is a fairly general, but highly relevant thesis. We are willing to jointly develop and submit proposals to strengthen the oversight function of regional and local executive bodies. This is a function of the Government. Mr Mishustin, I will pass on to you some of these proposals today.
Special oversight is imperative regarding the fulfillment of the public authorities’ obligations to participants in the special military operation and their families. The equal treatment in matters of social protection and guarantees has not been addressed in full yet. We have discussed this repeatedly, and the Government is working on it. The problem we have identified, namely, different legal status of the children of the SMO participants, must be resolved based on a principle, let me put it this way, of moral responsibility. In some cases, biological children who do not live in the families of SMO participants are unable to claim guarantees. It may seem like a private issue, but it is quite widespread if you look at it nationwide. Even though this falls within the realm of regional regulation, I believe that a clear position must be formulated at the federal level, right here, in the Government: the children of SMO participants are their children regardless of the relationship between their parents.
Colleagues, perhaps I have gone too far into the specifics that may be painful to hear, but we are addressing major tasks, as I noted at the beginning, systematically and incrementally, and, most importantly, shoulder to shoulder and effectively. However, there are issues that we are working on, but don’t seem to make much progress. I would like to address them now. I am confident — without being overly optimistic — that within a matter of weeks- at most a month — we will be able to resolve these issues.
We are in tight contact with Alexander Novak, who oversees an enormously important portfolio that includes, in addition to energy, the economy in general. We have established excellent communication with nearly everyone present here. I wouldn’t say there are any problems in our communication.
Mr Mishustin, I did my best to let you know about the problems that remain unresolved. We have laid out a presentation-I would like everyone to review it later-in which we have compiled our party’s key proposals on the issues that our people find exceedingly important. I instructed our party members to collect large amounts of data every month. We used these data to come up with a comprehensive solution. We will submit these proposals to the Government for further review. There’s a line that runs consistently through all of them: the regions need help. As things stand today, the regions find it difficult to cope with problems in housing and utilities, emergency housing, healthcare, and education without the support of the federal Government. There are discrepancies in socioeconomic development, as I mentioned earlier.
This is a difference in the lives of the people living in one country that they sense every day. We want people not to strive to move from the Far East to Moscow, but to aspire-as many did in our time-to go to the Far East to earn good money.
People are tired and are expecting the Government to protect them. I would like to close by saying that Vladimir Zhirinovsky devoted his life to helping people and demanded the same from those who worked alongside him.
Colleagues, the level of our interaction over the past year has increased significantly. Every project we are working on has shown progress. However, there are areas where efforts are being made, but no visible results are available. People point this out to us in very specific ways. They contact me, the party, and our parliamentary group in the State Duma. They are talking about migration, housing and utilities, supporting young families, and families of participants in the special military operation.
We made our best efforts to set out our proposals in this presentation systematically. We address these matters with you all the time, Mr Mishustin. Thank-you for our systematic and in-depth cooperation goes to you and all our colleagues.
I am confident that following the upcoming Government report in the State Duma, our cooperation for the good of the country, the economic growth and progress in social policy, as well as for the benefit of the people, will become even deeper and more effective. We are ready for constant daily work in conjunction with the Government to address current and long-term tasks.
