Putin promises better future for Russians
President Vladimir Putin promised Russians affordable housing, education and health care as he shrugged off allegations of authoritarian trends in his state of the nation address today.
Putin focused on social and economic needs in his fifth annual address – his first since being re-elected in a landslide to a second four-year term – saying that Russia could double its gross domestic product faster than earlier planned.
He said that such rapid growth was essential for eradicating poverty and making the national economy competitive abroad.
He alleged that some foreign nations were trying to tarnish Russia’s reputation by accusing the Kremlin of an authoritarian streak.
“Sometimes they deliberately interpret the strengthening of our state as authoritarianism,” Putin said without naming any specific country.
He said Russia would adhere to democratic values, but issued a chilling warning to unnamed non-governmental organisations, saying many of the thousands of groups were more interested in getting funding from abroad or corporate sponsors in Russia than in defending the “real interests of the people.”
“They cannot bite the hand that feeds them,” Putin said in an apparent reference to human rights groups funded by such organisations as jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Open Russia Foundation.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, a leading liberal MP, said that Putin’s criticism of Russian non-governmental organisations sent a bad signal.
“That sounded like a veiled threat,” Ryzhkov told reporters. “Does it mean that any alternative, any opposition must be excluded?”
Putin has been riding a wave of strong economic growth that began after Russia’s 1998 financial disaster and largely has been driven by high world prices for oil.
Putin revealed that economic growth rate for the first quarter of the year was 8%, and at that rate Russia could meet his goal of doubling its GDP – which he set in last year’s state of the nation address – by 2010, instead of the previous target date of 2012.
In spite of the growth, Russia faces serious challenges in spreading the wealth beyond a thin layer of the population.
In his speech, Putin said that about 30 million of Russia’s 144 million people live below the poverty line, adding that stable growth was necessary to cope with the problem.
Putin said that by 2010, one-third of Russians should be in a position to purchase adequate housing, as opposed to the current 10%. He called for mortgages to be made long-term and affordable.
He called on the government to guarantee free basic health care services and to bring order to the chaotic commercialisation of the sector.
Turning to global affairs, Putin said Russia would focus on developing closer ties with other ex-Soviet republics.
He also emphasised the need for Russia to cooperate more closely with the EU and continue dialogue with the US and other key partners, including China, India and Japan.
At the same time, he stressed that Russia needs to protect itself from any potential military-political pressure by modernising its military.
“That includes equipping our strategic nuclear forces with state-of-the art strategic weapons,” he said, drawing applause from the audience of MPs, government officials and other dignitaries.
