30 May 2004 20:25
Russian premier happy with government reform so far
Russia's prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov, is content with the initial showings of the recent administrative
reform, he said in an interview to a national TV channel. Responsibilities are more clearly defined and discussion is
more active at the sessions of the government, which are no longer held behind closed doors. During the interview he
also spoke in general terms about attaining the goals set out by President Putin in a keynote speech earlier in the
week. The following is the text of the interview, broadcast on Russian Channel One TV on 30 May, with subheadings
inserted editorially:
[Presenter] On Thursday [27 May] the government decided the tariffs for natural monopolies - gas, electricity and
transport. Utility prices depend on these tariffs, so they affect all of us. Social welfare was the central theme of the
president's message to parliament. How does the cabinet of ministers intend to achieve the goals set for it? The
chairman of the Russian government, Mikhail Fradkov, discussed this in an interview with Channel One.
[Question] Good day, Prime Minister.
[Fradkov] Good day.
Government's plan of action
[Question] The president's message to parliament has set the priorities, the goals have been set. What action
does the cabinet of ministers intend to take?
[Fradkov] The president's message is a de-facto programme for the government for the coming period. To us it is
entirely clear that the government should remain focused on ensuring a worthy life for the people of Russia. Everything
that we do in the economy, ensuring growth, observing the macroeconomic parameters, using market instruments, drawing up
and implementing federal programmes, attracting investment, optimizing budget expenditures, that is, everything that we
are doing today should be examined against the effectiveness of these measures in resolving social issues in the
country. This obliges us to immerse ourselves deeper and take a responsible approach to all these issues. Honestly,
these are not empty words. If we examine our work through this prism, we have much still to do so that people have faith
in us, that we understand the problems of the people, first and foremost, that we are in a position to raise the issues
and, most importantly of all, resolve them. These issues are modernization of our economy with the introduction of
innovations. In general, it is all to do with increasing productivity. People should find work and have confidence in
their country. We have colossal resources and massive competitive advantages, and we are able to make proper use of
them. We have already begun to take initial steps in housing, medicine and education and we are obliged to find the
requisite instruments and, most importantly, money in the budget. To this end we need a developing economy. We do not
need just the stability that we have now, although that is a plus. We need to breathe life into the economy. Only in
these conditions can we resolve the acute social issues that we are obliged to resolve today. People should be involved
in this work, and they should have faith in the government. This is our primary task today.
[Question] Are the timescales set by the president realistic?
[Fradkov] Life forces us to work within these timescales. The foreign-trade environment at the moment is helping us
to resolve these issues, and is favourable to us. We must make use of this in the short term. We have to pay the most
serious attention to developing our economy and first of all concentrate on modernizing our industry. That is, those
branches and sectors that will enable us to derive additional revenues. As we say, to mobilize domestic factors in
economic growth so that we have more resources to tackle, first and foremost, the issue of providing a worthy standard
of living for our people.
Pensioners' perks reform
[Question] One of the most acute topics is the forthcoming replacement of privileges with cash payments. To what
extent is this a justified move, in your opinion?
[Fradkov] It is a controversial topic. I understand people's concerns. Today they have something, and what will
replace it is unknown. But I think this is more of a psychological issue and to a large extent maybe due to insufficient
explanation. People should have faith in the government and in the proposals to compensate them as much as possible. The
figures that have been tabled do resolve the issue. We are confident of this, and we have made the calculations. And we
have catered for the majority of recipients.
[Question] Maybe it would have been better to let people themselves choose between perks or cash?
[Fradkov] We did think about that. It ends up being very complex to administer. To be honest, I am not sure that if
we kept both approaches we would be able to ensure that there was no waste, as has happened in the past unfortunately. I
think the chosen option is feasible at the level of federation members, because at present recipients and in particular
labour veterans and rear workers are looked after by the members of the federation. Depending on the regions'
financial resources, the issue can be resolved on an individual basis.
Initial showings of administrative reform positive
[Question] Let's move on to the administrative reform. The number of federal ministries has been cut, but the
number of federal authorities has nonetheless increased. Are you happy with the changes underway, or does more need to
be done?
[Fradkov] It might be premature to speak of definitive conclusions, because the effectiveness of managerial decisions
is determined in real-life practice. But in my opinion at least, the first week confirms the correctness of the
decisions taken. There is less duplication, departmental functions are more clearly defined, and I as head of the
government feel that managerial responsibility has been significantly enhanced. And it is probably noticeable that
sessions of the government, which are now held openly, feature more active debates.
[Question] Mr Fradkov, at the beginning of the interview you mentioned the favourable trade environment. Oil prices
are at record levels, and you say this should affect our lives. But when? Petrol prices are going up at the moment.
[Fradkov] This depends on the government to a significant extent, and how well-grounded its actions are. That is why
I said that we have to examine how best to use these funds. This is to do with priorities and policy programmes. We need
to identify the bottlenecks that are holding back economic growth, and we are working on this. We should strictly follow
the macroeconomic parameters, and stabilize the market and the economy, and make them more attractive to investors. But
we should not be restricted to this alone. We should pay more attention to development of the real sectors of the
economy and support our most competitive industries. That is, we need to create the conditions for incomes to rise.
[Question] The final question - is it hard to run the government?
[Fradkov] It's not easy, to be honest. But a situation is shaping up now in which, in the interests of our work,
we want to achieve things. There is an understanding of what we need to do first of all. I think there is a good
situation for the government, but importantly we also have the president's support, I sense that. And I check
myself for the correctness of what we are doing in this open regime of working.
[Question] Thank you.
[Fradkov] Thank you.
[Channel One TV] |
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