Dmitry Medvedev continues to realize Vladimir Putin's tasks

Actuality March 4, 2008

   Dmitry Medvedev drummed up the support of the biggest Russian population part during the last elections. And he has actually received carte blanche for those projects and tasks realization, which were set by the president Putin within the strategy framework of Russia development by 2020. The primary aim is investments into a man and Russia formation as the most attractive country for living. This aim becomes the new priority, and all main Russian projects and programs are directed at it.

Authorities hope that the population is ready to work and to raise labor productivity substantially. It is one of the lowest in the world in Russia yet. But the task is to increase it 4 times for 12 years.

Social and economic achievements of Russia development are obvious in the previous years, but insufficient.

GDP double for 10 years (by the end of 2009) is not such unsolvable task as it has seemed several years ago.

   The Russian economy has outstripped Italy and France by the volumes within the last years. And it occupies the 7th place in the world by GDP index. The country has all chances to outstrip Great Britain and Germany in the nearest years and to occupy the 5th place in the world. It is necessary to keep the high rates of GDP growth for this aim (at the level 7-8% a year). And it is also important to change the quality of this growth cardinally, to make it investment one instead of inertia one to promote its efficiency.

   Russia disposes the necessary financial reserves to achieve this aim. They include the enormous gold and currency reserves (more than $480 bln), the high investment economy attraction (the accumulated volume of foreign investments grew 7 times for the last 8 years), the constantly growing stock market capitalization (22 times growth as compared to 1999), and almost repaid the external state debt (which was one of the main problems of the Russian foreign policy at the end of the 1990th). The financial potential is supported by the considerable internal demand: the population increases goods’ purchase by 15% a year (first of all durable goods). Lending develops, including the mortgage, and the population consumes services more actively.

   Overcoming of the raw material dependence of the Russian economy by means of switching to the development innovative model is the economic strategy basis. And it will be solved through the priority national projects’ realization directed to the scale investments into the human potential. These are the social projects first of all: health protection and education reformation. They presuppose the active activity of society and business in these reforms, including:

1.   Independent public estimation of all government decisions and actions in the area of social policy and national projects’ realization. And that will provide the high-quality reforms’ implementation. In the future takes place the independent quality audit of the provided social services in the health protection and education areas.

2.   Competition development in the social area, i.e. increase of the social services’ providers several times. This will allow a man to have the real choice of either educational or medical institution.

3.   Implementation of the modern administrative approaches, attraction of the new skilled personnel which will work and earn several times more than now. This will allow any citizen, regardless his place of residence, to get the assured list of social services, including medical ones. The quality of these services will correspond to the international standards. Dmitry Medvedev has already mentioned that high quality specialists (for example, surgeons) should perform not one operation a day, like today, but more. And then both their labor productivity, fee and own qualification will rise.

   The new approach to the budget policy, which should be realized in the nearest time, supposes the financing strengthening of the social area. But the volume of the received means will be strongly connected to the given services’ volume and quality. And the effective independent estimation systems of these services’ quality should function. It means that the society and business task is to offer the new president the work mechanisms of these estimation systems, the audit.

   For the short haul one could have offered the every Russian the possibility to get education and medical care or medical assessment in any state or private institution regardless of place of residence. The state should pay for health care and education services in accord with the amount of these services’ users. It is obvious that Russians will not go to the bad schools and hospitals. And, therefore, in-demand schools, kindergartens, hospitals and policlinics have the opportunity to receive budget facilities to expand their material basis, construct new buildings, and raise the employees’ fee.

   The national projects realization will allow raising the middle class stake in the total population number up to 60-70% by 2020 and also to solve the main demographic task - fight against the population "extinction". For the last year the Russian population has decreased almost by 250 000 people. But the first results of the demographic program (maternity capital creation) are already obvious. In 2007 the birth rate grew by 8% and the death rate has decreased by 4% in Russia. These are the best indices for the last years. Already in the nearest 3-4 years Dmitry Medvedev sets the task to reach the population quantity stabilization with its subsequent growth. It is very important, that this task is solved not only by means of the birth rate increase, but also by means of death rate decrease, high-quality health care system reformation and lifespan increase. By 2020 is set the task to up the average lifespan in Russia to 75 years, i.e. to the world level (now the lifespan in Russia is 67 years). But even 75 years is not so many. The average lifespan in the USA is 77,5 years, in the largest European countries - 79-80 years, in Japan - more than 82 years.