in a few months russia will enter a
new decade of the twenty-first century. of course,
important junctures and significant dates are more
symbolic than practical. but they give us a reason
to reflect on the past, evaluate the present, and
think about the future. think about what awaits each
of us, our children, our country.
first, let抯 answer a simple but very
serious question. should a primitive economy based
on raw materials and endemic corruption accompany us
into the future? and should the inveterate habit of
relying on the government, foreign countries, on
some kind of comprehensive doctrine, on anything or
anyone ?as long as it抯 not ourselves ?to solve
our problems do so as well? and if russia can not
relieve itself from these burdens, can it really
find its own path for the future?
next year we will celebrate the
sixty-fifth anniversary of victory in the great
patriotic war. this anniversary reminds us that our
present day is the future of the heroes who won our
freedom. and that the people who vanquished a cruel
and very strong enemy back in those days must today
overcome corruption and backwardness. to make our
country both modern and viable.
as the contemporary generation of
russian people, we have received a huge inheritance.
gains that were well-deserved, hard-fought and
hard-earned by the persistent efforts of our
predecessors. sometimes the cost of hardships really
was terrible casualties. we have a huge territory,
large amounts of natural resources, solid industrial
potential, an impressive list of outstanding
achievements in science, technology, education and
art, a glorious history regarding our army, navy,
and nuclear weapons. by using its authority russian
power has played a significant -- and in some
periods determinate -- role in events of historic
proportions.
how should we manage that legacy? how
to magnify it? what will the future of russia be for
my son, for the children and grandchildren of my
fellow citizens? what will be russia抯 place, and
hence the place of our descendants, heirs, and
future generations, among other nations in the
global labour market, in the system of international
relations, in global culture? what must we do to
steadily improve the quality of life of russian
citizens today and in the future? to allow our
society to become richer, freer, more humane and
more attractive? so that russian society can give to
those who desire it a better education, an
interesting job, a good income, and comfortable
environment for both personal life and creative
activity?
i have answers to these questions.
and before i turn to them, i would like to assess
the current situation.
the global economic crisis has shown
that our affairs are far from being in the best
state. twenty years of tumultuous change has not
spared our country from its humiliating dependence
on raw materials. our current economy still reflects
the major flaw of the soviet system: it largely
ignores individual needs. with a few exceptions
domestic business does not invent nor create the
necessary things and technology that people need. we
sell things that we have not produced, raw materials
or imported goods. finished products produced in
russia are largely plagued by their extremely low
competitiveness.
this is why production declined such
much, more than in other economies, during the
current crisis. this also explains excessive stock
market volatility. all this proves that we did not
do all we should have done in previous years. and
far from all things were done correctly.
the energy efficiency and
productivity of most of our businesses remains
shamefully low, but that is not the worst part. the
trouble is that it seems that owners, directors,
chief engineers and officials are not very worried
about this.
as a result russia抯 influence in
global economic processes is, quite frankly, not as
great as we would like. of course, in the era of
globalisation the influence of any country cannot be
unlimited. that would even be harmful. but our
country must have substantial opportunities, as
befits russia抯 historic role.
as a whole democratic institutions
have been established and stabilised, but their
quality remains far from ideal. civil society is
weak, the levels of self-organisation and
self-government are low.
every year there are fewer and fewer
russians. alcoholism, smoking, traffic accidents,
the lack of availability of many medical
technologies, and environmental problems take
millions of lives. and the emerging rise in births
has not compensated for our declining population.
we managed to gather the country
together to stop centrifugal tendencies. but many
problems still remain, including the most acute
ones. terrorist attacks on russia are continuing.
residents of the republics in the north caucasus
simply do not know peace. military and law
enforcement personnel are dying, as are government
and municipal employees, and civilians. of course
these crimes are committed with the support of
international criminal groups. but let's face up to
it, the situation would not be so critical if the
socio-economic development of southern russia were
more viable.
to sum up, an inefficient economy,
semi-soviet social sphere, fragile democracy,
negative demographic trends, and unstable caucasus
represent very big problems, even for a country such
as russia.
of course we do not need to
exaggerate. much is being done, russia is working.
it is not a half-paralyzed, half-functioning country
as it was ten years ago. all social systems are
operating. but this is still not enough. after all,
such systems only propagate the current model, and
do not develop it. they cannot change current ways
of life and therefore bad habits remain.
achieving
leadership by relying on oil and gas markets is impossible. we
must understand and appreciate the complexity of our problems.
we must frankly discuss them in order to act. in the end,
commodity exchanges must not determine russia抯 fate; our own
ideas about ourselves, our history and future must do so. our
intellect, honest self-assessment, strength, dignity and
enterprise must be the decisive factors.
