Says more money coming for "student parks," "business incubators," and the like.
- By Mike Eckel
It looks like the Kremlin is turning to an age-old way to build goodwill and garner support from voters.
Cash.
Putin says the government will handing out one-time payments to families in the amount of 10,000 rubles (about $130) for each school-age child.
In August.
Which just happens to be about two months before the country holds national parliamentary elections, where the Kremlin-allied ruling party is seeing its approval ratings in the gutter.
Putin says expectant mothers will also be getting government benefits and more extended sick leave for mothers.
The income problem dovetails with the rising prices problem. And it's also a reflection of such how stagnant average Russians' income has been for much of the past decade.
Putin suggests school history textbooks in Russia should be rewritten to emphasize the feats of the country's past heroes. "Sometimes I open one of these textbooks and it doesn't even say anything about the Battle of Stalingrad," he said. An old theme but an enduring one.
Turns his attention to energy and climate-change issues. Calls for new technologies and restructuring entire industries, including agriculture. Says these changes will create many modern and well-paid jobs. Says Academy of Sciences should be entirely devoted to improving the daily lives of Russian citizens.
Turns to discussing various ways of improving the business climate in Russia, including streamlining bureaucracy and inspections. "We have discussed this question many times," he admits.
Says government will do more to encourage and protect private investment in order to reduce risks.
Says government must continue to stabilize the macroeconomic situation and control inflation. Says the government is in a position to increase investment in infrastructure. Thanks all the factions in parliament by name for their help through the pandemic. Makes first mention of the preparations for this year's elections to the State Duma (due by September 19).
Putin's emphasized "preserving the Russian people" and called for all Russians to get vaccinated to an audience seated with no social distancing and sporadic mask use, in apparent violation of Moscow's COVID-19 rules.
Putin's urge that Russians go and get vaccinated is a shift from his earlier policy of insisting that inoculation is a personal choice. Russia was first to approve a vaccine in August, before its Sputnik V shot had passed crucial Phase III trials. Subsequent assessments proved Sputnik V's safety and efficacy, but in a Russia that is traditionally skeptical of vaccines and where trust in state institutions has cratered, Sputnik V has been stymied by a very low uptake.
Putin himself chose not to follow other world leaders in being vaccinated on camera to encourage the population to follow suit. He only got immunized from the coronavirus last month, and the Kremlin did not clarify which vaccine he took.