Putin: All goals met
In his great annual press conference for Russian journalists, held in Moscow today President Vladimir Putin said that he has met all main goals for his two presidential periods.
At the same time, however, the president admitted that bigger progress could have been made in fight against poverty and in lowering inflation.
His main achievement, Mr. Putin said has been the creation of a unified Russian state. -We did not have a united country, we did not even have a national hymn, Putin said about the period before year 2000.
I am content with the work I have done, he underlined.
Asked about his preferred presidential candidate Dmitrii Medvedev, Putin stressed that Mr .Medvedev is a great administrator and leader. He also admitted that there is significant level of personal chemistry between the two leaders. -I trust him. I simply trust him, Putin said
He also stressed that the staying on for a third presidential period never has been an issue.
Relations with the west
Commenting on military relations with the West, Mr. Putin stressed that Russia will be forced to direct its own missiles against western targets, should NATO decide to build its planned anti missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Commenting on the conflict with the OSCE, President Putin stressed that “Russia will not let anybody from outside tell the country what to do”. Mr. Putin said that the OSCE has the whole blame for the dispute with Russia and added that Russia wants “certain reforms” within the OSCE. The OSCE this week announced that it will not send election observers to Russia in connection with the upcoming presidential election because of obstructions from the Russian side.
President Putin also repeatedly returned to the Kosovo problem, and harshly criticised the West for its handling of the issue.
Centre - regional relations
Talking about relations between regions and the federal centre, Putin said that the country the last years actually has been through a period of significant decentralization. He highlighted that the municipalities have got a number of new powers in connection with the municipal reform.
He also praised the reforms in the Russian political system, with fewer political parties in parliament, have contributed to stability in the country. –Do you like what you see in the Ukraine? he asked, indirectly referring to the difficult formation of government in the country.
Asked about the current regional merger processes in the country, he said that these are made in order to boost economy in the regions. He stressed that the wealth in the regions are not evenly distributed and indicated that the mergers are made in order to level life standards in neighbouring region.Our goal is to create equal conditions for all Russians, Mr. Putin stressed
Over the years, millions of people have moved to the north and to remote places. These people deserve a good life, the president said. He also admitted that the federal authorities are granting funding for the implementation of programmes in connection with the merger processes.
Finland
Asked by a Finnish journalist from newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Mr. Putin said that he has understanding with Finnish companys’ fears for higher Russian timber tariffs. However, the president maintained that the measure is made in order to strengthen Russian domestic industry. At the same time he stressed that the strengthening of Russian economy is not meant to harm other countries’ interests.
He also added that “Finland is our old, good and stable partner. I am sure that our good-neighboured relations will continue also in the future”.
If other countries want to get to the heart of our economy, they themselves will have give Russian companies access to the hearts of their own economies, Putin said. He also underlined that Russia will not build any kind of state capitalism
The whole text from the press conference is available at Kremlin.ru
