The Russian 2020 plan
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed the Russian 2020 Social and Economic development plan. Critics believe the document is not rooted in reality and that the country will not be able to meet the ambitious ambitions.
The development plan states that Russia now has completed its transformation into a fully-fledged market economy and that the country has restored its status as a major economic power.
The plan has been under elaboration since 2006, Kommersant reports.
It envisions the transformation of Russia from an export-based, commodities economy to one focused on social development, including higher business competitiveness, innovation and science, the use of information technology, increased productivity and efficiency, and modernization of manufacturing and agriculture, as well as developing high-quality transportation and energy infrastructure, the Moscow Times reports.
Together with the 2020 development plan, Premier Putin also signed a four-year plan for the period until 2012, which will “serve as a cornerstone of the long-term development plan through 2020”.
Not everyone is convinced that the plan is realistic.
“The 2020 document has all the right words, and it’s a great document, but it has no bearing on our current reality — we are in the middle of a financial crisis and have to solve immediate economic problems,” said Mikhail Delyagin, an independent economist who heads the Institute of Globalization Problems, to the Moscow Times.
Read the 2020 social and economic plan here (in Russian)
