7 Ежегодная большая пресс-конференция Part 3 В.Путин (V.Putin)

7 Annual Big Press Conference Part 3
February 14,2008
President of Russia V.Putin
The Kremlin,Moscow

As I said, our biggest achievement is to have rebuilt Russias economy on a new and modern foundation, and this is reflected in peoples incomes. Incomes are growing by 10-12 percent a year, and, as I said, wages grew by more than 16 percent over the last year. People should see these results reflected in their own pockets, and I think that this is something we have achieved. Though, of course, all of these wonderful figures, these macroeconomic indicators such as economic growth and so on do not always translate into improvements in life at the individual level. Still, no one can accuse us of not addressing this problem and not trying to improve living standards. The implementation of the national projects is evidence that we are indeed working hard to ensure that our economic results benefit people at the individual level.
Finally, we are not clinging to the past but are looking to the future, and I think this is also very important. You no doubt heard my speech at the expanded meeting of the State Council, at which I spoke of the need for innovative development. The whole problem, after all, is that we have achieved much over these last eight years, but if we continue on the same road we will come to a dead end. There are certainly past achievements of which we should be proud, but we must also think about the future, set new goals, ambitious new goals, and map out the roads we will take to achieve these goals. In other words, we are looking to the future and I think this is very important.
MOSKOVSKY KOMSOMOLETS NEWSPAPER: There have been a lot of calls for you to seek a third term in office over these last two or three years. There were no doubt attempts to influence you on this issue including by your entourage. What did you say in private conversation to the people who proposed changing the Constitution, and how great was the temptation to give in to these appeals and stay for a third term?
VLADIMIR PUTIN: I prefer to keep what I said in private conversation private; that is what private conversations are for, after all. Given that we have a big audience today with practically all of the world media and the Russian regional media present, I will reply in more official language.
I never felt any temptation to seek a third term in office. Right from my first day as President of the Russian Federation I decided that I would not violate the Constitution. This was something instilled in me during my time working with Anatoly Alexandrovich Sobchak. I think this sends a very important signal to society in general, namely, that everyone, from the head of state down, must respect the laws in force. I think this is a matter of principle, not a technical issue.
Of course I want to keep working, but such opportunities exist.
It is in peoples nature to form dependencies on various things. Some people become addicted to drugs and others to money. It is said that most addictive of all is power. I have never felt this. I never have been the kind of person to become dependent on anything. I think that if God has given me the good fortune to work for the good of my country, and I have always felt a real connection to my country, I should be grateful for this opportunity, which is in itself the greatest reward. I think it is completely unacceptable to seek further reward or to try to hold on to power, to imagine that once you are in the top seat you should have the right to stay there until the day you die.
Russia should be a democratic state under the rule of law, and this means that all of its citizens, including its leaders, must respect the law.
VLADIVOSTOK NEWSPAPER (Primorsky Region): We know that a state programme for the resettlement of Russians from abroad has begun. One of its goals is to attract people to the depressed regions of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. But with the situation as it is at present no one is coming to the Far East: life is too expensive there and there are too many inconveniences and too few opportunities for realising ones potential. What is the state going to do, if anything, to try to stop the exodus of people from the Far East?
VLADIMIR PUTIN: This issue preoccupies not just you but many of our citizens. It is also of great concern for me. We are indeed seeing a decline in the population of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. The population continues to fall and the measures being taken have not yet brought the expected results. I have repeatedly come back to this issue over the last 5-6 years. There is a development programme for the Far East, a federal targeted programme. We plan to hold some major international events in the region, including the APEC summit, which will take place in Vladivostok. We plan to put considerable federal resources into developing this region, above all into infrastructure development.

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[cfdcolin1979]

fox news.....imbecile

[jokinizzyy]

i am not surprised bbc are not there. why would they be there? - because this whole video thing shows putin as a clever and non-evil but rational. so why would bbc want to show that to the brits?? bbc is biast. and i worked there- so i can say so. im not just telling tales. x

[SCHneiDen777]

HA HA HA HA HA.

These comments are hilarious. I see a lot of bad gossip about Fox News. Who let him into Russia, LOL. I guess I'm surprised that BBC didn't show up.

Unbilingual is a horrible thing. Agreed.

[QuasiStellarQueen]

You mean to tell me that there wasn't one news representative from the US that could speak Russian? Aye it's a shame how uni-lingual we are as a country.

Also, I agree w/ MEpianist. . . Fox news is TERRIBLE! Who even let them into Russia, LOL.

*peace

[MEpianist]

Fox News is widely regarded as terrible by Americans. Why was that network given the right to ask a question to Putin, why not a real news network, like CNN, or BBC???