6 Annual Big Press Conference Part 13
February 1,2007
President of Russia V.Putin
Round Hall,the Kremlin,Moscow
VLADIMIR PUTIN: With regards to what the heads of regions say, I normally try not to comment. I dont think it is my business.
My relation to gay parades and sexual minorities in general is simple it is connected with my official duties and the fact that one of the countrys main problems is demographic. (Applause.) But I respect and will continue to respect personal freedom in all its forms, in all its manifestations.
And the second question. You know, this question is really very serious. I think that you will agree with me that together we were able to restore the countrys territorial integrity. We were able to strengthen the political system and, as I already mentioned, we were able to achieve the necessary growth rates for the Russian economy by emphasizing economic diversification. We were also able to resolve fundamental social problems on this basis. This is a general picture, but in my opinion it corresponds to reality.
What did we fail to do? Of course we failed to do more than we achieved. And today the most fundamental problem at least in the social sphere is one that I have already talked about, namely income inequality between the various categories of our citizens.
OKSANA BOIKO (Russia Today): Today is February 1st and I think the last opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Why? Not according to the eastern calendar... We will still have many such opportunities.
OKSANA BOIKO: I hope so.
You know, for the past two years journalists have celebrated the New Year in Gazproms building. And in connection with this I would like to ask you your opinion on whether the energy conflicts on the territory of the former Soviet Union have been settled?
And if I could ask another question. In Europe there are new forces that call for diversifying energy. What do you think, will these calls be implemented or are they first and foremost calls? And in general, is Russia doing everything possible for energy security or are there any latent reserves?
Thank you.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: As to straining our relations with our neighbours, the countries that transport our energy resources, at the beginning of this year then I shall be extremely frank and say that last year we really did have problems with our Ukrainian partners. Yet despite all the difficulties, we managed to resolve these problems to our mutual satisfaction since both Ukrainian and Russian parties have acknowledged that we have an optimal solution to the situation that existed for the past 15 years. 15 years! You should understand that Russia not only gave these republics their independence, but providing for 15 years huge subsidies to these countries economies Russia helped them strengthen their independence and sovereignty. 15 years is enough and this cannot go on forever. In just Ukraines case this was billions, three to five billion each year. And Russia has its own problems our pensioners, our servicemen, doctors, teachers and so on. There are a huge number of Russians living below the poverty line. And I shall repeat that we are doing this softly, quietly, absolutely as partners or even as allies. But we were not able to do this all at once. Both in Ukraine and in Belarus we could not engage in, so to speak, combat on all fronts. That is the first thing. And the second, I will also tell you frankly, is that we did not want to damage the regime of the current President of Belarus last year in light of the forthcoming political events and, first and foremost, the elections. We did not want to create any problems or tensions. And moreover, I personally spoke about this in due time.
In case of Belarus we informed our Belarusian colleagues that we would change to market relations about three years ago. And at the beginning of last year, in March, we made written proposals. Incidentally, there were no objections at that time. It is true that we were not able to enter into full dialogue until November 2006. But we already have seen this, and it happens this way with everybody because, in general, everybody is reluctant to change the current situation. But I shall repeat that we are going to make changes very carefully.
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В.Путин.Интервью телеканалу ОРТ 07.02.00 Part 1by niknikolay21,685 views
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