Calls for more infrastructure development. Praises construction of Kerch Strait Bridge, highway from Moscow to St. Petersburg, new airports, rail lines in Siberia, etc. Calls for Far Eastern regions to be brought above the national average in terms of economic development.
Says many administrative requirements are left over from Soviet times. Then jokes "and some of them from the time when we captured Crimea -- and I don't mean 2014," referring to the Russian Empire's conquering of Crimea in the 18th century.
Calls for complete overhaul of all administrative requirements for business by the beginning of 2021.
The first portion of the text of Putin's speech has been posted on the Kremlin website.
- By Carl Schreck
Putin's call for "freedom for entrepreneurs" from unjust criminal prosecution comes amid the high-profile arrest of U.S. investor Michael Calvey, who is currently in pre-trial detention on Russian fraud charges that he and his company call completely baseless. Several prominent Kremlin loyalists have also expressed doubt about the charges. Background here:
Says criminal investigative agencies are overworked and "maybe" the number of investigators needs to be increased.
Says in order to achieve these things, "we must eliminate everything that restricts the initiative of entrepreneurs." Says there must be an end to random administrative pressure on businesses. Have to take into consideration business's complaints about legislation.
Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya says Putin is presenting his program -- more than a year after the election