FX.co ★ Vladimir Putin’s annual news conference

About Taxes

"Russians need to be freed from overdue tax arrears, the Russian president said during the annual Q&A press conference". "And it needs to be done in the most unbureaucratic way: without a person turning to tax inspectorates," the head of state said. The debts concern 42 million people and their volume is 41 billion rubles, the president calculated, adding that people should be freed from these payments". "This is 15 billion rubles and concerns 2.9 million people. Lets say a person started a business, and something did not work out, but taxes were imposed on him and charged." It is necessary to free people from payments of this kind."

Increasing the retirement age

"The proponents of raising the retirement age are saying that if we do not do so then, taking into account the increase in life expectancy, the number of workers will decrease, and the number of retired people will increase, which will not allow us to properly balance the pension system. This does not mean, though, that the state will not be able to pay pensions. It will, and there will be no disaster in which payments stop, but rather the incomes of pensioners will be frozen and fall due to inflation. Of course, no matter what the final decision will be, this will not affect those who have already retired. This is my first point. Second, of course, this should not come as a shock. This should not be done in one stroke, but, as in many countries, gradually and smoothly either in the course of six months or a year".

About competition

Fielding a question from liberal opposition figure Ksenia Sobchak, who earlier announced her plans to run for president in 2018, about what the Kremlin "fears" from Russia's "honest opposition," Putin responded that neighboring Ukraine was a good example of what shouldn't be done. "Competition should be taking place, of course, and it will; the question is about radicalism," Putin said. "What is democracy? It is the subject of a rather serious and deep discussion. The Russian government isn't afraid of anyone, and never was. But the government shouldn't look like a bearded peasant lazily picking cabbage out of his beard and watches as the state turns into a muddy puddle that oligarchs try to catch a golden fish from."

About healthcare

“A great deal has been done to make high-tech medical assistance more accessible. We have set up centres in many Russian cities, we set up perinatal centres and we will be working on this programme for the rest of the year. I think it should be continued further. I have already mentioned the drop in infant and maternal mortality in this connection. We have similar indicators, I mean basically good indicators, of mortality due to external factors, road accidents, cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis. Some progress has been made on oncology, but it is still short of what is needed to solve the problem, which is still severe. So, there is a need for co-financing by the state and we will certainly do that". "First of all, funding of course should be increased. It will be increased for next year. This year it is, I think, about 3.8 of the GDP, according to Finance Ministry data. Perhaps these data may not tally with those of some other agencies. According to the Finance Ministry – I talked about it with Siluanov just yesterday, and he told me that next year the total spending on health care nationwide will be 4.1 percent of the GDP".

Utilities and the housing tariff payments

"On average, at this point in time, housing payments amount to 23-odd percent, and occasionally even over 30. It is not good at all. What needs to be done? It is necessary to impose restrictions, of course. Similar to utility payments, it is imperative to introduce regulations on housing payments, and this must be done immediately".

About Trump

"I'm not the one to evaluate the president's work. That needs to be done by the voters, the American people". "(But) we are objectively seeing that there have been some major accomplishments, even in the short time he has been working. Look at how the markets have grown. This speaks to investors' trust in the American economy."

About military expenditures

“We will guarantee our security without getting engaged in an arms race. Our military budget is balanced by several elements. We need to guarantee security without ruining our economy". The Russian president drew attention to the fact that in the USA the military expenditures are to be $700 bn, while in Russia the sum is above $46 bn. "It is enough for us. One can say this is too much, but there is a well-known joke: 'The one who does not want to feed his army will be feeding the army of his enemy".

Doping scandal

"Russia is ready to defend the interests of athletes accused of doping in court, even though it will also cooperate with the World Anti-Doping Agency and the IOC". "We will calmly work with them, removing those problems we do have, but of course working to defend the interests of our athletes, including in civil courts," Putin said". "I know that many international officials don't want that, but what can we do? We will be forced to help our athletes to stand up for their honour and dignity in civil courts".

About US congressmen

"Your congressmen, senators, so good looking, they have beautiful suits, shirts, they like smart people. They put us on a par with North Korea and Iran. While at the same time pushing President (USA), he persuaded us to work with you to solve the problems of North Korea and Iran. You are all normal people?"

The Central Bank's work

"The Central Bank tells us all, and, again, it is a good thing: if it takes something under control and even pays for it – it does so for the purpose of subsequent privatisation. We will assume that this process will develop in this way". "Indeed, according to law and global practice, the Central Bank is an independent institution that is beyond the Government's control in its main activity and has complete autonomy. It makes perfect sense in terms of financial regulation and oversight of the banking system. A bit later, I can elaborate further on what I think about this. As concerns the Central Bank's compliance with law, it is controlled by the Prosecutor General's Office and other bodies. I admit that sometimes certain reports come in but none of them have been confirmed".