Pravda.ru / Russia

The Russians start to express their protests against the recent decision of the Russian government to raise the retirement age. People start taking to the streets to say their words against the reform. The first wave of protest rallies swept through Novosibirsk, Ryazan and Ukhta, fontanka.ru reports. Rallies are expected to take place in a few Siberian citifies on June 24 and July 1, even though the rules for holding public meetings and rallies in Russia have been tightened for the time of the World Cup. Thus, all types of meetings not related to sports events should be held only in places indicated by local authorities in prior agreement with the Federal Security Service. On June 14, the Russian government approved the final version of the draft law on the gradual increase of the retirement age starting from 2019. Thus, the retirement age for men will be 65 years by 2028, and 63 years for women by 2034.The Russians immediately responded to the move by filing a petition on the Change.org website with a requirement to cancel the retirement age reform. The petition has already collected more than 1.3 million signatures. Vadim Gorshenin, the chairman of the board of directors of Pravda.Ru, believes that all the talking about the fairness of the pension reform is ridiculous, because the new law is all about the exploitation of citizens by the state. In a nutshell, Mr. Gorshenin believes, the state wants to make people work until they die. "Just look at the pension allowance that the state gives Russian citizens. Let's take a look at the pension starting from 2018. The average monthly pension of 14,100 rubles ($233) gives 169,200 rubles ($2,800). Thus, it will take a citizen, who budgets himself to the minimum monthly wage, seven years just to save this amount in accordance with deductions to the Pension Fund. If the state offers the average Russian man the amount of less than 169,200 rubles for all of his lifetime work, given the average life expectancy of 65.9 years, then a question arises of who the average Russian man needs to work for all of his life," Vadim Gorshenin notes. Interestingly, rumour has it that Chechnya is not going to raise the retirement age because of many years of war that the republic had experienced in the past. According to unconfirmed reports, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said that the people of Chechnya had been suffering for ten years, and every Chechen in the republic had either lost their breadwinner, become disabled or is a parent of many children. In the meantime, the Russian authorities are closely watching how the general public is going to react to the most recent unpopular move of the government.

On the eve of his first visit to Austria, Vladimir Putin gave a lengthy interview to Austrian television channel ORF.The interviewer, Armin Wolf, was interested not only in issues of Russia's foreign policy, but also in domestic political plans of Vladimir Putin harbours. It is worthy of note that, as the Austrian journalist said, there were no prohibitions from the Kremlin concerning the topics of the interview. Armin Wolf was least interested in details of the possible mutually beneficial cooperation between Moscow and Vienna, although this was the reasons for the interview to take place. Contrary to the general trend set by the United States, Austria did not expel Russian diplomats in connection with the so-called "Skripal case.""Austria and Russia have long had very good and deep relationship. Austria is our traditional and reliable partner in Europe. Despite all the difficulties of previous years, with Austria, we have never interrupted our dialogue in politics, security and economy," Putin said, adding that the two countries have many common interests.However, Wolf wanted to find out why the Russian administration was working closely with Austrian nationalist parties that are critical of the European Union. The question contained an allusion to Russia's alleged intention to split the European Union. Putin had to patiently explain obvious things to the Austrian reporter:"We have no goal to divide anything in the European Union, we are interested in the prosperous EU, because the European Union is our largest trade and economic partner, and the more problems the European Union has, the more risks and uncertainties we have to deal with," Putin said. Of course, the Austrian journalist could not but ask Putin about "Russia's interference" in the presidential election in the United States. The journalist asked the Russian president about activities of the Internet Research Agency, aka the "troll factory", which is associated with Russian entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin. The journalist persistently tried to get Vladimir Putin to confirm the thesis that the man who is commonly referred to as the "chef" because of his restaurant business, could influence the elections in the US, because he had very close ties with the Russian government. Putin had this to say in response to this question: "There is such a person in the United States, Mr. Soros, who interferes in all affairs throughout the world, and I often hear our American friends saying that America has nothing to do with it as a state. Rumour has it that Mr. Soros wants to shake the euro, the European currency, and this is already being discussed in expert circles. Ask the US State Department why he wants to do it. You will be told that the US State Department has nothing to do with it as this is a personal matter of Mr. George Soros. Here, we can say that this is a personal matter of Mr. Prigozhin. This is my answer to you. Are you satisfied with this answer?"Putin did not give a direct answer to the question of why he has not been able to have a meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump lately. "The pre-election campaign for the Congress is getting started, and the presidential election is not too far away, attacks on the President of the United States continue in different directions. I think that this is the first thing," the Russian leader said explaining the reason why he has not been able to meet Donald Trump lately. Armin Wolf asked a question about the possibility of a nuclear war between the United States and North Korea. According to Vladimir Putin, "this is a terrible assumption," because the DPRK is a close neighbour of Russia, and one of Pyongyang's nuclear test sites is only 190 kilometres from the Russian border."We are pinning great hopes on a personal meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, because mutual claims have gone too far," Putin said.Putin had to answer biased questions about the relations between Russia and Ukraine. He tried to explain Russia's position in detail, but the Austrian journalist tried to take the conversation in another direction.For example, speaking about the MH17 disaster, Armin Wolf dogmatically stated that the passenger plane was shot down with a missile of Russian origin and assumed that it was about time Russia should admit that officially. "If you have some patience and listen to me, then you will know my point of view on this issue, okay?" Putin replied, adding that, firstly, Ukraine has Soviet-made weapons and, secondly, Russia is not allowed to access the materials of the investigation, even though Ukraine can access it. The journalist continued by saying that "everyone already knows where the missile came from." Putin responded: "Malaysian officials have recently stated that they did not see Russia's involvement in the terrible tragedy. They said that they had no evidence to prove it. Don't you know about this?"Armin Wolf continued with a question about Russia's alleged military interference in the Crimean events from 2014."Russian army units have always been present in the Crimea. Do you want to just ask questions all the time or do you want to hear my answers? The first thing that we did when events in Ukraine began...but what kind of events were they? I will now say, and you will tell me yes or no. It was an armed coup and seizure of power. Yes or no, can you tell me?"The journalist mumbled that he was no expert on the subject of the Ukrainian constitution. Explaining how the Crimean peninsula escaped from Ukraine's rampant nationalism and reunited with Russia, Vladimir Putin switched to German in an attempt to convey his message to the Austrian journalist. "What should happen so Russia returns the Crimea to Ukraine?" the journalist asked."There are no such conditions and there cannot be. You have interrupted me yet again. If you had let me finish, you would have understood my point. When the unconstitutional armed coup took place in Ukraine, when power was seized by force, our army units were deployed in Ukraine on legal grounds - there was a Russian army base there. There was no one else there. But there were our armed forces there."The journalist was ready to interrupt Putin again, so the president had to say: "Seien Sie so nett, lassen Sie mich etwas sagen." ["Will you please be so kind and let me proceed."]. Then he continued:"When the spiral of unconstitutional actions in Ukraine started twisting, when the people in the Crimea started sensing danger, when whole trains of nationalists started arriving there, when they  started blocking buses and automotive transport, the people wanted to defend themselves. The first thing that came to mind was to restore their rights that had been received within the framework of Ukraine, when the Crimea was granted autonomy. This is what kicked everything off, and the parliament started working on the process to determine its independence on Ukraine. Is this strictly prohibited by the Charter of the United Nations? No. The right of nations to self-determination is clearly stated there," Putin said."The annexation of the Crimea was the first incident, when a country in Europe annexed a part of another country against its will, which was perceived as a threat to neighbouring states," the journalist interrupted Putin."You know, if you do not like my answers, then you do not ask any questions, but if you want to get my opinion on questions, then you have to be patient," Putin said. "The Crimea gained its independence as a result of the will of the Crimeans in an open referendum, rather than as a result of the invasion of Russian troops. You are talking about annexation, but do you call annexation a referendum held by the people living on this territory? In this case, one should call Kosovo's self-identification an act of annexation too," Putin said. Wolf tried to develop the Crimean question by drawing a parallel with events in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.Putin replied: "Yes, Al-Qaeda's radical groups did want to alienate those territories from the Russian Federation and form their caliphate from the Black to the Caspian Sea. I do not think that Austria and Europe would have been happy about it. Yet, the Chechen people themselves came to an entirely different conclusion in the elections, and the Chechen people signed an agreement with the Russian Federation."When talking about Syria, the journalist claimed that Russia was defending a regime that was using chemical weapons against its people."You said that everyone proved that Assad had used chemical weapons. Yet, our specialists say the opposite, and it goes about the Douma incident, which was used to strike a missile blow on Syria after it was assumed that there were chemical weapons used in the city of Douma," Putin said adding that the OPCW was invited to investigate those events."Instead of waiting for one or two days and giving the OPCW an opportunity to work on the spot, a missile attack was conducted. Please tell me: is this the best way to resolve a question of objectivity of what was happening there? In my opinion, it was an attempt to create conditions that wold make investigation impossible," Putin said. As for Russian domestic affairs, the Austrian reporter asked only a couple of questions about low salaries and the number of the poor."Since 2012, Russia has gone through a number of very difficult challenges in its economy. That was not only because of so-called sanctions and restrictions, but also because prices on Russian traditional export goods had halved. It affected Russia's GDP budget revenues, and ultimately, people's incomes. Yet, we have preserved and strengthened the macroeconomic stability in the country," Putin said. Armin Wolf also asked Putin about his plans for the future, as well as about the Russian opposition. "Some say that you have turned the country into an authoritarian system, in which you are the czar. Is this true?" the journalist asked."No, this is not true, because we have a democratic state, and we all live within the framework of the current Constitution. Our Constitution says that a president can be elected for two consecutive terms. After two legitimate terms of my presidency I left this post, did not change the Constitution and moved to another job, where I served as the prime minister. Afterwards, I returned in 2012 and won the election again," said Putin.The Austrian journalist was very interested why opposition activist Alexei Navalny could not participate in the elections. Wolff also wanted to know why Putin prefers not to call the blogger's name in public."We have a lot of rebels, just like you, just like the United States," Putin replied. "We do not want to have another, second, third or fifth Saakashvili, the former President of Georgia. We do not want people like Saakashvili on our political scene. Russia needs those who bring positive agenda, who know, and not just designate problems, and we enough of them, just like you have in Austria, just like in any other country," Putin added. Wolf continued insisting that Navalny was not given an opportunity to run, and people could not even take a look at the candidate. "Voters can look at any person they want because the Internet is free for us. No one shut him away. The media is free. People can always go out and say something out loud, and this is what various political figures do. If a person acquires some sort of electors' support, then he becomes a figure which the state must communicate and negotiate with. Yet, if their level of confidence is 0,01, 0,02, 0,03 percent, then what can we talk about? This is just another Saakashvili. Why do we need such clowns?" Putin said. "My presidential term has just begun, it's only a start, so let's not put the cart before the horse. I've never violated the Constitution of my country and I'm not going to do that," the president said answering a question about his plans for the future. At the end of the interview, the journalist asked Putin a very unusual question that, as it seems, no one has ever asked the Russian president before. The question was about Putin's so-called "alpha male photos," on which he posed semi-naked. According to the journalists, it is unusual for a head of state to publish such photos for the general public."Well, thank God, you said semi-naked, and not naked. If I'm having a holiday, I do not think I should hide in the bushes, there's nothing bad about it," Putin said. Later, Armin Wolf shared his impressions of the interview with the Russian president. He said that the Russian president was a very artful and complex interlocutor. Wolf added that he was impressed with Putin's quiet voice most. "As a matter of fact, my expectations were justified. Judging from what we see on television, Vladimir Putin is not very tall, I knew it, we all know what he looks like, but there's a thing that really struck me. He has a rather sonorous voice, but he speaks very quietly, especially before and after the interview, and even quieter when he speaks German. You have to concentrate a lot to understand him, because he has a very quiet voice. This struck me most in such a powerful man," said the journalist.

Prices on gasoline in Russia are going crazy again. This is amazing: no matter how oil prices would fluctuate, prices on gasoline always rise for Russian customers. In May 2018, gasoline prices went up by one ruble in only one week. It's not the rules of the WTO or a market economy - someone just gave a go-ahead from the top: the elections are over, and now is the time for unpopular decisions.On May 21-25, retail prices for gasoline AI-92 and AI-95 increased by seven percent in Russia. Vadim Novikov, member of the expert council for the development of competition under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Pravda.Ru that the budget of the country takes advantage of high oil prices.If oil prices grow, gasoline prices should go up again, and the government has no reason to interfere in this market situation, the expert said. "It is not only market sellers that compete, but also ordinary buyers. Accordingly, Russian buyers compete with foreign buyers. As practice shows, conditions of certain equivalence appear so that sellers could deal with all groups of buyers - everyone should give equivalent bids," Vadim Novikov told Pravda.Ru. "Russia can close borders, and then the Russian market will never be linked with the foreign market, but then Russia will lose export revenues, which currently make the backbone of the Russian budget," the expert concluded.Why not try and do that? Is there a market in Russia at all? Gasoline prices were rock stable prior to the presidential election. However, as soon as the new government was formed, the situation changed dramatically. Before the elections, the volumes of oil products that would be sold at exchange made up 50-60 thousand tons daily. This volume would reduce the growth of wholesale prices and, accordingly, retail ones. Currently, they sell 10-12 thousand tons, which pushed wholesale prices up by 12 percent in a month and by 30 percent over the past week. It is hard to tell who gives a go-ahead for the change in sales, but there is someone, of course.In other words, the Russian economy is a directive economy in the worst sense of the word, because it ensures political victories. Capitalists of a smaller rank take advantage of it too. The cost of gasoline should not greatly affect the growth of prices on food, electricity, etc., but it does - with a profit margin of 100-200 percent, which triggers inflation. The boomerang returns with, among other things, lower excises that go for road maintenance.As a result, it is common people, common Russian taxpayers and customers, who pay for all this. They will have to work more to be able to retire and they will have to compensate for the price growth through a higher value added tax. Is the new old government going to do anything about it? Read article in Russian 

On the second day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a plenary meeting was held, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and IMF head Christine Lagarde took part.During his welcoming speech, President Putin said that such meetings, which have already become traditional events held in a very friendly and warm atmosphere, are especially important now, against the background of highly intense international relations. "Such a discussion, informal dialogue is especially important today, when the system of international political, economic and trade relations is undergoing a serious test of durability. Conditions for doing business, the share of investments, and everyday life are changing dynamically," Putin said. Until recently, he said, the core of the world economy was based on two most important principles. "First off, it is the freedom of entrepreneurship, trade and investment - an integral part of the rules in international relations. Secondly, it is sustainability and predictability of these rules, secured by legal mechanism. However, today we are witnessing not just erosion, but the demolition of these grounds. This system is breaking down. Today's rule is to violate rules. One thing is clear: violations have become an official tool for many countries, and many countries are forced to take mirror measures and adapt themselves," Putin said. "Today, it is impossible to agree even on symbolic steps in the world economy. The era of global "free trade" is coming to an end. Today, it goes about a new version of protectionism. Protectionist measures and trade restrictions are taken under the guise of national security references. The twisted spiral of sanctions and restrictions continues spiralling further, affecting an increasing number of countries and companies, including those that were certain that the regime of trade restrictions will never affect them. Yet, arbitrariness and lack of control inevitably leads to the temptation of using instruments of restriction again and again, broader and broader, to the right and to the left, at any occasion, regardless of all talks about political loyalty, solidarity, previous agreements and long-term cooperative ties. On a global scale, such behaviour of centres of power is fraught with negative, if not catastrophic, consequences. This confluence of factors may lead to a global systemic crisis, which humanity has never encountered yet. "Such a system of global mistrust may take the world market to a state of subsistence economy. Rules should be uniform and transparent and legitimate for all players of the world market. We do not need trade wars today, we need full-fledged trade peace. It is important to maintain respect for each other: Russia stands for freedom of trade and world integration, for free dialogue on the way to development. We encourage our partners from Europe, America, Asia and other regions of the world to move together towards sustainable development," Putin said. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke next. Macron supported Vladimir Putin's initiatives and  called to be even more flexible and bolder in economic cooperation. He quoted a few excerpts from "War and Peace," and then stated that "in France courage returned to us in our minds. Let us be as flexible as in judo. We need to fight what Solzhenitsyn called the dawn of boldness ... one must be brave!" Macron said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was more reserved, but more specific. He spoke in favour of Japan's participation in the project of creating a transport infrastructure for the delivery of Russian liquified natural gas to Asian markets via the Sea of Japan. He also made a subtle allusion to the issue of the Kuril Islands dispute.  Abe ended his speech by saying that Asia should become a peaceful, prosperous and developing region, noting that one needs to address the North Korean question accordingly. Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China, Wang Qishan, also devoted his speech to the "economy of trust." "One needs to respect each other to create the atmosphere of trust," Mr. Qishan said. He strongly condemned the "baton of sanctions", because such a policy poses a threat to the global market.The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, also said that the rules and transparency of trade and economy were indeed in jeopardy.  She said that Russia was coping with difficulties and achieved an incredible breakthrough. However, she called for greater integration of Russia into the world economy and said that Russia needs to abandon the "raw material economic model". Christine Lagarde also spoke about the danger of globalisation and said that it was not a fair process at all times. That was an unprecedented statement for the head of the IMF to make.

Russia will not be the only country to use the Crimean Bridge which President Putin is opening today, on May 15. Ukraine and European countries will be able to use the bridge for profitable transit to Asia, Senator Sergei Tsekov of the Republic of Crimea said. On May 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the opening ceremony of the automotive section of the Crimean Bridge - a super 19-kilometre-long construction from mainland Russia to the Crimean Peninsula. The state contract for the construction of the bridge provided for the launch of the automotive section in December 2018, but the first stage of the project has been delivered six months ahead of the deadline. For motorists, car traffic on the bridge will be opened on May 16 at 05:30 MSK. Local residents - Crimeans and Kuban residents - will be the first to drive through it.Sergei Tsekov, Senator from the Republic of Crimea, a member of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, told Pravda.Ru that the bridge has established direct connection with Russia. "Crimea has now been linked to Russia. This gives us additional opportunities in economy, social sphere, logistics," the official said. Indeed, the construction of the bridge to the Crimea removes the transport blockade of the Crimea, which will be broken completely when the railway section of the bridge is launched in 2019. "This is a major event for the country after Russia's reunification with the Crimea," Sergei Tsekov said in an interview with Pravda.Ru.According to the senator, Russia has showed itself as a highly developed technological country having built the bridge. Russia used state-of-the-art technologies for the construction of support structures installed deep into the seafloor. This bridge is not only the longest one in Russia, but also in Europe.Sergei Tsekov is convinced that the bridge will be protected accordingly from saboteurs. A special service will be established to protect both the surface and the underwater elements of the bridge. "The bridge is important for both the Crimea and Russia. It is important for Ukraine, it is important for Europe, and I am confident that over time the bridge will be used by various economic structures of Ukraine to transport products to the territory of the Crimea. When the relationship between  Ukraine and Russia becomes normal - and it will become normal -  both the territory of the Crimea and the bridge itself will be used for the transit of goods from Ukraine and Europe to Asia. Therefore, the opening of the Crimean Bridge is a landmark event in the life of the European community," the official told Pravda.Ru. The construction of the Crimean Bridge, connecting the Crimea and Russia's Kuban region, began two years ago. The bridge is 19 kilometres long: 11.5 km on land and 7.5 km across the sea.  The bridge across the Kerch Strait consists of parallel road and railway sections. The bridge has four lanes, the maximum speed of movement is 120 kilometres per hour. The railway consists of two paths. The estimated speed of passenger trains along the bridge is 120 kilometres per hour, the speed for freight trains is 80 kilometres per hour.Lyuba LulkoPravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

In his inaugural speech, Vladimir Putin spoke about such things as "deep protection" and "bureaucratic deadness" that Russia needs to struggle with. There were other highly important things in his speech that deserve attention. In particular, Putin spoke about the need for a comprehensive breakthrough in many areas and said that the decisions that the authorities are going to make during his current term as president will determine the future of the country for decades to come. Everything is more or less clear about the Russian conservatism and traditional values. However, Putin's message about the need for a breakthrough and the need for freedom as the basis for this breakthrough appeares as a new and fresh feature in Putin's public appearances. It seems that the president spoke about it for the first time during his most recent Address to the Federal Assembly. He reiterated those theses in a more concise form in the inaugural speech.

Former musician Alexey Lebedinsky, for example, bluntly stated that "it is high time to shoot." "It is about time people should resort to terror to respond to terrorism of the state against people to eliminate the bastards that have seized power," the singer said. In an interview with a Ukrainian publication, Lebedinsky said: "We can not ask the civilized world to save the Russian people from its tyrants, we can't admit to ourselves that we don't have the guts for it, because those in power are strong, unpunished and merciless." According to him, "peoples deserve their rulers, and I'm increasingly sorry for the herds of people on the whole. I'm also increasingly sorry for certain people who understand their helplessness in trying to change anything."

The inauguration ceremony for President Putin was held in the Moscow Kremlin on May 7. This has been Putin's fourth inauguration. A few minutes before noon, the president left the First Building of the Kremlin, where his office is located, and went to the parade residence of the head of state - the Grand Kremlin Palace - to take the oath. Putin went to the inauguration on a "Cortege" project vehicle.At the Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin ascended the Grand Main Staircase and strolled through the halls of the palace - Georgievsky, Aleksandrovsky and Andreevsky - to the sound of a counter march and fanfare. Putting his right hand on the Constitution, Putin said the text of the oath. The chairman of the Constitutional Court of Russia announced that the head of state was sworn in. Putin received the symbols of power and a duplicate of the president's standard was raised over the residence to the music of the Russian anthem.Then Putin addressed the citizens of the Russian Federation. In his speech, Putin called Russia a country of "grandiose victories and accomplishments" and thanked the Russians for their support at the last presidential election. "In this support, there is faith and hope that Russia will continue to strengthen its power, and people will live better," he said.The president also assured that, when taking office as president, he "particularly keenly" realises his "enormous responsibility to everyone" in Russia. Serving Russia is "above everything else to me," he said. "It is my duty and meaning of life to do everything for Russia, for its present and future, peaceful and prosperous." "There is no time for swinging," Putin concluded.Vladimir Putin noted that Russia has been able to achieve a lot recently. Russia has learned to defend her interests and managed to revive the pride of the Fatherland. The country also ensured its security and defence capability. These areas will be given first priority attention in the future, he assured, but the main purpose now is associated with settling domestic issues, ensuring safety and health of Russian citizens. "Our guide is Russia for people," Putin said. "We need breakthroughs in all spheres of life," he said. Improving the quality of life of Russians, including education and healthcare, as well as protecting motherhood and childhood would be his prime objectives as president, Putin said adding that he would make every effort to achieve those goals.At the end of the ceremony, artillery weapons fired 30 solemn volleys from the side of the Kremlin embankment. Afterwards, Putin walked through the inner passage of the Grand Kremlin Palace to Sobornaya Square to see the parade of the Presidential Regiment, where more than 2,000 guests were waiting for Putin to appear. Vladimir Putin refused from the traditional passage of the presidential motorcade along Moscow to the Kremlin, which became a peculiarity of the ceremony. As for the list of foreign guests, who were invited to attend the inauguration, there was temporary charge d'affaires of the Lithuanian Embassy in Moscow Giedrius Galkauskas and American actor Steven Seagal, who received Russian citizenship in 2006. Seagal came to the inauguration with his wife.Pravda.Ru

President Vladimir Putin considers an attempt to restore relations between Russia and the West, but his maneuver is limited to one man only - Alexey Kudrin, The Financial Times believes. An article in the authoritative newspaper about the upcoming reshuffling in the upper echelons of the Russian authorities after Putin's inauguration says that Putin considers appointing ex-Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to an important position to make him responsible for the economic strategy and efforts to establish contacts with Europe and the United States.Western leaders would see such an appointment as a sign of Russia's desire for compromise, although it remains unknown when Mr. Kudrin managed to become a symbol of this desire, let alone the assumption that Putin was considering such an option. References to "an unnamed official of the Russian government" and "a former official from the Cabinet" are not very convincing.However, the article gives the name of one expert - economist Yevgeny Gontmakher. "If Kudrin joined the administration or government, it would indicate that they have agreed on a certain agenda of change, including in foreign policy, because without change in foreign policy, reforms are simply impossible in Russia," he said, the newspaper wrote, adding that "it would be a powerful message, because Kudrin is the only one in the top echelons with whom they will talk in the west and towards whom there is a certain trust."Why is Kudrin the only one? Why is there "a certain trust" to him in the West? There are no answers to these two questions either. It is worthy of note that Mr. Gontmakher is a member of the Kudrin Committee of Civil Initiatives. During the recent election campaign, he was a confidant of presidential candidate Grigory Yavlinsky, whose electoral program was built around the need to come to terms with the West as soon as possible. It is an open secret that Mr. Kudrin, who was dismissed from the post of the Finance Minister in 2011, is still a part of the Kremlin. He participates in the development of economic programs. In 2012 and 2015 he was offered to head a relevant department at the presidential administration, but it did not go any further. Of course, it never occurred to anyone to assume that Mr. Kudrin was perhaps the last chance for Russia to restore relations with the West.Judging by the article in The Financial Times, the idea is about the effectiveness of Western sanctions, which began to influence both the domestic political situation in Russia and personnel decisions. Mr. Kudrin believes that it is impossible for Russia to adapt to them now. In general, the motives behind the hypothetical appointment of Mr. Kudrin seem very doubtful, just like the sources that substantiate such a development. Oleg ArtyukovPravda.RuRead article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

President Putin may sign a new decree after his inauguration on May 7 about the development of healthcare system and infrastructure in Russia. It is believed that the decree will stipulate the budget of nearly ten trillion rubles for these purposes, Bloomberg said. The number can be revised. Most of the spending is scheduled for the period after 2020, although it was said that in order to increase spending on social needs, the authorities will cut expenditure in other areas and will look for other sources of income. In particular, it is planned to raise taxes and introduce a new 4% sales tax, although these measures have not been approved yet. The new decree is part of Putin's assignments that were promulgated following the results of the president's message to the Federal Assembly. The presidential administration is to prepare decrees on "improving the living standards of citizens, ensuring the sustainable growth of their real incomes, increasing the level of pensions above the inflation rate and halving the level of poverty in the country."In addition, by analogy with 2012 decrees, new "national goals" are to be elaborated to target such issues as education, health, housing, roads and small businesses.The chief of the Accounting Chamber, Tatyana Golikova, noted that to achieve the above-mentioned goals, the Russian economy needs to grow by four percent a year. "The programs that we have today do not embrace resources of the regions," she said. The authorities are not going to expose the sources, from where they are going to find the funds for Putin's new ten-trillion ruble decree. Some of the costs will be realized by reducing spending, for example, on defense or by redistributing budget funds. Conducting a tax maneuver for the entire economy for 2019-2020 could increase budget revenues by almost 450 billion rubles. Another possible source of income is raising the retirement age. Depending on how significant it will be, the budget may save 0.1-0.2% of GDP by 2050.The vectors of increasing Russia's spending have been chosen correctly, the head of the Center for Economic Studies of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements, Vasily Koltashov told Pravda.Ru. "Social spending and improving the financial situation of Russians who work for the state is a very important goal to pursue. It, in fact, determines the future of the domestic market and, probably, the society in general. Therefore, the redistribution of funds for such purposes is the right move to make. The problem that arises immediately after such a decision is called the liberal bureaucratization of such departments as health care, education, and the entire social sphere."It goes about a lot of paperwork, formalities and reports, especially for science and education workers. If we talk about tax reforms, then we do not have a progressive tax. There are very large taxes on salaries - the Russians pay 13 percent of this tax. Plus, there are a lot of fiscal deductions that make poor people even poorer. I believe it would be reasonable to take some from defense. The state needs to pay more attention to social needs and send positive signals to the private sector."Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Last week, it was reported that the Central Bank of Turkey withdrew the national gold reserve from the US Federal Reserve System. Given the fact that the United States has been imposing whole packages of sanctions on Russia one after another since 2014, why does Russia still keep its gold and other assets in the USA? If it is not in the USA, then where does Russia keep her gold? Turkey's "American gold" was partly returned to Turkey and deposited to European banks, particularly in England and Switzerland. Ankara's gold reserve totals 564.6 tons.Accumulating physical gold by central banks has become a trend lately. Even such a small European country as Hungary returned three tons of its gold from London in early 2018. Venezuela, Holland, Austria and Germany did the same - the countries that feel pressure from the part of the Washington consensus. For example, both the European Union and the Western world have been criticizing Hungary heavily. The nation's gold reserve gives Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a reason to feel more confident.What about Russia? She has been the main "whipping girl" in the eyes of the "civilized world" lately. Yevgeny Fedorov, a member of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, told Pravda.Ru, that the information about the location of Russia's gold is classified." "Some of Russia's gold used to be stored in the USA, but we do not know whether Russia has returned that gold," the MP said. According to Yevgeny Fedorov, the Central Bank of Russia "is a branch of the US Federal Reserve, so I would not be surprised if we still keep some of our gold in the United States," he said. "If we don't keep our gold in the USA, then we do keep some of our assets there - i.e. we support the US economy, which is a very bad phenomenon," Fedorov told Pravda.Ru. This policy, the MP added, is stipulated in Article 15 of the Constitution, the system of international treaties and the status of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. To change such a state of affairs, Russia needs to conduct revolutionary reforms. "It is only now, when the law on counter-sentences raises the need to remove US managers from Russian ministries and the Central Bank. If Putin wins with his policy to end the subordination to the American unipolar world, then everything may work out well," Yevgeny Fedorov told Pravda.Ru. In turn, researcher Mikhail Khazin told Pravda.Ru that Russia does not keep its physical gold in the US. "We keep our assets in US government securities, but we have been recently reducing the share of these assets significantly. There is a probability that the Americans will not give them back, so we need to get rid of those bonds," the expert told Pravda.Ru. Pavel Salin, director of the Center for Policy Studies of the Finance University, also said that Russia does not keep its physical gold in the United States."The Russian gold reserve is stored in Russia, and the foreign exchange reserves are kept at US Treasuries. We tend to reduce their amount, but it is impossible to do it instantly, because it will look like an attempt to collapse the US debt market with all ensuing consequences. It could also trigger a major conflict with China that holds $1 trillion 200 million in these bonds and Japan - about one trillion dollars," the expert told Pravda.Ru.According to the US Treasury, the Central Bank of Russia sold US government bonds worth 11.9 billion dollars from December to February, having this reduced the volume of assets by 11.2 percent ($93.8 billion). It is worthy of note that immediately after the introduction of sanctions against Russia in March 2014, the Central Bank of Russia withdrew about $115 billion from the US Federal Reserve System (FRS). However, two weeks after the incident, the Russian Central Bank returned the funds to Fed accounts, Reuters says. Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada Valery Garbuzov compared the qualities of the commanders-in-chief of Russia and the United States. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, as well as the military of the two countries, will never let a military confrontation spark. "Getting back to the question of risks of a military confrontation, I am 100% certain that the military will not allow it, and, of course, neither President Putin nor, I'm sure, President Trump will allow it. They are the leaders elected by their peoples, and they are responsible to their people for peace and tranquility," Lavrov said in an interview with RIA Novosti. Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada, Valery Garbuzov, suggested in an interview with Pravda.Ru that Lavrov's optimism is based on one argument: "The United States and Russia are nuclear powers. "We saw from the Cold War experience that the confrontation was tough, but it had not developed into direct confrontation," the expert told Pravda.Ru.

The SWIFT system, which ensures the transfer of financial messages between all banks of the world, will not disconnect Russia despite Western sanctions. In the political conflict between Russia and the West, SWIFT takes a neutral position, SWIFT CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt said. The SWIFT system will thus stay neutral in the conflict between Russia and the West and will not disconnect the country from the system of financial payments because of the sanctions, CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt said at the SWIFT business forum in Moscow, RBC reports. "The question of disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT financial reporting system is not worth it, and our position remains unchanged: we are a neutral party that provides for the interconnection of users and whose purpose is to service the global financial industry," Mr. Leibbrandt said. SWIFT declared its neutrality back in 2014, when the question of disconnecting Russia from the system was raised for the first time following the coup in Ukraine and Russia's reunification with the Crimea. "Our mission is to be a global and neutral service provider," the company said in a statement back then. The European Parliament and the EU Council discussed such a possibility against the backdrop of sanctions in connection with the Ukrainian crisis, but the SWIFT management considered Russia's possible disconnection highly challenging to the reputation of the company and stressed that it would not make such decisions under the influence of political pressure. Nevertheless, the West still believes that disconnecting Russia from the interbank messaging system is possible. In August 2017, the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB) and Tempbank were disconnected from SWIFT, after the owner of the relevant software refused to cooperate with them because of US sanctions. RNCB, which works in the Crimea, said that the move would not affect its work as the bank operated only inside Russia. In January, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich acknowledged that disconnection from SWIFT could create great problems for the Russian banking system. If it happens, he said, Russian banks would have to switch to an outdated technology, but Western companies would face serious problems too. In early April 2018, the United States adopted a new package of anti-Russian sanctions, which has become the most stringent one since 2014. Shortly thereafter, Washington announced its readiness to prepare new sanctions in the near future to punish Russia for supporting the Syrian authorities. It was said that Moscow was getting ready for a series of tough measures, including disconnection from SWIFT. The financial reporting system itself is based in Belgium and does not comply with US law. However, chances for Washington to succeed in cutting Russia off remain high.To counter such a threat, Russia has been developing its own analog to SWIFT that would be used inside the country. The system is called the Financial Communications System of the Bank of Russia (known for the Russian initials as SPFS). On April 13, Rosteс (State Corporation for Assistance to Development, Production and Export of Advanced Technology) announced that it was switching to SPFS. SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. The system was established in 1973. Today, SWIFT unites more than 10,000 banking and financial organisations in 210 countries and processes about 1.8 billion messages a year.Pravda.Ru

The Russian administration believes that the United States will soon announce most severe sanctions against Russia. Russia will be prepared for such a turn of events, RBC reports. The Kremlin believes that the US may impose sanctions on Russia's public debt and disconnect the country from SWIFT payment system. It is also believed that Washington may impose strict sanctions on Russia's two largest banks - Sberbank and VTB. According to two federal officials, whose names were not exposed, the Russian authorities started developing countermeasures to respond to the most negative scenario long before the USA published the infamous Kremlin report in January. Previously, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that the United States would impose new sanctions against Russia on Monday, April 16. It was assumed that Washington would take restrictive measures against the companies linked to Syrian President Bashar Assad. However, White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said later that the decision about the new sanctions against Russia had not been made yet. The Russian authorities supposedly consider two options for possible US sanctions against Russia's sovereign debt. According to the first one of them, the USA will prohibit investing in Russia's federal loan bonds for American investors only. For a more stringent option, the ban on the purchase of the Russian national debt will be extraterritorial in nature extending to foreign (including Russian) legal entities. Currently, foreign investors hold more than a third of the Russian national debt.As protection measures, Russia considers a possibility of creating a special bank for the purchase of the Russian national debt, as well as taking certain steps that will "close" the names of those who buy the Russian national debt. Russia should be prepared for the introduction of US restrictions on investment in the Russian national debt, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on the sidelines of the Krasnoyarsk economic forum.Russia already has a special bank to service the state defence order, whereas Russian banks classify some of their public information in an attempt to protect themselves against sanctions. Another measure - "attracting people's money" through the sale of federal loan bonds to citizens - was discussed in January, the source said.In addition, the Russian administration believes that Washington may disconnect the country from SWIFT payment system. This question has been discussed for several years already, after Russia reunited with the Crimea. Russia's disconnection from SWIFT may cause the Russian banking system to collapse. Russia may not be able to make external payments, especially for gas supplies. However, Moscow believes it can be possible to make external payments through agents, so-called bridge companies (intermediary companies).The Kremlin is also highly concerned about the possible blockage of Russia's largest banks, such as Sberbank and VTB. The two banks already operate under sectoral sanctions. However, a ban on correspondent accounts in the US or inclusion on the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals) list is a much more stringent measure that will make international operations virtually impossible.Pravda.Ru

As a response to US sanctions, Russian MPs suggested Russian employers should not hire US citizens and citizens of the countries, who supported the imposition of sanctions against Russia. The draft law about Russia's response to US sanctions was published on the website of the lower house of the parliament. The prohibition to hire US employees, the authors of the document wrote, may affect even "highly qualified specialists."According to Russian MPs, such a move is to "protect the rights and freedoms of Russians, as well as interests and security of the Russian Federation" after the introduction of new sanctions against Russian companies, businessmen and heads of state-run corporations.In another initiative, Russian MP suggest restricting the activities of American auditors, as well as legal and consulting companies "to ensure state and municipal needs, as well as the needs of certain types of legal entities."The above-mentioned and other restrictions will affect companies that remain under the jurisdiction of the United States, as well as the companies, in which more than 25% belong to American legal entities. In addition, the measures will be taken against the companies from the countries that joined the actions of the US authorities and imposed economic sanctions on certain sectors of the Russian economy, Russian companies and individuals.The above-mentioned draft law provides for measures relating to services and goods from the United States of America:prohibition or restriction of imports of agricultural products, raw materials and food;-   prohibition or restriction of imports of alcohol and tobacco products;-   prohibition or restriction of imports of medicines, except for those whose analogues are not produced in Russia;-   prohibition or restriction of exports of products and equipment from rare earth metals;-   prohibition of state and municipal purchases of technological equipment and software;-   exhaustion of the exclusive right to trademarks in respect of goods owned by US citizens;-   prohibition to attract highly qualified specialists;setting higher fees on air navigation services for aircraft engaged in the transportation of goods and using Russian airspace. Furthermore, Russia intends to terminate cooperation with the USA in the following industries: - atomic industry;- aircraft building;- rocket industry;- consulting, auditing and legal services.The above-menrtioned organisations will also be prohibited from participating in sales of federal property and privatisation.The text of the bill also says that the Russian government will have the right to expand the list of services and goods that fall under restrictions. To crown it all, the Russian authorities will be able to make the list of US citizens who will be banned from entering Russia.Pravda.Ru

The index of the Moscow Exchange (formerly known as MICEX) has lost nine percent, the RTS index has fallen by more then ten percent. The decline was the largest for the companies, the top manager of which were affected by the recent sanctions that the US Treasury announced on Friday, April 6. The sanctions also affected metallurgical companies and participants of the financial market. On Monday, April 9, the Moscow Exchange  (former MICEX) index dropped 9%, the RTS index - 10.7%.The shares of the following companies showed the largest decline: Rusal (-26.7%), Polyus (-8.8%), Norilsk Nickel (-10%), Raspadskaya (-7.2%), Mechel ( -10%), En + (-17.7%), VTB (-6.7%), Sberbank (-6.8%), ALROSA (-7%).Rusal securities started falling on the Moscow Exchange in the morning of April 9 and were traded at a minimum of 15.04 rubles per share, which was 46% less than on Friday, April 6. The Moscow Stock Exchange suspended the trading and announced a discrete auction for Rusal securities due to a fall in the value of shares by more than 20% within ten minutes.On April 9, the ruble also experienced a considerable decline in value for the first time in months. During the day, when the USA imposed new sanctions on Russian businessmen and officials close to President Putin, the Russian ruble dropped by 50 kopecks vs. the US dollar. On Friday evening, experts promised that the decline will continue at a more serious pace.Since the opening of trading on Monday, April 9, the Russian started declining rapidly for reasons of geopolitical risks.Afterwards, the US dollar rose by 1.14 rubles reached the mark of 59.31 rubles per dollar for the first time since December 25, 2017. The euro rate has grown by 2.16 rubles and made up 73.46 rubles per one euro. This is a record fall for the Russian ruble rate for several months. In addition, the ruble has ignored a sharp rise in oil quotations.Experts believe that such a considerable decline in the ruble rate has occurred not only because of the recent sanctions that the USA imposed on Friday, but also due to other  imminent restrictive measures related to the chemical attack in Syria's Douma. Washington held Russia responsible for the attack, whereas US President Trump said that Russia would have to pay a "big price" for the chemical attack in Syria. In April 2013, the United States started imposing sanctions on a number of Russian officials, whom the US Treasury found involved in the death of legal adviser of the Hermitage Capital Management investment fund, Sergei Magnitsky. The original list included 18 people: they were barred from entering the US, their accounts in American banks were frozen. At the moment, the "Magnitsky list" counts 51 people.In the spring of 2014, the US Treasury issued a decree on imposing sanctions on Russia in connection with the conflict in the southeast of Ukraine and because of Russia's actions to reunite with the Crimea. The original list included eleven people, such as presidential aide Vladislav Surkov, presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev, Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matvienko, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and others. They were banned from entering the US territory, and their bank accounts and property were to be blocked in case of detection. Subsequently, the list had been expanded several times and currently includes 205 people (mostly Russian and Ukrainian citizens. Pravda.Ru

The coverage of the Russian presidential election in the Western press predictably reflects the poor knowledge of the Russian reality and the Russian mentality. Of course, Western journalists make their materials for their internal consumers, but their conclusions clearly indicate that the West has not come even a little bit closer to its ultimate goal to either destroy or remake Russia and its people. The first thing that catches the eye in all analytical articles is the assumption about Vladimir Putin overtaking Stalin in terms of political longevity. "Putin's victory will take his political dominance of Russia to nearly a quarter of a century, until 2024, by which time he will be 71. Only Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ruled for longer," Business Standard wrote. This assertion implicitly draws parallels with the Stalin era, which in the West is commonly referred to as "fascist." In addition, Putin is criticised for his "irrepressible" desire for power. Such an assumption may produce an impression on Western readers (although the growth of popularity of Mussolini, Salazar and Franco in corresponding countries breaks all records), but Russia has long learned to separate flies from meat chops and look at Stalin's figure dialectically. On the one hand, yes, he was a dictator, who killed too many, but on the other hand, he was a politician who turned the Soviet Union into an industrial power, who was intolerant of corruption, who attached first priority to Soviet family, culture and education.As for political longevity, it is the people of Russia who elect Putin, in contrast, for example, Germany, where Angela Merkel has been elected by a handful of elites for 20 years already. Which option is more democratic? The second thing that attracts one's attention about the coverage of the Russian presidential election in the West refers to opposition activist Aleksei Navalny. "Putin's main foe, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race because of a criminal conviction widely seen as politically motivated. Navalny has called for a boycott of the vote," FoxNews said. Putin responded very well to the above: "This, apparently, speaks about the preferences of the US administration in leaderships of other countries. It says whom they would like to see in the country's leadership ... In this sense, they've lost. It would be better if they kept silent," Putin said in January at a meeting with media executives. Indeed, the persona Navalny is clearly too far from being somewhere near Solzhenitsyn or Sakharov.Thirdly, Western journalists say that the Russian authorities used the administrative resource to ensure a high turnout. FoxNews quoted a 20-year-old woman named Daria Suslina and Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman, who were terrified of the "pressure.""They are using everything: schools, kindergartens, hospitals - the battle for the turnout is unprecedented," said Roizman, one of the rare opposition politicians to hold a significant elected office," FoxNews reports. It is important to note here that the administrative resource did not call to vote for Putin - people were encourage to go and VOTE, and these are two totally different things. Fourthly, Western journalists buy into the idea that the reason for Putin's victory is his ability to play on the desire of the Russians to rebuff the West in Syria, in Ukraine and everywhere else. Moreover, they assert that this "tsarist chauvinism" is brought up on the ill interpretation of friendly intentions of the West to sow democracy in "bad countries." Western media rightly conclude, though, that British Prime Minister Theresa May, when trying to consolidate the British on the eve of Brexit and being unable to see a log in her own eye, played into Putin's hands with the case of Sergei Skripal.Responding to all the bullying is not the prime goal for the Russian authorities. The ultimate goal is to make people happy with their lives in Russia, editor of Atlantico.fr website Jean-Marc Sylvester wrote.Fifthly, a lot has been said about violations. Anton Troianovski wrote on pages of The Washington Post that the Russian authorities had arranged a massive spectacle from the Arctic to the ISS to show the scale of popular support without saying a word about numerous fakes that came from Navalny's supporters. The author gives an original interpretation to the voter turnout in the Crimea claiming that the Crimeans had been persuaded that without Putin the Crimea would fall into the abyss of war and gay marriage. Finally, the presidential election in Russia has convinced the West that the latter must not back down in front of such a "chauvinistic", "racist", "intolerant", etc. country as Russia. Australian television channel ABC in the person of Jennifer Mathers believes that Russia uses a wide range of hidden tools of intelligence and special services and neglects the rules of civilised behaviour. "If the West really is coming to the end of its patience with Russia, it could make Mr Putin's next six years as president a lot less comfortable," she wrote. Robert Kuttner at the Huffington Post expands on the idea and suggests cutting Russia off the banking system, prohibiting Russians from buying real estate in the West, restricting their entry to Western countries.Italian journalist and politician Giulietto Chiesa told Pravda.Ru that all attempts to put pressure on Russia and the Russians were doomed to failure, because the elections showed the unity of the Russians around their president. The Russophobic hysteria in the West is not going to abate in the coming days, months and years, the journalist believes."The West believes that it should break Russia, because Russia violates its rights. These are plans for many years to come. I'll tell you frankly: they need to be afraid of the strong Russia, and there is no other way to win," Chiesa said.What is troubling is that Western analysts do not understand why Trump came to power, and why Putin can still retains it. Today's middle-class Americans live worse than their parents lived, but in today's Russia, the younger generation lives better than their parents used to live. Above all, however, the Russians have always put the national idea above material well-being.Lyuba Lulko (Stepushova)Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Russia and the United States are entering the arms race of a new type - the technological arms race. The new race will focus on a warfare in outer space, and the 1967 treaty is not an obstacle for it, military expert Sergei Sudakov believes. It took the US two weeks to give an answer to Putin's demonstration of Russia's state-of-the-art weapons, such as, for example, the Avangard platform, which strikes targets on the ground from outer space bypassing air defence systems. On March 13, Donald Trump, speaking before soldiers in California, announced the beginning of the creation of space forces within US Armed Forces.Professor of the Academy of Military Sciences, political scientist, Americanist and candidate of political sciences Sergei Sudakov told Pravda.Ru that these days, the one who takes the lead in space, takes the lead on the ground. Space weapons that make all means of conventional air defences pointless, is a breakthrough, which, as the political scientist believes, forms the trend of the development of modern weapons for 10-15 years to come. This time, however, Russia is the leader, and the US only has to catch up. "It will be a new arms race, not a quantitative one, but a technology-oriented race, and the main question is, how much every country will have to pay for innovations. Russia's innovations in the aerospace sector cost a lot less than those of the United States," said Sergey Sudakov in an interview with Pravda.Ru.The expert believes that the treaty from 1967, signed by the USSR, the USA and Great Britain prohibiting the deployment of any weapons of mass destruction in outer space refers to nuclear weapons that will be staying there in a standby mode until a strike is required." "One will have to develop special mechanisms to protect satellites and data transfer channels, because it is impossible to control troops when there is no connection with satellites, and the army is simply blind and deaf," Sergei Sudakov told Pravda.Ru. The above-mentioned treaty from 1967, which unites more than 100 countries, binds its members not to deploy weapons of mass destruction in space. Yet, the treaty does not regulate the deployment of conventional weapons in space. The parties to the treaty also agreed not to test weapons, conduct military exercises, build military bases on celestial bodies, such as planets, planetoids, asteroids.Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he learned about the hijacking of an aircraft only a minute before the start of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. The hijackers, Putin said, wanted the plane be redirected to Sochi. Later it turned out, however, that it was just a stupid joke of a drunk passenger. Putin shared the story in a documentary by Andrei Kondrashov, which was published in social networks.According to Putin, "somewhere in the middle of the way, an aide-de-camp gave me the phone with  one of the heads of the operational headquarters for ensuring the safety of the Olympic Games on the line. He reported that a plane had been hijacked. The plane was bound to Istanbul from Ukraine, but the hijackers wanted it to land it in Sochi.""The same chief of the security staff called again some time later and said that it was a drunken joke, that the aircraft was flying to Turkey and would be landing there soon," Putin added. Also in the documentary, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the tragedy with the Kursk nuclear submarine. According to him, the sinking of the Russian submarine occurred because of the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the Russian army at that time."After the collapse of the Soviet Union, we had enormous difficulties in the economy, in the social sphere, and in the army too. Of course, all that could not pass the army by," the president said in an interview for the documentary simply titled "Putin." The tragedy of the Kursk submarine came as a manifestation of the general state of affairs in the Armed Forces.Putin said that he had hardly sworn in as president after elections by the time when the Kursk sank and did not even know that there were large-scale military exercises taking place in the Barents Sea."The Minister of Defence called me and said that we lost the submarine, but the sub was found, and they were going to work on that question. It was not clear that something tragic was happening there, but then, of course, all that unfolded in full," Putin recalls. Given the state of the Russian army back in those years, "there was nothing surprising about the tragedy." At the same time, he said that it was a colossal tragedy.The cause of the tragedy had been established: an explosion occurred in the torpedo compartment, a fire broke out, ammunition detonated, and the hull of the submarine practically popped. "And, of course, this can not be forgotten," the Russian leader said.He also said that after the tragedy, he decided to talk to submariners' relatives in order to support them and assure them that the submarine would be retrieved from the bottom of the sea. Putin also said that he had been warned against attempts to raise the boat from the seafloor, but he insisted, because he had given a promise.The Russian nuclear-powered submarine missile cruiser Kursk sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000, during naval exercises. All 118 crew members were killed.In a part of the documentary about Syria, Putin spoke about the heroic feat of corporal Denis Portnyagin, who, in an unequal battle with terrorists in Syria, was ready to explode himself not to be captured."Not only did he repulse an attack of terrorists. There were only four or five of them (Russian military men - ed.) - a group of special operations forces that were engaged in finding targets for our aircraft. There was an unexpected attack of militants, the regular army pulled back, some units of the Syrian army did too, but the Russian group stayed and they took the battle," Putin said. According to Putin, in that battle with terrorists on August 16, 2017, the commander and the second officer were wounded, and corporal Portnyagin took all the combat work on himself and repelled several attacks. He requested help and prepared himself for self-destruction not to be taken captive."Moreover, he drew the fire upon himself and gave precise instructions. Our artillerymen managed to cut off the terrorists with the help of mortar fire, then our aircraft struck, and after that another group of special operations forces approached them, and all were taken out to safety," the president said.He noted that there are many of such people in the Russian army - the ones who are ready to fight in an unequal battle. "They are heroes, of course. If they are not heroes, then who? I know that there are many such people in our armed forces," Putin said.Corporal Denis Portnyagin was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation in late 2017.Pravda.Ru

Russia has every opportunity to make a breakthrough in increasing labor productivity. To achieve this goal, Russia needs  to pull out from the Washington Consensus, in particular from the American patent law, economist Vasily Koltashov believes.By 2060, Russia will lag behind the United States of America even more - experts at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said. Without reforms, per capita GDP in Russia will grow by only 0.7 percent in the next 12 years, economists predict. Labor productivity in Russia has not grown in recent years, and in 2018-2030 it will accelerate only to 0.5 percent. Experts advise Russia should increase labor productivity through the public administration reform, as well as by increasing the duration of school education and reducing trade tariffs.Vasily Koltashov, the head of the Centre for Economic Studies at the Institute of Globalisation and Social Movements, told Pravda.Ru that OECD economists say the following: the USA will be just fine, and Russia will be just bad. "This is a strange affirmation, because the Russian economy has been developing in recent years in conjunction with processes in the global economy.""In China, the economy is growing, an economic growth is possible in India, but in most countries there is stagnation. In the European Union, there is depressive stagnation. If we look at the United States, their GDP growth is actually equal to the growth of the USA's public debt and costs for its servicing. Strangely enough, no one says that the Americans have their salaries too high and their labor productivity too low in proportion to their wages, which makes their products completely uncompetitive," Vasily Koltashov told Pravda.Ru.According to the economist, Russia can ensure the economic growth if the country ensures the development of its own production capacities. This is what the import substitution policy is aimed at - to expand the export range. "Russia needs to import only what Russia needs. We should not import poultry from the USA as we did during Yeltsin's times. We should import, for example, equipment that we cannot make ourselves," the expert said. OECD experts give harmful recommendations, Vasily Koltashov said in an interview with Pravda.Ru. The era of free trade is over, and one needs to fight on the world market. Therefore, "trade duties must be kept high and it is necessary to fight smugglers mercilessly.""It is highly important Russia should no longer obey the rules of the Washington Consensus. Instead, Russia should start dismantling those rules. We should refuse to obey the American patent law. Having started the war of sanctions, the Americans violated all rules of free unlimited trade, because politics has no right to interfere with commerce. We must have complete freedom to use technology, and then we will quickly overcome the backlog in productivity," the expert told  Pravda.Ru.Western experts always speak about the reduction of the role of state in economy. "Yet, they talk about our state, but not theirs. Their state can interfere in our economy as much as it wishes. Yet, even if we try to follow their pieces of advice, the Russian economy will collapse, just like the economy of any other country, because the time for such recipes has passed," Vasily Koltashov told Pravda.Ru. It is worthy of note that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) published a report in 2017 titled "The World in 2050". PwC experts predicted that the Russian economy would become the strongest in Europe by this time. Reference: The Washington consensus is a type of macroeconomic policy that the IMF and the WB  recommended at the end of the 20th century for application in the countries that experience financial and economic crises. Recommendations to such countries reflected the common position of the US administration, and major international financial organisations, such as the IMF and the World Bank, as well as leading American think tanks.Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru