There are no ideal situations. Ideal situations only happen in plans, on paper, and you always want something more. But in general, I think that Russia made it through the year quite confidently. We have no concerns that the current situation will prevent us from implementing our plans for the future, including for 2023.
Let me repeat once again, we believe – I want to stress this – that everything that is happening, and everything connected with the special military operation, is an absolutely forced and necessary measure. We should be grateful to our military, our troops, officers, our soldiers for what they are doing for Russia, defending its interests, sovereignty and, above all, protecting our people. They act with dignity and achieve what the country needs.
As for the economy, as you know, despite the collapses, devastation and catastrophe predicted for us in the economic sphere, nothing like that is happening. Moreover, Russia is performing much better than many G20 countries, and doing so confidently. This applies to the main macroeconomic indicators and the GDP. Yes, there has been a small drop. I said it quite recently: 2.9 percent, according to our and international experts. Now they are giving another figure, even smaller: 2.5.
The unemployment rate is a key indicator worldwide. In Russia, it is below the pre-pandemic period: let me remind you, then it was 4.7 percent, and now it is at 3.8–3.9 percent. That is, the labour market is stable.
Public finances are stable, there are no alarming details here either. This result did not just fall into our laps. It is the result of the work of the Government, regional teams, businesses, and sentiment in society, which is showing unity and a desire to work together to achieve common goals.
Therefore, in general, we feel confident, and I have no doubt that every goal we set will be achieved.
Whether it is possible to speak about greater US involvement in the conflict in Ukraine? I think we need to look at the problem more broadly. What do I mean specifically and why?
Because the United States has been doing this for a long time – it has long been involved in the processes taking place in the Soviet and post-Soviet space. The unity of the Russian world is a very subtle issue. Divide and rule – this slogan was used in ancient times and is still being actively used in real politics. This is why our potential adversary, our opponents have always been dreaming about this and have always been engaged in this. They have been trying to divide us and then run the separate parts.
What is new here? The idea of Ukrainian separatism was born by itself long ago, when we were still one country. You know, I have always said that if someone decides that a separate ethnic group has formed and wants to live independently, for God’s sake, it is impossible to ever go against the will of the people.
But if this is so, this principle must be universal and it is impossible to ever go against the will of people that feel like they are in a different reality, that consider themselves a part of the Russian people and the Russian world, that believe they are part of this culture, part of this language and part of this history and these traditions. Nobody can fight them, either.
But a war was unleashed on them in 2014. I mean a war. This is what it was about. What was it when the centres of million-strong cities were struck from the air? What was it when troops with armour were deployed against them? It was a war, combat operations. We endured all this, endured and endured, in the hope of some peace agreement. Now it turns out that we were simply fooled. So, a country like the United States has been involved in this for a long time. A long time. 
In this sense, it is possible to say that by leading us to the current events, they achieved the desired goal. For our part, we had also no other choice than the actions we took late last February. Yes, that was the logic shaping the developments, but our primary goal is to protect people that – let me repeat – feel like they are part of our nation, part of our culture.
What did we believe at one time? We believed that okay, the USSR ceased to exist. But, as I said at yesterday’s Defence Ministry Board meeting, we thought our common historical roots, our cultural and spiritual background would be stronger than what pulls us apart, and such forces have always existed. We assumed that what unites us was stronger. But no, it was not so, due to the assistance of outside forces and the fact that people with extreme nationalist views came to power basically after the collapse of the Union.
And this division was growing worse all the time with the help of these forces and despite all our efforts. As I once said – at first we were pulled apart, separated and then set against each other. In this sense, they have achieved results, of course, and in this sense it has been something of a fiasco for us. We were left with nothing else. Maybe we were deliberately brought to this, to this brink. But we had nowhere to retreat, this is the problem.
But again, we believed that the underlying foundations of our unity would be stronger than the trends that are tearing us apart. But it turned out this was not the case. They began to suppress Russian culture and the Russian language, tried to break our spiritual unity in totally barbaric ways. And they pretended that no one noticed. Why? Because, as I said, their strategy was to divide and rule.
A unification of the Russian people is undesirable. No one wants it. On the other hand, our disunity would make them happy; they would gladly continue to rip us apart. But our unification and consolidation are things no one wants – except us, and we will do it and we will succeed.
I do not think that the resources of Western countries and NATO members have been stretched thin. It is another matter that Ukraine is being supplied with weapons of the former Warsaw Pact countries, the majority of which are Soviet-made. This resource is running out indeed; we have destroyed and burned almost all of these weapons. There is only something like a few dozen armoured vehicles and a hundred of other weapon systems left. We have destroyed a lot of them. The stock of these systems is almost exhausted.
But this does not mean that Western countries and NATO do not have other weapons. They do have them. However, it is not easy to convert to new weapon systems, including NATO-standard ones. This requires preparation time, personnel training, stocks of spare parts, maintenance and repair. It is a big and complicated issue. This is my first point.
Second, there is also the question of the Western defence industry capabilities. The US defence sector is large and can be drummed up, but this will not be easy there either, because this involves additional allocations, and the allocation of funds is part of the budget process. It is not a simple matter.
It is said that the Patriot systems may be sent to Ukraine. Let them do it; we will weed out the Patriots too. And they will have to send something to replace them with or create new systems. It is a long and complicated process. It is not all that simple. We take this into account and count everything that is being sent there, how many systems there are in the depots, how many more they can manufacture and how fast, and if they can train the necessary personnel.
Now to our capabilities and resources. We are spending them, of course. I will not provide figures here, for example, how many shells we are using a day. The figures are high. But the difference between us and those who are fighting us is that the Ukrainian defence industry is rapidly moving towards zero if not a negative figure. All of its manufacturing capabilities will be destroyed soon, whereas our framework is being expanded. As I pointed out at the Defence Ministry Board meeting yesterday, we will not do this to the detriment of the other economic sectors. We must provide for the army anyway, one way or another, as the Minister said yesterday.
Unlike Ukraine, we have been developing our industry, including the defence sector over the past decades. We have been developing out military science and technology. There are some elements lacking, like loitering munitions, drones and the like, but we have been working on that. We know which enterprises can produce them, how many and how soon. We have the funds for financing research and technology centres and manufacturing capacities. We have all of that.
Yes, there is a problem with building up production speed and volumes. But we can do it, and we will certainly do it.
As for the economy, I have already touched upon this topic, but have something to add.
First, the predicted economic collapse did not happen. True, we have posted a decline, and I will repeat the figures. There have been promises – or predictions or hopes maybe – that Russia’s economy will contract. Some said its GDP would drop by 20 percent or more, by 20–25 percent. True, there is a decline in GDP, but not 20–25 percent; it is in fact 2.5 percent. That is the first thing.
Second. Inflation, as I said, will be a little more than 12 percent this year – it is one of the most important indicators, too. This, I think, is much better than in many other countries, including the G20 countries. Inflation is not good of course, but it being smaller than in other countries is good.
Next year – we have mentioned this, too – we will strive for the 4–5 percent target, based on the economy's performance in the first quarter – at least, we hope so. And this is a very good trend, unlike in some other G20 countries, where inflation is on the rise.
Unemployment is at a historic low of 3.8 percent. We are running a budget deficit, this is true, but it is only 2 percent this year, next year too, then it is projected at one percent, and less than one percent in 2025: we are expecting about 0.8 percent. I would like to point out that other countries – both large developing economies and the so-called developed market economies – are running a much greater deficit. In the United States, I think, it is 5.7 percent, and in China, it is over 7 percent. All major economies are running deficits above 5 percent. We are not.
This is a good foundation for moving confidently into 2023.
Our priority for 2023 will be the development of infrastructure. I do not think I need to list all the projects, we have a lot: the Eastern Operating Domain project, the North-South corridor, and other infrastructure projects across the country and so on. Airports, ports, a lot of other projects.
Next, we also need to deal with financial issues. What do I mean? The country’s financial system is stable, banks are reliable and operate without disruptions, which is thanks to the Government and bank employees who work very hard and know their jobs very well. They are highly qualified people who manage many things, if not everything. We must maintain macroeconomic stability. We will not allow any uncontrollable spending but, as I said, will move towards achieving the main macroeconomic indicators that can support the economic stability in general. 
I spoke about infrastructure. The next important aspect is maintaining the stability of the financial system, the banking system and the budget. It is important to do a very important thing, which is to substitute the investment that participants in the economic activity relied on before, including some Western institutions, foundations and so on, with sources inside the country. They must be substituted with domestic funding. Of course, we can do it by engaging various instruments. I do not want to go into detail. If you are asking a question about the economy, your readers most likely know what they are. They exist and must be developed. It is not a simple matter but it is possible. 
Of course, we must resolve the main issue, which is increasing real wages. It is absolutely obvious. Considering the inflation and the budget revenues, we are able to make a step in this direction. We have an entire set of economic measures we must take. I have no doubt that all of them are achievable. Results of the next year will show how we can fulfil these plans and get closer to solving these tasks. 

(Comments of Rt. Hon. Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, during the press-conference on 22 December 2022 on the global political and economic situation)

नागरिक अनलाइन

लेखकबाट थप

• सोमवार, पौष १८ २०७९०२:२२:३९

• Tags:

  # Mr. Vladimir Putin

• दुई हजार ६८८ मिटर लामो नागढुङ्गा-सिस्नेखोला सुरुङमार्गको उद्घाटन

• ‘द बम्बई लाउञ्ज’को प्रथम वार्षिकोत्सव साउन १४ र १५ गते हुदै,छुटसहित सांगीतिक कार्यक्रम गरिने

• इन्जिनियरहरू पूर्वाधार निर्माणका मात्र होइन, समाज रूपान्तरणका महत्वपूर्ण साझेदार

• आजदेखि कार्तिक शुक्ल एकादशीका दिनसम्म तुलसीको विशेष पूजा

• बुटवल अटोको स्थापना दिवस : ब्याडमिन्टन प्रतियोगितामा चौधरी–सारुको जोडी च्याम्पियन