Gazeta.ru
Assessing Russia's development strategy
The authors and executors of the Strategy 2010 program, drafted in 2000 for then-President Vladimir Putin, have summarized the results of its implemention.
The main speaker was German Gref, CEO of state-owned Sberbank, who had headed the Center for Strategic Research, the think-tank behind Putin's reforms. Gref was also in charge of implementing the reforms as Economic Development and Trade Minister.
The key objectives have been accomplished, Gref said. Although the GDP showed strong growth, it failed to double due to a force majeure: the 2008 global financial and economic crisis.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin said Russia's per capita GDP had soared from $7,800 to $15,900 in 2000-2008. "We have joined medium-income nations," Kudrin added.
Kudrin said Russia had become an average nation in terms of living standards, the state of the market and institutions, which is an unqualified success. The budget and tax reforms also proved extremely effective.
Analysts say, however, that only 33% of the reform's goals have been achieved.
Gref recalled initial reforms as the most romantic period of his life because the future of a new Russia was being decided, and specific development priorities were being chosen.
But there were also some setbacks. "If only I could go back into the 2000s, I would have started with the government reform," Gref said.
Gref admitted that this issue had been discussed, but that the government did not include the administrative reform section into the Strategy 2010.
The lack of a government reform was not a major problem, Gref said. It is easier to implement the first stage of economic reforms with a strong executive government, which also implies easy approval of reforms by the parliament, Gref admitted.
"During the second stage of the reforms, the economy becomes sufficiently well-developed and requires entirely new political institutions: freedom of speech, which directly influences economic development rates; maximum property diversification; reduced government property and competition, including political competition, which reduces the possibility of mistakes during the more difficult choice of alternative reforms," Gref said.
Igor Nikolayev, head of strategic analysis at FBK Company, one of the first private auditing firms in Russia, said the administrative reform had been distorted and had largely hindered economic growth together with the crisis.
"The administrative reform, implemented by the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, merely restructured the executive branch. At the same time, the bureaucratic machinery and corruption did not disappear," Nikolayev told the paper.
RBC Daily
Bad roads prompt tax hike
The transportion infrastructure will top the agenda at a conference in Moscow. The Russian authorities returned to the idea to establish a budgetary fund for road building and maintenance. Since the abolition of the road fund in 2000, the country's road network has been contracting year on year, Sergei Verevkin, vice-president of the Russian Association of Highway Contractors, ASPOR, says.
About 3% of GDP is lost every year due to lack of good roads in Russia. Today, there is a total of 644,000 km of roads in Russia, almost three times less than the country really needs. About 30,000 cities and villages are cut off from the world due to the lack of paved roads. Experts believe that Russia will not recover from this by 2030 and they recommend toll roads as the solution. This idea has been discussed in Russia for a long time, but unfortunately the result of all these long-term efforts leaves much to be desired.
That's why the government, seeking to raise revenue, returned to the idea of this budgetary fund for road construction and maintenance. According to the Russian prime minister, the fund will operate like an investment fund. However, some market participants are concerned by this. "His statements that they will be modeled on investment funds and that most funds will come from the private sector, rather than the government, give us reason to worry," Verevkin said.
Under the Ministry of Transport proposal, drivers would not have to pay for owning their cars, but for their fuel consumption. Only those with fuel-efficient cars will pay less. Drivers fear that the oil industry will increase fuel prices under the pretext of the new taxes. Experts, who usually agree with tax increases, consider the proposal outdated.
"Maybe, in a couple of years' time, people will start paying for road use not based on the gas consumed or at road tolls, but on GPS, which will monitor the distance covered, and, like for electricity, you will be sent a bill," at least that is the vision of Mikhail Blinkin, research director at the Scientific Research Institute of Transport and Road Engineering.
In addition, some analysts note that the Ministry of Transport's proposal to increase revenue using targeted taxes contradicts the country's Budgetary Code.
Kommersant
Russians show more sympathy for president
Russians are becoming increasingly sympathetic to Dmitry Medvedev and fewer now believe the president is acting under Vladimir Putin's control. This is the finding of a survey conducted by the Levada Center polling agency in May. At the same time, most respondents believe the president "generally follows Putin's policy."
Sympathy for the president has grown 7% since last year. In May of last year, Medvedev produced a "favorable impression" on 59% of Russians, now the figure is at 66%. There is a huge increase in the numbers of those who are sure that the president "is pursuing an independent policy" - from 19% to 42%. In the view of Boris Dubin, head of Levada Center's social and political research unit, this does not mean that Russians now value Medvedev for some of his acts or achievements. People have simply "become used to" the country's leader, Dubin explained to the paper. And this happened after the first wave of the crisis was abated. Contrary to public expectation, the recession failed to hit seriously anyone in particular. This, according to Dubin, resulted in a favorable background for the president's image, further backed by news footage. Sympathy for Medvedev is growing for psychological, rather than rational reasons.
There was a dramatic drop - from 68% to 44% - in the number of those who think that the president "is acting under the control of Vladimir Putin and his team." But there was almost no change in the number of those who believe that Medvedev "in general carries out Putin's policy."
Actually, "Russians have become accustomed to the tandem team," Boris Makarenko, chairman of the Center for Political Technologies, told Kommersant. Russian society has accepted that "Dmitry Medvedev has his own political style and his own agenda, distinct from Vladimir Putin's." In general, Russians, in Makarenko's view, "give little thought to who is the boss." The dominant feeling is "it's good they are together." So, in his opinion, there is no contradiction between recognizing Medvedev's political independence and his loyalty to "Putin's line." Russians "feel comfortable with the tandem approach" and, the expert believes, "do not bother to think ahead to 2012, the year of presidential elections."
Vzglyad
Viktor Yanukovych presents Ukraine's new foreign policy
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday brought before parliament an urgent bill stipulating the country's domestic and foreign policy priorities.
Ukraine's foreign policy priorities listed in the bill no longer include NATO membership plans, which, according to Yanukovych, are "currently unrealistic because the plan needs to be supported by the majority of the population, which is a NATO requirement."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko made a similar statement, adding that the NATO membership discussion has a "destructive" impact on the country's foreign policy, making it less effective.
Having abandoned the NATO accession plan, Ukraine will focus on cooperation with Europe instead. Yanukovych's bill proposes making a stronger effort to attain EU membership while maintaining friendly relations and strategic partnership with Russia.
According to the bill, Ukraine will preserve its non-aligned status, which implies non-accession to any military political blocs, while at the same time contributing to the improvement of the European collective security system, and continuing constructive cooperation with NATO and other blocs on projects involving mutual interests.
Ukraine's parliamentary opposition reacted promptly to Yanukovych's plans. The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense, which had no objection to the initiatives in principle, criticized Yanukovych's efforts to push the bill through quickly.
Yevgenia Voiko, a foreign policy expert with the Russian Center for Current Politics, is confident that Yanukovych is insisting on urgent passing of the bill to get higher economic profit rather than political benefits. He has repeatedly mentioned plans of rapprochement with the European Union during his presidential campaign. "Viktor Yanukovych is now indicating that he will not abandon the plan, because rapprochement with the EU will yield economic preferences," Voiko told the Vzglyad newspaper.
Flirting with Russia is another foreign policy priority for Yanukovych. Yet, if he fails to earn preferences from the east, he would always find ways to reach Europe. "This is the kind of political maneuvering he would use. With the economic situation in Ukraine still unfavorable and political pressure as high as ever, the president has to take into account the opposition's opinion for now," the analyst concluded.
Vedomosti
EU refuses to lift visas for Russians
The 25th EU-Russia summit, which ended in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia on Tuesday, has not resulted in any visa requirement changes for Russians.
In early May, EU foreign ministers considered ways to lift visa requirements for Russians, but failed to include the issue on the summit agenda.
At the same time, President Dmitry Medvedev forwarded a draft agreement on visa-free travel to Herman van Rompuy, the European Union's first permanent president, in an effort "to speed up the process," he said at the final news conference.
He also said Russia is willing to lift entry visas for Europeans and explained the EU's wariness by the resistance of some member states whose fears are based on history rather than today's reality.
A source in the Russian delegation mentioned Poland specifically. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said visa requirements could be simplified for Russia only if simultaneously simplified for other Eastern Partnership countries, namely Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine.
Natalia Timakova, Medvedev's press secretary, said relations with Poland have improved and that this could encourage a solution to the problem.
Summit participants focused on Russia's economic modernization and adopted a statement on Tuesday. It says that it is necessary to enhance "cooperation in innovation, research and development" and also to promote "a sustainable low-carbon economy and energy efficiency" and "a high level of enforcement of intellectual property rights."
The approved political measures include ensuring the effective functioning of the judiciary, strengthening the fight against corruption, and enhancing dialogue with civil society to foster participation of individuals and business.
According to a source from the Russian delegation, dialogue enhancement was proposed by the EU. Russia and the EU differ in their respective ideas on cooperation in this area. Russia thinks it should focus on practical economic projects, while the EU believes that economic modernization is impossible without improved democracy, the source said.
Van Rompuy avoided talking about human rights in Russia at the news conference, saying that the issue was on the agenda but concerned only the situation in the North Caucasus.
Russia has recently started to develop cooperation in economic modernization with individual European countries. In spring 2010, it signed agreements with France and Denmark. Interaction with EU institutions will allow the inclusion of all European countries in this process, said presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich.
The EU has decided to consolidate its stand, which is vital for resolving the visa question. Procrastination on this issue is not in the long-term strategic interests of the EU. Nevertheless rapid progress is unlikely, said Dmitry Trenin from the Carnegie Center.
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MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti)
