Moscow LIVE: Russian President Putin Holds Marathon End of Year Televised News Conference | N18G

Mr. President, the situation in the battlefront is changing day in and out. We know that you follow everything almost in real time talking to our heroes, to our soldiers, but the situation is changing on a daily basis. Our soldiers are getting ahead audaciously and steadily. As commander-in-chief, what's your assessment of the current state of affairs? I've just listened to the report by the head of the general staff. On the whole, I can tell you that right after our troops expelled the adversary from the Kursk region, the initiative, the strategic initiative to be more precise, is firmly in the hands of the Russian armed forces. What does it mean? It means that our forces are advancing along the whole line of contact. At some places they are moving ahead faster, sometimes slower, but everywhere along the line of contact, the adversary is being pushed back. Most importantly, and we started with this, you said there and I said that there were proposals to the Kiev regime to withdraw their troops from those unrecognized. Back then they were unrecognized republics who didn't want to leave under the aegis of the Kiev nationalist. By then the Kiev regime had been building fortified positions in the agglomeration of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk and Konstantinovka. This was the most fortified region. So let's start with what is currently unfolding over there. Just recently, the head of the general staff, the head of the group of forces as well as the local commanders, the head of the brigade that I received at my office, reported me on having taken Seversk, which is an important settlement, and from there it's possible to move closer to one of the most fortified regions, to part of this agglomeration, which is Slavyansk a little to the south from the our armed forces active in the south direction. The troops are in the city already. The battle is raging and very soon it'll be taken. A huge percentage is under our control but the advancement is going to continue. I said that Konstantinovka is part of this agglomeration and the battle is already there. More than 50% of Konstantinovka is under Russian control. I have no doubt whatsoever that this settlement is going to be taken as well. There was an important development namely the taking of Krasnoarmeysk because from Krasnoarmeysk the competent level of the armed forces will have to make a decision on which direction to take but this is a very good bridge to continue offensive operations and to the South northeast that is the city of Mitro which is also an important bridge out and it is completely encircled. I think around 50% of the city will have been taken by our forces by now the adversary did not get an order or the command to lay down arms. They're trying to break the encirclement moving in small groups. They're undertaking attempts to take back at least parts of Krasnoarmeysk in vain. So far the adversary is sustaining significant losses and seen no success. Another group of Russian armed forces, the East group, is making great headway across Zaporozhye region liberating one settlement after another. As you know currently the battle is taking place in Gulyaipole. The city is divided by a river into two parts. The biggest is on the opposite part of the river. This bridge has been bridged and the battle is raging inside the city. But an important part of the group of forces of Vostok is moving even further liberating one settlement after another in Zaporozhye region. Moreover, safety and security zones are being set up in Sumy region. The city of Volchansk in Kharkov region as is well known currently several weeks ago Kupyansk was taken by the Russian forces. So far our forces are not moving but they are in control. The thing is their most important task is to eliminate the group of the forces of the adversary on the left bank of Oskol river and to take another settlement which is basically a hub, a transport hub which is Kiyansk. There is a group of forces that is encircled there 15 battalions, 3500 soldiers who didn't get a command to withdraw either and they have no chances whatsoever. They are heavily encircled by the Russian armed forces. And once it happens, once our units have completed their task, they will move further west. I'm confident that by the end of the year we will have seen new successes by our armed forces, by our soldiers, by our warriors at the line of contact.

You must have seen, you must have heard the briefing of the head of the general staff as well as the head of the group of forces, the group of armies, the commander as well as the head of the brigade that is engaged in hostilities there. I asked him, 'What's your current take on the situation in Seversk? Are you firmly in control?' He said, 'Mr. President, we are moving even further west 1.5 to 2 kilometers. My brigade has already made that movement in the west and this movement is continuing.' You probably remember there was this briefing on Seversk and we had a report of the assault group from the spot from Seversk. If you remember at the end I asked them to change their position as soon as possible once the report was over. And I think it was yesterday, you know, because time is flying by, we had a meeting at the Ministry of Defense and once the collegium was over, there was an award ceremony for our warriors. Was it yesterday or the day before yesterday? You know, yeah, there was an award ceremony for those who participated in the liberation of Seversk. And once that was over, I went back to the Kremlin to my office and I asked the head of the assault group to come by see me because I wanted to talk to him about the current agenda. I do that from time to time when an opportunity presents itself. And we also had a meeting on the preparations for today's event and he came straight to the room of the security council and I asked him to say a couple of words so that every colleague can hear what's the current state of affairs in Seversk how it happened and he started recounting you know just a couple of words very briefly and once he went away, Koulix asked whether we could invite him to the direct line. I said, 'Well, you can ask him, but his leave is not that long.' So, you know, we phoned him and he's here. He agreed. Naran Alex, there he is. Naran, is that correct? Yes. Please be seated. Take your seat. Yeah. Am I correct? Is this how this happened? Yes. If you've got any questions about what is happening in Seversk and how the liberation took place, you can ask him directly. I think it's going to be better. Let's give a round of applause to hero of Russia. Let's welcome him.

Well, I'm not following that, but you know, following what he's doing, but he's an artist and a talented one to boot, so there's nothing surprising about that. You know, they're saying that this obelisk looks completely different from what it used to. But be that as it may, the obelisk is 1 kilometer or so from the city. Well, why stay the threshold? Do come in. If Kiev is under their control, why not go in the city itself? And you know there were some women bloggers, they managed to get by. Luckily nothing happened to them because you know the sky is swarming like with flies but not with flies with UAVs and their UAVs both from the Ukrainian side from the Russian side. It's impossible to approach that settlement so easily. A time will come once our soldiers have completed the elimination of the group of forces of Ukraine that is encircled in the east part and then they will turn and go westward. It will be very soon. This is just the question of time if there are no other problems. As for other fake stuff or attempts or with any at any cost to return the lost positions as it was it is done now and I would like to underline that it is done at any cost. The adversary has no success. The problem is that as a result of active and effective actions of our armed forces, the adversary has suffered really serious losses of strategic reserves and they have almost nothing left. This is a meaningful component and this should give an impetus to the Kiev regime to solve all the disputes and to end this conflict peacefully. They almost have no reserves. I think that all everyone who's watching us and everyone here in the whole war is a grave burden for the economy.

Well, as usually I have brought a table with me. It's like that. These are open data what happened in our economy throughout the previous year. The GDP growth was 1%, but if we take three previous years. This is also a correct indicator. The common growth was 9.7%. The same time the EU growth was 3.1%. As for the 1% growth this year, these were conscious actions of the government and the central bank and the whole government of our country regarding the targeting inflation. We need to point out that in general, we managed to solve this task. We had a goal to decrease the inflation up to 6% but by the end of the year it will be less than 6%, 5.7, 5.8%. But the decrease of the economic growth rate this is the cost of preserving the quality of the economy of the macroeconomic indicators. Let's go forward. The industrial production increased by 1%, manufacturing industry increased 3.1%. As for the agricultural producing increase 3.3%. An important question is housing construction. Millions of square meters were constructed. Last year it was 107.8. This year the indicator is lower but it is also good. 103, 105 million square meters. We manage to preserve a very good indicator of real salaries. They're not as high as last year but still I think the indicator is very good. The real salaries without inflation is going to be 4.5%. Unfortunately we must be honest throughout this period of time. The growth of labor productivity is going to be very modest 1.1% and we need to change that of course in order to increase labor productivity. As for unemployment level, last year I said it was record low historically it was 2.5%. This year it is even lower 2.2%. In general these are very good indicators. International reserves of the central bank are growing. I have just spoken to the governor of the central bank like just several days ago, 741.5 billion US. As for the budget deficit of the federal budget, 2.6%, next year we think that it's going to be 1.6%. As for the 3 years period, it should be around 1.5%. This is a very good indicator regarding our state debt. It's one of the lowest among the developed countries. We have spoken with our colleagues. It is 7.7%. And in the next three years it will not be more than 20%. Well these are the indicators. What is more important the principal thing is that we have to thank the government for the hard work they have implemented. They managed to balance the budget. The quality of this balancing is of the level of 2021. This is a very important indicator of stability of the economy and financial system of our country. It means that we will be able to fully implement the issues regarding the social obligations to the population, also solve development issues regarding national projects. We will reach the technological development goals as well as without any doubt we will ensure the necessities of the armed forces and all of this combined speaks about the stability of the economy and financial system which is absolutely under the control of the government and the central bank.

Thank you for reminding about this. This is good news which is very good for everyone participating in the process. This topic appeared during the council on science at the offices of the president of Russia which was in 2019, 2018. The colleagues from the Siberian Institute of Science, the Institute of Nuclear Physics spoke about the necessity of creating such an accelerator. Truly we had some problems, slowdowns because of sanctions but we managed to complete this work. This is great and I would like to thank everyone who had to do anything with this project and I would like to congratulate you on that. This is truly a success. Well, the same thing goes for the Kurchatov Institute here in Moscow. But this is the second stage facility. A lot has to be changed. We are planning to do that at the same time. We are going to create the same facility in Vladivostok and in other cities as well. We are going to work on that. As for your facility SKIF, this is a great success because it gives an opportunity not only to have investigation of a fundamental nature but also of an applied nature. This is truly important because this will give an opportunity to work in this sphere of pharmaceuticals and new materials and so on and so forth. But how to keep young experts? We have a whole system that is functioning. But the main thing is that we need to create laboratories because true scientists are truly talented ones and dedicated ones and they also but social aspects are also very important. The salaries, the conditions for living there and all of this is what we're going to work on in the future. This is one of our goals. We have a grant system for this and mega grants. We know the scientists that are called mega granters. These are the scientists receiving such mega grants. We have raised this issue at one of the meetings with them. So we need to create conditions so that young experts would keep working there. We need to create a horizon for them to be seen. The horizon of investigation not for 2, three years but for 5 years or more. And we have already done this. And this allows us to prevent the outflow of staff. Many people come back. I have personally spoken to such scientists. These are young experts that used to work abroad, but they come back to Russia to the native land. And our so-called western colleagues help us very much in this why they come back. First of all, there are great laboratories, great opportunities, but one of the main causes is that they are really concerned about their kids because it is impossible to send kids to the schools in those countries. Well, they we have a protection of traditional values on their agenda and together with the other conditions they decide to come back to Russia and there are more and more such people. Well, we'll keep working on all of these tracks. I'll try to come to visit.

You know, first of all, let's remember the participants of the Great Patriotic War. Those who were fighting in the fronts of the great patriotic war came back. They reached great results in culture, in science and education. When I went to university, I had teachers who were participating in the great patriotic war. We respected them greatly. There were those who were gravely injured. I had a teacher who didn't have a leg and he had a prosthesis but he was an excellent expert in his sphere. We all remember him with gratitude and we remember the knowledge that he gave us. Let's remember Mr. Nikulin and there are many so many scientists who excelled in their spheres and truly gave effect truly were very important for the development of our country and the participants of the special military operation. Let's take Naran Alexich. I couldn't recognize him really because the hole is very big but he was given a mic and there is a camera people knowing what they're doing. And then he entered the security council in Kremlin. He spoke there and everyone was looking at him very carefully. There is great potential that the people the guys from the special military operation have. But this is one thing to fight and there is other thing to be a leader of a team or be a head of a big company or a region or a ministry. You need a talent for that. For that, of course, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the special military operation zone. Everyone, not everyone wants to have such a career, civil career, but those who want and those who have potential, who have education, experience or ready to receive it, it means that the government must do everything to give such an opportunities to these people that are truly ready to fight for the interests of their own country. I've already explained how this idea appeared. I met young people, students. I looked at them. I looked how they were communicating their ideas. What were their goals? What are the promising goals for the country by their opinion. So when I listened to them, I had this idea. It's important to give opportunity to such people, such young people to stimulate them. Of course, we need to prepare them to train them without any doubt. That is why we started this program. I thank the heads of the regions of the Russian Federation for promoting this program regionally and it is truly functioning and I'm truly glad for the people who participated in the first stage and the second stage. Some of them have become governors, vice ministers. They work in our biggest companies. Several people working in the presidential administration and they are truly successful. Of course, there are some difficulties. Some of them may try to work in some other sphere, but the program itself is functioning successfully.

Well, thank you for the invitation. With respect to the road I'm aware of this problem. Indeed transferring all the segments of that trunk federal trunk road to the federal level as there is a task of raising all federal trunk roads to certain quality standards and this is almost complete and now we are tackling the original roads quality but it can be broken down into several sub issues the northern procurement and the safety, traffic and road safety. So, I cannot promise that we're going to start right away tomorrow, but I'll talk to the government and we'll find a way to respond and react. But thank you for the invitation, Mr. President.

I'll start with your final point. The brigade of veterans deserves the highest assessments and they are heroes. But it's not only about risking lives and going through a tube. The point is that they are meticulous and hairsplitting and responsible in preparing each operation of theirs, and a lot of preparations were done with all the driveways and procurement and exit points and entry points. These are heroes, no doubt. And this brigade deserves the highest assessments and should be granted the name of a guards brigade. I agree with you. Secondly, the point that you started with, about control of drones, we were lacking heavy UAVs, and this is what the defense ministry and the defense industry are getting to grips with. The defense minister personally has been looking into the matter and he has done a lot, and thanks to him, to a large extent, the situation with drones has considerably improved, and the guys on the contact line now feel that. We will keep supporting our contemporary inventors with a system of grants and support measures. I'd like to thank our caring people and entrepreneurs. They have collected 83 billion rubles of donations, and that was spent on different things, but to a large extent on drones. I must say directly and frankly, and one shouldn't shy away, that we have become leaders. We still lack those heavy drones like the Baba type, but with respect to the number of drones, we are ahead of our adversary on all segments of the front line. This is an obvious fact, a hard fact. Now, with respect to civilian life application, in order to confirm this leadership, well, this can be confirmed only if those items used in fighting will be applied in civilian and peaceful life, and there will be the dual use of these items to improve the combat efficiency of our country. All the delivery of mail, medicines, and food will be conducted with the help of UAVs, like the airplane type or small copters, air-based ones. I'm speaking about UAVs in general, airborne and seaborne, and we are making big headway in this respect, and this will have the support of the government in the future. Now, with respect to the fighters on the front line that want to continue doing what they have been doing, well, this is a peculiar thing because the point is that we continue a good rate of manning, and now we have a lot of volunteers that want to volunteer to the front, conclude contracts to join the army, and they volunteer to defend their motherland and the interests of our people. We just mentioned how the Ukrainian military treat the civilians. A person told me, when we saw what they did to civilians, we just are impatient to move on and finish off this viper. They execute old people, elderly, and they use the copters to target civilians. Actually, he might be shy because it's the first time he ends up in such an audience. More than 400, 46 or 10,000 people have enrolled, concluding a contract, and the number of people who want to do service in this new branch of the army, the unmanned aerial systems branch, is so big that the defense ministry has to open a call for that. There are students, young ones, who take an academic leave to sign a contract and join the army, and they are eager to participate in this competition, and they want to participate as drone operators. So I can understand the person that you spoke to.

Christina, first of all, I want to apologize to you for this huge delay of the relevant services. In your case, it is going to be resolved quickly. But the problem exists. Not long ago, I had a meeting with Madame Tsivilova, Anna, who reported to me on the work of the fund of Fatherland Defenders, and she's deputy defense minister now. She told me that still, the proper interaction between the defense ministry and the welfare unit of the government is not properly established, and there is a lot of red tape. Documents are lost when being transferred from one agency to another, and decisions are delayed and postponed. But we will work on that to expedite the thing. I will definitely keep track of that personally. I'll look into this issue. We should be swifter and quicker to rid people of additional difficulties, like in your case when they have two kids left after the tragedy. But there is also another issue pending, which is obvious from some of the questions received via various channels. Mr. Peskov has handed me a file full of such questions and applications: the search for missing servicemen. In the case of Christina, I hope the problem she's faced with is going to be resolved quite quickly without any procrastination. Now, as for the search for missing in action, this is a topic of particular relevance. I have to tell you that the Ministry of Defense has taken several steps with a view to addressing this problem. To be more precise, a coordinated center has been set up which is charged with searching for the servicemen missing in action. Special units have been established in relevant units and groups. A special registry has been set up as well. If we look at the beginning of the year and at how things stand today, we'll see that the number of those who were thought to be missing in action has decreased by 50% as compared to the beginning of the year. So there is a threefold difference. Of course, this work has to continue and it has to be improved. Rest assured, we'll do everything to make sure that the losses are brought down to a minimum.

Yes, we've got some statistics. These measures have worked. They have yielded some results, and I think a lot has been done and should be done to address this issue. The number of such crimes has decreased by 7%, as the Ministry of the Interior has briefed me, and the losses have decreased by 33%. On the whole, there are some positive results, but I would like to address the citizens of the country. Fraud is still very much an issue. The more sophisticated our devices are getting, the more sophisticated our life is becoming. Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the ways they use to defraud the citizens and to swindle them and take their money. So whoever talks to you, whoever is calling you, given the AI capabilities, if someone starts talking to you about money or property, just put down the phone. Just put down the phone right away. If someone is talking to you about property or money, not a single word. If banks, or someone you know personally, if you want to address an issue, just go in person, see someone from the bank. I would like to ask you not to talk about money or property on the phone.

Well, I didn't say that exactly like that, that I drive incognito, that I drive myself. I'm just saying that sometimes I drive without the accompanying police cars and all that. And you know, these drives are useful because from the car window, it's very interesting to look not just at the road I usually take to get from my residence to the Kremlin and vice versa. It's very interesting to look at different neighborhoods of Moscow. It's interesting and curious to see what's happening around. As far as verified information I get is concerned, I think the most important thing that provides me with that information is an event like this. Just imagine, 2.5 million people have sent their messages and questions to the direct line. Of course, it's impossible to cover all of that and process all of that in the course of these several hours we've got. But 2.5 million messages, there are issues that people hold dear to their heart. This will be processed by AI for a year. This information will be processed by my loyal assistants from the Popular Front. This is the source of information about what people really need and what they're interested in. And of course, I get information from special services as well as from law enforcement agencies. I'm trying to use that information not just in an aggregate form to personalize, but also I like to see the original documents. I'd like to meet people personally, talk to them when I have work and visits across the country. It's very important to talk directly to people because it gives a lease of fresh life to what we're doing. You see the needs of the people. And of course, polls by social studies agencies. People take these polls differently, but mostly these are polls of a professional nature. Sometimes people are not happy with average numbers, with mean numbers, because these figures have nothing to do with what people are facing in real life. But these average data are important because they give us an understanding of what is happening in general across the country. So this is a variety of sources which provide me with a fairly objective picture of what is happening in the country.

We pursue a deliberate policy of supporting different languages and cultures and arts of different peoples living in the Russian Federation. We're doing that via school, via media, via literature. You've mentioned several avenues in Yakutia, and the people of Yakutia are very talented. It's no coincidence that a music school is being built there. You know, I once visited that, and it's developing. Young people, young children from all across different settlements and towns and cities get together and they engage in creativity. Cinematography has taken off in Yakutia as well. Yakutia is developing very fast. Moreover, Yakutia is also providing us with servicemen which are unparalleled across the world, I suppose. And you've mentioned this film, this movie. We will certainly do everything to support that film once it is released and before, in the run-up to its release. And as far as this year of unity of Russian peoples is concerned, I think this is the right thing to do, especially amid the special military operation, because when a country is faced with such trials and tribulations, it rallies together. And as you aptly mentioned, people when they are under fire don't care what religion they profess, what ethnic group they belong to. You know, there is a joke in such situations: if there is a God, and I do not doubt there is a God, but people are divided in different churches. That may very well be so. But we all share common values. All peoples of the Russian Federation, in the course of the special military operation, that is something that is getting increasingly to the forefront. We can see that it's apparent and evident. We see that very well. You know, I just remembered, we have just spoken about the reports on the taking of the city of Severodonetsk. You remember, I had a commander of one of the brigades in my office during that report. Once the reports were over, the video link was shut down, and I started to talk about the zone he was responsible for at the front line. We spoke about some daily matters, and all of a sudden he tells me, 'You know, I don't feel comfortable because I'm here, whereas my comrade, head of the very same brigade that is fighting shoulder to shoulder, he is back there at the front line. You and I, we're talking about addressing some daily needs, whereas he is fighting, but he's just as good as I am.' And I tell him, 'Who is he?' And he said, 'He's from Dagestan. He's from a small ethnic group in Dagestan. He's a genuine warrior and Russian patriot, as well as a brilliant commander.' And I said, 'You know, it's impossible for everyone to be here. You are here because the commander of the group of armies has decided, but someone needs to stay at the front line. But let's try to give him a call.' I took up the phone and via military connection, we managed to find that second commander of the brigade. He had spoken about, he was at the command point on site. We spoke, and then I passed the phone to the commander of the brigade who was with me in the office. And you know what's interesting? Among men, there's a cool way they call one another. But when a real officer says it, it's really something special. He says, 'Hi, brother.' Yes, men do call one another that, but when real military commanders say that, this is testimony to the unity of the peoples and nations of the Russian Federation. We will do everything in our power to strengthen this process and to push it forward.

Yes, this is a very acute issue. We've been discussing it at the government and also at the president's office. And as I said, the most honest way out is an increase of the VAT. Is that what you're asking about? Well, the goals, the objectives are very simple. Our task is to secure a well-balanced budget. On the whole, we've managed to accomplish that task, to a certain degree thanks to the decisions we've taken. As far as that is concerned, there are a number of issues to be addressed. The government needs to pay attention to that, and we spoke about that on multiple occasions. When the tax burden goes up, a temptation arises to avoid paying that tax. In the past, this task was very much widespread. Right now, it's becoming increasingly relevant. We need to dismantle the shadow economy and make sure no one is trying to hide their income from tax. And when taxes go up, we have to make sure that this does not stay on paper. It has to translate into real increases for the budget revenues. I take your hint. Is that going to be forever? No, certainly not. The end goal is to decrease the tax burden in the future. The government assumes that this is where we're going in the end, and this is what I'm looking forward to. There's a surge of issues from self-employed, from individual entrepreneurs, because there are millions of those in Russia, and tax changes are a source of concern for many. We have a question from Denis Maximov from Lyubertsy. Let's give him a call via video link. Denis Vladimirovich, if you can hear us, please ask your question.

No. Price regulation is very dangerous because once we start doing that, the goods will start disappearing from the shelves. In a market economy, this is the result you get very often. Yes, there are certain spheres where regulation is required, is needed. As far as essential medicines are concerned, there is a certain ceiling you cannot go beyond. But if these are regular goods, it's tricky regulating the price on those goods. But you are correct in that fish on the table of Russian citizens is missing. There are certain norms, and so far we are lagging behind those norms. But we have to go a different way about that. We need to improve the logistics. We have to make sure that the fish produce from the Russian Far East can get as affordably as possible on the table of consumers in the European part of Russia. Transport capabilities have to be enhanced. We also have to address that via taxation. We have to create an environment to make sure that we continue building new fishing vessels. There are many issues that have to be addressed and that have to bring about the result we desire.

Well, this is your bakery behind you. Yes, it is. Mashinka. Was it called in honor of someone? This is my elder daughter. What are you baking there? Is it delicious? Well, I hope so. I hope so. Well, Denis Vladimirovich, regarding the essence of your question. First of all, there was a form of benefits for small enterprises. What was registered by the government? What was done by the government? Especially it regards the trade business and individual entrepreneurship, small enterprises. The processes started mean that we use these instruments, these forms of business, for uncontrolled input of black cash. That is the problem. It doesn't mean that we should create problems for the production business. I'll pay attention to that, and I'll make the government pay attention to that and other relevant governmental structures. As for the accounting, please do pay attention to the fact that it will not be necessarily compulsory to spend additional money for accounting. Big financial institutions provide different services, banking and accounting services. You could ask, for instance, Sberbank, they can help you with that, and this will not bring additional costs for your business. It will not bring any additional financial burden. Business with the transfer to the new taxation should not suffer, and I promise you that the government is going to face this issue. But anyway, I wish you success. Success to your Mashinka, to your daughter, and to your business that has such a beautiful name. Well, maybe you can send us something delicious. With pleasure. On my side, I will work with the government regarding the support of your business and other businesses alike. Thank you. By the way, an important piece of news: the central bank reduced the key interest rate down to 16%. So we are moving forward. You know, the central bank is always under pressure. There are many disputes about the key interest rate. The difference between the inflation rate by the end of the year, it will be less than 6%, 5.7, 5.8, maybe 5.6, and the key interest rate is at the level of 16%. The experts expected a possible decrease by 1%, but by law, the Bank of Russia is independent, and I try not to interfere into the decisions that they're making. I try to make everything so that they were not influenced from other institutions. But the Bank of Russia does everything necessary, and they're very responsible in their work. At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, we spoke to the governor of the central bank, to the government, to the economic block of the government. We said that it is necessary to target inflation and to make the necessary decisions so that the macroeconomy of Russia would be healthy, would be solid, so that the economy of the country had a solid foundation. The difference between the real inflation and the key interest rate is one of the lines of criticism against the central bank. What is the problem? In reality, there are many problems. One of them is that, as I have already said, I have mentioned it. If not, I will say it now. One of the problems of today is the reduction of investment activity during the first three quarters of this year, minus 3.1%. But the Bank of Russia registers a little decrease, but the activity, serious continuity continues in the credit sphere. The number of credits that are being provided is almost not reducing significantly. This is the merit of the central bank. That is why it is necessary to be really careful and cautious, so as not to avoid the surge of inflation, so that it would not be necessary to take any steps backwards. The worst thing is the fluctuations, and the Bank of Russia strives to reach stability in this sphere, which is of paramount importance, and we have to agree with that. Well, the decrease of half a percent or more, I'm not going to give any evaluations at the expert level. There are really good experts that will give their assessments. But the reaction of the real economy sector will be very well expected. I know what it could be. According to the official data, official inflation is one thing, but the real inflation is different. We receive many questions about this. We ourselves go to shops and we see how expensive everything is. The average inflation is around 6%. Everything is getting more expensive and prices are growing very fast. Well, Maxim Chubais from Samara region asks why everything is so expensive. Even poultry increased. The price for poultry increased. I have a 50,000 ruble salary and I cannot satisfy the necessities of my family. I cannot feed them. We receive different questions from Rostov region. For instance, a kid is asking a question. He's asking why the prices for bakery are increasing and the salaries of my parents are not. I've already mentioned, when people see some average figures, average indicators, it causes questions because average figures generally do not coincide with what people see in real life. We see that we say that the inflation will go down. The prices will go down. Maybe it will be 5.7, 5.8% lower. But the food inflation, for instance, can be even higher, and it is higher, and it depends on the food basket that a person needs. If, for instance, these are protein products or poultry, then it affects the budget of the family. It's nothing good about that. We also need to point out one more thing. Maybe last thing on the year before that, we were critical about the actions of our colleagues from the government when the prices for eggs inflated, but now they have decreased by almost 10 or 16%. So these are important factors. Without any doubt, we need to follow closely what is happening in every segment, with every group of population. Regarding families with kids, everything should be centered around families with kids. Just saying that additional measures of support for families with kids will be introduced since the 1st of January next year. For instance, 13% of the personal income tax for individuals, the families where they have modest income, less than 1.5 minimum wage for a person, 13%, 7% most of it will return to the family. I hope there will be a real way to support families with children. And if the income of a family is less than 1.5%, then they need additional benefit for every child in the family. Well, I'm not even speaking about other components of supporting families with children. Of course, it is not enough. We understand everything. It's not everything. But what can we do? We will keep improving this system because the policy of the state on the federal and regional levels should focus on that, and of course we'll try to increase the level of salaries so that the income, especially the income of families with children, would not decrease. When we see that when the labor income is increasing, the government should keep their support measures. Well, it is a very well-known topic when a family with children receives some kind of benefits support, then the labor income increases, but the state reduces the benefits that the family has been receiving. So when the income increases, the overall income with the benefits should not be reduced. I'm returning to this topic, and I ask the government to pay close attention to this topic because it is senseless. The budget does not receive anything from that and cannot receive, and we are disincentivizing the labor activity of people.

Christina, you said was your name. Well, what I'm going to say, but it should be strictly between us. This is secret information. This is our secret weapon, and we will use it only in a truly critical situation because we are against any weapons being displaced or deployed in space. Our scientists know what is happening. This is a comet from another galaxy. That is why it behaves differently compared to the comets from our galaxy. It has a different surface. That is why when it is closer to the sun, there are different processes happening on it. As well as regarding the tail of this comet, it has a different appearance. It's quite big, from 2 to 6 kilometers. Well, let's see. The moon is at a distance of 300,000 km from us. And this object is 100, hundreds of millions of kilometers away from us. So we will send it to Jupiter, and in the beginning of the next year, this comet will go out of the solar system. Thank you.

As for the term that you have mentioned, well, I was speaking to the military, and I said it. I was not really meeting anyone specifically. I usually never say anything like that. I was speaking in general terms. I was speaking about a group of people, as legal people say. All of this appeared quite a long time ago. But the relations is what really important, relations between our two countries. I watched live the speech of the President of Belarus at the old Belarusian-Russian summit congress, and I have to congratulate him on that. His speech was very meaningful and excellent. I would like to express my gratitude for this assessment of the state of Russian-Belarusian relations. As for the security issues, we are solving them bilaterally as well as in the context of the CSTO. You have just now mentioned, Alexander Grigorievich spoke about the Russian tactical nuclear weapons that are being stationed on the territory of Belarus. We regularly have exercises of the groups of armed forces created by our ministries of defense. We are closely cooperating with each other. The security of the union state is in very reliable hands, and it will be guaranteed without any doubt.

We do not consider ourselves responsible for the death of people. It wasn't us who started this war. This war began after the coup d'état, the unconstitutional armed coup d'état that happened in 2014 and the start of fighting on the part of the Kyiv regime heads against their own people in the southeast of Ukraine. On our part, we stopped short of recognizing the autonomy, independence of the then breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. After we had been deceived and the Minsk arrangements had been implemented, we had to resort to the armed forces to conclude that war that had been started by the Kyiv regime with the support of the western countries. And President Trump is taking serious efforts to conclude this conflict, put an end to this conflict. And I said on many occasions that he is quite sincere in this undertaking. Moreover, during the meeting with President Trump in Anchorage, we agreed upon and virtually approved the proposals of President Trump. So saying that we reject anything is inappropriate and has no grounds. At a preliminary meeting in Moscow, a proposal was made to us, and we were asked to make certain accommodations. When I came to Anchorage, when I arrived in Anchorage, I said that those would be difficult decisions for us, but we still are in agreement with this tradeoff proposed to us. So saying that we reject anything or turn anything down is inappropriate and groundless. So the ball is entirely in the court of our western so-called opponents, the chiefs of the Kyiv regime most importantly, and their European sponsors. We are ready for talks, and we're ready to conclude the conflict by peaceful means.

Well, I'll start with your final point. We will definitely work that through. Such matters crop up when we have to respond to emergencies like fires and floods, etc. Here things are even more dramatic. But such matters in that system and frame of reference, when we struggle with after-effects of the calamities and disasters, can be resolved, and we will do that. And secondly, with respect to connectivity and services and the related issues of education, remote education, and diabetes sensors control. I gather that it's not a matter of the intake of certain drugs, but the control and timeliness of taking these drugs. When the internet is disconnected, it is hard to control the glucose level. I know what you're talking about. So there are restrictions related to security matters because of the drone attacks, and you mentioned the services, and some of the components of those services are stationed abroad. In this case, it's easier to select targets for attacks for our adversaries. And here we have to switch to domestic software and our own domestic hardware. This is a way out to ensure the operation and functioning of many of these services. And secondly, we can also use the capability of the international manufacturers operating here, but they should transfer their services to Russian soil. Definitely, we will have to work on both of these matters that you have raised. Thank you.

I bet that I hope that next year we'll have more talks about peace than war. Thank you for your question. We also would very much like to live in peace next year, getting rid of military conflicts. I reiterate, we actually would very much like to resolve all contentious issues by way of talks, and I hope that you will be in agreement. We'll have to eradicate the root causes of the conflict so that it shouldn't happen in the future for the sake of a lasting, durable, and just peace. With respect to prospective cooperation with NATO, we had it in the past and we also discussed a membership, first of the USSR, then of Russia, in NATO. But in both cases, we figured out that we were not welcome there. And the promises that had been given to us that NATO would not expand had been ignored, and we had been deceived. There had been several waves of expansion of NATO, and that entailed moving military infrastructure closer to our border, which causes our legitimate concern. In this context, a new security system or framework in Europe is very relevant. Even before the breakup of the USSR, some clever people in Europe, like the social democrats in Germany, proposed to establish a new security framework in Europe, not expanding NATO but establishing a new security framework with the participation of the US, Eastern Europe, and Russia so that no one should be left behind or put in a difficult situation. Actually, we don't require anything untoward or extraordinary. We're not saying that a country should not be able to select a way of protecting itself, but this should be a way that wouldn't threaten anyone, including us. We just insist on keeping the promises that were given to us by the Western partners. We were deceived, actually bamboozled, and now we want a reliable system in Europe. Now with respect to NIS, it is a daunting task. That enterprise, that company, despite the desire to improve relations which is seen on the face, the sanctions pressure continues and that also touches upon our Gazprom, the oil and gas company owning NIS. Gazprom invested more than 3 billion USD into NIS, turning that enterprise into a state-of-the-art and efficient one, and this is the main taxpayer to the budget of Serbia. We know what the developments around this company are, and we have an intergovernmental agreement with Serbia on non-acceptance of any kind of restrictions towards this business entity. We assume and presume that the leadership of Serbia, which is friendly to us, will act on its promises and obligations. Otherwise, no one would know how to invest money into an economy if an intergovernmental agreement wouldn't be observed. But we have some thoughts of how to move forward together, and we've been pursuing dialogue with our Serbian friends on that, and I hope that we'll find a way out, a necessary, a proper way out. If I may, coming back to the issue that you have touched upon already, but will you focus on it again with respect to the children's benefits? Families with many kids apply for these. They work a lot, but you know, even if they have an excess of 100 rubles of income, they are not eligible to such benefits.

Gulara, actually I have touched upon this matter in general terms responding to previous questions of this sort. I fully share your view. You have mentioned the fact that you work a lot, and your income goes up, but at the same time the support you receive from the government goes down straight away. So when you earned less, you received more from the government. So it seems it's kind of destabilizing. It's pointless to work more on the face of it. But I believe that this is a mistake, an erroneous policy on the part of the government. I'm certain that the finance ministry and the government will heed us. Now it's not about economizing and trading on families with multiple children is immoral. I agree with you. I think that colleagues will see to that, and this will be resolved. With respect to bills, housing bills, and electricity and other bills, I just want to remind you and all people for whom such matters are of importance that the general procedure is as follows: if this spending on housing bills and utilities bills exceeds the aggregate income of the family by 22%, the government is obliged to provide support. Everything on top of that 20% should be covered by the government. Are you in the know of that?

With respect to supporting families with multiple children, this is the cornerstone of our welfare policies. I reiterate that, and I would like the regional and federal authorities to remember that before you pursue any policy, just think twice how it's going to tell on the incomes of people and families with many children in particular. The main point of yours was about the reduction of governmental support. If your income goes up, we'll do everything to resolve that. Also on the part of the working mothers, I hope that Gulara is hearing us now. Here the child benefit is paid until the child turns 1.5 years of age, and many mothers say that at this age kids are not accepted to the infant or kindergartens. Very many of them are asked to extend this period to three years of age of a child. So the maternal leave lasts till a child turns three, and kindergartens accept children mostly when they cross the three years of age threshold. You know, mothers will not be tolerated if they do not return to work. Very many mothers want the payout to support their kids to be extended till a baby turns three. Well, yes, until a child turns 18 months, the family gets the benefit. But the answer is very simple: there are budget constraints. There's no justification other than this one. But the government will have to think of something on how to address this problem and similar problems. As far as kindergartens are concerned, crèches, and whether it's possible for a mother to go to work early, yes, this is one of the ways to address that. Not everything has been done to ensure that. A lot has been done, however, to renovate and rebuild schools. Right now, we're working on upgrading our kindergartens. I would like to ask my colleagues in the regions to listen to me very carefully when issues on renovating kindergartens are addressed. Probably it would be best to also set up crèche groups right away. This is the first part of the solution. Secondly, it might seem simple but still it requires additional attention as well as additional expenditure. We need namely to increase the number of hours spent by children in crèche and kindergartens. Not just 18 hours, probably it has to be extended, but this in turn would require increasing the number of teachers and specialists looking after children. But that would involve increasing the staff, and the government needs to think on how to go about addressing this discrepancy, this gap between 18 months and 36 months. On the whole, however, we've got more or less a refined system for supporting motherhood as well as families with children. Just to cite an example, benefits are provided to women once they get pregnant and until their children turn 18. And sometimes these benefits can be extended until 23 years when students go to universities, if this is a full-fledged education, not just evening classes. As far as families with three and more children are concerned, we have to pay particular attention to this issue. This status of mother, you know, it has been improved. Right now it's tantamount to a hero of labor. There's a number of benefits that come with that. There's another component: in the past, additional points were added to the pension, but only three children were taken into account when calculating the pensions. Whereas right now, a new decision has been taken: when a pension is calculated, not just the first three children but the subsequent children are also going to be taken into account, and additional points will be added to the score which is used for calculating the pension. The government will continue improving and enhancing and fine-tuning the system of measures for supporting families with three and two and more children. Let's get back to the audience. It's been more than 2 hours and we haven't noticed how time flies by. Kazan, did you want to ask something about Islam?

The Islamic world is very varied, just as the Christian world is very diverse. We you and I both know that. But I'm confident that the example of Tatarstan is positive in the highest degree, and many colleagues of mine from countries with the preponderant Islamic population keep that in mind. They follow closely the experience of Tatarstan, and that is a positive experience of coexistence of people of different religions and different ethnic groups. Tatarstan is an exemplar in that regard. My congratulations to you on that. This has started with the first head of Tatarstan, and Rustam Minnikhanov has taken up the baton and he's doing well. I'm not surprised that Kazan has been selected as the venue for huge international events for the Organization for Islamic Cooperation. Incidentally, Russia is an observer in that organization, and I was the one who initiated that. I addressed my colleagues and asked them to accept Russia as a country with observer status, and to our pleasure this was accepted by all of our colleagues from the Islamic world. I was following that with enthusiasm. I was very happy. I was very pleased that happened a long time ago. But this was the absolutely correct decision for us. More than 10% of the Russian population is Muslim. Well, I'm not going to cite what the Patriarch has told me on the subject, but you know, Christianity, this is Oriental Christianity, Eastern Christianity. As all of our core values are concerned, we share these values, they coincide. Tatarstan is doing a lot in terms of spirituality, in terms of education, in terms of bringing up children. You know, a special academy has been set up in Tatarstan, which is of huge importance. We in Russia have to prepare and educate experts in Islam. The same applies to Bashkortostan. Just as we used to do that in the past, we intend to support all traditional religions of the Russian Federation.

The thing is we've distributed these events among colleagues. Usually I visit St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, whereas the chairman of the Russian government usually visits Sochi for a similar forum. You know, just to bring the very same people to all events, that's why we're trying to redistribute that among ourselves. That said, this is very important for him and we'll keep supporting it because this is yet another thread, another tie that brings us closer together with our friends and allies in the Arab world, in the Islamic world in general. I think without exaggeration, I can say in our ties with the global south. Three questions in total. Let's have some respect for one another. Our friends from China, Xinhua, please. That sector. Yes.

From the outset, I would like to say that I view President Xi as a reliable friend as well as a stable partner. My reliable friend as well as a partner and an ally of Russia we can count upon. Probably this gives us the key to understanding the development of the ties between Russia and China. These relations are developing in a steady fashion. Of course, the agreements you have mentioned are important, namely the establishment of the strategic partnership, but most important is practice: what we're doing in our daily interactions across all avenues and all directions. We've cited some figures. The statistics from Russia and China vary a little bit, but on the whole it's around 240-250 billion US dollars. That's less than the countries of the EU taken together, but on a country-by-country basis, Russia ranks first among China's trade partners. It's 240-250 billion between China and Russia. But with the EU, China has a 700 billion US dollars trade. But if you take individual countries, then of course Russia ranks first. Of course, China has very big trade with Japan, with the US, with South Korea. But if we look at Europe, then we'll see that Russia ranks first. These relations are developing, entering into different spheres and domains. What is a particularly source of joy for me is it covers high tech, education, humanitarian ties, exploration of outer space. We cooperate, and this is something that testifies to the high level of trust between our countries. We even cooperate in the military field, and we conduct joint drills on a regular basis. Our strategic aviation carries out patrols on a regular basis, and the same goes for our joint drills on the ground. I think it would be fair for me to underscore once again that Russian-Chinese cooperation is a significant factor of stability across the world. Our defense ministries are in constant contact. They coordinate on the issues of the current agenda. So I'm hopeful that this is the vein in which we will keep continuing our ties with our Chinese friends for the near future and for the more distant future. Let's take another question from the audience. Yes, that lady in blue next to you. Yes.

This is a question that is of great importance to all countries that have entered the post-industrial stage of development. Almost all big economies, all big countries, the very same picture is seen everywhere, and some countries are facing a dramatic situation. Let's take Japan for instance, because the birth coefficient stands at 0.8%, whereas in South Korea it's as low as 0.7%. This is the number of children per one woman who is in the age of fertility. Our birth rate stands at 1.5%, whereas we need at least 2%, which is a tall task. A lot is certainly dependent on the material conditions of our families. Certainly families shouldn't suffer from a lower standard of living due to the birth of a child. This is an important thing factored in. I'm not going to recount everything that is being done. You know, starting from pregnancy until the children have reached 18 years, sometimes longer. 75 billion rubles was allocated several years ago for the support of birth rates in the regions that were requiring special attention. We're also trying to elevate the status of mothers with three and more children. I'm also talking about keeping in place the family mortgage. This is a thing we have to work on. Additionally, a mortgage at 6%. We will keep doing everything in our power to convince young people to create families and have children as soon as possible. This is a very fine line we're walking. First, young women in particular want to get some education. Then they want to get additional education, make their first steps on their career path. Then it's 30 years and the first child comes, and they don't have enough time or strength to get another child. You know how it goes. We want to make having children fashionable, trendy. We want people to understand what motherhood and fatherhood are and the joys they bring along. Let's get back to Naron. Alex has been at the front line for four years, but he's got four children. Everyone is trying to teach others using their own experience, and we say that we've got to learn from others' experience, and this applies to all spheres of life. But that said, still everyone has to make their own mistakes and learn from their own experience. Once they've done something, they've faced something, they understand what they did wrong, what they should have done. I spoke about that, I think I did that publicly at the last meeting with families with several kids. There was a woman with a family of eight or nine children, and she said very beautiful words. She said, 'We have 10 children for instance. Every time a new child appeared, we already had five or six people in our family, but a new child appeared, every time we thought, how could we live without you all this time?' Such evaluation, such attitude to children, the understanding of your own happiness in the state of motherhood and fatherhood, that is what should be communicated to the people. That is difficult. But we all should do this. That is why I'm speaking to this audience and to your colleagues, representatives of the media, to cultural figures. They are all talented people. They make good films and performances. They write books. They make great performances in theaters. But please always think about this. When you write about something, when you show something, try to make a propaganda of, try to promote motherhood and fatherhood. This is important. But what's more important is what is inside of your heart and understanding just simple human happiness. There is an interesting story. We have a question from a girl. She wants to have a career but she also wants to be a mother, but she's studying in a medical institution, medical university. As you know, medical graduates need to work after graduation for several years in a place chosen for them by the state. So right now these graduates don't know how their life is going to be after graduation. Just one thing you asked one question, and there is one thing that I pointed out: in 25 regions of the Russian Federation, there is a positive demographic trend. It means that our colleagues working in the regions pay due attention to this issue, and it means that we have good results even in this sphere of demography, which is really important for our country. 25 regions of the Russian Federation demonstrating positive trends in demographics. Let's see the video. Alina Valerria from Kemerovo.

Regarding the support of young families with children, we have already spoken about this several times. There is a range of measures to support families with children. When you say that you are on the fifth year of your education, so you will have to work for several years after that. No, it is what do we know? What we do understand about that is when someone is entering post-graduate education, since the first of March next year, a measure is introduced that after this, if you have been studying for free, it means that a graduate will have to work as a doctor for several years at a region, at a different region, and in different places it will be different. In a rural area, it will be shorter. In the bigger cities, it will be longer. But this will be the choice of every graduate. If they want to sign this contract about free education, then they will have to work compulsorily after that because they have received education for free. If they do not want this, they do not have to sign this contract and they can pay for their education. In this case, a student can receive an education loan and then return it during labor activity after graduation. As for the students, medical students, we're not speaking about compulsory work in a specific city, in a specific area. We are only saying that a medical graduate who is going to graduate from a medical institution has to work according to his or her medical sphere in a medical institution where people can receive services according to the compulsory medical insurance. But as for the family and having kids, this is the choice of every certain person. We need to evaluate your opportunities and to take a decision. But as I have already said, additional education or the start of a career or big income cannot be the reason to delay getting married or having a child. Well, the one important thing we're speaking about is the aspiration to become a doctor. For instance, someone is graduating from a university. This person is not being sent somewhere far away to a town or a village. This person just needs to work as a doctor in a public institution with the compulsory medical insurance. But before that, in the Soviet Union, people were sent to other regions. But now we do not have that. The decisions that were made are very soft, and this is a kind of a recommendation. Probably it would be better that we will not have to do this in the future. For instance, without any case, this girl asked a question. She is right. What can we do? We need to improve living conditions, solve housing problems. In general, the state is trying to follow this track. This regards such forms of support as the paramedic in a village or a teacher in a village. There is a range of support measures that we need to improve. As for the pedagogical universities, they will also have to work after graduation. Well, everyone was really afraid of this decision. As we're speaking about graduates from pedagogical universities, this will not be applied to them. Please let's work with the audience. The hero of Russia, our military journalist.

This problem can be solved in a drastic way when we will control this territory. But this is not the only solution. You know, there are opportunities of creating water pipelines, finding water on the territories that we are controlling, digging. One water pipeline has already been constructed, and now we are thinking about constructing one more. One of the key problems from the past is the loss of water because the loss of water in the existing pipelines was 68% up to now. Now they have reduced, but still this is around 50%. Of course, I have discussed these issues with the members of the government, with the authorities of the region. But it turns out that solving the problem of water loss means that we need to repair the whole pipeline system that was neglected for decades. Everything collapses there. In order to repair this whole system, we need to reduce the water loss up to 0%, and we need to invest as much money as the construction of another water pipeline. But I would like you to hear us that we know about this problem. It is very acute. We will try to do everything to solve it as soon as possible. Thank you. One more question. BBC, United Kingdom, please do ask your question.

Distinguished colleague, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we have not invented it. This law exists in several states in the US. It was introduced in the 30s of the 20th century. All of these laws, the US law as well, much harsher. There is criminal responsibility up to imprisonment for the activity in the political sphere if you are financed from abroad. We have nothing like that according to our law. It is just necessary to declare that you have some sources of financing. We don't have any repressions. We don't have any criminal responsibility. If people stop engaging in political activity or when they stop using foreign sources of financing, they are eliminated from these lists, and there are many such examples. And what is going to be with BBC because there is a million lawsuit from the president of BBC? Well, these are their family matters. They should deal with them themselves. I don't want to interfere. I just don't want to touch upon this topic not to make it more difficult for you. There is such problem. There is a problem of falsification of information, fake news, and I think that President Trump is right, but it's not that important. You asked whether there will be new special military operations. No, there will be no operations if you treat us with respect. If you comply with our interests, respect our interests as we always try to respect your interests. If you don't try to play dirty tricks with us like it was with the NATO eastward expansion. You said that there would not be a NATO eastward expansion even by an inch. It was a direct quotation. As it said, as we say, you just neglected our interests in the security. You deceived us, not you personally, but the Western figures created the situation of today with their own hands. They continue to escalate the situation, speaking all the time that they are preparing for war with Russia. But as far as I know, you live here for many years. I think you understand it, and those who speak about war with Russia also understand it. Are we truly going to attack Europe? This is nonsense. This is done based on political reasons, and this is done to create the image of an enemy. They are creating an image of an enemy, and they're making Russia the enemy to hide the mistakes that were made systemically by leaders for many Western leaders for several years in economy, in the sphere of social policy, where this green agenda, when we see new coal plants being opened, nuclear plants were closed, and now they're returning to them. This is a mistake after mistake. They are trying to make Russia an enemy. They want to distract their people from their own mistakes with the help of the external affairs, and your questions constitute attempts of similar kind. You said that all the power belongs to me and is in my hands. Well, yes. The president of Russia is vested with powers and credentials, and the border lines of this power are clearly enshrined in our fundamental law, the Russian constitution. When legislative decisions are made, I enact this law by signing them as in any other country. But I cannot tell you with a firm what proportion, well probably a big chunk of these laws is initiated by our MPs, deputies or senators. These are hard facts. Well, obviously the president of Russia has a lot of powers, but I believe that as this is a presidential republic, this is justified as of today. But in concluding, I must say that we're ready to work with you, work with the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, but on par, given the due respect for one another that would be in place. Frankly, incidentally, if we end up there, everybody will benefit. I have already recalled one of the conversations that I witnessed, the former Germany's chancellor Kohl back in 1993. He said that the future of Europe, if Europe wanted to be preserved as a standalone civilization center, should be together with Russia, and we are mutually complimentary in a natural way, and we must work together and make headway. He said otherwise Europe would disappear. He said, 'Well, look, Russia, despite seeing a slowdown of our economy to 1%, still ranks fourth in terms of GDP size by PPP.' Following China, yes, and India, Russia is number four. We are followed by Japan and Germany. The United Kingdom that you represent today unfortunately ranks eighth or seventh or ninth, probably seventh or eighth on GDP size by PPP. Had we joined our efforts with the European countries, our joint GDP by PPP would surpass that of the United States. Well, this is all theoretic, but it's obvious that complementing one another, joining efforts, we would have flourished. But it's you who are waging a war against us, not us. You are waging a war against us with the hands of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis. We're ready to stop that fighting immediately, provided that Russia's security is provided in midterm and long run, and we're ready to cooperate with you. Well, Steve, I think the audience will agree with me. Lately, we have seen and heard a lot of statements and actions on the part of European politicians that are mind-boggling. Why do they display this exorbitant support of the Kyiv regime, and no one has been thinking about the European values? They've been just supporting the Kyiv for no reason, and they're even ready to pursue a conflict with the US president. Well, this outrageous policy, as you put it, I've just tried to account for that answering the question by the colleague from BBC. They are trying to cover up their mistakes, to conceal their mistakes in economy and finance. They got in a gauge, and so it is very hard for them to move rightwards or leftwards. With respect to a possible conflict with the US president, there is nothing surprising about that. It's obvious for any observer that the European elites used to support the Democratic party and Madame Harris during the presidential campaign in the United States, and they were quite brazen in that, quite straightforward. Once President Trump was accused of meddling with elections, but nothing was proved, and all the Congress investigations did nothing. However, the political elites of Europe directly interfered, and that was quite blatant and obvious and uncovered. They now hope that after the midterm elections next year, the political landscape will change a bit, and their traditional allies will be back on track, and they will put more pressure on Donald Trump. This is why they are so insolent in the view of the forthcoming midterm Congress election. With respect to separate political figures, they have been conducting themselves in an aggressive way, an unprofessional way, I think. Let's come back to domestic developments. One final point with respect to those aggressive statements and declarations: I marvel at them. I marvel at them. I personally know the current NATO secretary general, the former prime minister of the Netherlands. I used to pay a visit to the Netherlands, and he's a smart person, a clever person, a systemic one, and an efficient one. He used to be an efficient prime minister, and the economy of the Netherlands is in good shape, and this is partly his merit. But now he's talking nonsense. Why are you talking this nonsense about a prospective war with Russia? They want to get ready, brace themselves for a war with Russia. Can you just read the new national security strategy of the United States? It says that the United States is a key player and the founder and the main sponsor of NATO, and the bulk of the funding comes from the United States, as well as the ordnance and hardware and weapons. So the new US security strategy: Russia is not indicated as an enemy, as a target, while the secretary general of NATO is bracing himself for a war with us. Why so? Can he read? He is disposing NATO against Russia to wage a war with Russia. At the same time, the backbone country of NATO does not consider us to be an enemy. Kind of I would question the level of professional competence. You should be quite attentive about your own duties, and you should also be open to what is happening around you. So, we've been on air for about 3 hours. We've been live for about 3 hours, and we have around 3 million applications and questions, and lots of them are about the housing issue. Well, the family mortgage, people want it to be extended to encompass the secondhand residential market. Well, this already encompasses 900 locations, but there are some restrictions critical for families with many children. They have to move to locations where they build new houses, but it's not universal. Yesterday from the Tomsk region, we recorded an address to you.

Was it a pre-record? It was pre-recorded. The location, the town of Strezhevoy. So in this decision, is she listening? I think she's streaming us live. So this decision has been made, and for regions where they don't have new builds or have very low rates of construction, it is allowed to resort to family mortgage to buy secondhand homes, previously owned homes and flats. So, there's always a number of issues cropping up. It all depends on the quality of construction and the quality of a building, because while you keep repaying your mortgage loan, the quality of that edifice may deteriorate. So you should be very particular and attentive towards a possible quality of a prospective edifice. So 880 locations are on that list. In case your location, your town is not on the list, we will add it. Yesterday I had a discussion with some of the colleagues from the cabinet who are responsible for residential construction and supporting families. This is something I took away from that. Measures of this kind, when they were taken, were to support families.

Supporting the families and the construction sector. And the decision was not easy at all. I mean, buying second-hand previously owned homes with the help of family mortgage loans. Well, it's quite useful for the construction sector in the new build sector. But you know, with respect to the previously owned homes, there's a number of issues still to be ironed out and resolved so that this support measure benefits not the construction sector but the families most importantly. As regards your town, if it's not on the list, I'll put it on the list. During previous callings, the deceived unit holders problem was raised and the escrow accounts were introduced. The construction company receives all the amount only when the building is commissioned. But actually now it turns out that the developers may receive all the money but not hand out the keys from flats and apartments to the unit holders.

Yes, this is an issue that is well known. The decision to introduce this moratorium to support the construction sector during the COVID-19 pandemic was taken, and this is still in place with respect to penalties till the end of the year. I think this is sufficient and I would ask the government not to extend this kind of moratorium. Flats should be handed over on time. There are some issues related to the delays in handing out keys from flats, and you know sometimes those apartments lack furniture, which is counter to the previously signed contracts. The litigation issue also may be pending. But you know, I think that this moratorium track should be stopped and I would ask the government to conclude that. And we need to act systemically so that the construction companies and developers honor their obligations, and definitely we should protect first and foremost the interests of our people. Another topic is about sports facilities and delays in commissioning. It may be virtually ready but it will not be commissioned, like the city of Abazar saying that the ice arena in that location is not commissioned, and a local community even helped dig the pit but to no avail. Another sports facility also is stalled in construction. So actually for a number of years the government has been trying to balance our budgets, and we've been repeating the same thing. If a facility is delayed, is not commissioned, if it's in progress, you should complete that construction first and foremost, not starting a new one. And please submit these data to the government and we will actually handle that. And I can see a placard saying 'I want to get married.' So it's going to be a different topic I think.

Well, I can see that you've been with your fiancé for 8 years. So you started dating when you were 15. Oh, that's great. Good for you. You know, in the Caucasus, among the peoples who live there, they've got very good traditions. They marry off their children when they're still at a very tender age, and I think we should all follow the example. You know, I know Raman Kadira. He's got a big family, many children, many of them are marrying both young men and young girls. I asked him about that. He said this is tradition in the Caucasus. That's great. Well, as for your particular case, I've said that there is a whole architecture of support measures that has been set up for families with children. It applies to families of students. But I'm not going to recount all the measures because that would take too long, and I've spoken about that. And it's impossible to wait ad infinitum for material conditions to improve for you to get education. Well, you can wait forever. It's best not to postpone for too long having children because this is part of our life and we've got to go through this life because giving birth to new generations. And I think you are also a believer. So I would tell you that this is probably the mission entrusted to us by God. And we'll certainly keep up these support measures despite certain tensions related to the need to rebalance the budget. We have still managed to allocate money for family mortgage. And you know there are some places across the country where the mortgage can be drawn out not at 6% but 2%. And you know, when you are together with someone you love, it does not matter where you live. It's not going to be just a small house; it's got to be a small apartment or a bigger apartment, but in a region where the interest payments on the mortgage are 2% not 6%. You've got to have a look at all of that. What does your fiancée do?

Well, yes, I've just said that there are several measures of support for student families. Just have a look at those. But you know, when a young man thinks you have to buy this and that, you have to live somewhere, there are many issues to be addressed. But best not to postpone such fundamental matters as making a family and having children. In that sector, you know, I see... Is it okay, Mr. President?

Well, let's start with the last part of your question. Let's hope this will not happen. But if similar threats arise, we will eliminate those threats. And everyone needs to understand that such actions will simply bring about a never-before-seen escalation that would escalate this conflict to an ancient level and expand it to a large-scale military conflict. Everyone needs to understand that. As far as strikes against our civilian infrastructure are concerned, you represent a media that deals with the military. You are well aware that these strikes are something we respond to, carrying out strikes that in terms of their scale and power are simply far superior to what the Kiev authorities are doing. But as far as damages are concerned to civilian infrastructure, to non-combatants, well that is something that is deserving of strictest condemnation, and we will always respond. We are receiving news that another oil tanker has been attacked in the Mediterranean. Yes, you know, they are pursuing some utilitarian purposes. They want to raise insurance premiums, but this will not bring about the result they are desirous of. This is not going to disrupt the supplies. This would only create additional threats, and Russia is certainly going to respond.

Well, we've been building a similar infrastructure in Egypt for some time, in the Nile area. There's a very good site there. And our colleagues from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and our counterparts in Egypt are paying a great deal of attention to developing this site. I think this is something that should bring about very good and positive economic results both for Russia and for Egypt. There are a number of other projects we're contemplating in other partner nations. Your example, your experience, will certainly be used. I do not know what is the current state of this industrial park in Tajikistan, but I'm confident that given its well-developed technological and industrial base, Bashkortostan is going to play a pivotal role and will achieve all the tasks that it has set before itself. And I'll ask the government to provide you with the requisite support should that prove to be necessary. Yes, please. Well, if there's too much noise, we'll have to bring this to an end because it's not going to be possible to communicate with one another. Kakoshnik. Okay, let's see what this Kakoshnik is about. Well, Kakoshnik is something women wear.

Let's start with the utility fee. Well, let's be upfront what this is about: the increase of the utility fee as well as rising prices. Well, we're certainly talking about strong cars of more than 160 horsepower. The government fully understands that it mostly concerns citizens with a middle level or very high level of income in big cities most of all. And it's clear, and we've got to be clear about that right now. This is due to the attempt by the Finance Ministry to secure another source of income for achieving a very noble, lofty task: technological development, technological sovereignty. And it certainly helps our car industry. You said probably foreign cars are becoming increasingly expensive, probably we should contemplate buying Russian cars. Well, I can't help recommending some Russian car. There was an important development, namely the taking of Krasnoarmeysk. Because from Krasnoarmeysk, the competent level of the armed forces will have to make a decision on which direction to take. But this is a very good bridge to continue offensive operations. And to the south, northeast, there is the city of Mitro, which is also an important bridge and it is completely encircled. I think around 50% of the city will have been taken by our forces by now. The adversary did not get an order or the command to lay down arms. They're trying to break the encirclement moving in small groups. They're undertaking attempts to take back at least parts of Krasnoarmeysk, in vain so far. The adversary is sustaining significant losses and seen no success. Another group of Russian armed forces, the East Boston group, is making great headway across Zaporozhye region, liberating one settlement after another. As you know, currently the battle is taking place in Gulyaipole. The city is divided by a river into two parts. The biggest part is on the opposite side of the river. This berry has been bridged and the battle is raging inside the city. But an important part of the group of forces of Vostok is moving even further, liberating one settlement after another in Zaporozhye region. Moreover, safety and security zones are being set up in Sumy region, the city of Volchansk in Kharkov region, as is well known. Currently, several weeks ago, Kupyansk was taken by the Russian forces. So far, our forces are not moving, but they are in control. The thing is, their most important task is to eliminate the group of forces of the adversary on the left bank of the Oskol river and to take another settlement, which is basically a hub, a transport hub, which is Kupyansk-Vuzloviy. There is a group of forces that is encircled there. 15 battalions, 3,500 soldiers, who didn't get a command to withdraw either, and they have no chances whatsoever. They are heavily encircled by the Russian armed forces. And once it happens, once our units have completed their task, they will move further west. I'm confident that by the end of the year, we will have seen new successes by our armed forces, by our soldiers, by our warriors at the line of contact.

You must have seen, you must have heard the briefing of the head of the general staff, as well as the head of the group of forces, the group of armies, the commander, as well as the head of the brigade that is engaged in hostilities there. I asked him, 'What's your current take on the situation in Sever? Are you firmly in control?' He said, 'Mr. President, we are moving even further west, 1.5 to 2 kilometers. My brigade has already made that movement to the west and this movement is continuing.' You probably remember there was this briefing on Sever, and we had a report of the assault group from the spot, from Sever. If you remember, at the end I asked them to change their position as soon as possible once the report was over. And I think it was yesterday.

We had a meeting at the Ministry of Defense, and once the collegium was over, there was an award ceremony for our warriors.

Yeah, there was an award ceremony for those who participated in the liberation of Severk. And once that was over, I went back to the Kremlin to my office, and I asked the head of the assault group to come by and see me because I wanted to talk to him about the current agenda. I do that from time to time when an opportunity presents itself. And we also had a meeting on the preparations for today's event, and he came straight to the room of the Security Council, and I asked him to say a couple of words so that every colleague can hear what's the current state of affairs in Sever, how it happened. And he started recounting, just a couple of words very briefly. And once he went away, colleagues asked whether we could invite him to the direct line. I said, 'Well, you can ask him, but his leave is not that long.' So we phoned him and he's here. Naran Alex, there he is. Naran, is that correct? Yes. Please be seated. Take your seat. Am I correct? Is this how this happened? Yes. If you've got any questions about what is happening in Sever and how the liberation took place, you can ask him directly. I think it's going to be better. Let's give a round of applause to the Hero of Russia. Let's welcome him.

Well, he started just as a driver and right now he's a head of an assault unit, and more than 80 people are under his command. And he's also a Hero of the Russian Federation. Naran Alex, Kulik, journalist, must have seen this connect, this meeting between the president and yourself. And the colleagues, the communication was spotty at best because of the signal. Right now we've got more time. And could you tell us a little bit about how Sever was liberated? We would very much like to learn how it happened. Of course, share what you can share, what your soldiers did. I can repeat my question. I said when he came to the room of the Security Council, what was the most difficult?

Let's thank the Hero of Russia once again.

Well, I'm not following what he's doing, but he's an artist and a talented one to boot, so there's nothing surprising about that. You know, they're saying that this obelisk looks completely different from what it used to. But be that as it may, this obelisk is one kilometer or so from the city. Well, why stay at the threshold? Do come in. If Kiev is under their control, why not go into the city itself? And you know there were some female bloggers. They managed to get by. Luckily nothing happened to them because the sky is swarming like with flies, but not with flies, with UAVs. And there are UAVs both from the Ukrainian side and from the Russian side. It's impossible to approach that settlement so easily. A time will come once our soldiers have completed the elimination of the group of forces of Ukraine that is encircled in the east part, and then they will turn and go westward. It will be very soon. This is just a question of time if there are no other problems. As for other fakes or attempts to return the lost positions at any cost, as it is done now, I would like to underline that it is done at any cost. The adversary has no success. The problem is that as a result of active and effective actions of our armed forces, the adversary has suffered really serious losses of strategic reserves and they have almost nothing left. This is a meaningful component, and this should give an impetus to the Kiev regime to solve all the disputes and to end this conflict peacefully. They almost have no reserves. I think that everyone who's watching us and everyone here, the whole war is a grave burden for the economy.

Well, as usual, I have brought a table with me. It's like that. These are open data on what happened in our economy throughout the previous year. The GDP growth was 1%. But if we take the three previous years, this is also a correct indicator. The common growth was 9.7%. At the same time, the EU growth was 3.1%. As for the 1% growth this year, these were conscious actions of the government and the central bank and the whole government of our country regarding targeting inflation. We need to point out that in general, we managed to solve this task. We had a goal to decrease inflation to 6%, but by the end of the year it will be less than 6%, 5.7 or 5.8%. But the decrease of the economic growth rate is the cost of preserving the quality of the economy, the macroeconomic indicators. Let's go forward. Industrial production increased by 1%, manufacturing industry increased 3.1%. As for agricultural production, increase of 3.3%. An important question is housing construction. Millions of square meters were constructed. Last year it was 107.8 million. This year the indicator is lower but it is also good, 103 to 105 million square meters. We manage to preserve a very good indicator of real salaries. They're not as high as last year but still I think the indicator is very good. The real salaries without inflation is going to be 4.5%. Unfortunately, we must be honest, throughout this period the growth of labor productivity is going to be very modest, 1.1%. And we need to change that. As for unemployment level, last year I said it was a record low historically, it was 2.5%. This year it is even lower, 2.2%. In general, these are very good indicators. International reserves of the central bank are growing. I have just spoken to the governor of the central bank just several days ago: $741.5 billion. As for the budget deficit, the federal budget deficit is 2.6%. Next year we think that it's going to be 1.6%. As for the three-year period, it should be around 1.5%. This is a very good indicator. Regarding our state debt, it's one of the lowest among the developed countries. We have spoken with our colleagues. It is 7.7%. And in the next three years it will not be more than 20%. These are the indicators. What is more important, the principal thing is that we have to thank the government for the hard work they have implemented. They managed to balance the budget. The quality of this balancing is at the level of 2021. This is a very important indicator of stability of the economy and financial system of our country. It means that we will be able to fully implement the issues regarding the social obligations to the population, also solve development issues regarding national projects. We will reach the technological development goals, as well as, without any doubt, we will ensure the necessities of the armed forces. And all of this combined speaks about the stability of the economy and financial system, which is absolutely under the control of the government and the central bank. Well, the journalists would also like to ask their questions. Our format is combined, this is a direct line and a big press conference. So let us give the floor to the journalists. Let's start with the center, Siberia. Let's start with Siberia, please.

Thank you for reminding about this. This is good news, which is very good for everyone participating in the process. This topic appeared during the council on science at the offices of the president of Russia, which was in 2018 or 2019. The colleagues from the Siberian Institute of Science, the Institute of Nuclear Physics, spoke about the necessity of creating such an accelerator. Truly, we had some problems, slowdowns because of sanctions, but we managed to complete this work. This is great and I would like to thank everyone who had to do anything with this project and I would like to congratulate you on that. This is truly a success. Well, the same thing goes for the Kurt Institute here in Moscow, but this is the second stage facility. A lot has to be changed. We are planning to do that at the same time. We are going to create the same facility in Vladivostok and in other cities as well. We are going to work on that. As for your facility SKIF, this is a great success because it gives an opportunity not only to have investigations of a fundamental nature but also of an applied nature. This is truly important because this will give an opportunity to work in the sphere of pharmaceuticals and new materials and so on and so forth. But how to keep young experts? We have a whole system that is functioning, but the main thing is that we need to create laboratories because true scientists are truly talented and dedicated ones. But social aspects are also very important: the salaries, the conditions for living there. All of this is what we're going to work on in the future. This is one of our goals. We have a grant system for this and mega grants. We know the scientists that are called 'mega grantees'. These are the scientists receiving such mega grants. We have raised this issue at one of the meetings with them. So we need to create conditions so that young experts would keep working there. We need to create a horizon for them to be seen, the horizon of investigation not for 2 or 3 years but for 5 years or more. And we have already done this and this allows us to prevent the outflow of staff. Many people come back. I have personally spoken to such scientists. These are young experts that used to work abroad but they come back to Russia, to the native land. And our so-called Western colleagues help us very much in this. Why do they come back? First of all, there are great laboratories, great opportunities. But one of the main causes is that they are really concerned about their kids because it is impossible to send kids to the schools in those countries. Well, we have a protection of traditional values on their agenda. And together with the other conditions, they decide to come back to Russia, and there are more and more such people. Well, we'll keep working on all of these tracks. I'll try to come to visit. Let's give two more opportunities, a couple of opportunities to journalists. Please don't shout. Well, I have the patriarch of the Kremlin pool, Alexander Gamov. Please, Alexander, if you have a question, you haven't raised your hand. Yes, please.

You know, first of all, let's remember the participants of the Great Patriotic War. Those who were fighting on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War came back. They reached great results in culture, in science and education. When I went to university, I had teachers who were participants of the Great Patriotic War. We respected them greatly. There were those who were gravely injured. I had a teacher who didn't have a leg and he had prosthetics, but he was an excellent expert in his sphere. We all remember him with gratitude, and we remember the knowledge that he gave us. Let's remember Mr. Nikulin, and there are many scientists who excelled in their spheres and truly gave effect, were really important for the development of our country. And the participants of the special military operation. Let's take Naran Alexich. I couldn't recognize him really because the hall is very big, but he was given a mic and there is a camera. People knowing what they're doing. But when he entered the Security Council in the Kremlin, he spoke there and everyone was looking at him very carefully. There is great potential that the people, the guys from the special military operation, have. But it is one thing to fight, and it is another thing to be a leader of a team, or to be a head of a big company or a region or a ministry. You need a talent for that. For that, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the special military operation zone. Everyone, not everyone wants to have such a civil career. But those who want and those who have potential, who have education, experience or are ready to receive it, it means that the government must do everything to give such opportunities to these people that are truly ready to fight for the interests of their own country. I've already explained how this idea appeared. I met young people, students. I looked at them. I looked at how they were communicating their ideas, what were their goals, what are the promising goals for the country by their opinion. So when I listened to them, I had this idea: it's important to give opportunity to such people, such young people, to stimulate them. Of course, we need to prepare them, to train them without any doubt. That is why we started this program. I thank the heads of the regions of the Russian Federation for promoting this program regionally, and it is truly functioning. And I'm truly glad for the people who participated in the first stage and the second stage. Some of them have become governors, vice-ministers. They work in our biggest companies. Several people work in the Presidential Administration, and they are truly successful. Of course, there are some difficulties. Some of them may try to work in some other sphere, but the program itself is functioning successfully.

Stealing is not really a correct definition for that. Stealing is when someone is doing it secretly, and they are doing it openly. This is a robbery. This is a robbery. Why they fail to do this? Why they failed to implement this robbery? Because the consequences can be truly harsh for the robbers. Why is that? It's really hard to do that because they declare that they are not going to rob it, to take it. The idea is to make a credit using our assets. But you cannot just give out a loan. This will make consequences for the budget of a country and increase the budget debt of every country. If someone gives a loan even secured by our foreign assets, it must be reflected in the budget of the country that does it. For example, in France, the public debt is 120% and ours is at 17%. And our budget deficit is 2.6%, next is going to be 1.6%. In France it is 6% per annum. So now they will assume additional liabilities, and it'll be quite hard to pass such a budget. All these are the reasons for the difficulty of taking decisions related to the robbery of someone else's assets. But there will be graver consequences for those who might endeavor that. This will not be a blow to their image, but this will subvert all the confidence in the Euro area. Actually, very many countries store their foreign reserves in the Eurozone. Many of those having spare money like the oil-producing countries. If they have a look at what might be happening, they will have doubts, and they already have doubts and concerns. What if this happens? Well begun, it can be further replicated. They might think: now some people dislike the conduct of the special military operation and the fight against neo-Nazism in Ukraine. And next, someone might not like the fight, the struggle with the LGBT movement. And in Muslim countries, they have stringent laws to this respect, and this might be another pretext for the alleged expropriation of sovereign assets. Why not? They might find other pretexts. So that will entail image-related losses and direct financial, monetary losses related to the contemporary financial architecture. And the main thing is: no matter what they steal, sooner or later they'll have to give it back. And most importantly, we will go to courts to protect our interests. We will do our utmost to find a jurisdiction that will be independent from the political context. Let's come to the room and ask questions from the hall. The 'Road of Life' I see the sign.