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Russian Communist leader announces his election program

Virtually, it repeats the theses Communists’ program for the parliamentary elections

ORYOL, January 15 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, who runs for the country’s president, on Saturday announced his election program.

Virtually, it repeats the theses Communists’ program for the parliamentary elections.

“If you elect me president, I promise: education, including higher education will be really free of charge, retirees will be granted allowances of 15,000 to 17,000 roubles a month that will be higher than the average living wage in Russia, and state employees will be paid wages of 20,00 to 25,000 roubles,” he said. “With your help, we will revive such crisis-gripped industries as aircraft-building, ship-building, machine tool-building, the defence and agricultural sector.”

He also promised new Forest, Land, Water Codes, and the Law on Natural Resources to legalize all people’s property of natural resources. “The banking and energy sectors are also to be partially nationalized,” he stressed. “Nationalization is to strictly comply with laws.”

“We shall support small and medium-sized businesses, we cannot do without such businesses,” he said.

In the event of his win in the presidential race, Zyuganov pledged to form a “government of popular trust from among patriots and professionals.”

Another item of his election program is the revival of the agrarian sector. “After joining the World Trade Organization, Russia is to further half support to farmers,” he noted. “Normal countries spend at least ten percent to develop and support farmers. Thus, the United States spent twenty-four percent for these purposes in 2011, Europe – 30 percent, whereas Russia has been spending barely one percent in the past ten years.”

Zyuganov’s team will implement in the industrial sector an non-stop modernization project based on the achievements of scientific and technological progress. Thus, in the next three years, state allocations on industrial development will be increased by at least ten trillion roubles, allocations to the agricultural sector will be increased to reach 10 to 15 percent of the entire budgetary spending, he promised.

In his words, his only rival at the March 4 presidential polls is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.