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Putin arrives in Cherepovets to hold State Council meeting on family issues

The State Council is an advisory body to the Russian president, which deals with issues of the highest importance to the state as a whole

© ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Klimentyev

CHEREPOVETS, February 17. /ITAR-TASS/. President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Cherepovets, northern Vologda region, to hold a meeting of the State Council presidium on the family, motherhood and childhood.

The State Council is an advisory body to the Russian president, which deals with issues of the highest importance to the state as a whole. The council was established by the president on September 1, 2000.

Attending the meeting will be Valentina Matviyenko, Chairperson of the Federation Council, upper house of Russian parliament, Audit Chamber Head Tatyana Golikova, presidential aide Igor Levitin, heads of federal ministries and agencies, and some regional leaders.

The State Council’s working group has suggested drafting proposals allowing citizens with children of preschool age to combine their professional and family duties and creating conditions for women under the age of 23 with children to undergo professional training.

The group also proposed creating conditions for developing public-private partnership and volunteer movement to support and assist families with children, including care for children of preschool age.

The working group suggested providing public social aid to lower-income families under social contracts, which will require parents to get employed, and take care of and bring up their children.

The group called for supporting business projects of young families with children or projects aimed at providing services to families with children under the program of support to small and medium-size business.

It also suggested taking measures to improve the quality and optimize the timing of television and radio programs for children and young people with a view to promoting a healthy lifestyle and family values among them.

Putin will also visit the Cherepovets Steel Mill (known as Severstal) where he will meet with its employees to discuss these issues.

The Cherepovets Steel Mill is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel related mining companies, with assets in Russia, the USA, the Ukraine, Latvia, Poland, Italy, Liberia and Brazil. Severstal is listed on RTS and MICEX and the company’s GDRs are traded on the LSE. Severstal reported revenue of $14,104 million and EBITDA of $2,119 million in 2012. Severstal’s crude steel production in 2012 reached 15.14 million tonnes.

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