ST. PETERSBURG, June 3. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address to the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) may provide an answer to an open letter by leader of the Russian Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov who has called for a revision of the country’s social and economic policy, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
"As for the country’s development plans and views of the country’s prospects - and perhaps, it will be considered as [Putin’s] response [to Zyuganov] - we need to wait for Putin’s address to the plenary session, which is scheduled for tomorrow," he said.
The leader of the Communist Party, in an open letter to Putin earlier, called for dialogue "between the authorities, the patriotic opposition and society on crucial issues," particularly on revising the country’s social and economic policy.
When commenting on the letter’s contents, Peskov noted that "it talks about various solutions and the key interest rate, which is regulated by the Central Bank and has nothing to do with the Russian president’s powers." "As for fluctuations in the prices of energy and other goods, they stem from market developments and these processes remain under the government’s control," Peskov pointed out.
"We probably should not turn a blind eye to the fact that our leadership eventually managed to steer the country through the devastating year-long pandemic as far as the economic and social sectors are concerned," the Kremlin spokesman said. "We should also refrain from turning a blind eye to the quite significant success that the government and the authorities, in general, have achieved in implementing development programs in various fields," Peskov stressed.