Anti-crisis programs for key sectors of economy will be developed by April 1 — PM Medvedev

Business & Economy January 28, 2015, 15:35

The main objective of the Russian anti-crisis plan is to support the macroeconomic and social stability, as well as to create conditions for sustainable economic growth, Russian Prime Minister says

GORKI (MOSCOW REGION), January 28. /TASS/. Import substitution programs for key sectors of the economy will be developed by April 1, the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday at a special meeting on social stability.

He is cited as saying that "The Ministry of Industry and Trade is developing the list of priority and critical services, products, and software where Russia needs to boost domestic production."

The main objective of the Russian anti-crisis plan is to support the macroeconomic and social stability, as well as to create conditions for sustainable economic growth, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

Medvedev said that the "work will be organized in several ways, but first we need to maintain macroeconomic and social stability, create conditions for industrial and agricultural development, proceed with innovations."

"Ultimately, it is necessary to create conditions for sustainable economic growth, although under the present conditions, it is a very difficult task," Medvedev admitted.

Russian government intends to restrict access of foreign companies to government procurement tenders, if Russia produces equivalent goods, Prime Minister said.

He said that one of the main goals of the anti-crisis program is to stimulate the demand for domestic companies, to obtain that "we will restrict foreign manufacturers from bidding on government procurement, if the equivalent is produced in Russia."

Additionally, the government will "stimulate and localize production in the country through state contracts for local goods."

Medvedev reminded that the anti-crisis plan includes an extension of the domestic appliance program that runs on gas fuel, for at least another year. "We are also extending the vehicle utilization program, $147,000 (10 million rubles) have already been allocated for that," the Prime Minister said, adding that the amount could be increased, if need be.

Support for strategic companies

Russian strategic companies will receive governmental support without any delays in two weeks, Dmitry Medvedev said.

"It is important that the strategic companies promptly receive aid from the government. Funds are extremely valuable now and should be quickly delivered to the beneficiary," he added.

Medvedev said, "The minimal possible term, within two weeks, should be provided for all the related procedures, including state guarantees."

Russian regions were also tasked to monitor the status of strategic companies.

Prospectives for the regions

Dmitry Medvedev urged regions to cut taxes, thereby creating "real incentives for investments into greenfield projects and future growth of the tax base". He voiced such a proposal at a meeting in support of sustainable development of the economy and social stability in 2015.

"It is probably tempting to 'freeze' tax cut initiatives in the regions," the prime minister told governors.

He added: "We should not forget that tax reduction creates real incentives for investments, greenfield projects, and future tax base growth."

Medvedev urged the regions to "take all that into consideration when making taxation decisions in current situation."

Russia could expand the list of activities that would warrant a patent, he said.

"The taxes could be lower for companies that operate under a patent. In order to achieve that, the list of activities for patent application will be expanded," Medvedev said.

In particular, the Russian prime minister said, the regions will have the right "to reduce the maximum amount of the potential individual entrepreneurs’ income, if they deem it appropriate."

"In this case, more people will receive a patent for their work, and will be able to legalize their income," prime minister said.

Unemployment rate

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev calls to keep low unemployment rate, to create efficient labor market and increase labor mobility in Russia.

"The situation on the labor market also requires our focused attention, we’re monitoring it all the time, it’s one of our joint tasks as well," he said. "We must try to keep the low unemployment rate, which we managed to reach earlier, but simultaneously we should be prepared to make the employment structure more efficient and up-to-date, we should upgrade employees professionally and increase their labor mobility," Prime Minister said on Wednesday.

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