MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Not all tasks were accomplished in the first year of Russia’s National Projects, but 26 out of the 38 targets were met, Russian President Vladimir Putin told TASS in an interview for the project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin."
"It is true that far from everything has been accomplished. Out of the 38 tasks set for this year, 26 have been accomplished, and the others have not," he admitted. However, Putin pointed out that "nevertheless, 26 targets were met."
The president agreed that "the effects should have been felt, but in some respects, they were not felt." According to Putin, "what is really important is to ensure that the people not just know, but feel the real effects of this." In this regard, the head of state mentioned the slum clearance target. "We’ve accomplished innumerably more than we had anticipated. And people were definitely able to feel the effects," he said. "However, a solution doesn’t appear out of thin air, it has to be worked on and proper resources must be allocated. For this, those resources will have to be redirected from other courses of action," Putin explained.
Demographic issues
Putin also pointed out that Russia’s demographic situation was very special in certain respects. "There is the objective of raising life expectancy. It has increased already. Even last year’s figures. That is thanks to a lower mortality rate. It has gone down significantly," he said.
However, Russia’s population declined by 260,000 in 2019, Putin noted. "I know nearly every figure… because I deal with this every day," he added.
The president emphasized that the decline had been expected, because some objective factors were to blame. "The number of schoolchildren has grown, and it will continue to grow in the coming years. Why? Because a rather sizable generation reached their reproductive age several years ago, say 7-10 years ago. Yet, now the number of people that have entered into their childbearing years is far fewer," the head of state noted.
"The number of women aged 20 to 29 is down by 4.5 million. That’s it," he went on to say. Putin pointed to significant declines in the birthrates recorded in 1943-1944 and in the mid-1990s. According to him, "these two bottomed out, causing a depression."
National Projects
The key goals of the 12 National Projects and the Comprehensive Plan for Upgrading and Expanding Core Infrastructure were outlined in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s May Decree. They cover healthcare, demographics, education, environmental protection, housing and urban environment, road construction, science, the digital economy, labor productivity and employment support, culture, international cooperation and exports, small and medium-sized businesses and support for business initiatives.
The total budget of the National Projects will reach 25.7 trln rubles ($399 bln) by 2024. More than 13 trln rubles ($202 bln) will come from federal funds, another 7.5 trln rubles ($116 bln) from extra-budgetary funds and the remaining 4.9 trln rubles ($76 bln) from regional budgets.
Episode 3 of the video interview is available at https://putin.tass.ru/en.