St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov: Mr President, good afternoon.
I would like to congratulate you on the great success of our forum. We have concluded agreements worth 1.227 trillion rubles, and it is not just us, but other regions as well who have achieved so much. Thank you for your support of St Petersburg.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: We must thank Anatoly Sobchak, who initiated the creation of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum and was its first organiser. At that time, we only helped him take the first steps. Now, it has become a popular and necessary platform of significant size.
Alexander Beglov: Mr President, I have talked with my colleagues. As you know, St Petersburg has the lowest unemployment rate at 1.5 percent. We have many working pensioners who are qualified personnel, and they have asked me to ask you whether it is possible to gradually reintroduce pension indexation for working pensioners.
Vladimir Putin: This is an issue that has been discussed for several years. It is constantly raised by various political forces, including United Russia and other parties represented in the State Duma. This matter has been discussed many times, and it is, of course, associated with additional budget expenses.
But I think that two factors have coincided today. Firstly, there is a shortage of workers, and people of retirement age and those who are entering retirement are, as a rule, highly skilled specialists, and the economy needs them.
Secondly, the most important thing is that we must support people and ensure social justice, as we constantly emphasise. This is a priority of our social policy.
I agree with you: a decision must be made on this matter. You know, I think I will address this during my speech at the forum.