Preparation of the Presidential Annual Address is taking into account the proposals made during discussions of Mr Medvedev’s article, Go Russia! More than 13,000 comments and proposals have come in from individuals, political parties and public organisations in the five weeks since the article was published.
The President stressed that, as the article contains quite a detailed strategic policy outline, the Address should be more specific and provide concrete responses to the issues the article raised.
Mr Medvedev said that around a third of the comments so far received concern issues of economy, science, and national technological modernisation, and asked to be briefed on which of the proposals made have already been taken into account in the Address, and which are currently being reviewed and assessed.
The President spoke about modernising Russia’s economy and converting intellectual potential into economic results, recalling in this respect a letter sent by Russian scientists working abroad on the problems facing fundamental science in Russia. Mr Medvedev proposed that a special address could be drafted on this particular issue.
Recovery from the crisis and post-crisis policies, in particular social policy, as well as making the public sector and budget spending more effective were discussed at the meeting.
The President gave the Government a week to draft and present to the Presidential Executive Office its proposals regarding the Address’s economic section.
Taking part in the meeting were Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Naryshkin, his deputies Vladislav Surkov and Alexei Gromov, Deputy Prime Ministers Igor Shuvalov, Alexander Zhukov, Alexei Kudrin and Sergei Sobyanin, presidential aides, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.