Global crisis takes the front seat at Putin’s United Russia Party congress
Key members of United Russia Party - the political base of the current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, which is instrumental to the provision of the required legislative basis for all the Kremlin reform programs under President Dmitry Medvedev - convened on Thursday at its 10th Congress at Gostiny Dvor, a historical architectural masterpiece in downtown Moscow, to review the party's progress and map new plans and strategies for the future.
However, the Congress, scheduled to discuss the party’s future programs long before the exacerbation of the current crisis, had to drastically redesign its agenda to accommodate the more urgent anti-crisis measures and other programs being planned by the party, the prime minister and president to tackle the current global economic meltdown with its devastating impacts on the country and its economy, issues that became the central themes of the delegates’ deliberations.
Addressing the congress, President Medvedev, who is currently not a party member, noted in his opening speech the huge role of the United Russia in the country. “Thanks to the influence of United Russia, the State Duma is promptly adopting all the laws that are essential for our country's life, ensures the stable and constructive work of the Legislative Assemblies at all levels and unites the Russian society to resolve national problems,” he said. “Today, the most important of these challenges is overcoming the negative effects of the global financial crisis. I said recently that the state will fulfill its social obligations to citizens during this difficult period and that United Russia, a party which has huge organizational resources, tremendous capabilities, should be involved in such work,” he added. “Our Constitution refers to Russia as a social state. The destinies of individuals and support for those, who need assistance, should always be at the heart of your activities. And, now, this is more important than ever, it should be at the forefront. In today's conditions a daily dialog with people and good knowledge of the problems faced by our citizens take on a special meaning of utmost importance.”
After the president, Putin took the congress and over 1,600 invited local and foreign guests, including former and current heads of foreign governments and parties, through the party’s plans to move Russia ahead out of the crisis, and further toward the 2020 target. Some of these measures to boost the economy and companies under increasing pressure from the global economic meltdown include plans to reduce companies’ corporate taxes by 4%, from the current level of 24% to 20%, a move that will give corporations up to 400bln.rubs in tax savings.
Additionally, extra 30bln.rubs, 21bln.rubs more than previously appropriated, along with additional 6.5bln.rubs from the federal program, will be rerouted to supporting the SMEs to provide loans, subsidize interest rates on credits and develop business infrastructure for the SMEs. Putin also outlined other measures to help specific sectors, such as the agro and military-defense industries, promising to pump extra billions of rubles to make them thrive and competitive, even in crisis time. “This crisis should not impact negatively on the execution of our defense programs.”
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