Russia to raise national welfare standards to Western European levels
MOSCOW, Russia - Speaking in Moscow at a conference of social and welfare ministers of the European Council, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the strategic goal of the Russian government’s policies in the social sector is to raise the national welfare standards to those of Western European states.
Noting this striving underlines Russia’s huge interest in studying the proposals on social development and innovations of European experts and their implementation in Russian legislative practices, Putin added that the Russian parliament will soon deliberate on the ratification of the European Social Charter, following the adoption of the relevant bill by the government. “The plans of the Russian authorities envisage raising the quality of the social environment and general health of the nation, boosting citizens’ access to comfortable housing, creating a more effective system, guaranteeing personal safety of citizens and protecting them from criminal actions and other life-threatening emergency situations in the country,” he added.
The prime minister specifically noted that the NGOs and other structures of a civil society are expected to play a key role in the realization of these strategic tasks in the welfare sector. “For this purpose, maximally favorable tax conditions will be created for these structures, including granting them simplified accesses to state tenders on the provision of different types of social services to citizens,” he added. “Besides, we plan to introduce new procedures and rules that will guarantee detection, identification and registration of the interests of each social group when formulating policies aimed at solving social problems in the country.”
Web design,