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KEY CONCLUSIONS

National project implementation has taken on a practical focus

«A lot of work has been done this year. It’s not only that we’ve managed to find significant funds, and that the government has found these reserves. It’s also the creation of a mechanism that is starting to work now, » Chairman of the Committee on Budget and Taxes of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Andrey Makarov said.

«As a result of various demographic challenges, birth rate is decreasing. So far, the decline in birth rate has not been counteracted by a reduction in mortality that would ensure natural population growth. Nevertheless, our citizens do receive payments as part of a national project. We have established that the number of people who receive payments for a first, second, and subsequent child is growing», Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova said.

To achieve national development goals all institutions need to be involved in the process

«Without the involvement of entrepreneurs, there will be no growth in investments and jobs, and it follows that there will be none of the other stuff either. Our main task is to make the system work faster and to involve every institution and participant faster too», First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov said.


PROBLEMS

A lack of regional resources for co-financing national projects

«Sometimes the execution of a plan returns something completely different from what was expected or requested at the outset. The agreement was signed, but in the end the region needs to spend more money because the federation ordered the building of a high-end school for nothing. As long as the region lacks incentive, nothing will turn out. We have been saying for a long time that the region needs to receive income instead of subsidies and grants», Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Evgeny Bushmin said.

«The goals are very clearly marked, and money has been alloted for them in national projects. It’s not a given that this money will be enough to achieve the goals even from the point of view of our own criteria for co-financing. [...] 3% (co-financing — ed.) is demanded of our region, though it actually comes to much more. We simply cannot raise the additional funds ourselves. We’re talking about for preschool education, for education in general, and for roads. [...] We need 40% co-financing for roads (to achieve the established goals — ed.)», Governor of the Ryazan Region Nikolay Lyubimov said.

Insufficient detail for a number of national project indicators

«There are too many process indicators [in national projects — Ed.] and no final ones. According to our data, about a quarter of indicators are about how many enterprises need to be involved, and how many people need to be registered. It seems to me that some of the questions would disappear if we cleared out all these intermediate things and focused on the [final] result», Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) Vladimir Mau said.

«There are very complex projects, such as birth rate. When we talked about why people are afraid to give birth: they are uncertain of their future. They are uncertain they will manage to reach a certain level of income», Acting Governor of Lipetsk Region Igor Artamonov said.


SOLUTIONS

Actively putting words into action

«It seems to me that from an economic point of view, the projects that have been designated are okay; they’re good. Obviously, they are not enough to achieve national goals. We need some other kinds of mechanisms. On the one hand, something can always be improved. But the machine in place at present is probably not perfect, but it is very efficient. It seems to me that we need to put off questions about what else needs to be improved and take and implement what we have invented», Governor of Perm Territory Maksim Reshetnikov said.

«We already have mechanisms, and they need to be implemented. If we’re going to talk about needing something else, we will always wait for something else to come before setting out to work. So we just need to work now», Governor of Buryatia Aleksey Tsydenov said.

Improving public awareness of national projects being carried out

«You have to go to the people. Governors and the mayors of cities need to do this because it is very important to get the information across correctly. Sometimes you just need to listen and, possibly, alter your decisions so that they are really aimed at a specific person and have the desired effect», Golikova said.

«Maybe change the attitude towards information? A lot is being done, but the information isn’t reaching people. Completely different information is out there that something is being taken away from you again, that something isn’t being paid like it should be, etc.», Makarov said.

Creating the conditions necessary for business to help achieve national goals

«Much more can be done regionally to create a favourable investment climate so that it’s easier to do business», Siluanov said.

«The task is to make participation in national projects more attractive to business. In fact, business isn’t asking for special benefits. One of the most important things businesses ask for is stability and predictability when it comes to fiscal, tax, administrative, and other burdens», President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin said.

For more information, please see the Roscongress Foundation Information and Analytical System at www.roscongress.org