Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
MOSCOW, December 14 (Reuters) - The following are highlights from Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual end-of-year news conference on Thursday.
ON THE ISSUES RUSSIA FACES
"The most important thing is what the authorities and society need to focus on. There are issues like the development of infrastructure, healthcare, education, high technology, increasing labour productivity and citizens' income."
"I'm thinking about the fact that the political environment, as well as the economic environment, need to be competitive. I will strive for us to have a balanced political system."
ON THE OPPOSITION
"It's important not to just make noise on public squares and speak about the regime, but it's important to propose something to make things better. Of course there are a lot of dissatisfied people today. But when you start to compare what the leaders of the opposition are proposing, especially the leaders of the non-systemic (liberal) opposition, there are a lot of problems. A real agenda needs to be proposed, one that people would believe."
ON THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY
"The economy is growing, it's an obvious fact. There is no doctoring (of figures). GDP has grown 1.6 percent, industrial production has also grown 1.6 percent. The auto industry, light industry, and agriculture have experienced good growth."
"We have overcome two (economic) shocks -- the sharp fall of energy prices and external restrictions, or so-called sanctions. Sanctions did not have as much of an impact as the oil price, but they still did have an impact."
"Our development has started to rely more and more on domestic demand, which is crucial for any economy."
ON THE CENTRAL BANK
"Our central bank follows the law and international practices. It is an independent structure ... not under government control. It acts exclusively independently."
ON THE NEW START ARMS CONTROL TREATY WITH THE UNITED STATES
"We have not withdrawn from the foundation agreements that have been the cornerstones of international security. We have not withdrawn from missile defence treaties. The United States withdrew unilaterally."
"Now we are hearing about problems regarding the agreement on short and medium-range missiles (the INF treaty). It appears that the conditions are being created and there is an information propaganda campaign for the United States' possible withdrawal from this treaty. They have de-facto already left it."
ON MILITARY SPENDING
"For the next year we plan to spend 1.4 trillion roubles ($23.88 billion) on procurement and 1.4 trillion on maintenance."
ON DOPING SCANDAL
"Some colleagues and I have already said that it is clear to us that the scandal is being inflated ahead of the Russian domestic political calendar. I know that this is the case, no matter what is said."
"At the same time we are also guilty, we provided an excuse for this because there were real doping cases. It's true that this happens in other countries but there isn't this political frenzy. There is no doubt that there is a political undercurrent."
ON FORMER HEAD OF RUSSIAN ANTI-DOPING LABORATORY, DOPING WHISTLEBLOWER GRIGORY RODCHENKOV
"This (the doping scandal) is the mistake of the people, the bodies that put him in that position. You can't work with people who try to kill themselves... And you can't base a decision on the testimonies of these people."
"He is under the FBI's control and protection. This is not an advantage for us, it's not a disadvantage. It means that he works under the control of the American special services."
ON INTERNATIONAL SPORTS BODIES
"We respect sports organizations. We understand that it's difficult. They themselves are under pressure and being intimidated. But their conclusions still need to be based on something objective."
ON SOCCER WORLD CUP
"We have had lots of successful experiences in hosting very big events. Out of 12 stadiums, we have a two-month delay at one place. But this can all be corrected. I am sure that everything will be done on time and with quality."
ON TRUMP
"It's not for me to evaluate the president's work. This needs to be done by the voter, the American people. We are objectively seeing that there have been some major accomplishments, even in the short time he has been working. Look at how the markets have grown. This speaks to investors' trust in the American economy. It speaks to what President Trump is doing in this sphere. With all due respect to Trump's opponents, this is an objective fact."
ON MENDING RUSSIA-U.S. RELATIONS
"You have to ask him if he (Trump) has such a desire, none at all or whether it has disappeared. I hope that he has such a desire. After all, in the interest of the American people, we are normalizing our relations and will develop (them) and overcome common threats. We know them well: terrorism, ... finding solutions to environmental problems, fighting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, overcoming crises in different regions of the world, including the Middle East, the North Korean issue and so on."
ON ALLEGED RUSSIAN MEDDLING IN 2016 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
"This is all invented by the people who oppose Trump to give his work an illegitimate character. The people who do this are dealing a blow to the state of domestic politics in the country."
ON INFLATION
"Targeted inflation... is the central bank's balanced budgetary and monetary policy. Can we understand the business community's criticism? We can understand."
"What has happened in the last years? If the central bank last year twice cut the key rate, then this year the central bank cut the key rate five times and now it stands at 8.25 percent."
ON BANKS
"A decision was made to restructure banking institutions. Those that have a general work license with large partners, with large businesses, they must have capital of no less than 1 billion roubles."
"I think that we have a large enough number of bank for the level of our economy's development…. We need to reform the financial system in the interests, first of all, of the clients, especially with fluctuating world markets and domestic conditions so that clients are not faced with unsolvable problems."
ON TAXES
"We have agreed that there would be no tax increase until the end of 2018. Overall this is sustained for the main types of taxes."
ON NORTH KOREA
"We do not recognise North Korea's nuclear status. We consider that everything that is going on there is counterproductive. In 2005 there was an agreement with North Korea that it would reduce its nuclear military programme. A few months later this wasn't enough for the United States. Accounts started to be frozen... North Korea had to do things that went beyond the agreements. Why did you (the United States) do this? Was it not enough? You provoked North Korea to withdraw. And then even worse – Libya, Iraq. North Korea does not see any other means of self-defence except the development of weapons of mass destruction and military equipment."
"We consider that both sides have to stop escalating the situation. We have to end this spiral. Now (U.S. Secretary of State Rex) Tillerson is saying that the United States is ready for direct contacts. This is a very good signal."
