Putin vows economic boost as he begins his fourth term
MOSCOW » Vladimir Putin on Monday launched his fourth term as president with an ambitious call to vault Russia into the top five global economies by developing its technological products and agricultural exports.
Putin, who has sought to restore Russia’s military and diplomatic prominence on the world stage, focused almost entirely on domestic issues in his speech after taking the oath of office in a vast, vaulted Kremlin hall glittering with gold leaf.
Improving the economy following a recession partly linked to international sanctions will be a primary goal of his next six-year term, Putin said.
“Russia should be modern and dynamic, it should be ready to accept the call of the times,” he said in his inauguration speech to thousands of guests standing in three halls of the Grand Kremlin Palace.
Putin later issued an extensive decree calling for “acceleration of the technological
development of the Russian Federation” and “creation of a high-performance export-oriented sector in the basic sectors of the economy, primarily in manufacturing and the agro-industrial sector.”
The 65-year-old former KGB agent, who has led Russia for all of the 21st century either as president or prime minister, has been criticized for inadequate efforts to diversify the economy from its dependence on oil and gas exports or develop the manufacturing sector.
Russia’s economy was hit hard by low world oil prices and sanctions connected to Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and military involvement in the separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine, with the ruble losing half its value between 2014 and 2016.
The country recorded an anemic improvement in 2017, with gross domestic product rising 1.5 percent and the ruble recovering some of its value. But the currency dropped about 8 percent again last month after new U.S. sanctions.