Putin promises Russia better housing and social care
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has focused on social needs in his state-of-the-nation address, promising to raise welfare payments, improve education and the struggling healthcare system, and to remove toxic dump sites from cities.
Speaking before politicians and top officials, Mr Putin said the government will boost benefits to support young families.
He also promised tax breaks, lower mortgage rates and housing subsidies for families with several children.
Mr Putin added that the tax burden on developers will be eased to encourage them to expand housing construction.
He also emphasised the need to combat poverty, saying that 19 million of Russia’s approximately 147 million people live below the official poverty line, currently the equivalent of around 160 US dollars (£122) a month.
Improving the healthcare system will be another top priority for the government, the Russian president said. He has been hugely popular at home in his long rule but recently has seen a major slump in opinion polls.
He promised to pour additional resources into under-funded hospitals and clinics and make medical assistance available to residents of all remote villages across the country.
Mr Putin said the government will fund the creation of new state-of-theart children’s clinics and conduct a sweeping anti-cancer programme.
He noted that another key task is solving the problem of overfilled dump sites, often located near residential areas.
Noxious fumes from landfills near Moscow stoked protests last year. Mr Putin urged authorities to rein in shadowy waste management companies that neglect official regulations.
He said authorities should close 30 dump sites in big cities in the next two years.
The Russian leader emphasised the need to modernise the vast nation’s infrastructure, adding that 60 airports will be revamped in the next six years.
He also said the nation needs to focus on building research and production capacity on artificial intelligence and robotics to secure its technological edge.