Russian President Dmitry Medvedev delivered his third state of the nation address to both houses of parliament in the Grand Kremlin Palace on Tuesday.
His speech to the Russian parliament was broadcast on state television and lasted for about one hour and 15 minutes.
Members of the government and State Council, heads of the Supreme, Constitutional and Higher Arbitration Courts, chairmen of the Audit Chamber and Central Election Commission, and religious leaders attended the event.
In line with the Russian Constitution, the president annually addresses the Federal Assembly, comprising the Federation Council and State Duma, about the domestic situation and the key areas of Russia's foreign policy.
The Russian president said in his address:
- Agreement on missile defense system will either be reached within the next decade or Russia will need to deploy new strike forces
- Measures against major oil spills should be discussed globally
- Bribe takers should be fined 100 times the amount of the bribe and intermediaries in bribe taking should also be penalized under Russia's Criminal Code
- Russia will discuss the scrapping of visas and Russia's accession to the WTO at the Russia-EU summit in Brussels next week
- At least 50 percent of saved budget funds as well as additional income to the federal budget should be spent on modernization
- The rate of insurance premiums for Russia's small businesses in 2011-2012 will be cut from 34 percent to 26 percent.
- Russian authorities at all levels must get rid of property unrelated to their work
- The government should prepare proposals on penalizing officials for not performing their duties in a timely manner
- Russia should reduce annual inflation to 4-5 percent in the next three years
- Use of maternity capital to pay mortgages must become the norm starting in 2011
- There should be no orphans in Russia because the main goal for orphanages is to help families to adopt children
- People convicted of child abuse will be banned from employment in the education sector
- Care of children should be a key state task
- All Russian regions should have child ombudsmen
- A law on the criminal responsibility for the sales of alcohol to minors will be adopted in the near future
- Russian families should be given a plot of land to build a house on, as well as tax breaks, after the birth of a third child
- Russia must build infrastructure that ensures favorable living conditions for disabled people
- Russia will spend 30 billion rubles (about $1 billion) on the joint research work of the country's leading universities and major companies
- Russia will increase the share of national products on the pharmaceutical market from 20 to 50 percent in the near future
- Russia will spend 100 billion rubles on the development of children's medicine in two years
- Russia will allocate 2 billion rubles for teacher training
- Heads of Russian regions should make annual reports on the environmental situation
- Environmental issues should be discussed with relevant non-governmental organizations before the construction of infrastructure and other facilities
- The Russian government and regional authorities should focus on the development of a military and patriotic movement in the country
MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti)
