Defense industry enterprises that are not part of the new rearmament program should not be neglected, Prime Minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
The program for the development of the Russian defense industry, prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, does not envision the modernization of industrial plants, which have not been given defense orders under the state arms procurement program until 2020.
“Make sure that these plants are not neglected and left without defense orders or modernization plans,” Putin said at a meeting with government officials on the implementation of tasks set out in his program published during the recent presidential election campaign.
“We cannot do this to the workers at these plants,” he said.
Putin asked Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry, and officials from with the Economic Development Ministry and the Health Ministry to help with the management of such plants, to resolve any social problems that may arise, supply the enterprises with alternative orders and retrain their personnel.
“We cannot just abandon them,” Putin said.
Putin has made social issues and the improvement of living conditions of the Russian citizens, especially the working class, a priority of his election campaign.
