Putin: Strong Central Gov't Can Save Russia

M O S C O W, July 8 -- In his first State of the Union address, RussianPresident Vladimir Putin said today said that only a strong,unified government can reverse the nation’s sharp decline andguarantee the people’s well-being.

Putin devoted much of the 50-minute talk to the need forRussia’s central government to regain powers that have beengradually ceded to regional leaders. His audience included membersof both houses of parliament, Cabinet members, top judges, andreligious leaders, assembled in the Marble Hall of the Kremlin.

Putin called Chechnya an “extreme example” of the government’sfailure to assert its authority over the regions. Russian troopshave been fighting rebels in the separatist republic sinceSeptember in Moscow’s second war there in a decade.

“The territory has become a bridgehead in Russia for theexpansion of international terrorism,” he warned.

Picture of Pain

Putin painted an alarming picture of the nation’s health,pointing out that the population had decreased by 750,000 everyyear recently. Within 15 years, Russia could lose up to 22 millionpeople, he warned—one-seventh of the population.

Putin also contended that Russia was losing its standing in theworld and even its independence.

“The matter is not only in our national pride,” he said. “Thequestion is more acute and more dramatic: Will we be able tosurvive as a nation, as a civilization if our well-being again andagain will depend on granting of foreign credits and on thegoodwill of leaders of the world economy?”

Putin set out six economic priorities for the government:guaranteeing property rights, eliminating preferential treatmentfor some enterprises, ending unnecessary state intervention inbusiness, lowering the tax burden and simplifying the customssystem, developing banks and other economic infrastructure andtargeting welfare toward the neediest members of society.