Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, according to Russian media.
During the forum, Putin discussed key factors in developing the Russian economy, why the Israel-Hamas war continues, and spoke about national development projects for the Russian economy and demography.
Economy
Putin promised to allocate an additional 100 billion roubles ($1,125 billion, €1,019 billion) for the development of Far Eastern cities. He announced a project to build nuclear power plants in eastern Russia and to deploy mining of titanium, lithium, rare earth metals, and other resources.
Answering a question about Nord Stream, he called Germany‘s reluctance to use the working branch of the pipeline “nonsense and schizophrenia.”
Germany can receive [gas] through the territory of Ukraine, receive it through Turkish Stream, but it can’t receive it through the string that runs along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. In my opinion, this is some kind of professional deformation, schizophrenia, some kind of nonsense.
The president said that Germany could have received 27.5 billion cubic metres of gas through the Nord Stream pipeline if it had agreed with Russia to switch on the pipeline. He also stated that Russia had always been willing to cooperate.
He also addressed the emerging field of cryptocurrency mining.
Russia is already one of the world leaders in mining, this is due to the surplus of energy capacity in Siberia. But there are certain issues here that have arisen recently (…) This energy resource surplus should not turn into a deficit that would be a deterrent to the development of Siberian regions.
Israel-Hamas war
Commenting on the protracted war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Putin pointed to the unresolved two-state solution as the basis for the worsening conflict.
We will do everything that depends on us to contribute to the resolution of this long-standing and very grave crisis.
He said the conflict had dragged on largely because of the actions of the United States, which was trying to play a decisive role in resolving the war and achieving a ceasefire.
Earlier, Putin met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow to discuss the war in the Middle East.
Domestic reforms
Responding to Russia’s internal challenges, the president said it was necessary to create conditions for increasing the birth rate in the Far East.
We need to create the conditions that we have talked about so much today, so that the birth rate increases and people, primarily young people, have the desire to come there.
According to Putin, in Primorsky Krai (the Far Eastern Federal District) families with three children are entitled to an increased payment of 1 million roubles (about $1,250 or €10,200) for mortgage repayments from 2023.
We have agreed that a payment in a similar amount, i.e. 1 million roubles, should be introduced for large families in all Far Eastern regions where the birth rate is below the average for the federal district.
The Eastern Economic Forum takes place on 3-6 September at the Far Eastern Federal University campus in Vladivostok. More than 1,000 agreements worth over 10.5 trillion rubles ($118 billion, €107 billion) were signed at the last three EEFs.
