Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered an annual message to the Federal Assembly. The head of state noted that the message was first announced at the very beginning of the year, since it was necessary to solve the large-scale social, economic and technological problems that the country was facing.

“Today, a request for change has been clearly identified in our society,” the president said.

He specified that the pace of change should increase every year.

Get out of the demographic trap

Putin began the content of the message by discussing the situation with the birth rate in Russia. The president called for getting out of the demographic trap and ensuring the country's population growth. He recalled that now a small generation is born of families born in the early 1990s, and also listed the difficulties that young parents face.

According to Putin, the demographic trap of the 1990s turned out to be worse than during the war.

Putin called low incomes of Russian citizens the acute problem threatening the demographic future. About 70-80% of low-income families are families with children, the president recalled. In this regard, it was decided to introduce monthly payments for children aged three to seven years from January 1, 2020. We are talking about families whose incomes do not exceed the size of one living wage per person. At the first stage, payments will amount to an average of 5,500 rubles - half the cost of living. If these payments to families are not enough to have an income at the subsistence level, then from next year they will double and amount to about 11 thousand rubles.

An effective measure to improve the demographic situation should be the extension and increase of maternal capital. Since January 2020, get the capital in the amount of 466 thousand 617 rubles. it will be possible for the first-born. Putin also proposed to increase it at the birth of the second child by another 150 thousand.

“Thus, the total amount of maternal capital for a family with two children will be 616 thousand 617 rubles. And in the future, it will be indexed annually, ”Putin explained.

The President said that funds were allocated from the federal budget to help regions create 255 thousand new places in a manger and asked the government to determine the required number of additional school places, as well as increase the number of budget places in regional universities.

  • © Alexey Kudenko / RIA Novosti

In addition, he ordered that all students from 1st to 4th grade be provided with free hot meals, noting that when a child goes to school, family expenses increase sharply.

“Everyone should feel in equal conditions, should not children and parents, who are often humiliated by the current situation, feel that they cannot even feed a child,” the head of state said.

No need to adopt a new Constitution

Addressing the Federal Assembly, Putin said he did not see the need to amend the Russian Constitution, since its potential had not yet been exhausted. At the same time, the president introduced a number of constitutional amendments to the discussion.

The Russian leader made a proposal to fix in the main law the regular indexation of pensions and the norm that the minimum wage cannot be lower than the subsistence level.

He also proposed to entrust the State Duma with the approval of the Prime Minister. The President will not have the right to reject the approved candidacy; and the head of state should carry out the appointment of the heads of power departments after consultations with the Federation Council. He also proposed to strengthen the role of the Constitutional Court, giving it the right, at the request of the president, to verify the constitutionality of bills and other documents. At the same time, Putin noted that Russia should remain a presidential republic - the president should retain the right to remove the prime minister and ministers.

The President stated the need to increase the role of governors in making decisions of federal significance, as well as to consolidate the role and status of the State Council in the Constitution.

In addition, Putin proposed including in the Constitution a requirement for presidential candidates: they must live in Russia for at least 25 years and have no foreign citizenship.

Over the entire package of constitutional amendments, the Russian leader proposed a vote of citizens.

As it became known, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, at a meeting with Vladimir Putin after the announcement of the message, said that the entire government would resign.

“Officially import certain drugs into Russia”

Speaking about health care, the president demanded that more situations with interruptions in the supply of vital medicines to the country be prevented. He asked the government to debug the work so that the parents of sick children would no longer find themselves in hopeless situations.

“I know that last year there were interruptions in the supply of medicines in a number of regions, because the procurement turned out to be disrupted, and some officials allowed themselves to argue as if it was about the purchase of stationery: it doesn’t matter, we’ll announce new tenders. And people were left without extremely important, sometimes vital medicines. I draw your attention to such situations that should never be repeated ... Legislative decisions have already been made that will allow the official and centralized importation of certain special drugs into Russia that do not yet have official permission, ”Putin said.

He also said that 550 billion rubles will be allocated for the repair and equipment of hospitals and clinics.

“For the first time in the history of nuclear weapons, we are not catching anyone”

Turning to the topic of world politics, the president said that nuclear powers should develop new approaches to ensuring stability. He noted that the country's defense capability was provided for a decade ahead, while Moscow was open for cooperation with all partners.

“For the first time in the history of the existence of nuclear missile weapons, including the Soviet period, and the newest time, we are not catching anyone, but on the contrary, other leading states of the world have yet to create the weapons that Russia already possesses. The country's defense capability has been ensured for decades to come, although here we can’t rest on our laurels and relax, but we must go forward, carefully observing and analyzing what is happening in this area in the world, developing combat systems and systems for future generations, ”the head of state explained .

At the same time, he noted that Russia is able to achieve the same breakthrough in artificial intelligence and digital technologies as in defense, and proposed to implement the Accessible Internet project throughout Russia, which would provide free access to socially significant domestic services, while this citizens will not have to pay for the traffic itself.

At the end of his speech, Putin recalled that Russia was facing breakthrough historical challenges in the coming year.