Putin's Day Down on the Farm in Stavropol Territory

Clearly not a traditional farm; rather, it’s a bio-organic non-gmo “food factory” that produces much more than tomatoes. All the open ground at the top of the pic is for the next expansion phase. Krasnodar region is at the same latitude as Crimea and boasts 300 days of sunshine annually. From its website:

Solnechniy Dar is one of the largest greenhouse farms in Russia. We use the latest innovative technology to provide fresh produce year-round.   We operate 83.27 hectares of high-tech greenhouses that produce more than 38 000 tons of high quality fresh vegetables annually. [My Emphasis]

Impressive rows of hydroponically grown tomatoes at the Solnechny Dar greenhouse complex of the ECO-Culture agro-industrial holding in Stavropol Krai.

Exquisite tomatoes grown year-round.

One of the most impressive aspects of Russia’s import substitution project since the illegal sanctions assault escalated in 2014 is its food production that made Russia sovereign regarding its food security—something that has always plagued it and gave leverage to its opponents. In relation to Putin’s visit, TASS ran an article announcing “Russia becomes 4th country for agricultural exports with revenues of $43.5 bln.” Putin noted that amounts to a 30-fold increase since 2000—not percentage but 30X.

After touring the facility, Putin shared lunch with the workers and discussed their work. Afterwards, Putin participated in the opening ceremonies of new industrial facilities in the Leningrad and Belgorod regions and the Republic of Mordovia:

PhosAgro Group's mineral production complex was put into commercial operation in the Leningrad Region. fertilizers, including an innovative product – pure water-soluble ammophos.

Plant of EFKO Group of Companies for deep processing of soybeans and other oilseeds began work in the Belgorod region.

In addition, the Talina Group of Companies for the production of meat and sausage products was opened in the Republic of Mordovia.

All are members of what’s known in Russia and the Agro-Industrial sector. Putin then met with the Stavropol Territory Governor Vladimir Vladimirov and capped his day by meeting with representatives of the agro-industrial complex of Russia. The three main events will not fit into one article, so the last meeting will be provided in part two.

There was a lot more talking than eating during the discussion as the video shows. Of course, much traditional farming occurs throughout Russia, even in Siberia where many think it stays frozen all the time. Here’s what they had to say:

Vladimir Putin: Hello!

Remark: Good afternoon!

Vladimir Putin: Please sit down. How are you?

Remark: Good.

Vladimir Putin: I looked at your farm, which is impressive, to be honest. A whole city was built. Five years of building, right?

Alexander Rudakov: Yes, five years.

Vladimir Putin: They said it was the biggest farm in Europe, right?

Alexander Rudakov: The most important thing is that it is the biggest in Russia. Europe has not been so long ago for us.

Vladimir Putin: Do you like working here?

Remark: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: What questions do you have?

Remark: There are some sore spots.

Vladimir Putin: Come on.

Vladimir Kultyaev: Let me get started. Vladimir Kultyaev, power engineer.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, I read that in your youth you worked in a student group.

Vladimir Putin: Exactly, there was such a thing.

V. Kultyaev: Share a memory?

Vladimir Putin: What's there to share? Take more – throw more.

I have already mentioned this, there are no secrets here, we worked in the Komi ASSR, near Syktyvkar, in some other places, and I went there for several years in a row. At first we were engaged in construction, not even construction, but major repairs of wooden houses. You know, wooden houses, designed for two families, with a veranda on both sides. So we demolished these verandas and demolished the roofs, leaving the center.

Replica: Box.

Vladimir Putin: Well, yes. Added verandahs and roofs were made. But the work was quite stressful. It was necessary to carry such healthy logs, to drag them up.

Vladimir Kultyaev: Thank you. Could you recommend that modern students practice in our greenhouse? We are very much waiting for them.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, with pleasure. How much is your average salary?

A. Rudakov: 56 thousand.

Vladimir Putin: This is more than by region.

[Stavropol governor] Vladimir Vladimirov: We have 49.

Vladimir Putin: In the conditions in which we worked, the conditions were difficult: construction, and then cutting down power lines - this is hard work, it was necessary to thresh. There was someone older, I was still snotty, of course, but why, I just came, and we mostly took guys after the army or with work experience, in my opinion, at least three years. So the guys were stronger after the army, and I came right after school. I thought that I was an athlete, honestly, I was a candidate or a master of sports, what do I need there, what nonsense, but it turned out that I wasn't: by the end of the day I was barely dragging my feet. And the older guys were stronger.

You know, I can [tell you] - a household thing, but curious. I remember when we worked for a week, sorry, we went to the bathhouse – it was as if I had come to the Hermitage, to this bathhouse. It was a feeling of rest, absolute, complete.

But we made a decent living there – I asked for a salary for some reason. We worked, of course, very hard – for 12 [hours], and even [more]. No one followed any norms or labor legislation. And when the power lines were cut down in the taiga, and when the houses were repaired, we probably worked for 15 hours. But on the other hand, we earned decent money, which at that time was very decent money: 900, 1000 rubles, some even more.

But nevertheless, these were different forms of construction teams, they are still different, and we revived this system of construction teams. And the guys are working in agriculture now. But it's certainly a pleasure to work at a facility like yours. Especially, probably, for specialists who plan to work in agriculture in the future. It is becoming more and more interesting, high-tech, and requires a good education and special knowledge. Now it is difficult to achieve such results without this knowledge, without these technologies: here both genetics and biology are included-what is not. This is a very interesting type of activity.

A few years ago, when my Administration started talking about high technologies, they created special groups. To be honest, I'm ashamed, but it seemed to me that this is somehow redundant, one direction is purely in agriculture. I even asked my colleagues: "How is high technology?" "Of course! Without this, it is impossible to develop."

And indeed, a lot has been done, the Ministry is doing a lot in this direction, supporting science. In this regard, of course, construction teams are a practice. Although I know for sure that people from different fields work at agricultural enterprises in the summer, they work with pleasure. It is important to create an appropriate atmosphere here. I am sure that this is possible with such managers. Why do I say "with such managers", because if they are so creative that they have created such a huge enterprise – it takes your breath away! By car we go, we go, I think, where does it end? No end in sight. It's not for my arrival here so cleaned? So everything is clean.

Remark: This is always the case with us.

Vladimir Putin: Everything is clean, everything is clean, everything is working. Now we have looked at and shown new cleaning devices, also made with the help of artificial intelligence and robotics, which will clean up four times more than one person. But it won't make you unemployed, will it?

Alexander Rudakov: Absolutely not. We'll build more.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, the company will expand. This is great!

We are talking about this now, and the media will process it all and issue it accordingly.: a) advertising and b) attracting possible construction teams to work for you.

Vladimir Kultyaev: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you, it's so cool and beautiful here.

S. Gubaz: Good afternoon!

Vladimir Putin: Good morning.

S. Gubaz: Leading agronomist-agrochemist of "Sunny Gift" Gubaz Sabina Lavrentievna.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, I would like to start by saying that our company devotes a lot of time to improving the prestige of working in greenhouse complexes. People come to us who are really in love with working with plants. But we also understand that it is important to feed this love, for example, with care on our part. I think that such issues as benefits for purchasing housing, perhaps the construction of houses for young professionals, are taken care of to attract personnel, of course, not far from the place of work.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, are any projects being considered for the construction of apartment buildings for specialists or preferential conditions for the purchase of housing for agronomists in our region?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, for everyone, we also have preferential mortgages for agriculture. Moreover, they are different for different categories, but from 0.1 to 3 percent per annum. They also work. Don't they build anything here?" (To Vladimir Vladimirovich.) Don't build anything?

Vladimir Vladimirov: Alexander Sergeyevich [Rudakov] and I have a joint project specifically for Sunny Gift – to start construction on a preferential mortgage. Therefore, we are entering the next cycle of the national project and will also build it. It is under a preferential mortgage.

Vladimir Putin: After all, why did so much housing was built in Russia last year? This is an absolute record, never seen before in the Soviet Union – over 110 million square meters of land. Mainly because of mortgages and preferential mortgages. And we decided to keep the preferential mortgage for agriculture, it will work.

So you just need to get organized here, Mr Putin.

Vladimir Vladimirov: That's it!

Vladimir Putin: Of course, do it. And as soon as you get organized, we will do everything possible to work out these tools for you. Here, at such enterprises, how many employees do you have?

A. Rudakov: 2400.

Vladimir Putin: 2400. Especially for specialists.

By the way, the second option that you need to use is service housing for the duration of work. We do this in order to increase the mobility of labor resources. It goes on and on, it is being used more and more widely and is in quite high demand. And from all that we are building, we are now starting to use wooden housing construction more and more widely. It's probably great to build something out of wood in an area like this. Moreover, they also build apartment buildings from wooden structures. Very eco-friendly.

So all options are possible here, Mr President, and we must do it. Of course, we will support you. I will tell Marat Shakirzyanovich [Khusnullinu], you will call him, work with him. The funds we have are allocated, and they are very decent. And the banks work flawlessly. Moreover, they do not want the volume of housing construction to decline. It's a good business for them.

However, due to the fact that a lot of housing is being built, and on this preferential mortgage, there are already concerns on the part of regulators who deal with the financial market, cash flows, as if there is too much money supply, this leads to inflation, and so on. Therefore, we have to adjust a little now.

But we still keep these benefits for the village.

Irina Enina: Managing Technologist of Sunny Gift Irina Enina.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, I was curious to ask you. Do you prefer cucumbers or tomatoes?

Vladimir Putin: It depends on what we eat.

If in a serious way, then both.

Irina Enina: We recommend you to try our tomatoes. They are the best here.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I'll try. Just put it there. "He asked me to come visit and said that the old lady-mother would be very happy, but he didn't leave an address" – there is such a thing in our classics. I will definitely try it now.

In general, it's hard for me to say, both are delicious. After all, we have tomatoes relatively recently. They came to us, as you probably know, from Latin America. They were brought to Europe by the Spaniards in the XVI century. And only under Catherine the Great, which is already, in my opinion, the XVII-XVIII century, they appeared in Russia. Very popular dish. So let's give it a try.

It's just from these twigs where we were just now, isn't it? Delicious.

Alexander Rudakov: Thank you. We are very pleased. We try our best.

N. Batrak: Foreman of the vegetable growing brigade, my name is Natalia Batrak.

Today, ECO-culture produces the largest amount of tomatoes in Russia.

Vladimir Putin: In an enclosed area?

N. Batrak: In the closed ground, yes.

Alexander Rudakov: There will be even more, don't worry.

N. Batrak: The Stavropol Territory is our homeland. We can say that it is practically the birthplace of tomatoes, because here is the largest greenhouse complex in Russia – almost 122 hectares.

Vladimir Putin: That's great.

N. Batrak: Many regions and cities have their own business cards. Somewhere they celebrate the tomato festival, the cucumber festival, and we even have an All-Russian Onion Day.

I previously worked at Domodedovo Airport, and a lot of Russians use the North Caucasus for vacations. As a rule, this is the Black Sea coast. We would very much like the Stavropol Territory to attract tourists, in addition to tourists, so that they know about us and hear about us.

How do you like the idea of creating a tomato festival in the Stavropol Territory?

Vladimir Putin: You probably know, you probably know…

N. Batrak: In Spain, right?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, they throw tomatoes.

N. Batrak: No, we want beautiful things.

Replica: We will eat.

Vladimir Putin: But why? Why not?

N. Batrak: So that some fairs can be included in this festival.

Vladimir Putin: The local authorities should help you. Not even regionally, but locally. What's the name of the district here?

V. Vladimirov: Izobilnensky city district.

Vladimir Putin: Talk to your superiors. There are no local bosses here?

N. Batrak: No.

Vladimir Putin: Why do you discriminate? I should have invited him.

Vladimir Vladimirov: He went to the SVO.

Vladimir Putin: By the way, I looked at the portraits of your guys – vegetable growers, standing with machine guns, vegetable growers are strong. Don't forget about our children, especially their families. We have just spoken with the managers.

And the idea itself is a great, cool idea. I don't think we have one yet, do we?

N. Batrak: No.

Vladimir Putin: Well, why not do it?

Vladimir Vladimirov: We have a Watermelon festival, a wine festival, and a grape festival.

Vladimir Putin: We need to combine the wine festival with the tomato festival. But then they will throw themselves, of course. But the idea is good, wonderful, let's do it.

Vladimir Vladimirov: Very well.

Vladimir Putin: And if you need to help-come on, what's the problem?

Vladimir Vladimirov: We'll manage.

Vladimir Putin: (To Dmitry Medvedev).To Patrushev). Dmitry Nikolaevich?

[Minister of Agriculture] D. Patrushev: I support it. Very good initiative.

Vladimir Putin: Of course. What kind of events do we have? Cucumber festival, what else is there?

Dmitry Patrushev: We have a cucumber festival, we have an onion festival.

Vladimir Putin: The onion festival?

Dmitry Patrushev: Yes, it is held in different regions. In general, we have "Tastes of Russia", we did all this within the framework of your instructions, and there any products, including vegetable growing, can be presented and receive appropriate medals, win competitions and continue to develop exactly those industries where these products are produced. We have done a very good job, we have been holding this competition for the last three years, and the regions and small businesses are happy to take part. This is a large enterprise, but nevertheless also, I think that if they participate, then there is every chance to take first place and further promote their products.

Vladimir Putin: And what will this first place give?

Dmitry Patrushev: Well, first of all, we will also provide financial support for the development of this brand, and we will promote it, including by making it easier to enter export markets. And this gives certain advantages for further promotion. Often regional brands, they are not widely known on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin: The advertising will be good.

Dmitry Patrushev: Yes, this allows almost the whole of Russia to know about this brand.

Vladimir Putin: Please support us.

Dmitry Patrushev: We'll do it.

Vladimir Putin: Vladimir Vladimirovich [Vladimirov] will help his colleagues, and you are from the ministry.

Dmitry Patrushev: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: It won't hurt to involve the media and various agencies that could help organize this beautifully. It's a good idea.

A. Rudakov: And the growth of consumption will be very useful, the popularization of the product.

Vladimir Putin: It is good that there is an increase in consumption, only then we will need to ensure an increase in supply in the market, so that we do not ask our friends from Turkey, as in some other types, from other countries, to urgently supply us with this or that product.

Dmitry Patrushev: We will study.

Vladimir Putin: Our tomato production has grown significantly in recent years, right?

D. Patrushev: In general, we grew up very well on greenhouse vegetables. We didn't have such an industry at all until 10 years ago. In fact, we re-organized it, and in my opinion, we collected more than 1.5 million tons of vegetables from the closed ground last year. This is also, in principle, one of our records and achievements.

Vladimir Putin: What is important is that we have our own production of this equipment, right? Where did you say it was produced?

Alexey Rudakov: In Lipetsk, in the Lipetsk special Economic Zone, as you probably know, the plant is modern and new. We provide for our own projects and our partners who build in Russia, and there are no problems with this, Mr Putin. Russian equipment – 90% of our production is made in Russia.

Even the film, we have a film complex, there is a slightly different technology, probably you know. It was the best in Greece. We made a film in Lipetsk, tested it in Switzerland, it surpasses this Greek one, the best, in terms of light transmission capacity. We produce everything ourselves, everything that makes economic sense. Well, we bribe something in China, some fees. There are no problems with this.

Vladimir Putin: You're doing everything you can, aren't you?

Alexander Rudakov: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: That's great.

Alexey Rudakov: If we have a stronger dialogue with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, we need them to support us a little bit.

Vladimir Putin: What do you need?

Alexey Rudakov: At least by 10 percent, as the Ministry of Agriculture supports us in every possible way.

Vladimir Putin: What do you need?

Alexander Rudakov: Metalworking is their industry.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, of course.

A. Rudakov: There is also some kind of preferential financing there, and so on. We are trying to build a dialogue, but so far we have to use our own resources to implement all this.

Vladimir Putin: And the benefits and tools that we envisage for agriculture cannot be applied there?

Dmitry Patrushev: Mr President, we only have support for the production of food products, agricultural producers, but if they produce food, food. And if they do something else, we do it carefully.

Vladimir Putin: And on all sorts of investment platforms and so on?

Dmitry Patrushev: You can watch it. I think that Alexander Sergeyevich [Rudakov] and I will just think about what programs the Ministry of Industry and Trade can integrate into in order to have some benefits in terms of, perhaps, soft loans, perhaps there are some grants.

There is an industry support fund, I do not know, I am currently fantasizing whether it will be possible to use it or not, but we will think about it and join forces.

Vladimir Putin: Why is it impossible? We also have various investment platforms. Here, not just any investment platform will be used, but for agriculture. Let's talk to Manturov.

Dmitry Patrushev: All right.

Vladimir Putin: Agreed. So you did the right thing.

N. Batrak: We will wait.

Irina Morozova: Irina Morozova, Chief Specialist of the HR Department.

I have a question, probably more of a request than yours. We have a large greenhouse complex, as already announced, 2,400 employees, but most of the employees live outside the village of Solnechnodolsk, these are rural areas and remote areas. Delivery of our employees is carried out by official transport. What's the point? Personnel reserve. We are always waiting for people, we are always happy to see them, we have covered a large radius of settlements in order to attract people.

Vladimir Putin: How many employees do you have in total?

I. Morozova: 2400.

A. Rudakov: This was collected from a radius of 100 kilometers.

Vladimir Putin: I understood.

Irina Morozova: Even in some places there are more than 100 kilometers.

Our municipal roads are not very comfortable. There are a lot of people who want to go, but it's not very comfortable to get there. Not only do we create conditions, people want to work, there are people who want to, but the road is not very comfortable. And especially in the off-season, it is not very convenient and problematic. I would like your help in repairing inter-municipal roads. Such a problem.

Vladimir Putin: You know, I'm going to turn back to the governor. I'll tell you why. Vladimir Vladimirovich [Vladimirov] knows this, and we have divided our competence between the federal center and the regions. And it is divided as follows: the federal center deals with federal roads, and the money comes from the federal budget. There we have a task: to bring 85 percent of these federal roads into a standard state, and in principle the task is fulfilled.

As for the regional ones, I didn't mention this in my Address just now, because the financial authorities there are somehow worried about the amount of funding. But now I will say that there is nothing here that is not a state secret, especially since this figure has already been mentioned, 60 percent of interregional roads need to be brought into a standard state. And appropriate finances are allocated. Whether it will work or not, I just didn't want to get ahead of myself right now, because there are certain restrictions, because we have a lot of money allocated in other areas, in the social sphere, and we need to understand how much and what it will be possible to do there. But nevertheless, the reference point is approximate.

This is the responsibility of the regions. But we also help the regions with this, and we allocate money from the federal budget. In my opinion, 300 billion rubles were allocated last year for inter-municipal roads in general. But this is still the task and responsibility of the regions of the Russian Federation, in this case, of course, the Stavropol Territory itself.

I will ask you now, and Mr Putin will say a few words about what they are planning there. But we provide assistance from federal funds, from the federal budget.

I think that it is necessary, of course, to pay attention – not just to all the sisters in the same earrings, but in this case, when you have a large enterprise, then you absolutely need to collect employees from the district, so let's say, of course, you need to pay primary attention to such situations.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, Izobilnensky city District is part of the Stavropol agglomeration. When you gave instructions to create the national project "Safe, High-quality Roads", the Stavropol agglomeration was included in this project. We have received about 15 billion rubles in 6 years, in addition to the fact that our road fund has grown to 19 billion. Currently, the regulatory status of inter-municipal, i.e. regional roads in this agglomeration corresponds to 81 percent.

I think that we will work with the management, in addition to the direction of where, what is not covered. You correctly say, you cannot "by earrings". Overall figures always look nice – we are the third best road quality company in Russia.

Vladimir Putin: So, by the way, I forwarded it.

Vladimir Vladimirov: In addition to the direction where there are difficulties on the roads…

Vladimir Putin: Until you praise yourself, not a single piglet will say a good word.

V. Vladimirov: I never promise anything, we won't do it in a year, but within a year and a half, taking into account the design, I think that we will decide on the direction that is very important for ECO-culture.

Vladimir Putin: This is a specific enterprise.

Vladimir Vladimirov: Direction – meaning from where? Where is the bad road? You just tell me.

Vladimir Putin: It's just a specific enterprise here. They use a vacuum cleaner to collect people from all over the area – of course, this is important.

I. Morozova: I can tell you that much. Novoaleksandrovsky district, Vorovsky farm. Problematic.

Vladimir Putin: Do you also need specialists from there?

Irina Morozova: Wait a minute. We have a large number of vegetable growers. Such work is carried out, these are the people who support production. After all, tomatoes are a colossal work. So we are waiting for everyone. Even from such a locality. And the people there are wonderful employees, by the way.

Vladimir Putin: I don't doubt it, I don't question it in any way.

Why did I just say that this is a regional level of responsibility? Because even when we give money from the federal budget for support, we give a transfer, we don't ask the region where it wants to send it, it is the region itself that decides. We are sitting here right now, Vladimir Vladimirovich is listening, and of course, I am sure that he understands this very well: if an enterprise has been established, it needs to be provided with labor resources, people need to be brought in.

The same applies to transport, by the way, and we also allocate money for this.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Vladimirov: 260 buses, thank you very much, we have received them. Thank you very much for this decision, because today we cover almost all economically impractical routes with so-called municipal transport. Thank you so much.

Vladimir Putin: In six years, 40 thousand [units] of transport should be delivered additionally [to the regions].

Vladimir Vladimirov: We have just received the first ones.

Vladimir Putin: So it's not for nothing that we discussed it.

Irina Morozova: We are expanding the talent pool of Sunny Gift and we are very much hoping for Vladimir Vladimirovich.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Putin will tell us later what exactly he decided to do.

Vladimir Vladimirov: I already remember Vorovsky.

Vladimir Putin: We need specialists from there to work at the enterprise.

With.Vorontsov: Sergey Vorontsov. I work as an agronomist here at the complex. I like my job, I like working in this industry, but when I communicate with my peers and peers, many people simply do not know what kind of job it is, what kind of profession it is, and what I do. Before I got a job here, I didn't know that agronomists worked here.

Vladimir Putin: What did you finish?

With.Vorontsov: I'm a chef.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, but you love tomatoes.

With.Vorontsov: Yes, I love tomatoes. What do you think, maybe it's time to somehow modernize the name, rename, maybe, the agronomist? Maybe a plant-growing designer of some sort?

Vladimir Putin: No, it doesn't inspire confidence – the designer is a plant breeder. The content is needed, not the appearance. I do not know, you know better. I think an agronomist sounds proud. If memory serves, this word is of Greek origin. Agros is land, arable land, and nomos is a norm or law. Arable land, land and law. And this makes a lot of sense. I do not know if you think it doesn't sound like it, but in my opinion, it is…

With.Vorontsov: Closer to the youth, maybe.

Vladimir Putin: Suggest something. I wouldn't change it at all. The agronomist-this is me as if in jest, but I say it without joking: it sounds so solid, you know. If you know what this means and what a person does, especially in modern conditions, what is modern arable land, what is modern science about agriculture. Agronomists are in hot demand in the country today.

Dmitry Patrushev: Absolutely true.

Vladimir Putin: There is a huge shortage of good specialists. This is a very prestigious job, it requires both knowledge and good experience, and the ability to gain this knowledge again and again, because in such an area as agriculture, of course, at the pace that is gained in agriculture, in world agriculture. You know, this is also breeding, this is the same genetics, there are a lot of such high-tech things there. They require deep knowledge and the ability to constantly work on yourself.

With.Vorontsov: Can we somehow popularize this profession?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, that's another matter, of course.

Here you are absolutely right, to show what kind of work it is, not just to walk around in knee-high rubber boots…

With.Vorontsov: Many people don't know, really.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, you are right here. I don't mind any innovations, but where they are needed, I don't see the need here. But popularization, show development prospects, prospects for creative and industrial growth - this is of course. The significance of this type of activity today for the country, its charms are diverse. I repeat, from the point of view of career growth – this, of course, needs to be discussed. It's true.

The Ministry initiated these things at that time.

To be honest, it all sounded a little unusual for me, this question, this suggestion. Because I thought that against the background of a large deficit, the demand for agronomists in the country, in the industry, I thought that this issue would be solved.…

With.Vorontsov: Maybe that's why there is a shortage, because few people know?

Vladimir Putin: No, there is a shortage, because there is rapid development, very rapid development. How much land have we introduced recently?

Dmitry Patrushev: Mr President, we have introduced millions of hectares over the past few years. We now have a sown area of about 84 [million hectares]. It increases regularly, so, of course, specialists are needed.

We have a certain problem. Our specialized universities do not always train specialists who are in demand in agriculture. There were fashionable certain professions in their time-economists, lawyers, and they retrained. True, it was all done for extra-budgetary funds, but it was still blurry. Now we are still retraining our universities, and the main focus, the main emphasis is on those professions that are in demand in our industry, in the agro-industrial complex.

And you are absolutely right, a high-quality, professional agronomist is a profession that is currently in great demand. Alexander Sergeyevich knows that serious, professional, competent people with this profession, indeed, there is a very competitive struggle between large enterprises for them. Therefore, on the contrary, we will introduce more hours for training such specialists.

Vladimir Putin: As for the training of specialists, we do it in all industries, pay attention to the training that is in demand on the labor market and production. And these universities were transferred from you, right?

Dmitry Patrushev: No, these are our universities.

Vladimir Putin: What prevents you from restoring order then?

Dmitry Patrushev: Mr President, we are doing this. This work is being carried out quite actively, and our students who are graduating are in demand. We train high-quality guys.

Vladimir Putin: Then, you see, the result largely depends on agronomists. If not 100 percent, at least more than 50 percent, that's for sure. And the result is what we have-such results have never been! Last year, how much, 157 [million tons of crop], right?

D. Patrushev: 147 [million tons].

Vladimir Putin: And the year before last?

Dmitry Patrushev: The year before last – 157 [million tons], in my opinion.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, 157 [million tons], then 147 [million tons] in the last year of harvest. There have never been such harvests! You see, we have become the fourth country in the world to export agricultural products. And for wheat – the first country in the world. Revenue was what-45 billion?

Dmitry Patrushev: 43.5.

Vladimir Putin: $ 43.5 billion in revenue from sales of products on the foreign market alone.

We have become one of the first countries in the world to produce meat, and this is also related to agronomic activities, because feed is needed, this is the same chain. There have never been such results in the country's agro-industrial complex. I do not know, even under the tsar-father, probably, there were no such results.

Dmitry Patrushev: It wasn't. There were no such technologies there.

Vladimir Putin: Everything is becoming more and more high-tech. But popularization is needed, it's quite obvious, it's for sure. We'll do it, try, and say it more accurately.

Mikhail Dorokhov: Hello. I am a specialist in civil defense and emergency situations Dorokhov Maxim Vitalievich.

Vladimir Putin: What is a specialist in?

M. Dorokhov: On Civil Defense and Emergency Situations.

Vladimir Putin: It's clear.

Mikhail Dorokhov: Our colleagues mostly talk only about their work and problems. I also have a question, but I would like to start with something positive.

Vladimir Putin: We also talk about positive things.

Mikhail Dorokhov: I want to tell you a little bit about myself. I live in a private house in a rural area. I've been waiting for more than five years for the gas line to come to my house. Since I had electric heating, it was very difficult for the family pocket.

Finally, in 2022, as part of the social gasification program, gas came to my house right on New Year's Eve, December 31. I want to say thank you to the guys, gas workers, who turned on the power at 10 o'clock…

Vladimir Putin: It was a New Year's gift.

Mikhail Dorokhov: Yes. Comfort came to the house.

When I found out that I would have the opportunity to see you, I was delighted, and I want to personally thank you from the bottom of my heart for the changes in my life that have come to my house.

Vladimir Putin: Thanks to Gazprom, not me. A little bit and they worked.

Mikhail Dorokhov: And now I have a question, a very relevant question, which concerns all the residents of our village, nearby villages and settlements. This is more than 30 percent of the residents of the Izobilny city district.

This question is "on the pencil" with our governor, but we want you to also pay attention to it and help in this matter. Our question is as follows. "ECO-culture" constantly supports our city district in financial and social matters, and it has renovated our hospital, brought it into a modern form, and there are no doctors in it. There are no doctors. We have to travel to Izobilny, often to Stavropol. The main issue is that life is solved in minutes, and Izobilny is 30 kilometers away. We ask that intensive care, surgery, and therapy return to us as before. We even had gynaecology, I'm sorry, it was the most advanced in the surrounding areas. That's what I wanted to ask you.

Vladimir Putin: The clinic itself, or what is it?

Mikhail Dorokhov: No, this is a hospital. There used to be a maternity hospital here, and I think some of them were born here.

Vladimir Putin: Is the hospital in order now?

Mikhail Dorokhov: Yes, ECO-culture helps the village a lot. We now have a modern overhaul done, even ahead of time, before the New Year, and our governor knows, in my opinion. So what we're asking is very important. Moreover, we already have more people in the village, it is growing, the village itself.

Vladimir Putin: How many people live there?

Mikhail Dorokhov: Well, last time there were more than 12 thousand people. And it increases.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, look, first of all, as for gasification. The program is good, we are extending it, first for a certain category of households, we did it, then expanded it to social facilities. And now, perhaps you noticed, I said in my Message that we will also distribute it to horticultural areas and partnerships. Over a million households have already used this project, one million and one-tenth. The networks are already connected to them. And we will continue to do so. I am very pleased that there are concrete results. This is the first one.

Now, the second thing is that as far as healthcare and education are concerned, by the way, it's the same. Of course, this is one of the most important areas of rural social development. I'm not going to list everything that is being done here, but you've probably heard that we have introduced such tools as additional payments to rural paramedics, rural doctors, and so on. But now, I also said this quite recently, we are adding more to this (I did not accidentally ask how many people live in your village), in localities we are adding less than 50 thousand doctors to what we did before, we are adding another 50 thousand to this increase for doctors and 30 thousand for the average medical staff. In localities from 50 to 100 thousand inhabitants, the increase will be smaller: 29 and 13 thousand, respectively.

We have a big program to develop the so-called primary health care system. These are FAPs, including midwifery centers, and so on. But what should I mention? We give this money, but regional leaders should also determine priorities.

I was recently in the Tula region, came to the FAP - this is a paramedic and midwifery center, it is simple, but everything should be there in order to provide primary care to people - and the manager says to me: "And we still have several FAPs that need urgent support, restoration or even new construction".

But the Federation only gives money, and the local leadership determines to whom in the first, second, third place and how much to give. It's not up to us to decide, it's up to the governor and his team, and they have to do it. We give this money to doctors and nurses, and the regional and local authorities should determine who should use these support tools first and how. They are there.

Since we are both here, the two Presidents, so I think that the Governor and I will have a separate discussion today and decide what can be done specifically for your object, for your locality.

Mikhail Dorokhov: Thank you very much.

Elena Apalkova: Mr President, your visit is a great honor for us. Once again, I would like to ask you what impression you got from visiting our greenhouse? What did you like? Or maybe, in your opinion, we need to work on something else?

Vladimir Putin: Alexander Sergeyevich said that they plan to develop and develop new areas. We must do what we can. I understand that these construction companies are also yours, right? In Lipetsk. This is a mixed type of activity being mastered.

We have now shown representatives of a young, small, but very interesting company that deals with robotics. I have already mentioned this. Apparently, you know the vending machine that collects these tomatoes. This is the second direction you have. It's already two, three. There may actually be a lot of them. But, of course, those who are engaged in business, first of all, look at making it efficient, in order to pay salaries, in order to create jobs, in order to develop markets at home and abroad.

Since both the Minister and the governor are here, I think that we will support any initiative that will benefit you, the region, and the country as a whole. Only you formulate what you want.

Elena Apalkova: Thank you.

Alexander Rudakov: Mr President, please take this opportunity to follow up. We are building two large projects - in the Omsk region and in the Rostov region. By the way, Governor Khotsenko reported to you for our Omsk project, which we are building in Siberia. They are fully illuminated.

Could you help us with the issue of direct connection to the Federal Grid, because we are deployed at IDGC, where kilowatt-hour is twice as expensive, and we will not have savings. If possible.

Vladimir Putin: You know, it would be better if you whispered this in my ear right now. I'll tell you why.

Alexander Rudakov: I was too shy.

Vladimir Putin: I shouldn't have. Because connecting to these networks, as a rule, the vast majority of consumers want to be directly connected. Then who will connect to other networks and how do I maintain other networks? But it doesn't matter, we'll talk to you separately.

Alexander Rudakov: Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

Elena Apalkova: We will have a request for you.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

Elena Apalkova: Can I take a photo with you as a keepsake?

Vladimir Putin: With pleasure. [My Emphasis]

The banter in this discussion was rather hard to follow in places, particularly with Putin referring to himself in the third person. As I’ve written many times, Russia remains a developing nation in many areas that were neglected during the Soviet era. Roads are just one instance. Russia also shares the global problem of their being too few doctors in rural regions, which is related to an overall shortage of doctors. Now, in Russia the problem isn’t sky high tuitions that require massive loans to finance and then repay; rather, it’s the demographic problem that sees shortages of trained people in many areas—new specialized agronomists as noted here. The USSR tried to deal with this shortage by directly assigning people to their positions. Now that’s being done by incentive programs in pay and housing, but that still doesn’t solve the underlying problem of too few people. Putin could probably bemoan that issue everywhere he goes but doesn’t. Success at times breeds problems. The agro-industrial complex is growing rapidly and competes for workers with other areas. The problem isn’t in the lack of rural regions to develop; the problem is infrastructure of which the potential workforce is one component that can’t be manufactured. IMO, the one nation most likely to become close to having the robotic density described in Asimov’s Foundation will be Russia.

Meeting with Stavropol Territory Governor Vladimir Vladimirov.

The discussion between the two Vladimirs, one Russia’s President, the other Stavropol’s President, probably went well beyond what the transcript provides as what we read deals with some of the issues raised at the farm.

Vladimir Vladimirov: I would like to draw your attention to two aspects. As always, according to the standard report about today. Now we are on the threshold of spring field work. In general, we have almost 4 million hectares of land – 3 million 924 thousand hectares. Two million we sow for winter, winter crops, two million we sow for spring. 84 thousand pieces of equipment, and I want to say that the Ministry of Industry and Trade helps us very well here. Every year, we replace imported equipment by 10 percent. Now we have increased 10 percent again, bought 8 thousand units of Russian or Belarusian equipment, and, accordingly, we have literally 16 thousand units of imported equipment left. Everything is going well.

On seed production. We also discussed breeding work at the meeting. All from 7 to 19 percent of the replacement of imported seeds. Now we were in teplitsy, a regional investment park that we created in 2015. There is an American plant for the production of corn here, the Americans have not left, they are also working, they have mimicked the Russian jurisdiction, they are working calmly and we are already almost 50 percent provided with corn. On grain completely on 100 percent.

Socio-economic indicators. I specifically gave you six years, why? National projects, after all. We have received 131 billion rubles for national projects over 6 years. Almost all indicators are either double growth or two and a half times growth. Our exports have grown from 400 million this year to 2 billion. And here I thank the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture, because both there and there are a billion rubles each.

By salary. Also growth, we entered 30 thousand, now we have 49 thousand salaries. GRP per capita increased by two and a half times. It was 200 thousand rubles, and today it is 450 thousand rubles per capita. Everything goes, everything turns out slowly.

By budget efficiency. The most important element, but in terms of numbers.

Vladimir Putin: Let’s see how it turns out.

Vladimir Vladimirov: Mr President, we have a record. This year, for the first time, we have passed the budget of 200 billion rubles. 10 years ago, it was 55 billion.

Vladimir Putin: And the debt load has decreased?

Vladimir Vladimirov:The debt burden has decreased: it was 130 percent, but today we have reached 23 percent. And then, 23 percent is not because we borrow something somewhere, thank you very much for the investment and budget loans. As for infrastructure, we transfer it through investment and budget loans, so they appear in the structure as over-credited, but we haven't taken out a single ruble of loans since 2018. We go and slowly everything is replaced.

I can't help but focus on supporting a special military operation. During this time, 19 billion rubles were allocated to support families and children who are fighting. We pay for rewards, injuries, and the loss of a breadwinner. We took over the children's education completely. Today, we encourage contract work by making lump-sum payments through our regional budget. Now we have taken the food, the uniform, and the tuition fees have already been taken care of.

We meet people. On your behalf, I also held a meeting with the widows of our departed children. There are instructions there – they asked to increase the preparation for school, they asked me to double the payments, all this is being resolved. There were questions about registration, and now we are making changes to our legislation. We try to respond quickly to all requests that come from people. 19 billion rubles were allocated for social support, 9 billion-this is our business support for children: copters, uniforms, clothing, weapons – all that is necessary for them to be able to fight today. And about 9 billion rubles have been allocated to our sponsored territories today.

By your Decree, we had the city of Anthracite and the Anthracite district. We have restored 384 objects there since 2022, and now the third season is starting. Now, by your order, we have entered the city of Stakhanov together with the Omsk region, with Vitaly Pavlovich Khotsenko. I visited there on February 21, the same situation as in Anthracite, where Russians were deliberately killed.

Everything is ruined, everything is killed. I'm asking: what's happening? We haven't invested a penny in 30 years. We went to the House of Culture – honestly, there are no such people even in Stavropol. Apparently, Stakhanov was, broke through the situation at the time-he was just there in the recruit was standing. A good House of Culture – unfortunately, it arrived on purpose. Apparently, they were bombed with Hymars, and one part of the House of Culture was bombed. We will now undertake to restore it.

If you want to see – a real Stalinist Empire style. It was from 1936 to 1945 that they built it. There's a decent House of Culture right there, and we're going to restore it now. The pool was requested – there are a lot of questions.

Issues are resolved here. Vladimir Vladimirovich, I can't help but stop-criticize me, of course, on the roads – I know that from the farm Vorovsky.

Vladimir Putin: Well no…

Vladimir Vladimirov: 81 percent of [roads] meet [the standards], I will deal with Vorovsky exactly, there will be no problems.

Vladimir Putin: There is a large enterprise there. Employees need to be delivered…

V. Vladimirov: BCD ["Safe, high-quality Roads"] is our most recognizable national project. Another major renovation of schools and BCD. As I have already reported to you, there are 19 billion rubles for the BCD. For an agglomeration, this is a crazy leap. 81 percent of roads in the agglomeration meet the standard, and 87 percent are located within the urban agglomeration. This is a good result. We are here-honestly – in a leading position in Russia. For private matters, it doesn't matter: now the patching will also go. We will try to [solve it].

Vladimir Putin: Is it 30 percent higher than in the Russian Federation as a whole?

Vladimir Vladimirov: It worked, in general. Thank you to the Ministry of Transport.

Education. The most important element. I really want to say a big thank you for the school. What we have today…

Vladimir Putin: What a colleague just said at the meeting: there is not just an external update, but really deep work.

Vladimir Vladimirov: We went to the school, stripped everything down to the bare walls, and if the walls – we still have many people thrown on the crate – the crate was stripped off, everything was completely re – made – water, sewerage, electricity, weak power, fire – everything was re-made. Actually a new school. The windows, roofs, facade, and entire territory were tried [to improve] – everything works out here.

3.6 billion rubles were allocated for major repairs of schools a year – this is simply an incredible figure. Today, thank God, it works.

Rural schools - now we can go to Solnechnodolsk, each rural school has 347 growth points. This is 347 places, and children are engaged in additional education. It turns out perfectly. We have launched Sirius, we have two Avangard schools, one Warrior school, eight IT cubes and two places for robotics classes. All this is the national project "Education". [My Emphasis]

As I said, there seems like more is there but was cut. It seems like the Governor is on top of his job. The region has certainly grown and progressed, and as with many rural Russian regions there remains lots of work to do.

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