Russian Development Continues: Innoprom-2025 Industrial Exhibition.

Alexei Alikhanov. center, Minister of Industry and Trade

Today’s government meeting was to center on reports related to the various “Zemsky” development programs, but Putin wanted to first hear a report about the Innoprom-2025 industrial exhibition, which is an international industrial trade show where Russia shows off its newest innovations to generate both domestic and foreign sales. Sorry, but the Kremlin didn’t provide any photos from the show. Here’s one of the several types of humanoid robots displayed.

And now for the discussion:

V. Putin: Dear colleagues, good afternoon!

Today, we are going to discuss issues related to the development of the Zemsky Teacher, Zemsky Doctor, Zemsky Paramedic, Zemsky Cultural Worker, and Zemsky Coach programmes. However, before we begin, I would like to convey a message from the Prime Minister. As you know, he is currently on a trip, and we recently spoke with him. Secondly, I would like to address some current issues, and the first one is the results of the Innoprom-2025 industrial exhibition.

Anton Andreevich (Addressing A. Alikhanov.), how was the event?

A. Alikhanov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!

This year, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Innoprom exhibition. It has attracted over 50,000 participants from 66 countries in Yekaterinburg. This year, our partner country is Saudi Arabia, which has presented a large national exhibition, along with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Innoprom continues to expand its presentation capabilities. The exhibition featured 390 booths, including 140 booths from foreign companies and collective exhibitions from 33 regions of Russia. The exhibition was further enhanced by the traditional 9th Russian-Chinese EXPO, which showcased the products of over 300 Chinese companies.

This year, we have chosen the goal of technological leadership set by you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, as the overarching theme for Innoprom. As a result, most of the Russian innovations presented are focused on solving the challenges outlined in the new national projects for technological leadership. I would like to highlight the industrial robots as a key focus of the national project "Means of Production and Automation." The console-portal universal robots have particularly attracted the attention of foreign guests. They can simultaneously distribute parts to multiple machines and processing centers, reducing the number of robotic systems required in production.

Equally important is the emergence of the latest Russian six-axis industrial and collaborative robot manipulators. Thanks to them, the accuracy and speed of welding, painting, and assembly operations are increased. They are highly sought after for automation in various sectors of transport engineering, primarily, of course, in the automotive industry.

In this industry, we continue to form our own component base. In particular, the exhibition featured a domestic anti-lock braking system and a stabilization system, known as ABS and ESC.

Our institute, NAMI, has shown its protected autonomous control complex, which is being tested on the Lada Vesta, and has presented a pre-series prototype of the Atom electric car. In fact, mass production is expected to begin by the end of this year. All of the Atom car's systems have been tested in the Arctic, where it was transported by the icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy.

At Innoprom, a model of rolling stock for high-speed railways was demonstrated in other sectoral blocks of the national project Promoting Transport Mobility. As I reported to you, the main components and systems of this train are currently being tested. In September, the first body will be laid in production, and in the summer of 2027, two lead trains will be transferred for certification and infrastructure testing.

For the urban environment, in addition to updating the bus fleet, we produce trams using composite and stainless materials, as well as modular trams with three to seven sections in a two-cab layout. This eliminates the need for turnaround rings.

In the aviation block of the exhibition, Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin inspected the Il-114 regional passenger aircraft. This year, we are completing its certification, and according to the plan, serial aircraft will be handed over to operators in August next year.

In the light aviation segment, a fully composite four-seater aircraft with a domestic engine developed last year was presented. It is designed for pilot training and tourist flights. This year, approximately nine pre-production models will be released.

Visitors were also able to see the PD-8 engine for the fully imported Superjet. It is expected to be certified by the end of this year. All certification tests are currently underway. Deliveries of the engine to production aircraft will begin next spring.

I would also like to mention the new domestic 110-horsepower engine, which was developed in Ufa at a company that is part of the UEC. Thanks to this engine, we hope to reduce our dependence on foreign manufacturers for our small aircraft. This engine can also be used in heavy civilian unmanned aerial systems [UAS], which we are developing as part of a national project.

In this category, speaking about UAS, the exhibition featured a serial helicopter-type drone that can deliver cargo weighing 100 kilograms over a distance of up to 600 kilometers, and a unique amphibious aircraft-type UAV with a payload capacity of 700 kilograms and a range of up to 1,500 kilometers. In August, we plan to produce a pilot batch, and we expect to start mass production in 2028.

For the raw materials independence of our country, a large number of developments are currently underway under the national project "New Materials and Chemistry". Of the most significant achievements noted at this exhibition, it is worth mentioning the technology of spraying metal powders to create high-precision parts by pressing. They are formed in just a minute. The main consumers of this solution are the automotive and oil and gas sectors. For oil and gas engineering, this is a very popular technology.

Another important project is the construction of the first sodium polyacrylate plant in our country. It is extremely necessary in the production of medical devices and personal care products.

Another critical substance that our chemical complex has mastered is silica gel for polymerization catalysts. This is a key raw material in the production of polypropylene and polyethylene, which are widely used in various industries.

In general, we prioritize the development of catalysts not only for the chemical and automotive industries, but also for the national project "New Nuclear and Energy Technologies." At Innoprom, we showcased two recent developments for this important sector: a centrifugal pump for continuous operation of nuclear power plants and a motorized mainline pump, which will eventually replace imported gas turbine-powered units in pipelines.

The exhibition featured a wide range of medical equipment, including laminar flow hoods for sterilization in laboratories and other confined spaces, as well as the latest anesthesia and respiratory equipment and portable devices for hearing testing in newborns. These products and many others will be used to achieve healthcare technical sovereignty as part of the national project "New Technologies for Health Conservation."

And another national project, for which the industry provides a technological base, concerns the development of tourism. Among the new types of machinery and equipment that are used in this sector, where there are niches that we need to fill, we actually presented two new products at Innoprom: the first Russian snowplough for ski resorts, which will be delivered to one of the resorts for experimental use this year, and we plan to start serial deliveries to our resorts next year, and a ten-seat passenger cabin for cable cars.

All of the things I have mentioned are Russian developments. However, we also have a number of areas where we work in cooperation with our Belarusian colleagues. This year, we held another Innoprom exhibition in Uzbekistan in April. We have decided to hold the first exhibition of this year in Belarus, which will take place in Minsk at the end of September. This exhibition will showcase the promising areas of industrial cooperation between our two countries.

That's all. Thank you. The presentation is over.

V. Putin: Okay. Thank you.

Combating cybercriminals remains an urgent task.

(Addressing M. Shadaev.) Maksut Igorevich, I know that you offer a number of new services to solve these problems. Please.

M. Shadaev: Good afternoon, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, and dear colleagues!

If I may, I will first tell you about Gosuslugi and the progress we have made in terms of providing digital services.

The last time I told you about the services available, it was more than two years ago. Since then, the popularity of electronic government services has increased even further, and Gosuslugi has become a full-fledged system for providing mass and, most importantly, continuous services to our citizens.

The number of registered Russian users on the portal is already more than 117 million, which is 95 percent of our citizens over the age of 14. You can only register on the portal after obtaining a passport. Additionally, 3.5 million migrants have registered on the portal. It is used by migrants to access various services.

More than 10 million people use the portal's services every day. Currently, Gosuslugi is the eighth most popular online service in Russia. The portal offers more than 200 digital services for the public, including federal and regional services. Last year, citizens used the portal's services, including various services, 750 million times, and paid fees and fines 170 million times. These numbers are truly impressive.

I would like to highlight several mass services that have recently been digitized. Together with the Ministry of Labor, the State Services portal has implemented the possibility of receiving a single allowance for children and pregnant women. More than 15 million such allowances have been issued through the portal. Now, mothers can view the entire history of their maternity capital in their personal account on the State Services portal. Last year, on your instructions, we implemented the possibility of receiving a payment through the State Services portal if the remaining amount on the maternity capital account is less than 10,000 rubles. Additionally, families with low incomes can apply for a monthly payment from the maternity capital funds on the State Services portal.

The State Services website also provides services for citizens who have been affected by various emergencies to receive payments quickly. 600,000 victims in 24 regions have already received this assistance. The most important thing is that assistance can be received within two to three days of making the relevant decision.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, last year, at the request of the Ministry of Defence, the Gosuslugi portal implemented a service for obtaining certificates of participation in the special military operation, and such a certificate is issued within a few seconds after the request. It is valid for one month and is used to confirm the right of a special military operation participant or their family members to receive various social support measures and benefits. We have a lot of them: tax support measures, suspension of enforcement proceedings, and in most regions, special military operation participants and their family members are entitled to compensation for utility expenses, free public transportation, and exemption from fees for kindergartens and after-school programs. In general, there are many available support measures.

The Ministry of Digital Development is ready to work with the regions to ensure a proactive approach to providing social support measures without the need for in-person visits to government agencies. This requires the involvement of relevant departments and regions. Over the past year, users of the State Services portal have successfully made appointments with doctors 60 million times. Most importantly, they now have access to medical documents, such as consultation protocols or laboratory test results. Since the beginning of this year alone, users have downloaded medical documents more than 100 million [times], and they are legally significant: they can be used to send them as part of receiving other services. Now, a certificate of birth of a child comes directly from the maternity hospital to the Gosuslug personal account, and the birth certificate can be issued without a full-time application to the registry office, the whole procedure is in electronic form. This year, we have issued 300,000 such birth certificates.

State services in the field of education are actively developing. Since September 1, 2022, two million children have enrolled in clubs and sections through the Gosuslugi portal, and there are more than 80,000 of them. This year, one million applications for first-grade enrollment have been submitted through Gosuslugi. Additionally, 650,000 applications have been submitted through the portal for children to enroll in summer camps.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, this year, for the first time, based on the assessment of children's academic performance, ninth-graders were invited to enroll in colleges through the portal. As a result, more than 400,000 people applied for college enrollment through the Gosuslugi portal.

The university admission campaign is currently in full swing. This year, one million applicants submitted their documents to universities through the State Services portal, which is three times more than in 2022, when we began piloting this service.

For people with disabilities, this is a very important social service. We have made it possible for them to apply for free parking in designated areas through the Gosuslugi portal. Additionally, the Gosuslugi portal allows users to send messages to car owners using their vehicle's license plate number if their car is blocking traffic or if their car has been accidentally hit while leaving the parking lot. We have sent over half a million such messages to vehicle owners.

Currently, approximately 20,000 traffic accidents are registered on the State Services website every month without the need to call the traffic police, and an electronic claim for compensation is sent directly to the insurance company. I would like to express my gratitude to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for this work.

Also, on Gosuslugi, users can now immediately receive all materials from the bailiff regarding the enforcement proceedings that are being conducted against them. Since June 2024, 1.3 million such requests have been sent.

Owners of real estate objects now have access to a free online extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities with an electronic signature of the Federal Registration Service. Instead of the three working days that we had before, we are now able to do this within a few seconds. More than 19 million people have received such statements since the launch.

Through Gosuslugi, which is closer to the topic, 800,000 users have banned real estate transactions without in-person presence, and since March 1, 13.5 million citizens have banned the digital issuance of loans and mortgages through Gosuslugi to ensure that their rights are not violated.

Since April 1, all users of the State Services have received information about their mobile phone numbers in their personal accounts, which number approximately 150 million. I would like to remind you that by November 1, citizens must decide and cancel [unused SIM cards]: now, according to the law, citizens have the right to have no more than 20 SIM cards.

I would like to draw your attention to the following: As a result of this work, we have identified 56 individuals who have 1.2 million active SIM cards. We believe that law enforcement agencies should pay attention to this, as it is likely that these individuals are involved in various activities.

On the Gosuslugi portal itself, we have also launched a powerful anti-fraud system that uses machine learning technology to freeze the provision of sensitive services and financial information, such as credit report extracts, for 72 hours in the event of identified risks.

The portal itself is actively developing services for digital certified copies of personal documents. On Gosuslugi, digital certificates for large families, compulsory medical insurance policies, motor third-party liability insurance, driver's licenses, digital student cards are already available, and more than 25 million citizens are already using free electronic signatures to regularly sign documents.

We also introduced a digital assistant on Gosuslugi last year, which uses artificial intelligence technology to successfully process two million requests per day in order to help users who face various difficulties when choosing a service or when registering for a service. In 80 percent of cases, it provides the necessary answers very accurately and quickly, solving the user's problem.

As part of your instructions, Vladimir Vladimirovich, the first package of measures to combat cyber fraud was adopted by the Government on April 1. Many of these measures are already being implemented. However, the scale of digital crimes requires us to introduce new solutions. For example, we have decided to consider the use of deepfakes as an aggravating circumstance in criminal cases. A second package of measures to combat cyber fraud has been prepared. Some of the proposals from the second package were adopted by the State Duma in its third reading yesterday. There are two particularly controversial regulations that raise questions among our citizens. I will try to comment on them very briefly.

It is proposed to introduce fines for the transfer of SIM cards and accounts to third parties, which can uniquely identify a person as a user of a digital service. Naturally, the rule on SIM cards will not apply to family members, close relatives, or in the case of a short-term transfer of a SIM card for personal purposes. Similarly, there is no punishment for accounts if they are transferred for legitimate use and on behalf of the owner. These rules are intended to prevent the illegal circulation of SIM cards and stolen accounts.

The bill also introduces a fine of three to five thousand rubles for intentional access to extremist materials from the register maintained by the Ministry of Justice. Currently, there are 5,500 materials on the register, which have been included based on court decisions. However, it should be noted that foreign digital platforms refuse to remove such materials upon Roskomnadzor's request. Currently, there are over 20,000 such requests pending, and the platforms have not removed these materials.

Ordinary citizens who specifically, I emphasize, specifically search for banned extremist materials, knowing that they are generally extremist and included in the register, will not be fined even if they use a VPN. I specifically wanted to clarify this point.

The bill was passed in the third reading, and we are now waiting for it to be considered by the Federation Council.

Thank you. I finished my report.

V.Putin: The law that was adopted by the State Duma is about the search for extremist information. How do you think it should function in practice?

M. Shadaev: In practice, law enforcement agencies will have to prove that there was intent and that the user knew in advance that these were extremist materials and that they were included in the register. In this sense, ordinary users need not worry.

There is a lot of discussion about this, and it is necessary to learn [a list of] 5,500 materials that are included in the register, so that you never open them. However, we do not see any risks in this regard, because if the user did not know that the material was extremist, there will be no liability.

At the same time, we understand that these materials are specifically sought out by adherents of the relevant ideologies and organizers of extremist communities, so ordinary citizens can feel safe here.

V. Putin: Okay. Thank you.

Dear colleagues, we have had a special economic zone mechanism in place since July 2005, which is 20 years ago.

(Addressing M. Reshetnikov.) Maxim Gennadievich, I would like to ask you to say a few words about how this system works and what results it produces.

M.Reshetnikov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear colleagues!

Indeed, Vladimir Vladimirovich, you mentioned that 20 years ago, on your instructions, the Law on Special Economic Zones was adopted to create new growth points in the regions and stimulate investment.

The mechanism has proven to be effective. Currently, there are 59 special economic zones in the country. More than 1,300 residents have invested 2.7 trillion rubles and created 110,000 jobs in various industries, from manufacturing and science to logistics and tourism.

Investors are attracted by ready-made infrastructure for projects, benefits such as land, property, and tax incentives, as well as stable conditions, including a guarantee that tax legislation will not change during the project's implementation, and simplified customs procedures, which are also important for importing equipment.

In other words, special economic zones respond to the most important business needs. This became especially evident during the pandemic and sanctions period, when there was a sharp increase in economic zones. Since 2020, more than half of all SEZs have been created, that is, in the last, in fact, four years. A record number of residents arrived. They have launched the production of products that are necessary for our country, including replacing imported analogues. Last year, Tatarstan opened a production facility for trailer equipment, Tula Region opened a production facility for metal medical furniture, Lipetsk Region opened a production facility for pet food, Novgorod Region opened a production facility for air filters for trucks and polymer pipes for utility networks. There are many such examples.

For regions, economic zones are a mechanism for diversifying the economy. For example, the tourism special economic zone established in the Kuzbass this year is intended to reduce the region's dependence on coal.

In addition, this is a mechanism for creating highly qualified jobs and a way to increase wages. Typically, employees working in special economic zones earn 30-50 percent more than the regional average. This is a way to compete for talent and keep it in the regions. This is why we see so many initiatives to create and expand these zones.

This year, six economic zones have already been established. In the science city of Serpukhov near Moscow, a medical and innovation cluster will be formed; in the Chelyabinsk region, a machine-building cluster; in the Vologda region, a metal and woodworking cluster; and in the Novosibirsk region, a special economic zone in the format of a "dry port" is being created. This is a powerful logistics hub near the Trans-Siberian Railway, an airport, and an industrial and logistics park.

Five special economic zones have been expanded in the Sverdlovsk, Moscow, Orenburg regions, and the capital. Applications are being considered for the creation of a special tourist zone in the Caucasian Mineral Waters and the expansion of existing zones in eight regions.

Economic zones have also proven to be effective for the state: the costs of benefits and infrastructure for residents have been recouped by the growth of the tax base. As of today, the budgetary effect is a plus of 122 billion rubles, meaning that taxes exceed the costs.

In addition, economic zones help to solve the state's strategic tasks, such as the special zone "Ust-Luga" in the Leningrad Region, where one of the world's largest complexes for deep processing of hydrocarbon raw materials is being built. We also have a special economic zone there, because a lot of products and equipment are imported and need to be cleared through customs. This is a powerful economic hub.

Special economic zones are increasingly being integrated into the process of achieving national goals, primarily by ensuring technological sovereignty and developing the economy of supply, including tourism.

Most of the major tourism projects are being implemented in special economic zones, and these are already popular growth points, such as Arkhyz and Elbrus in the North Caucasus, and Sheregesh in the Kuzbass. This year, there has been a significant increase in the construction of infrastructure facilities in Zavidovo, Tver Region, and the construction of powerful hotels, which is also a special economic zone. Additionally, there are resorts under construction, such as the Caspian Cluster in Dagestan, which is part of the Five Seas and Lake Baikal project, and Mamison, a new ski resort in Ossetia, among others.

We regularly adjust the mechanism to meet the needs of businesses and regions. Over the past two years, we have simplified the entry process for investors, reduced the amount of application documentation by a factor of ten, halved the registration time for residents, and provided preferential access to tax monitoring and additional guarantees against changes in industry regulations.

We will continue to fine-tune the SEZ mechanisms. The agenda includes the inclusion of water areas in tourist zones for the development of yacht marinas, including river tourism, not only maritime tourism, and the automatic transfer of forest lands to recreational lands when creating tourist sites.

We are encouraging the regions to focus more on the development of infrastructure in these zones, as well as other support measures, such as the write-off of budget loans and new treasury infrastructure loans. Currently, there is a selection process for the next three years. There are many applications, and they are good. The regions are indeed paying attention to these special zones in terms of their economic development.

Two years ago, we started reimbursing the regions for infrastructure costs at the expense of tax and customs revenues from residents to the federal budget. That is, the regions invest their [funds], build infrastructure, enter enterprises, pay money to the federal budget, and we return part of this money to compensate the regions for their costs for engineering infrastructure, energy, and so on. According to the results of two years, St. Petersburg, the Moscow region, Ivanovo, Lipetsk reimbursed 5.5 billion rubles. For this year, the Tula, Samara, and Sverdlovsk regions have reported almost four billion [rubles] in expenses from which taxes have been collected. Therefore, we encourage the regions to use this mechanism more actively.

We also expect the regional teams to actively attract foreign investors. We currently have more than 100 foreign residents from 34 countries. It is important that both existing and new investors receive not only benefits and ready-made infrastructure, but also support.

In many regions, we have formed very strong teams that know how to work with both Russian and foreign businesses. We are actively encouraging them to enter foreign markets, promote their special economic zones, and establish partnerships with special zones in other countries.

Some people export their management experience to colleagues abroad. In Uzbekistan, for example, colleagues from Tatarstan are really engaged in managing special zones and promoting them very well.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, the institute of special economic zones has generally been established as an effective mechanism for economic development, primarily due to the work of the regions and their teams, the constant improvement of legislation, and the attention of the deputies and senators, as well as, of course, your attention and support for this topic. We will continue to work on this, and we understand the challenges.

Thanks for attention.

V. Putin: Okay. Thank you very much.

Irina Andreevna, does the Ministry of Finance confirm the amount of reimbursement to the regions for infrastructure?

I. Okladnikova: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!

Yes, we confirm this. Indeed, we have such a support measure, and it has been in place for two years. We provide the volumes based on the forecast provided by the entities to the Ministry of Economic Development and the confirmed taxable base. Therefore, we believe that the mechanism is working quite well, and we will continue to implement it.

Thank you.

V. Putin: Good. But how do you calculate in advance the approximate volume, how much the Ministry of Finance loses, or does not receive?

I. Okladnikova: Yes, Vladimir Vladimirovich. We don't really think that we're missing out on anything. We believe that these are new taxes. This is the paradigm we used to develop this mechanism, similar to industrial parks. We take the passports of special economic zones, check each resident, obtain data from the Federal Tax Service and the Federal Customs Service, compare it with the Ministry of Economic Development, and forecast it in the Budget Law. As part of the adjustment, we will certainly adjust either up or down, depending on the situation.

V. Putin: Excellent. Thank you very much.

Please, Tatiana Alekseevna, about the Zemsky Teacher program and so on.

T.Golikova: Good afternoon, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, dear colleagues!

As of today, there are 558,000 doctors working in the country, 9% of them in rural areas, and 1,200,000 medical professionals with secondary vocational education, 14.6% of them in rural areas.

Thanks to the implementation of the Healthcare National Project and the Zemsky Doctor and Zemsky Paramedic programs, the number of doctors has increased by more than 16,000 over the past two years. During the same period, we have significantly reduced the outflow of mid-level medical personnel, which was observed at the beginning of the Healthcare National Project.

As for rural areas, over the period of 2022-2024, we have seen an increase of 1,400 doctors and 1,300 mid-level medical personnel in rural areas. This was facilitated by the decisions you have made. I would like to remind you that since January 1, 2023, we have introduced special social benefits for medical professionals, especially those working in primary healthcare in rural areas and small towns. Over the entire period, we have allocated 329 billion rubles for these purposes and supported 1.2 million healthcare workers.

As for the Zemsky Doctor programme, I would like to remind you that it was launched in 2012, and in 2018 it was extended to include mid-level medical staff. Over the course of its implementation, almost 72,000 medical professionals have been recruited in rural areas and small towns. We have allocated almost 73 billion rubles for this purpose. As of July 1, 2025, 1,500 people have already taken advantage of this programme, including both doctors and mid-level medical staff. We expect that almost 33 billion rubles will be allocated to support the program in 2025-2030.

Since 2012, we have been fine-tuning the program on an annual basis based on feedback. In 2012, the program only included doctors under the age of 35, and employment was only possible in rural areas. The payment amount was fixed at one million rubles. However, in recent years, we have expanded the program to include paramedics, midwives, and nurses. We have also removed the age restrictions, making employment possible in rural areas, urban-type settlements, and cities with a population of up to 50,000. Since 2023, the program has been implemented in the new regions of the Russian Federation, and the amount of payments has been increased to two million rubles for doctors and one million rubles for mid-level medical personnel in the Far Eastern Federal District, the Far North, and equivalent areas in the Arctic zone, as well as in the new regions of the Russian Federation. For hard-to-reach and remote territories, which are determined by the regions themselves, we have differentiated payments, with doctors receiving 1.5 million rubles and mid-level medical personnel receiving 750,000 rubles. The allocation of funds is not limited. Medical workers have the right to use them as they see fit: for housing, for settling in a new place of residence, or for other purposes. The main condition is to work for five years.

We have also introduced a new right for medical workers: they can change their place of work within the same region once every five years. However, the program's conditions remain unchanged, including the five-year commitment and payments.

As of the end of 2024, all regions have met their targets. The leading regions throughout the implementation period are the Krasnodar Territory, the Moscow and Leningrad Regions, and the Republics of Bashkortostan and Dagestan.

We are also monitoring the effectiveness of this program. The monitoring of the program's effectiveness shows the following. I will provide examples from 2019 and 2024, as they coincide with the implementation of the Healthcare national project.

A total of 37,500 medical professionals participated in the program, of which 17.3% terminated their contracts, meaning they did not complete their five-year contracts, 0.5% completed their five-year contracts but did not continue working in rural areas and small towns, and 82.2% remained employed beyond the five-year period.

Over the entire period of implementation, starting in 2012, the average length of service in the areas covered by the program is eight and a half years. We believe that this is a good indicator, considering that the program has been continuously adjusted and that we have not changed the financial parameters. If a medical professional terminates their contract, the funds should be returned in proportion to the time not worked.

I would also like to talk about the profile of a participant in this program. We have created this profile based on the Krasnodar Territory, which is the leader in attracting participants. We see that the majority of participants in this program are women under the age of 40, both as doctors and as medical staff. This indicates that the program has a demographic potential that could be utilized in conjunction with other support measures.

Information about vacant positions that can be applied for in the program, as well as additional regional support measures, is currently available on the "Work in Russia" portal, on the official websites of regional authorities and medical organizations. We are currently working to connect the data of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the administrative data of these people who have participated in the program, with the administrative data of the Social Fund, in order to have a clear understanding of who is actually working in which positions. This is because the data we currently have is based on regional data provided by regional government systems. But we believe that the administrative system of the Social Fund will also provide additional opportunities, including those mentioned by Maksut Igorevich [Shadaev], in terms of using the services of the public services portal.

I would also like to say that last week, together with the Governor of the Kaluga Region, Vladislav Valeryevich Shapsha, who is also the head of the State Council Commission on Personnel, we held an all-Russian conference in Kaluga on the elimination of staff shortages in healthcare, where we discussed the issue of staffing in general, including the Zemsky Doctor and Zemsky Medical Assistant programs. In principle, all regions have confirmed the effectiveness of these programs and the need to continue them in conjunction with other support measures that are currently in place at both the federal and regional levels. First of all, of course, we are talking about all the tools we use to provide housing.

I will say a few more words about the Zemstvo Cultural Worker, and then Dmitry Nikolaevich [Chernyshenko] will tell us about other Zemstvos.

"Zemsky Kultury Rabotnik" was introduced as a support measure on January 1, 2025, as per your instructions in the Address to the Federal Assembly. This means that we have been implementing this program for the first year. As of July 1, 2025, according to the data provided by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, we have 268,000 cultural workers in rural areas and small towns, with 15,000 positions currently vacant.

As I have already said, the program has been implemented since this year. This year, the budget provides for 1.1 billion rubles for the start-up, and then 2.5 billion rubles annually until 2030. We expect to cover nine thousand vacant positions through this program.

87 out of 89 regions participate in the program. It is clear that Moscow and St. Petersburg do not participate.

For cultural workers who have moved to villages and small towns with a population of less than 50,000, as well as in the new regions and the Far East, payments under the previous program have been increased to two million. For the remaining regions, the payment has been set at one million. Today, this is a competitive selection process. All regions of the Russian Federation have adopted both the criteria and their own regulatory documents. Currently, a competitive selection process is underway. It involves 2,500 cultural organizations and over 4,700 vacant positions. These are mainly cultural and leisure institutions and art schools. We plan to attract 1,138 specialists this year, but as of July 15, 52 regions have already completed the competitive procedures. Lists are being formed, and the winners are being determined. 34 [regions] are conducting the application campaign, and the Donetsk People's Republic will start the competitive selection process in August.

As I have already said, the program is being implemented for the first year. Therefore, based on how it will be implemented in the first year, we will determine the mechanisms for its fine-tuning.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the experience of implementing the Zemsky Doctor and Zemsky Paramedic programs shows that in order to increase the effectiveness of not only these programs, but also others that my colleague will discuss, it is necessary for the regions to create the necessary conditions. I have already said that it is very important that this support measure, plus the social benefits that we pay, plus the other support measures that we implement in relevant national projects, such as "Human Resources," "Long and Active Life," and "Family," are linked to regional support measures and other activities in the national projects, so that the effect will be greater. This is because the reason for terminating the contract is usually the lack of housing and the inability of another family member, such as a spouse, to find employment. However, many regions have a positive experience, which is why they have good implementation rates for this program.

In addition to the measures I have mentioned, the most popular regional measures include priority access to kindergartens for children, relocation payments, compensation for public transportation to and from work, one-time settlement payments, and, of course, additional payments for highly sought-after specialists in addition to the payments made by the Russian Federation.

I would also like to point out that it is very important for the regions to analyze the structure of the program participants, the reasons for early termination of contracts, and make the most balanced decisions in order to retain people who have chosen to work in rural areas and small towns.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that the countryside still has a higher demographic potential. Despite the fact that the number of rural residents is lower than the number of urban residents, the total birth rate in the countryside is 1.6 in 2024, compared to 1.4 in the city. Therefore, creating conditions and developing the rural environment, as well as providing comprehensive support to rural areas through the Ministry of Agriculture, is a crucial issue that requires our utmost attention.

Thank you.

V. Putin: Thank you very much, Tatyana Alekseevna.

(Addressing D. Chernyshenko.) Dmitry Nikolaevich, do you have anything to add about the effectiveness of these programs?

D. Chernyshenko: Yes, of course.

Good afternoon, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!

Thank you very much for noting the latest successes of our schoolchildren – the winners of the International Mathematical Olympiad. These are the children from St. Petersburg, Chelyabinsk and Moscow regions, Primorsky Krai and Moscow.

As I recently reported to you with two ministers, in 2024, our students won 42 medals, including 31 gold medals, as a result of eight Olympiads. This year, they have already earned 16 medals, including 13 gold medals, as a result of just three Olympiads. This shows that the systematic work of our teachers is yielding results.

Returning to the topic of the Zemstvo Teacher, in continuation of what Tatyana Alekseevna said, we have been implementing this program since 2020, as per your instructions, which helps to meet the demand for personnel in settlements with a population of less than 50,000 people.

According to official statistics, there are 1,068,000 teachers in the education system, including 368,000 teachers in rural areas, and there are 6,000 vacancies, or approximately 1.8 percent of the total number of teachers in rural areas.

This program is designed to ensure equal access to quality education throughout the country. More than 6,300 teachers have already moved as part of this program. The most popular subjects taught by these teachers are Russian language, literature, mathematics, geometry, history, social studies, and geography.

The one-time payment, on your behalf, is two million rubles for the Far East and the new territories, and one million for those who move to other regions. It is very important that you do not have to pay taxes on this amount, and you can use it for any purpose, as Tatyana Alekseevna [Golikova] said, including the purchase or rental of housing. In total, 5 billion 800 million rubles were allocated from the federal budget for this program in 2020-2024. This year, on your instructions, it has been extended until 2030 as part of the national project "Youth and Children." Potentially, more than 7,500 teachers can participate, which should cover the demand.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, in the education strategy that we are preparing on your behalf, we envisage a number of additional measures to attract teachers to rural areas. These include unified approaches to remuneration, which is currently being effectively implemented by Tatiana Alekseevna, the pilot, as well as, of course, working conditions. I would like to support the idea expressed by Tatiana Alekseevna that regional support measures and coordination are crucial. We are monitoring the regions where, in addition to federal support measures, there is a high level of job vacancies and a low percentage of contract termination. I will highlight the best ones: these are the Leningrad and Nizhny Novgorod regions, where the teaching staff in rural schools is 99.8 percent staffed, and the Novosibirsk region, where the staffing rate is 98.9 percent. By the way, in the Leningrad region, there are no terminated contracts, while in Khabarovsk, there are 2.3 percent, and in the Perm region, there are 5.2 percent. Overall, the country's "Zemsky Teacher" program has a staffing rate of 11 percent.

In addition, of course, we also pay attention to the quality, not just the quantity, so that the teachers we hire are qualified for their subject, and there are no cases where a physical education teacher is forced to teach mathematics, for example.

The main regional support measures are probably the most effective, and we absolutely agree with Tatiana Alekseevna that they include providing employees with office housing, compensating for living expenses, utilities, and one-time payments. Additionally, assistance with relocation, compensation for flights, and placement of children in kindergartens and schools are also important.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, this program is extremely important. The Government will continue to implement it on your instructions. If you support us, we plan to raise the lump sum payment for border areas starting from 2027. This is similar to the situation in the Far East and the reunited [regions], that is, from one million to two million rubles. We also propose to fix the duty of the regions to provide teachers who have arrived with official housing.

Now, as for the Zemsky Trenyor programme. This is a young programme, it was launched as a result of your instructions at the Council on sports in October last year, which was held in Ufa. Today, the involvement of citizens in sports is regular, on average across the country – 63.3 percent, but by 2030, according to your instructions, it should be at least 70. In rural areas, this is only 52 percent. Here, of course, there is a lag behind the national average. This is mainly due to the different levels of infrastructure development and staffing.

The current need for trainers and specialists in rural areas is about three thousand, but this figure is based on a survey. Unlike teachers, where the data is verified, we are collecting this data.

If you support this, the Ministry of Economic Development, together with the relevant agencies, will provide for the collection of primary data on relevant vacancies as part of the federal statistical observation, so that we can also receive data on all other areas.

The program is being implemented in a pilot mode this year, which means that 28 regions, including border regions, will receive subsidies. Starting next year, all regions will be involved in the program, including the new territories. The amount of the payments will be two million rubles for those who have moved to rural areas, the regions of the Far East, and the reunified regions, and one million rubles for those who have moved to other regions of Russia.

The amount of funding required from the federal budget to cover this deficit is approximately 2.8 billion rubles.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, if you agree, we will work with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Sports to provide the necessary funding.

By the way, payments to a zemstvo teacher, doctor, and cultural worker are exempt from taxation. Therefore, I ask you to support a similar measure for a zemstvo coach starting from 2025.

Thank you. The additions and the report are over.

V. Putin: Thank you.

I agree with you, this is what needs to be done, and I agree with your suggestions, including drawing the attention of our colleagues in the regions. I think it is absolutely fair, as we have already said many times, that our colleagues in the regions should support these programs. In fact, this is what is being done for the regions-the purchase of housing for specialists. This is exactly perfect, and it should be done.

(Addressing M. Kuznetsov.) Mikhail Mikhailovich, how does the All-Russian People's Front assess the events taking place when analyzing the work of these programs?

M. Kuznetsov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!

In preparation for the meeting, we surveyed two thousand active participants in this program in various categories. It is worth noting that our zemstvo programs are highly effective, as 79% of the participants we surveyed reported that the payment motivated them to move to rural areas, and 85% said they would recommend their colleagues to use this program.

At the same time, during the last discussion with Leonid Mikhailovich Roshal on healthcare, we found out that the Ministry of Labor, Rosstat, the Ministry of Health, and the Accounts Chamber provide different figures for the number of healthcare vacancies. Sometimes, the figures differ significantly, as mentioned by Tatyana Alekseevna. It is clear that we need to establish a clear methodology.

According to our estimates, the Zemstvo programs cover about a quarter of the total amount of needs. However, if we were to solve this problem arithmetically, it is unlikely that we would be able to fully cover the amount of needs in four years, because, as Tatiana Alekseevna mentioned, 17 percent of employees leave their positions, and according to our surveys, 30 percent of respondents said that they do not plan to stay in their current positions after five years, and 20 percent expressed doubts. This means that there is still a category that can be targeted.

We suggest that, firstly, we should decide on a unified method of calculation, and secondly, of course, we should work with additional incentives for those who have already moved. This is easier than finding people who will move again.

30 percent of respondents complain about the lack of support during adaptation. Colleagues listed all these problems: these include kindergartens, and very often it is the transportation of property, that is, in order to move from Central Russia to the Far East, hundreds of thousands [rubles] are needed for cargo transportation. If you start spending a special zemstvo payment on this, then a fairly tangible amount of funds.

At the same time, additional management decisions and support from the regions, which my colleagues have already mentioned, increase efficiency. For example, in Primorsky Krai, in Dalnegorsk, a branch of the Vladivostok Medical College was established, and 70 percent of students studying for the professions of paramedic and nurse are between the ages of 35 and 58. This means that the upper age limit was raised, and local residents are eager to pursue these professions in order to stay and work in these areas.

In many regions, there is a housing subsidy, which is also very important.

By the way, there is also a role for business, Vladimir Vladimirovich. There are examples when businesses pay extra monthly salaries to paramedics and solve issues with renting and purchasing housing. Colleagues in the regions where they are present also help participants in the Zemstvo programs.

For 60 percent of the respondents, housing is a determining factor. At the same time, in those regions and municipalities where housing is available, the number of people who want to leave immediately decreases by half. This means that even the availability of housing on the market is a factor that allows people to stay and work.

One of the tools for consolidation could be the expansion of rural mortgages wherever zemstvo programs are operating, and the priority right to receive them by zemstvo specialists, because there is a certain regulatory framework that does not always allow them to take out a rural mortgage.

For the new regions, the Arctic, the Far East, and the Far North, there are indeed increased payments of two million, as mentioned. However, we see that there are vacancies that have not been filled for years, as even these relatively high funds are not sufficient to fully meet the demand. We propose that the regions be given the opportunity to differentiate, such as Chukotka and Yakutia, where the working conditions are particularly difficult. Within the existing limits, we can differentiate and possibly increase the amount slightly to ensure that people do not have to live for a year without a paramedic in their village.

Participants in the Zemstvo programs note the excessive requirements for documents, the need for notarization, the long processing times, which sometimes take up to four months, and the mandatory in-person submission. A Zemstvo teacher from the Komi Republic wrote to us: "All documents had to be notarized at a fee, and there were several copies, as they were submitted in different places, and each region had different deadlines and rules." We suggest considering the possibility of submitting applications digitally, as Makshut Igrichovich reported on the expansion of "Gosuslugi," which I believe is a feasible task. And fix the deadlines, make a single register of zemstvo vacancies, following the example of the Ministry of Education. They have a very convenient website: you go in and select any region, look at the volume of vacancies and apply there, do the same for the other categories.

And one last point. Doctors participate in zemstvo programs without age restrictions, while teachers and cultural workers must be no older than 55 years. In addition, unlike doctors, they cannot return home and work at home under the zemstvo program. Here is an example of a call to the Direct Line from Irkutsk: "Good afternoon! My wife and I have worked as teachers in a city school all our lives. We wanted to take part in the Zemsky Teacher program and go to work in a rural school, but there is a 55-year age limit. We are 65 years old, and we are professionals in our field. In rural schools, geography teachers teach mathematics, and young people don't want to do it. We would like to go and work for another ten years." We propose that if a position is not filled by young professionals for more than a year, the age limit should be lifted after a personal interview with the candidate. Additionally, we suggest providing opportunities for returning home and working in rural areas through Zemsky programs. This will allow you to close the issue in difficult and challenging situations.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you very much. The report is over.

V. Putin: Thank you.

(Addressing M. Oreshkin.) Maxim Stanislavovich, I would like to ask you to summarize everything that Mikhail Mikhailovich has said, and that our colleagues have also recorded in their speeches, to summarize some things and formalize them as instructions, so that our programs can continue and work on their improvement can continue. I hope that they will work even more effectively.

In general, the work is effective. But we see that there are things that should be paid attention to. I would like to ask you to record this. Work with your colleagues from the Government.

M. Oreshkin: We will work it out. We will do it.

V. Putin: Thank you. [My Emphasis]

The law on accessing extremist materials seems wrong, and then there’s the issue of foreign entities not cooperating because they abet that sort of crime to destabilize Russia. The SEZs becoming beyond popular after being around for 16 years is rather interesting and IMO results from the sanctions regime and import substitution. The supply side economy goal is all about producing enough domestically to overcome domestic demand and thus reduce the inflationary pressure. That the SEZs are helping to finally get domestic supply to overcome demand is great, which will now produce an exportable surplus. Then there’s the outreach from regions to other allied nations that’s generating synergy which is what the entire goal. The Saudis were heavily involved in Innoprom, making it difficult to judge where they are on the fence. That Belarus is doing its own show is also an indicator of progress. That China and Russia have collaborated on this and other shows in Russia and China is another. BRICS and ASEAN could also combine as could other regional combinations.

The various Zemstvo programs are also showing their results, that they were good ideas being made better through feedback and experience. One point that is very hard to quantify is the proportion of Russians who are motivated by all these and other efforts to better Russia, themselves and their locales. Team Putin seems convinced that the efforts made so far are producing the sorts of results envisioned. I’m sure many readers will ask themselves, why can’t we have something similar here?

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