Russian Investment & Development Continues to Snowball

RUSAL’s low carbon aluminum smelting facility.

Yet another bunch of development projects made possible by public and private investment were opened again in an orchestrated manner, although it must be noted that many similar projects just open for business without such fanfare. Here’s how the Kremlin described the event:

The Head of State got acquainted with the implementation of new investment projects in industry in Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Irkutsk regions and in the Krasnodar Territory.

In the city of Kirzhach, Vladimir region, a plant for the production of equipment for ventilation and air conditioning systems of the Shaft Technology company of the Rusklimat trade and production holding (TPH) was built. On the territory of advanced socio-economic development in Volodarsk, Nizhny Novgorod region, the First weaving factory created a full-cycle weaving and finishing production. AvtoVAZ launches mass production of Lada Aura business class cars in the Samara region. Udarnaya TPP with a capacity of 560 megawatts is being put into operation in the Krymsky district of the Krasnodar Territory. In Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk region, a pulp and cardboard mill is being prepared to reach its full capacity.

During the meeting, Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov reported on the situation in the manufacturing industry and measures for the technological development of certain sectors of the economy.

Mr. Alikhanov had to hit the ground running in his promotion from Kaliningrad Governor to his Ministerial position and so far has yet to visibly stumble. He was fortunate to take over an already mature, well-functioning ministry, and that has certainly eased his transition. As you read above, these facilities are all over Russia and are as diverse as their geographic dispersal. One of Russia’s advantages with its planning process is the great reduction of duplicate efforts that allows the economy to be more efficient with the main emphasis now on constructing those plants that need to produce products for Siberia and the Far East to ease the logistical situation and ultimately to reduce prices in those regions. The big issue is energy as we learned from Putin’s Energy Week Speech. Energy production was recently aided by the new law on crypto mining and its energy use that looked like an excellent compromise. So, now let’s read what this is all about:

Vladimir Putin: Dear colleagues, good evening!

The launch of modern, efficient industrial enterprises in the Far East, Siberia, the Urals, the South, North-West and Central part of Russia has already become a good tradition. I am glad to continue it today.

In a number of our regions, several significant investment projects have been successfully implemented at once, new production facilities have been created in the field of power generation, automotive industry, production of textile and pulp and paper products, as well as ventilation and air conditioning systems. Some of them are already operating and will soon reach full capacity.

I would like to note that in recent years we have opened hundreds of new production sites and workshops, factories and factories. Among them are real industrial giants, such as the Udokan mining and metallurgical combine in Transbaikalia, the Taishet Aluminum Plant in the Irkutsk region, ZapSibNeftekhim in the Tyumen Region and much more.

In general, our industrial production is growing, and manufacturing industries show positive dynamics. They are developing ahead of schedule. In many respects, this is the result of systematic and joint work of business and the state to update and develop high-quality production facilities. We have a whole range of measures to support industrial projects. Companies that implement them can choose the most appropriate and comfortable tools for themselves. This includes, in particular, special investment contracts, agreements on the protection and promotion of capital investments, a cluster investment platform, industrial mortgages, as well as programs of the Industrial Development Fund.

We will continue to improve these mechanisms and create conditions for the widespread, front-line opening of new production facilities and modernization of existing ones. This is the key to creating skilled, high-paying jobs, increasing the income of Russian families, and increasing the prestige of workers and engineering professions. This is an opportunity for millions of people, including young people, to realize themselves and find their vocation.

And of course, we will encourage and applaud the introduction of advanced, specifically domestic technologies and equipment. This directly affects the scientific, industrial and technological sovereignty of the country, as well as improving the competitiveness of our companies, including in the global market.

Currently, the Government is finalizing new national projects designed to ensure the technological independence of the state in healthcare, agriculture, transport, space and energy, as well as in a number of other important areas. In the near future, we will discuss their main parameters at a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects.

I would like to emphasize once again that the key task is to expand the production of high – quality high-tech products created at the expense of our own scientific and engineering solutions, and to strengthen our own industrial base. We will provide priority support to such projects, including through the formation and expansion of demand for domestic products, for those goods that we can and should produce ourselves, at home, in Russia, meeting both domestic and global market needs.

In conclusion, I would like to thank all the specialists who participated in the development and launch of new production facilities for their hard work, responsibility and initiative.

And of course, I sincerely wish great success to our employees.

Thank you.

Let's get started.

A. Alikhanov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

According to the results of eight months, production in the manufacturing industry in our country increased by 8.1 percent. In a good plus almost all industries. Among the leaders: the output of computers, electronic products, and finished metal products increased by more than 30 percent, and various segments of transport engineering added more than 20 percent. The highest rates were shown in the automotive industry, where growth in all types of cars exceeded 37 percent, which indicates a rapid recovery of this industry.

In general, the state has allocated about 31.5 billion rubles for all mechanisms of stimulating demand in the automotive industry since the beginning of the year. As a result, the production of light commercial vehicles increased by 27 percent and the production of passenger cars increased by almost 44 percent.

For this segment, a significant event will be today's launch of the Aura model on the conveyor, developed with state support. Moreover, we are not going to stop there and will expand the line in the most popular classes of passenger cars, they will be built on the principle of a single modular platform. We are laying out these solutions in a new national project on transport mobility.

We also set ambitious goals in the national project of technological leadership in new energy technologies. In particular, we want to increase the share of Russian equipment for the fuel and energy sector from 72 to 90 percent for critical nomenclature.

A special achievement, which we have been working towards for several years, was the first domestic high-power turbine GTD-110, installed on your behalf at the Udarnaya TPP. The state has invested a lot of money in its creation, which has allowed us to enter a new capacity range and reduce our dependence on Western suppliers of such turbines.

We are expanding the production of central air conditioning systems, modular and compact ventilation units, as well as fire-fighting equipment for industrial enterprises, healthcare institutions, and housing construction projects. We are starting to produce all this with a localization of more than 90% at the new largest specialized enterprise of the Rusklimat holding in the Vladimir region. The main difference between this complex and other manufacturers in this segment is the high level of robotization, and the volume of production will significantly increase the domestic share in various niches of climate technology.

An equally important project for our timber industry, which is increasing production volumes, is a new pulp and cardboard mill in Ust-Ilimsk. As it reaches its design capacity of 600 thousand tons of pure cellulose cardboard, it will become the third largest producer of such products in the world. This will allow us not only to meet all the needs of the domestic market, but also to push out Western suppliers, becoming a leader, as we hope, in the market of the People's Republic of China.

Comprehensive assistance from the Industrial Development Fund was provided to the project of creating the largest finishing fabric manufacturing enterprise in our country in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The entire complex of the First Weaving Factory was built from scratch and in a short time. Particularly popular furniture and upholstery fabrics, home textiles, coatings for car interiors, aviation equipment, and fabrics for workwear will be produced and are already being produced here. It is gratifying that our partners from Belarus have already become the main suppliers of raw materials for our company. The company already has a lot of customers not only in our country. Export contracts are being worked out. It is important to note that the capacity of this enterprise allows almost three times to increase the volume of production of such products in our country.

Mr President, we are providing all possible assistance to these and many other projects that are currently being developed in the industry, through the mechanisms that you mentioned, and we are working closely with the regional authorities, who are certainly interested in developing new local production facilities and are also providing assistance in their own way. Representatives of the factories will tell you more about the projects.

Thanks for attention.

Vladimir Putin: Okay, thank you very much.

Please, Mikhail Valeryevich Timoshenko, Rusklimat .

Maria Tymoshenko: Dear Mr President,

We are glad to welcome you from the team of the Rusklimat trade and production holding, which already employs more than 8 thousand people. Rusklimat IXEL Technopark in Kirzhach, where we are currently located, was launched in 2014. Today, Kirzhach has become the capital of climate technology in Russia, where more than 4 thousand people work at 13 high-tech enterprises that produce extremely popular products: radiators of all types, thermal electrical equipment, water heaters, ventilation equipment, central air conditioning systems.

This year, our holding company launched the production of climate control equipment under the presidential brand Aurus.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, as I promised at the meeting with you, Shaft Technology, the largest plant for the production of ventilation equipment for central air conditioning systems, has been opened. A full-cycle high-tech enterprise with deep automation, the production volume exceeds 12 thousand supply and exhaust air units and central air conditioning systems. The area of the enterprise is 40 thousand square meters. The company will employ more than a thousand people, and the investment volume has exceeded 3 billion rubles. Our next two plants, which are already at the design stage, will be launched in 2025 using an industrial mortgage and an Industrial Development Fund.

Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for the opportunity to accelerate our production plans and projects using such mechanisms.

It is important to note that the climate industry is becoming more and more technologically advanced. Three of our factories took part in the national project "Labor Productivity". Thanks to this, our indicators have almost tripled. We would like to express our gratitude to Maxim Stanislavovich Oreshkin for creating a very important national project in which we took part.

We do not plan to stop there. With the support of Denis V. Manturov and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade represented by Anton A. Alikhanov, we are implementing domestic engineering developments and increasing robotization. Today, more than 100 robots work at Technopark enterprises, and their number is constantly growing.

But even considering this pace of automation, we will need another 5,000 employees for our new enterprises in Kirzhach alone by 2030, and the efforts that we are making together with the Governor of the Vladimir Region to improve roads, repair roads and build new housing are not enough to overcome the personnel shortage.

We have a clear understanding of how to solve this problem. We need to make our small town of Kirzhach attractive, so that employees and their families can move to live and work in our enterprises forever.

Kirzhach

Vladimir Vladimirovich!

Please support us, we want to be among the first participants of the national project "Infrastructure for Life", which is being developed on your behalf.

Please give instructions to include Kirzhach in the list of 200 cities for which master plans will be developed, and in the next six years a comfortable urban environment will be created for them, including for our employees of the city of Kirzhach and the Rusklimat IXEL technopark.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you from all those who create a favorable, better climate in the country with concern for the health of the nation. Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Mikhail Valeryevich, of course, the Vladimir Region belongs to a key part of Russia, deep Russia, in the best sense of the word, so the attention of the Government should be appropriate. I will definitely talk to the Government about the inclusion of Kirzhach in these programs, which you mentioned.

Alexander Alexandrovich, Mikhail Valeryevich, having in mind the results of the company's work, can speak, as he put it, without false modesty. But if you show reasonable restraint, which is necessary for employees of your rank, and indeed for any employees in general, perhaps you will add to what was said by the head of the company?

Alexey Avdeev: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

Indeed, Rusklimat has become not only the largest company in the last 10 years, but also a reliable taxpayer, an enterprise that pays above-average salaries in the region and is rapidly developing.

That is why we decided two years ago to create a second special economic zone in Kirzhach – many thanks to the Government, Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin – and now the fifth enterprise in the special economic zone is opening in two years. Next week, despite all the difficulties, we are laying down another new plant. Therefore, Mikhail Valeryevich is absolutely right, our need for personnel will only grow.

Of course, we are making every effort to develop a new master plan and create conditions for the development of the urban environment, the creation of new social facilities, residential complexes, and so on. Therefore, we have a joint task to make sure that from such growth points as Kirzhach, as a new special economic zone, a full-fledged integrated settlement will appear, which will develop rapidly.

The tools that you have listed, we will definitely use and will continue to move forward, despite any difficulties.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Thank you very much. thank you.

Let's move to the Nizhny Novgorod region. Please, Averina Nadezhda Valerievna.

Natalia Averina: I am pleased to inform you about the implementation of a large-scale project to create a full-cycle weaving and finishing production facility.

The plant was built on the territory of TASED in the Nizhny Novgorod region. We have created 250 new jobs. Over three billion rubles have been invested in the plant. Our company will provide domestic manufacturers of furniture, special clothing and aircraft manufacturers with high-quality fabrics.

We plan to take up to 30 percent of the market in our segment. State-of-the-art high-tech equipment purchased with the support of the Industrial Development Fund allows us to compete equally with the best fabric manufacturers and actively replace them in the Russian market.

The company already produces a wide range of products. And such fabrics as furniture velours, tulle, water-resistant and fire-resistant fabrics, we produce for the first time in Russia.

We have created an exemplary enterprise, while providing our employees with comfortable housing and actively training young professionals under the mentoring program.

Our project has received a large number of government support measures. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Ministry of Industry of the Russian Federation, the Industrial Development Fund, Sberbank and, of course, the Governor's team for their great help and support.

Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. We have very talented people, talented designers. Of course, what has always been lacking in recent decades is high – quality fabrics, this is definitely perfect. This is a very important and promising area of work.

Gleb Sergeevich, can you add something?

G. Nikitin: Mr President, thank you very much.

I would like to briefly point out once again that this project combines all the support measures of different ministries within the Government in a unique way. First, it is, of course, the work of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Industrial Development Fund. But we have also used the so-called 1704 mechanism in the Ministry of Economic Development, and, what is very gratifying and rare, colleagues are building housing, in fact a weaving village, that is, we have not just a factory and a weaving cluster, but also a weaving village in Volodarsk. This is the support of the Ministry of Agriculture under the integrated rural development program.

Once again, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the project was implemented in TOSER "Volodarsk". There are different points of view regarding the success of projects in the territories of special socio-economic development in different regions, but this mechanism really works for us, and we always cite the project of this factory as an example.

Of course, our colleagues do not stop there, and we are going to launch a new production of threads, that is, raw materials for this weaving factory. There are still other residents for finished products. In principle, somewhere in 2026 – this is the moment when we can launch the second stage and create a truly weaving cluster. And I wanted to tell our friends in Vladimir, who promised you that they would open a new line in 2026, that we might open a new plant together again in 2026.

That is why, Mr President, I would like to thank you for your support in launching all the tools I have listed, and the Government for its support. We will continue to work, and I am confident that industrial development in the Nizhny Novgorod Region will confirm the correctness of these measures.

Thank you so much.

Natalia Averina: Mr President, our task is to produce high-quality fabrics so that the chair you are sitting on today will be upholstered with the fabric produced at our factory.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. I hope this will be the case in the near future.

Gleb Sergeevich, do you have a suit of domestic production?

G. Nikitin: Unfortunately, without a tag, because it is sewn, but from domestic fabrics, domestic production.

Vladimir Putin: That's great. Fine. This is what we need to strive for, so that we are happy to wear and use everything that surrounds us, of domestic production, and that it is of the highest quality.

Thank you. Good luck to you.

We are moving to the Samara region. Please, Maxim Sokolov, President of AvtoVAZ, our leader in the automotive industry.

Mikhail Sokolov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

The entire 45,000-strong team of AvtoVAZ Group expresses its sincere gratitude to you for your constant attention to our company, as well as for the support of our automotive industry.

In the spring of 2022, our plant returned to its native harbor under the control of the Russian Federation. Western detractors then predicted that AvtoVAZ would not be able to produce cars without imported components and that the plant would stop for at least one year. But thanks to your prompt decisions, with the support of the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, in 2022 the team resumed the operation of the enterprise in two months, and since then we have produced almost a million Lada cars.

Taking this opportunity, on behalf of our team, I invite you, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, to Tolyatti to see the current day of AvtoVAZ and present to you our promising developments – the future of the Russian automobile industry.

AvtoVAZ deepens localization, increases volumes and updates the model range. Every year, we invest more than 45 billion rubles in development. Even today, new cars roll off the assembly lines of the plant every 25 seconds. The level of robotization of production on some lines reaches 84 percent. Modern digitalization helps us build relationships with our customers, manage the supply chain, and create a comfortable and safe working environment.

And here I would like to thank the Governor of the Samara Region, Vyacheslav A. Fedorishchev, for supporting our projects and initiatives.

Today we are launching commercial production of a new model – the Lada Aura business class sedan. You already had the opportunity to try out this car in person at the wheel in July. Thank you so much for your positive feedback. And now, two and a half months later, Lada Aura is already on the assembly line. According to many characteristics, this car is superior to its foreign counterparts, and Aura customers will not only be private customers, the car is perfect for corporate parks, taxi services, as well as in state structures and state-owned companies. Therefore, we hope that in order to fulfill your instructions, the regulatory framework will continue to be fine-tuned, and, in our opinion, it would be advisable to extend the localization requirements to purchases of cars not only for officials, but also for state corporations, state-owned companies, as well as taxi fleets and transport services for state and municipal needs.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, the first production car "Lada Aura" is ready to roll off the assembly line.

Vladimir Putin: That's great. I congratulate you and the entire AVTOVAZ team on this.

I see on my TV screen to your left, a little further away from you, against the background of a new car, there are representatives of the labor collective. I want to address them, thank you for your work and for your professionalism.

Indeed, I took a ride on the Aura not so long ago, in the summer, and without any exaggeration, I say absolutely sincerely, I liked it. It is well controlled, the overview is good, the engine is powerful enough. Everything is modern, everything is real. I turned on the reverse gear, there is a screen with a rear view, everything is very convenient.

So I congratulate you on this result and would like to wish you further success.

Vyacheslav Andreevich, can you add something?

Vladimir Fedorishchev: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

For the Samara region, AvtoVAZ is not just a factory, it is our pride. This is an ecosystem where 200 industrial enterprises operate, providing 20 percent of the region's industrial output, and almost 60 thousand of our residents who work in the perimeter of these plants.

It is very important that the company, which has passed a difficult path, thanks to your decisions, as well as the support of the Government of the Russian Federation, is now experiencing an era in which new models are emerging. Today we are attending the launch of the Aura model.

You know, Maxim Yuryevich said that we will stimulate demand in various areas, domestic. On the one hand, we do this within the framework of the State Council commission on Industry, discussing and proposing new solutions.

We are heard by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and also by our personal example – we decided to switch almost entirely to Lada cars in the passenger class within a few years, including the Aura model, which is now rolling off the assembly line, and this will allow us to do it in full.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: That's great.

All the best, good luck!

Thank you very much.

Krasnodarskiy kray. Pronin Alexander Nikolaevich, please, please.

Alexey Pronin: Good evening, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Good evening, dear colleagues!

Technopromexport, part of the state corporation Rostec, has completed the construction of the Udarnaya thermal power plant. All three power units with a total capacity of 560 megawatts have successfully passed comprehensive tests and confirmed their readiness for operation in the Unified energy system of Russia. The first two power units have been supplying electricity and capacity since April of this year, and they have worked reliably, including during the summer period, when abnormal hot weather was established in the south of Russia.

Separately, I would like to note that the main generating equipment of Power unit No. 3 is a domestic gas turbine GTD-110M, developed by our colleagues from the United Engine Corporation, part of Rostec Corporation. Previously, high-capacity gas turbines were supplied only from abroad, so today's event is doubly significant for the domestic energy sector.

In addition, I would like to note that for the first time in Russia, Udarnaya TPP has used an air unit for cooling a power unit. This innovative solution made it possible to reduce electricity consumption for the plant's own needs by 30 percent.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Udarnaya TPP provides more than 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Krasnodar Territory. Its capacity is about four billion kilowatt-hours per year.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, on behalf of our entire team, we would like to thank you very much for your continued support of our work.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the relevant deputy prime ministers, ministries and departments for supporting this important, complex and very necessary project for the country.

The station is ready for launch. The shift manager of the station should start to set up power.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Alexander Nikolaevich, you are an expert, and you know that the domestic turbine industry has very good competencies and has been among the leaders in some segments of this activity and production for a long time. But in some areas, including such powerful ones, we were not just inferior, but did not work in this segment, and now we are starting to work. It's great that you did it.

I remember all this very well from the moment when we were building new facilities in the Crimea, and there were difficulties with known supplies. I think you know that too. And it is very important that we have new production facilities, and that we are becoming independent, sovereign technologically at least in this segment.

Thank you very much and good luck.

Veniamin Ivanovich, can you add something?

Vladimir Kondratyev: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

I would like to thank you for implementing so many infrastructure projects in our region. Including today, we are not just launching the third power unit, from now on the Udarnaya TPP will operate at full capacity.

What does this mean? This means reliable power supply for residents of the region, the spa industry, vacationers, and, of course, the elimination of energy shortages. What does this mean? This means the development of the economy, the creation of new industrial parks, technology parks, and, of course, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, this is a new standard of living and a new level of recreation in our region.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, I would like to thank you once again for your decision to build the Udarnaya power plant, because I would like to emphasize once again that this is a new, completely new standard of living and recreation in our Krasnodar Territory.

And let me join in thanking Sergey Viktorovich Chemezov for the record-breaking construction time of the Udarnaya power plant. Record-breaking, moreover, with our, as you have already noted, Russian turbine. This is a special point of pride, I am sure, not only for us, the residents of the region, but also for all Russians.

Thank you so much. And once again, thank you very much for making the decision to build Udarnaya TPP right here in the Krasnodar Territory.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Thank you for your review. We will thank Sergey Viktorovich again. He, as well as the holding as a whole, needs to work on other projects. There is still work to be done, although this is also a good step forward.

I once again congratulate you all and wish you every success.

And now the Irkutsk region is in touch with us – yes, Alexey Petrovich? The Ilim group. You are welcome.

Alexey Lomko: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

Ilim Group, the leader of the Russian pulp and paper industry, has completed one of the largest projects in the modern history of the industry – the construction of a pulp and cardboard mill in Ust-Ilimsk. By order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, this project is included in the list of priority investment projects in the field of forest development.

Despite the covid restrictions and sanctions, we have built a production complex with a capacity of 600 thousand tons of pure cellulosic cardboard per year. The volume of investments amounted to about 100 billion rubles, 850 new jobs were created. According to the level of technology, scale of automation, digitalization of production processes, the new plant is one of the most modern pulp and paper enterprises in the world. The heart of the plant is the most powerful cardboard-making machine in Russia. It was created according to a unique design, has a width of 9.6 meters and is capable of producing products at a speed of 1200 meters per minute. On it, we will make cardboard from one hundred percent natural fiber. Such cardboard has premium printing properties.

Overall, Ilim Group's production will reach a record high of almost 4.5 million tons per year. Ilim will become one of the largest producers of unbleached packaging materials in the world and a leader in China with a market share of up to 60 percent for pure cellulose corrugated materials.

Ilim Group has been supporting the Irkutsk Region in the social sphere since its formation. We have signed a cooperation agreement and regularly implement a program to support municipalities in the places where the company operates. These projects are aimed at developing education, healthcare, culture, and children's sports.

Siberia has unlimited opportunities for development. Ilim Group, as a responsible partner of the region, contributes to its growth in the economic and social sphere in order to create a confident future for its residents together with the Governor of the Irkutsk Region and the Government of the Irkutsk region.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Igor Ivanovich.

Igor Kobzev: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, good evening!

Let me personally thank you for your sensitive and attentive attitude to the Irkutsk region. You constantly delve into the issues that exist in the territory of the Irkutsk region.

You know, the city of Ust-Ilimsk has a rich tradition and history, after all, it is a city of three Komsomol construction projects, we have something to look at, someone to look up to. Today, the city has a rich history, there is a present in the framework of new high-tech production and, most importantly, there is a future. Because the strategy of integrated development of the territory of the Irkutsk Region, the socio-economic development of the city of Ust-Ilimsk, the reference territory of the Irkutsk region is an opportunity today to make it a reference locality in the spatial development strategy, which is currently being discussed in the Government of the Russian Federation.

Today, Alexey Petrovich and I, while completing this complex, have probably identified three points along which we will continue to move forward and develop everything that is available on the territory today.

This is training of personnel. Here we understand that the company has 12 thousand jobs in the Irkutsk region. This is, of course, professional development. We have 23 higher education institutions and 80 secondary vocational schools. Therefore, there is something to work on further and raise the prestige of the profession.

Second – of course, is the development of small and medium-sized businesses. The company conducts export products, but we also agreed today that we can consider the products that the plant makes today as processing and as products with the highest added value for small and medium-sized businesses.

And the third direction, which Alexey Petrovich reported today, is that we will continue to form a socio-economic partnership for the development of the city's infrastructure. This is what we are doing together today.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Congratulations.

You know, we have one of the largest logging areas in the world. And I was surprised once, quite a long time ago, but the situation is not changing for the better as quickly as we would like, I found out that the cutting area is huge, and the wood products are very different: high-quality paper, and what else is not produced from these materials – we buy a lot of it for the border. It's just weird, right? Kruglyak is driven abroad, and from there we buy products.

And of course, what you are doing, this step forward that was made in the Irkutsk region, is a movement in the absolutely right direction. I sincerely wish you all the best. And of course, we will do everything possible to support such enterprises.

The colleagues who spoke – many of them, at least – said that at these meetings,

enterprises create new high-quality and well-paid jobs. And at the same time, we know that there are not enough workers in the country, and unemployment is historically at an all-time low. It is practically nonexistent, and this is one of the factors limiting economic growth.

And what is the way out? The best solution is to increase technological independence and increase labor productivity. What you are doing – I am now addressing all my colleagues who are starting a new production facility – is moving in the absolutely right direction.

In the first eight months of this year, as I think we have already said, industrial production grew by 4.5 percent compared to the same period in 2023, while manufacturing output grew by 8.1 percent. This is a good indicator, and, of course, we need to do everything possible to maintain these rates.

Thank you for everything you've done. I wish you every success and hope that none of you will dwell on the results you have achieved.

All the best, good luck! [My Emphasis]

I can see all sorts of sanctions FUBAR coming with Russian cardboard boxes containing Chinese made goods distributed by Amazon. Yes, it’s amazing how much Russia/USSR could have produced for itself but didn’t try and instead relied on imports, particularly when they were required for very important tasks like powering pipelines, thermal power plants, commercial jet engines—and that’s just one economic sector. The forestry situation was a huge mess that still isn’t completely rectified. High quality fabrics. Russian company towns are very different from those that existed within the USA and were aimed at further exploiting the worker. Do note that Putin goes out of his way to thank the “labor collectives” at these facilities. And even with the labor shortage, manufacturing still manages to grow at a very good pace.

The small city that was involved, Kirzhach, is but one of many similar small cities spread across Russia that have well planned economic bases and what for many is an ideal environment for raising families and putting down roots. And as mentioned, planning activities are widely blossoming as that is becoming a clear signal for regions and municipalities that will be the mechanism for future development. Again, IMO it’s very important to note that all this development is being done in a synergistic manner as the public/government combines with private business and the public again as labor to plan and work together as a team in what I see as the Modernization/Upgrading of Russia that goes beyond mere development for development’s sake. Here there’s a rationale and an overall vision that’s being married to a series of plans. And this isn’t just happening within Russia but also within the CIS such that all benefit. And then beyond that there’s the BRI, EAEU, SCO, ASEAN, and BRICS to integrate with and seek Win-Win with all others seeking the same.

In conclusion I must note that the transcript of the Hudson/Wolff/Nima show from yesterday is already complete and posted to Dr. Hudson’s site, “Sovereignty in Crisis: Israel, Palestine, and America’s Global Agenda,” where an outstanding yet basic explanation was made by Dr. Wolff about what’s at the base of the Big Picture’s Global Conflict and while reading it try to think about how Russia is attacking the problem:

RICHARD WOLFF: Yeah, let me come at this from a slightly different perspective that might be of interest to folks. Capitalism as a system has built into its structure an imperative to grow. Every capitalist understands that unless they can expand their business and thereby get their hands on bigger profits, they run the risk of being competed out of existence by somebody who can and will do that. And so they all have to grow. And we know that this has become internalized by the political leaders of all capitalist countries.

I’ll use the example that they teach in elementary school: If an economy is like a pie, and different people and different groups have different pieces, if you grow the pie, everybody’s piece can get bigger and we will all be happy.

If you don’t grow the pie, then a growth in some requires a diminution in the others and then we will be at each other’s throats. Very old idea, been around for centuries.

And in capitalism, that idea, together with the way capitalism works, means that countries with employers and employees and enterprises that produce and compete in markets have a drive to grow. That’s why it’s a national emergency if the statistics show the GDP isn’t growing fast enough. Oh my god, alarm, alarm.

Okay, now let’s stop and take a step back. For ecological reasons and climate change reasons, we now know we’ve got to stop growing – it’s threatening our survival. The people of the world have already figured it out because the birth rate of our planet is now zero. We’re not growing anymore. The United States, Asia. Only in Africa is there a net positive birth rate, and it’s shrinking there too. Okay, now we have a problem that a long-repressed part of the world, the global south, wants to have its standard of living be where it should have been two centuries ago. They’re not waiting anymore. So they are demanding a bigger piece of the pie. This, of course, threatens the United States because it can’t grow the way it wants to because it now has a serious competitor. China and the BRICS is already a richer entity than the United States and the G7. Okay, here’s then a solution. We question – don’t everybody yell – we question capitalism. Why don’t we change to a system that doesn’t have a built-in imperative to grow, because it’s killing us? It’s killing us ecologically, but it’s also killing us because the genuine and deserved demand of the global south for a place in the sun to raise their families, have an education, be decently cared for, medically and so on, is not going to be stopped – with or without a world war. All right, so let’s accommodate: Give them a bigger piece and rearrange – in the way that socialists have always advocated – to a much less unequal distribution of the resources of the world. That way we can stop growing, thereby meet our ecological danger and do away with the competition that threatens a war between a rising standard of living in the global south and a resharing that the rest of us here in the global north will have to undergo. But we do so because it saves our planet, and it saves us from war, and that’s worth it.

That’s a plan, but it requires the taboo be broken. Employer-employee is not the only way to organize the production and distribution of goods and services. It’s the capitalist way. It was what we got when we got rid of the lords and serfs, and masters and slaves – we replaced it with employers and employees. But we can do better than that and we are at a point where we have to. And so the issue of a socialism beyond capitalism comes right back on the agenda. It never really left, it just needs a little goosing from those of us who see it to make it become, again, what we’re all talking about and struggling to figure out how to achieve. [My Emphasis]

Oh yes, there’s a lot more, and the initial introduction is also worth its own mention, which is far clearer when the video’s watched. Of course, beyond solving the current geoeconomic crisis there’s the one that will emerge in the next century once fundamental human economic development is attained for all Humanity, and that’s how to deal with an increasing lack of fundamental resources that presages the need for steady-state economies where material growth is no longer the goal—something that should’ve happened in the West already but hasn’t.

*
*
*
Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a monthly/yearly pledge to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!