Sport in Geopolitics and National Policy

Another long read, but a break from war.

Those following Russian domestic policy priorities know Putin is very high on the benefits of sport for society—not watching but participating. Those who read his interview with Chinese media will understand the value Putin places on his sport so he can conduct his job at his age. One thing Putin doesn’t want to see occur within Russia is for Russians to become a nation of couch potatoes and video game addicts who by their inactivity threaten their own health and that of the nation because they are too infirm for military service or the demands made by the types of development jobs Russia has nationally. And then there’s the issues we’ve seen related to the rules based order’s attempts to make all Russian athletes evil dopers in the campaign to cancel all things Russian. Essentially the outcome has delegitimized almost every international sports body, but most specifically the International Olympic Committee.

Putin traveled from Beijing to Perm, which is celebrating its 300th anniversary of its founding, to meet with the regional governor, Dmitry Makhonin; participated in the joint opening of sports facilities in the Ulyanovsk, Tyumen, Bryansk, Kaluga and Magadan regions while at the XI International Sports Forum "Russia—Country of Sports"—and reviewed the Forum’s Sport for the Country presentations; met with the participating athletes international boxing and kickboxing tournament Ural FC 4;

spoke at the plenary session "Sport Without Borders. Openness to the World" XI International Sports Forum "Russia – Country of Sports"; and then chaired the meeting of the Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports. Putin’s presidential plane must have an excellent sleeping chamber given all the jet-setting he does. So, first we’ll read what he said at the Forum and then what was discussed at the Council meeting, which you’ll note took place inside a gymnasium. The first read is short while the discussion is rather long. Putin explores the two main points in his first speech, while the Council discussion focuses on the nuts and bolts of Russian policy in the area. Do note the addition in the Council’s title of Physical Culture. Long ago, there was once the Presidential Program on Physical Fitness within the Outlaw US Empire, but it faded away by the time of Watergate and was never revived. Sport was stressed during the Soviet Age; and as with many aspects of the Era, Putin has revived it and made it one of Russia’s National Priorities. And now, the Forum speech that begins with the Kremlin’s readout of the Forum:

The Forum, established by the Presidential Decree of July 27, 2009, is the largest platform for discussing key topics and prospects for the development of physical culture and sports in the country.

In 2023, its events are held on October 19-22 in Perm. The forum program includes business, sports, cultural and exhibition parts, and the total number of participants is about five thousand people.

At the end of the plenary session, the Head of state viewed the Sport – to-Country presentations and took part in the opening ceremony of sports facilities in a number of Russian regions.

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, friends!

I am glad to welcome the guests and participants of the eleventh international forum "Russia – a Sports Power".

This year it is being held here, in this city, in Perm, and became part of the events dedicated to the 300th anniversary of this wonderful city, which is associated with many legendary events in the history of Russia, the development of the Urals and Siberia.

I hope that your acquaintance with this city and the cordiality of its inhabitants will bring you good, very kind impressions, and your work at the forum venues will be successful and fruitful, will serve to develop sports, promote its great humanistic mission – to strengthen the friendship of peoples, educate new generations of harmonious, responsible and strong-minded people.

This is especially important now, when our large, multinational sports family is being tested for cohesion, loyalty to the true values of sports, the Olympic principles of solidarity, equality, and fair wrestling. For Russia, they have always been and remain unshakable: our country was at the origins of the modern Olympic movement.

We are proud that among the initiators of its revival was the Russian teacher, public figure Alexey Dmitrievich Butovsky – an associate of Pierre de Coubertin, co-founder of the International Olympic Committee. He devoted his life to the affirmation of the main ideas of Olympism: playing sports is an absolute, one of the human rights, and the Olympic Games are the pinnacle of true unity of all countries and peoples of the planet.

Unfortunately, much has changed since the days of Coubertin and Butovsky, and some have been lost altogether. So," thanks " to some leaders of the modern International Olympic Committee, we learned that an invitation to the Games is not an absolute right of the best athletes, but a certain privilege, and it can be earned not by sporting results, but by some political gestures that have nothing to do with sports at all, and that the Games themselves can be used as an instrument of political pressure against people who have nothing to do with politics, and as a gross and in fact racist, ethnic discrimination. We also learned and heard that the Olympic Charter is supposedly outdated and no longer has a universal character. Some sports officials have simply assumed the right to determine who is covered by the Olympic Charter and who is not.

Such approaches are contrary to the very nature of sports, but we are sure that there are values that cannot be betrayed, canceled, exchanged for something or sold. One of them, of course, is sport and its unifying power – this, in fact, is the whole point of international sports movements.

We have always confirmed our position and will continue to do so. For us, sport is an absolute state priority, an essential component of national development goals.

We will continue the good, glorious traditions of Russian sports education and continue to work in high-performance sports. Through the Government and the Russian Olympic Committee, with the participation of our patrons, we support those who, due to restrictions on the rights and freedoms of athletes, are forced to miss some international competitions.

We will pay special attention to mass sports. Our goal is to involve 70 percent of Russian citizens in systematic sports by 2030, which means that sport will become the norm of life for 93 million people of all ages and health groups. We are creating all the conditions for this, combining the opportunities of education, medicine, and culture, and ensuring the widest possible accessibility of sports infrastructure.

Now there are more than 350 thousand sports facilities in Russia – 353 [thousand], to be more precise. And this, of course, is not enough for such a large country as Russia, with such a variety of regions and territories, and in different climatic zones.

I would like to add that we plan to multiply the number of competitions of various levels for enthusiasts, sports enthusiasts and professionals – national and international-with a fairly high prize pool. We have everything to organize multi-stage, commercially attractive, open tournaments with the participation of foreign athletes, clubs, and teams.

There is a successful experience in holding major competitions, modern sports complexes and stadiums equipped according to international standards. There is also a separate system for resolving sports disputes – sports arbitration. Its capabilities are available to Russian athletes, federations, and leagues, but they can and should be used much more widely, including by foreign organizations and athletes.

I have already said it many times and I want to repeat it: Russia is ready and will continue to cooperate with all those who share the traditional values and principles of sport and who value these values.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Chinese friends and President Xi Jinping for the support and success of the years of sports cooperation between our two countries. As you know, I have just been to China, and we have discussed this topic and will certainly continue to develop this area. (Applause.)

We see great potential in the development of sports cooperation in the CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS. The BRICS Games are already on our sports calendar: they will be held in Kazan in June 2024.

And in September, Moscow and Yekaterinburg will host the World Friendship Games. Their program includes both well-known sports and increasingly popular ones, such as breaking, skateboarding, and sports programming.

Russia understands how important it is to preserve the traditions of sports, but at the same time, of course, it is open to all the best, new, advanced things that are popular with young people, including, of course, in sports – this is exactly what I am talking about now. This is evidenced by our idea to hold competitions that combine classic sports and esports.

We have called this innovative format, which is unprecedented for sports, but consonant with the new, digital era, "Games of the Future", and they will start in Kazan very soon – on February 23 next year. We invite athletes and young people from different countries to take an active part in them, express themselves, reveal their sports and creative talent.

Of course, in the coming year, the forum "Russia – a sports power" will also be held. Traditionally, it is always held in different cities of our vast country. This time it will be Ufa, the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan. (Applause.)

In 2024, Bashkortostan will celebrate its 450th anniversary. Guests of the forum will take part in festive events, get acquainted with the culture, history and heritage of another original, very interesting and diverse region of Russia.

I would like to sincerely wish you all success in the development of sports, in promoting its true values, and our country will always be open to such partnership and cooperation.

Thank you for your attention. All the best!

The Council’s meeting was dedicated to the development and equipping of sports infrastructure:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, dear colleagues!

Dmitry Nikolaevich [Chernyshenko] and I have just opened five new sports facilities in several regions of Russia on the sidelines of the Russia – a Sports Power forum: Bryansk, Kaluga, Magadan, Tyumen and Ulyanovsk regions.

I would like to note that today's meeting is dedicated to the development of sports infrastructure throughout the country and in the regions, primarily for mass sports.

It is obvious that the availability of such infrastructure, the quality and variety of sports facilities directly affect the quality of life, the health of millions of people, open up opportunities for physical education on a permanent basis, to stimulate people's desire to play sports, choose active leisure and, most importantly, a healthy lifestyle in the end.

We address this topic regularly, attach great importance to it, pay attention to it both at the federal and regional levels, and this, of course, brings results.

Over the past four years, the number of Russian citizens who regularly engage in sports has grown from 40 to 53 percent, which is almost 70 million people. Such indicators inspire confidence that the goals set will be achieved, and in 2024, sports will become the norm of life, a good tradition for 55 percent of Russian citizens, and by 2030, as we set ourselves, for 70 percent.

Let me remind you that we set these guidelines to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of relevant federal agencies, regions, and municipalities in the field of mass sports development.

To solve such a complex task, to make sports accessible and truly popular – in the broadest sense and in the truest sense of the word-we need to ensure further dynamic development of sports infrastructure, and in all regions of Russia. And of course, a serious increase in the production of domestic sporting goods and equipment should be ensured.

The working group of the Council suggests creating industrial and sports clusters for this purpose, combining scientific and industrial forces, public funds and private investment on one site. I hope that our colleagues will tell us more about this idea today. I will immediately ask you to indicate specific measures to support companies working in this area: the amount of funding, their possible sources. All this should be worked out and included in the current Strategy for the development of the sports industry until 2035.

As for the sports infrastructure, the issue is even more ambitious and complex. The number of sports facilities is growing and today exceeds 353 thousand objects.

I would also like to thank the heads of regions who are modernizing and building stadiums and sports grounds not only at home, but also actively helping to restore sports facilities in the Donbas and Novorossiya.

I repeat, we need to continue this work in all regions of the Russian Federation, cities, towns, and rural territories. Pay extra attention to the use of public spaces and city parks for sports activities. Moreover, this does not require any cumbersome, huge construction projects-just install simulators, equip a lighted ski track or treadmill.

We have recommendations for the construction of flat structures and non-capital multifunctional complexes. These recommendations should be consolidated as a standard for urban planning design. It will oblige local authorities and developers to create the necessary sports facilities within walking distance in courtyards, parks, squares, embankments, where representatives of all ages and health groups will be able to engage, and people will be able to do it as whole families.

Special attention should be paid to rural areas. I have already given instructions to develop a special subprogram " Sports in rural areas "and include it in the already existing state program"Development of Physical culture and sports".

Unfortunately, such a document has not yet been adopted. We still do not have a separate sports section – not a set of events, but a section, project, program – in our plans for the development of the social sphere and rural infrastructure. Of course, you need to understand what the reason is and, most importantly, when the issue will be resolved on its merits, and not on reports and reports.

In general, I propose today to analyze the implementation of decisions regarding sports infrastructure that were adopted following the meetings of our Council. First of all, I am talking about the repair and maintenance of facilities for mass sports, as well as the creation of conditions for the preparation of our national teams on the territory of Russia.

According to the Accounts Chamber, 16 out of 53 Olympic sports, including skiing, rowing, cycling, and football, still do not have their own training centers. Of course, the work here has been delayed. I ask the Government to inform us about the measures that are being taken to ensure that all assignments are carried out efficiently and on time.

I repeat: sport is one of the state's priorities. The attitude to it should be appropriate. Moreover, substantial funds are spent on the support and development of the sports sphere. Budget expenditures at all levels in 2022 increased by 23 percent compared to the previous year and amounted to 537 billion rubles, and this does not include investments made by private businesses and our sports patrons.

I ask the Government to consider additional measures to apply concession approaches in sports, expand the practice of public-private partnership, primarily in the creation and operation of sports facilities, including non-capital ones.

There is also potential to increase the efficiency of using targeted sports contributions from bookmakers and lotteries. They are sent to children's, youth, mass and professional sports. Every ruble here, of course, should be spent rationally. I know there are questions here. We will talk about this today, and I am ready to listen to you.

We also need to look at the use of lottery deductions, as I said. I won't go into details right now, I know that some of the participants want to say something about this – please, let's discuss it.

One more question. Just now, speaking at the forum "Russia is a Sports power", I mentioned the possibility of using our arbitration system, the special arbitration court. He said that not only Russian sports organizations and athletes, but also our foreign partners can join it and apply to our Russian arbitration court. But I must honestly say: it's not working very well for us yet.

I ask the Ministry of Sports and the Presidential Administration to jointly make suggestions on how to make this institution efficient and effective. If there is no fair competition, the sport will not develop. This also applies to game sports: you scored a goal, didn't score it, how you scored it, who hit the ball with their hand, didn't touch it. Look, this isn't going to happen… It's the same in boxing, wrestling, anywhere. There will be no fair sports competitions – everything will die, because the interest in sports will disappear, that's all.

Let's think about it, please. It should be an independent, serious structure that everyone trusts. It should be staffed by real experts in the field of law, in this case sports law and general law, people who are independent, competent and respected.

In conclusion, I would like to note the following. It is not only the Government, ministries, regions and local authorities that solve the most important task for the country and for our citizens to develop sports in our country. A huge amount of work, great responsibility is borne by public organizations: physical culture and sports associations, sports clubs, various sports leagues, associations and federations for sports, teachers in schools and universities, and just enthusiasts.

Their concern and interested participation are an integral part of the positive results of creating a healthy and active lifestyle culture in Russia, and the state should certainly support all this.

I suggest that we devote the next meeting of the Council to this topic. A broad discussion will focus on the role of non-governmental organizations in the development of physical culture and sports, and what assistance can and should be provided to their work by authorities at all levels. We need to de-bureaucratize this movement as much as possible and make it really broad.

I ask the Government to work out this issue in advance, pay attention to the interaction of Russian organizations with relevant international and continental structures, and submit a report with specific proposals.

Let's move on to the discussion. Please give the floor to Evgeny Vladimirovich Kuyvashev.

Evgeny : Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear Council members,

At the meetings of the Sports Council, including today's one, you, Mr Putin, have repeatedly noted that sport is one of our national priorities and a key factor in its development is modern sports infrastructure, its territorial and financial accessibility.

The topic of today's meeting aroused the most lively interest among specialists, experts, representatives of the public, and authorities at all levels. On behalf of the working group, I would like to express my gratitude to all members of the Council and all colleagues who took an interested part in the discussion and preparation of the materials.

The report takes into account all constructive ideas, based on which proposals for the development of infrastructure and the production of sports products are formed, and they take into account both the interests of citizens and national teams. Special attention was paid to the implementation of your instructions, a number of which you mentioned in your opening remarks.

In six years, more than 62.5 thousand sports facilities have been created in Russia. This has increased the number of people who regularly engage in sports by more than one and a half times, as you have already noted.

At the same time, the working group notes an imbalance in the availability of mass sports facilities not only between regions, but also within most of them. The analysis prepared on the basis of the recommendations of the Ministry of Sports is presented. So, for planar structures, standards are met in 45 subjects, for sports halls-in 58 [subjects], for swimming pools-only in 38 [subjects].

Your proposal for regulatory consolidation of the relevant recommendations will help to increase the accessibility of sports facilities and give an additional impetus to local work. We also propose to determine the methodology for placing non-capital sports facilities, providing for the legislative possibility of holding physical culture and sports events on them, specifying the powers and rights of public authorities to create and maintain such facilities.

We also support your proposal to use the potential of residential and public-business recreational areas. Creating a comfortable urban environment will increase the physical activity of the population and contribute to the achievement of national goals.

The availability of sports facilities in rural areas – you also mentioned this – lags behind the national level. Taking into account our priorities, we support your proposal on the need to strengthen this area.

According to your instructions, together with our colleagues at the regional and municipal levels, we are giving priority to bringing sports facilities to a standard state. To address this issue systematically, we ask you to support the adoption of the federal sports infrastructure overhaul program – which you also mentioned in your speech.

The Ministry of Sports, with the participation of all subjects, has prepared a draft of such a program. It includes more than six thousand structures. Unfortunately, its adoption and implementation have been postponed, as well as the start of new construction, taking into account the recommendations of the Government. The recommendations are that no new structures should be built either this year or next. I assure you that with federal support, the regions are ready to continue working in this area.

As the head of the working group of our Council and as the head of the region, I welcome your proposal for subsidies to the regions for sports facilities at the expense of deductions from lotteries. As an additional source of funding for this area, we propose to make it possible to send part of the revenue from excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol products to the regions. Taking into account foreign experience, we believe that we have the potential to raise tax rates, especially for tobacco.

Another issue that cannot be resolved without federal co-financing is the training of all national teams in Russia. In your opening remarks, you noted that almost a third of sports are not equipped with such conditions. National teams are trained in six federal centers, mostly in the western part of the country. In addition, regional capabilities and private infrastructure are used.

According to your instructions, the Ministry of Sports, with the participation of interested regions, has prepared a draft program for the development of federal and regional training centers until 2030. Unfortunately, the program was not adopted due to the lack of funds for its implementation in the current budget cycle.

As a possible solution, we propose its phased implementation starting in 2025 with the involvement of federal and regional funds. I know that investors are also showing interest in creating such centers, in particular, a football center near Sochi Airport.

Taking into account the sports competence of our region, the Sverdlovsk region, I ask you to support the creation of training centers for track cyclists, biathletes and speed skaters in the region. We have already developed design and estimate documentation for two of them.

Further, turning to the production of sporting goods, I note that Russia's share is currently extremely small – about 0.15 percent of the world's volume. In 2022, the volume of the sports products market in Russia amounted to 230 billion rubles. At the same time, the share of domestic goods is slightly more than 33 billion, which is 14.5 percent. Dependence on imports from unfriendly countries is not critical. The main country importing sports products today is China.

We consider it necessary to systematically increase the production of domestic sporting goods, especially for mass sports. High-performance sports are characterized by high complexity, high knowledge intensity and piece production, dependence on the requirements of international federations.

We understand that in the near future professional sports will be provided mainly through imports from friendly countries, but in the long term, this direction should be provided by our own production of high-tech sports products with comprehensive state support.

In order to systematically address these issues, we propose, as you have already noted, to create industrial and sports clusters. The Working Group analyzed the industrial potential, resource capacities, logistics capabilities and scientific and educational competencies of the regions, the availability of modern sports infrastructure and traditions of sports training, and, of course, the interest of the regional leadership.

Here are ten subjects with the maximum potential for creating such clusters on the territory. As a pilot project, we propose to create two clusters - in the Sverdlovsk Region and in the Republic of Tatarstan.

We, in the heart of the Urals, have all the components for this: we have established the production of simulators, equipment, equipment for winter and summer sports and outdoor activities. There are related and supporting enterprises with the competencies of mechanical processing, metal processing, precision casting, instrument engineering, additive technologies and plastic production. The region is sufficiently provided with engineering specialists. Yekaterinburg is distinguished by high transport accessibility and the quality of its urban environment.

VSMPO – Avisma, one of the largest titanium producers in the world and the only one in Russia, is located in our region. Titanium alloys are used in the manufacture of bicycles, golf clubs, mountaineering and tourism products. Accommodation of cluster participants is possible on the territory of the special economic zone "Titanium Valley". Resident companies will be able to take advantage of preferential rates on property and profit taxes, land and transport taxes, and other preferences that we provide. Land plots with the necessary engineering infrastructure will be provided for their use.

This year, we have already allocated over 240 million rubles from the regional budget for this purpose. Companies that are ready to start producing ski equipment, sportswear, and equipment for equipping medical and sports rehabilitation centers have already shown interest in the project.

To support the project participants, it is possible to use state procurement mechanisms and concessional lending for the purchase of new technological equipment, compensation for R & D costs, and allocation of grants for expanding production capacities.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, with your support, modern sports facilities have been created in the Sverdlovsk Region. According to your order, in August we held an international university sports festival there. Teams from 36 countries took part in the festival. The implementation of our proposal to create three facilities for training national teams in the region will make it possible to form a full-cycle cluster in the Urals.

In preparation for the meeting, we carefully analyzed the regulatory framework and prepared proposals for its improvement. Due to the dynamic change in legislation in urban development, we suggest clarifying the provision of legislation on sports.

When creating sports infrastructure and equipment, one of the priorities is to ensure safety. As a follow-up to your proposal to clarify the strategy of the sports industry, we propose to adopt a promising program for standardization of sports products, as well as to ensure the further development of medical support for physical education and sports, with an emphasis on the activities of first-aid stations at sports facilities and sports medicine rooms.

Earlier and in the course of today's conversation, colleagues have already raised the issue of the availability of gyms and stadiums of educational institutions during extracurricular hours. Taking into account the positive municipal experience, we propose a comprehensive solution to this issue for all categories of the population.

Mr President, most of the working group's proposals have been taken into account in the draft decisions that have been submitted to you. They have been worked out both with the Government and with my colleagues in the regions. We are aware that some of these initiatives require appropriate funding. As a representative of the regional authorities, I can assure you that my colleagues and I are ready to take part in this work. Each of us knows that even the longest journey begins with the first step. Please support us and give us the appropriate instructions.

Thanks for attention. Ready to answer questions.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.

I suggest that everyone who wants to do this speak up, and then we will discuss it.

Please, Oleg Vasilyevich.

: Thank you very much.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear colleagues!

First of all, Mr President, allow me to begin by replying to the comments you made in your opening remarks.

First, regarding the implementation of the "Sports in Rural Areas" program. Currently, the implementation of sports infrastructure in rural areas is carried out within the framework of two state programs – "Rural Development", according to which 1,138 objects have been created, reconstructed and equipped over the past three years, and within the framework of the state program for the development of physical culture and sports, we have built 192 new structures in four years.

As practice shows and our interaction with colleagues from the Ministry of Agriculture, we work quite efficiently. Separating these activities into a separate subprogram, in our opinion, will not fundamentally affect the achievement of the result. We would like your support in this regard.

The second one concerns the lack of federal training bases for national teams. It really is. We talked about this – the members of the Council probably remember – when we held meetings during the Covid-19 period: our national teams returned, let's say, from abroad, and we felt, let's say, a certain imbalance. Together with the regions, as Evgeny Vladimirovich said, with the federations, a program for the development of federal centers has been developed. It naturally requires very careful study and gradual implementation.

I would also like to note that we are currently compiling a register of regional bases, because we realized that quite a lot of bases of non-federal significance, but where our national teams are trained, can also be used. Now we are determining whether these bases meet the standards and criteria of federal centers with the possibility of operating them and sending athletes there. This is what we used to prepare for the Olympic Games. And the issue related, in particular, to financing according to the standard of federal databases is also in our attention. Of course, this does not remove the urgency of the issue related to ensuring the preparation of national teams.

In this respect, I also want to support Evgeny Vladimirovich: not only do we need and can count on federal support, but also carefully and actively attract business to implement projects in various climatic zones, primarily in the highlands.

As for the work of the Sports Arbitration Court, Mr Putin, I will take personal control. In the very near future, my colleagues and I will work on it and report back to you.

Please allow me to go to the main report.

Today and at the forum, we noted that the challenges faced by the Russian Federation in the form of sanctions measures, the politicization of sports, of course, determine the need to develop new formats and new areas of our joint work.

The main task, in our opinion, is not just to quickly respond to emerging challenges, although, of course, this should also be done, but the most important thing today is to determine the place and role of Russia in the future of world sports, primarily through strengthening the national sports system. This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary, we have experience of both reforms and victories. We need to take a careful approach to understanding what we have and further strengthen the sovereignty of our Russian system.

Of course, at the same time, we are ready and will continue to cooperate with our partners, as you said at the forum today, primarily within the framework of interstate formats: BRICS, SCO and CIS countries.

Everything I am talking about is reflected in the anti-crisis measures approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, in the Strategy for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports until 2030, and in the national goals.

Of course, the main areas of our sphere remain: creating conditions for the population to engage in sports, developing mass sports, ensuring high-performance sports, training personnel, developing economic, scientific and technological potential, and solving import substitution issues.

The basis for any area of development is infrastructure. Sports infrastructure is not just about sports buildings. These are objects, structures, inventory, equipment, engineering and sports technologies, and the operation of objects. As of October 1, 2023, the availability of sports facilities in the country is 63 percent.

Following your instructions, Mr President, as part of an experiment, we have launched the first state information system "Sport "based on fully import – substituted components and with unprecedented security measures-on the unified digital platform" GOSTECH", which is becoming a modern management tool, including for the development of sports infrastructure and ensuring the efficient use of these sports facilities. Currently, work is underway to develop it and bring services to a single portal of state and municipal services.

I would like to point out that the development of sports infrastructure is one of the priorities of regional sports policy and social policy, but at the same time, of course, it is also a difficult issue for most regions, since the available financial resources are not able to fully meet the required level.

This also applies equally to major repairs of sports facilities, as you also discussed today. A register has been compiled on your behalf, and it includes six thousand objects. We are currently working together with the regions on how to bring these facilities to a standard state.

In order to develop sports infrastructure, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation sometimes receive applications for the creation of large facilities that do not have the necessary sets of project documentation, detailed study, and the feasibility and validity of their further use. As a federal center, of course, it would be very important for us to have both a short – and long-term perspective-a vision of how these facilities will be created and, most importantly, how they will be operated and on whose balance sheet they will be located.

In the current economic situation, of course, we focus on creating low-budget sports facilities. The decision to support the construction of expensive, technically complex facilities is made after a comprehensive assessment, after interaction with the expert community of the Ministry of Construction, Sports Federations and regions.

We are also in very close contact with the Office of Presidential plenipotentiaries for federal districts. This allows us to get reliable and up-to-date information about the objects that are being built: what kind of objects they are, what kind of target audience will be engaged in them.

The total amount of funds allocated for the development of sports infrastructure of a capital nature in the period 2019-2026 will amount to about 120 billion rubles, which will open more than 600 objects of various types for the country's population.

I would like to note that large facilities have been commissioned in recent years. They are well-known and actively used: These are ice palaces in Omsk and Novosibirsk, the Water Sports Palace in Yekaterinburg – as Evgeny Vladimirovich mentioned-and multifunctional complexes in Kemerovo and Magadan.

We see investors ' interest in sports infrastructure. Starting in 2022, the Ministry, together with business representatives, started creating a sports infrastructure within walking distance with the involvement of extra-budgetary funds. This was made possible by the introduction of a client-centered approach, and the innovation here is to study the needs and demand of the population for physical culture and wellness services. Currently, 24 public-private partnership projects are being implemented for a total amount of more than four billion rubles, the socio-economic efficiency of which will amount to 20 billion rubles during the term of the relevant agreements.

Another measure of support for investors in the sports sector was the provision of subsidies to Russian banks from 2022 for concessional lending to investment projects for the development of sports infrastructure at a rate not exceeding four percent.

We are very grateful to state corporations and large businesses for their assistance in infrastructure development. At the same time, sometimes the Ministry of Sports, as the main regulator, does not see the current and promising picture of such large projects, which sometimes leads to difficulties in further operation and financial support. Therefore, we suggest that our colleagues send to the Ministry of Sports infrastructure development plans in the regions of presence for a full assessment of the functionality and demand for facilities in cooperation with regional authorities and sports federations.

Which I also said: we are ready to use, and this is very important today, the potential of state corporations and businesses to implement major projects, in particular for the construction of federal training centers for national teams.

Another important area for stimulating extra – budgetary investment in sports is the involvement of educational organizations in the turnover of empty land plots. According to the Ministry of Education and Science, there are about two million hectares of such land in their sphere alone, on which investors and housing developers could modernize or build new sports facilities for students and the population. We ask for your support, Mr President, and relevant instructions on the initiatives mentioned above.

The most difficult situation, of course, has developed today in terms of the availability of infrastructure in new regions, where facilities have been significantly destroyed. We are working to restore them, and together with the regions of our country, we are mobilizing as much resources as possible. In total, it is planned to complete the restoration of 43 sports facilities, the creation of 43 open-type sports and recreation complexes and the equipping of 147 sports institutions with new equipment and equipment in the near future.

To strengthen the work in this direction, the Nash Sport Foundation was created on the initiative of the Ministry of Sports, thanks to which 12 thousand sets of sports equipment for young athletes have already been delivered to the region. Two thousand more will be delivered by the end of 2023.

Also, 20 sports facilities were built and reconstructed, 200 schools received sports equipment, equipment and medical bags. More than a thousand coaches were retrained and several thousand athletes took part in training camps and competitions of all-Russian scale.

I will also focus in more detail on other components of the infrastructure. The most important direction is the production of sports industry goods, which include a wide range of industries: starting with light industry products in the form of equipment, shoes, and the IT sector, chemistry, petrochemicals, and mechanical engineering.

In terms of children's and mass sports, the Ministry, together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, supplies Russian goods. The results of such work can be seen today: over the past three years, about 500 sports schools have received new sports equipment of domestic production. In 2022, the volume of purchases of domestic equipment and inventory within the framework of federal projects amounted to 74 percent, which is four percent more compared to 2021. We buy about 80 percent of the equipment produced in Russia from the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as part of federal projects.

We are actively developing cooperation within the Union State with our Belarusian colleagues, and we are currently negotiating the exchange of national registers of sporting goods, sports equipment and equipment. In particular, here, as part of the forum, Belarusian manufacturers presented a wide range of products that are necessary and already popular in the Russian Federation.

All this is aimed at mass participation, children's sports. At the same time, of course, we understand that the dependence on the import of high – performance sports remains very high-up to 90 percent. Of course, this is, of course, a limited number of copies of complex high-tech products. Russian analogues for athletes of the main national teams, which are also capable of providing high-level preparation of performances, are still available in limited quantities.

In this regard, we certainly support the proposal to create innovative research and technology centers. We are fully prepared to start and continue implementing this project together. We ask for your relevant instructions.

A very important component of training athletes and people who regularly engage in sports is the compensation of energy costs through the use of specialized sports nutrition. Unfortunately, here, too, the share of domestic products in the market is less than ten percent. I believe that in order to develop the sports infrastructure, it is necessary to pay attention to creating a full cycle of production of substances and high-quality, specialized sports nutrition in Russia.

We are actively cooperating with the Federal Medical and Biological Agency and other interested agencies on this issue.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, this year, as you know, the public administration system is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Throughout our history, we understand that sport has always been and remains the ideology and culture of creating a healthy lifestyle.

Over the years, we have accumulated considerable experience – the experience of reforms, the experience of transformations, and we, of course, are now analyzing the resources that we have, working on new competitions of a new format, as you mentioned at the forum today, and we see that these initiatives are of interest from our colleagues.

I would like to point out that in the last 15 years alone, Russia has hosted almost all the major international competitions: the Olympic Games, Universiades, World Championships in football, swimming, track and field, and many other sports. A unique not only tangible but also intangible heritage has been created.

Of course, this experience is now the foundation and guarantor of the implementation of the state program to achieve the national goal.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you very much for your personal attention and support during all the most difficult periods of our activity. And, taking this opportunity, Mr President, we will be holding a ceremony at the Kremlin Palace on November 30 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of [the Ministry of Sports] and the national award. It will be a great honor for us if you can take part and congratulate the sports community.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Talk to the Administration so that the work plan is filled in.

Irek Envarovich, please.

I. : Thank you.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear colleagues!

As it was already mentioned in previous speeches, the territorial accessibility of sports facilities remains an urgent task. I want to mention: Today, the relevant sets of rules define calculated indicators that allow placing sports facilities everywhere, regardless of their types and formats. At the same time, such calculated indicators are specified in regional and municipal standards, taking into account their territorial characteristics and the needs of citizens in such objects.

In this part, Vladimir Vladimirovich, we will additionally work out the issues of urban regulation together with the Ministry of Sports and the relevant commission of the State Council, including in the framework of monitoring compliance with urban planning legislation, preparing and approving regional and local standards.

I would also like to note that the basis of balanced territorial planning is the mechanism of integrated development of territories. Here, in this part, our new legislation is an effective tool for creating, among other things, sports facilities in the current development and especially in other difficult urban planning conditions.

Also here, almost on the eve of the Council, work was completed jointly with DOM.Russian Federation" and Gosstandart specifically according to the standards for placing such objects on territories in difficult urban planning conditions.

In addition to the issues of territorial planning when providing sports infrastructure, an important aspect is both the cost of the object and the speed of construction of such objects. And of course, here are new technologies that we are currently working on both in pilot mode and having actually adjusted the regulatory framework – the set of rules-which allows us to move from a "pilot" to real conditions in terms of modular construction. More than a hundred such modular facilities have already been built on the territory of Russia, and only recently: Sakhalin-school modular structures have already appeared, which in fact are already becoming standard; Rostov Region-production has appeared here, and six modular swimming pools have been built. Therefore, work in this direction continues, and in fact it will include swimming pools, ice rinks, martial arts halls, multifunctional sports buildings, and FOCi.

The use of modular technologies is especially effective in combination with standard design documentation, since its use allows you not to design an object anew, but to link it to a specific land plot and to the corresponding communications. This, of course, optimizes both the cost and time spent by the developer. The region has the opportunity to choose the right standard project for various sports facilities for different territories of localities.

Today, in the Unified State Register of Expert Opinions, we already have 2,750 relevant sports projects for repeated use, and 113 of them have already been recognized as standard for use, and for different climatic conditions and corresponding seismicity.

Also, in accordance with the proposals made during the preparation for the Council, I would like to note that today, when improving the territory within the framework of federal projects for creating a comfortable urban environment, the placement of sports grounds has already been worked out in 11,204 territories: this is a comprehensive children's playground, embankment territories, including 4,104 courtyard spaces.

This year, 904 such facilities will be completed under the program by the end of the year.

As Oleg Vasilyevich has already noted, we are working together to restore and form new sports infrastructure facilities in new territories. Until the end of the year, we will hand over 23 more objects, including five new ones. In principle, we will work out all the instructions that we have, and together with the Ministry of Sports, we will promptly respond to all the instructions, Vladimir Vladimirovich.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Okay, thank you very much.

Please, Ekaterina Priezzheva.

Elena Priezzheva: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear Council members,

While the overall situation in the production of sports equipment is quite good – we have achieved a record 60% growth in the production of sportswear and footwear, it is much more modest in terms of sports equipment and equipment. Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is currently focused primarily on supporting this particular segment.

Today, as Evgeny Vladimirovich has already said, the volume of the sports equipment and equipment market is about 230 billion rubles. We record an increase not only in production volumes, but also an increase of 26 percent in the number of domestic producers.

As already mentioned, the share of such Russian products in the domestic market is also about 15 percent, and the most dynamic, with a share of 80 percent, is the production of outdoor sports equipment and products for winter sports.

We already have Russian products that we can be proud of, but mostly it is a segment for initial sports training: track and field, gymnastics equipment, skis, downhill skis, snowboards, curling equipment.

It is less represented, and Oleg Vasilyevich also spoke about this, but Russian products for high-performance sports, such as equipment for wrestling and kettlebell lifting, have proven themselves well. In order to expand the product line in this segment, we have identified priority needs for sports equipment and equipment, both domestic and foreign, together with the Ministry of Sports, specialized associations and all – Russian sports federations. Now it is advisable to work out the nomenclature of products, analogues of which are not yet produced in Russia, for additional inclusion in the lists of parallel and critical imports. With your consent, Mr President, we ask you to give us a corresponding instruction.

The main directions for the development of the sports industry are provided for in the comprehensive plan for the formation of a modern industry, which is designed for 2022-2024. Work in this direction will be continued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade after the deadline for the implementation of this plan.

One of the key support measures in terms of ensuring the sales market for domestic products is their delivery to sports educational schools in the regions. Over three years, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has delivered almost 22,000 units of sports equipment and equipment totaling over one billion rubles to 84 regions of the Russian Federation for 12 sports, including wrestling, track and field athletics, kettlebell lifting, fencing, hockey, rowing, skiing and sailing. Although equipping schools is not a direct task of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, such a supply practice allows, firstly, to form a consolidated order for enterprises, receive direct feedback from consumers and form counterclaims to domestic manufacturers, and due to special purchase conditions, Russian companies have significantly increased the level of localization and the range of manufactured goods.

This year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade organized deliveries of equipment for sports secondary schools in new territories in the amount of more than 70 thousand units worth about 620 million rubles. And the program of equipping new regions will continue in the next two years and will cover 100 percent of the needs of these regions.

Additionally, Russian manufacturers of sports equipment and equipment can benefit from industry-wide support measures, such as concessional loans for the purchase of equipment, subsidizing the cost of obtaining international certification, supporting exhibition activities, helping up to one million to promote their products on foreign marketplaces, and receiving a single subsidy for R & D. We are currently working to make these support measures available, including to small businesses. The Industry GIS platform has a navigator of current support measures, where you can see what support measures you can get.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the Ministry of Industry and Trade traditionally organizes a collective stand "Sports Industry Enterprises" within the framework of the annual International Forum "Russia – a Sports power", which, dear colleagues, if possible, I invite you to visit.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.

Please, Maksimova Anna Vladimirovna.

A. Maksimova: Good afternoon, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, dear members of the Council!

As of the end of 2022, according to OKVED 32.30-this is the production of sporting goods-810 industrial enterprises were registered, among which 350 have a revenue turnover of more than one million rubles, and 460 others are small – scale, so-called artisanal productions.

In 2022, we monitored the critical need to provide Russian organizations with sports equipment and equipment. A few figures from this monitoring: at the end of 2022, Russian products in more than 100 sports did not exceed 50 percent: this is one or two percent-badminton, golf, bowling, equestrian sports; no more than 50 – fencing, trampoline jumping, alpine skiing; but 87 percent of the Russian market with the maximum share of localization the manufacturer of the outdoor sports equipment segment takes the place of the manufactured products, among which four domestic manufacturers are systemically important enterprises.

There is also a high percentage of import substitution in the segment of mass sports and professional training – wrestling, kayaking, trampolining and kettlebell lifting.

We would like to note that in 2023, the market situation shifted in favor of the Russian manufacturers ' market. This year, we note an increase in import substitution rates by almost 30 percent.

For example, in the mass sports segment, the production of fashionable SUP-boards and surfboards was launched; in high-performance sports, equipment and equipment for athletics, volleyball and soccer balls were improved. Manufacturers of snowboards, mountain skis, and winter equipment report a one-and-a-half-fold increase in production this year. There is also a positive trend in equipping adaptive sports with Russian manufacturers.

So, this year the production of sledge hockey equipment was launched by the FSI Analitika company and the lines of outdoor and indoor inclusive simulators were updated by the Karelian MB Barbell plant and the Chelyabinsk Iron King.

Briefly about the stop factors of industry development. An important demotivating factor in the development of industrial enterprises for sports of the highest achievements is the certification of products in international federations.

The presence of this certificate is an important condition for the access of both the athlete and the site to international competitions.

Certification in international federations has always been difficult for us. The average cost of such a certificate is 10-20 thousand US dollars for one type of product, and in the International Football Federation (FIFA) it is about one million dollars for licensing football fields.

Together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Russian Export Center, the issue was worked out. Government Decree No. 780, which compensates for the costs of laboratory tests, has come into force. We were kind of happy as manufacturers, but due to the introduction of sanctions pressure from unfriendly countries, international sports federations suspended their cooperation with Russian manufacturers.

There are options for resolving the issue through friendly countries, but they require the participation of all-Russian federations in defending the interests of not only athletes, but also manufacturers.

In this regard, Mr President, we ask for your assistance in organizing some effective mechanism for the participation of all-Russian federations in this issue.

In general, over the past year and a half, active work has been carried out to bring federations and manufacturers closer together. A series of events were held at the sites of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the State Duma Committee, where we developed a unique mechanism to support the industry.

For reference, most sports industry enterprises are small and medium-sized businesses that cannot meet the criteria for the main federal support measures of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Industrial Development Fund and the Agency for Technological Development. In fact, only two support measures are available for most of our small producers in the industry – the Innovation Development Fund and centralized Procurement by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and then regional measures.

The testing mechanism developed jointly with the federations was based on the key task of being accessible to small, dynamically developing sports industry enterprises, and provided for the involvement of professional athletes in the development process, as well as allowing them to quickly "finish" their products to a competitive level and involve specialized federations in the marketing process. However, in 2023, the mechanism approved – I'm talking about the 221st Government Decree-unfortunately did not work, and from next year, according to the information available to us, this measure was excluded from the draft budget provided for by the agency. In this regard, Mr President, we strongly ask you to ensure the full implementation of this mechanism. It is possible to finalize it with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and, perhaps, provide additional funding, taking into account the fact that funds were not brought in this year.

Over the six years of our association's work, we have accumulated a lot of experience in understanding the market situation in the sports industry, technological features of the production of sports products. We feel the potential to lead the work on the competence centers within the framework of the materials that we sent in preparation for the Council meeting.

Thank you all so much for your attention.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Dmitry Nikolaevich, please.

: Thank you very much, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich.

I would like to thank the head of the State Council commission Oleg Kozhemyako and, of course, the head of the working group on preparing today's topic Yevgeny Kuyvashev for a very effective platform for work, because they did all the work on collecting information and working with specific manufacturers on the ground during the year. It led to coordinated decisions that formed the basis of your instructions, which we hope you will support and will be given to us.

Of course, work is underway throughout the country to prepare the federal centers and training centers mentioned above. All proposals, including those made by the Ministry of Construction, for modular and prefabricated structures are accepted in the same way as measures to stimulate their own production and purchase of sporting goods.

We will continue to work with the regions to create industrial sports clusters proposed by the working group, which is a very new topic, using the example of the special economic zone "Titanium Valley", so that we can really expand production very quickly and occupy a niche that was previously occupied by unfriendly countries.

Of course, improving the accessibility of sports facilities of educational institutions during extracurricular hours is also one of the initiatives that have been voiced. We will definitely support this.

We support the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to expand the product range for parallel imports. At the same time, it is important to note that the existing support programs that our colleagues mentioned should certainly be continued. We are also working on this issue.

What the Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Sporting Goods is telling us now, we will naturally consider re-introducing this practice of compensating manufacturers ' costs. I will definitely discuss this with Denis Valentinovich based on the possibilities of the federal budget.

I would like to mention the main indicators of the strategy – Oleg Vasilyevich mentioned this, but it is also important to understand that the Strategy for the development of physical culture and Sports until 2030 on infrastructure and involving citizens in systematic sports activities has been implemented today. Here, of course, the Ministry of Sports would like to thank you.

In conclusion. Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, I have just reported to you on preparations for the upcoming Games of the Future. Thank you so much for your support. But for such events to be held successfully, including the BRICS Games, including the Friendship Games, we will need to adopt certain legislative norms and initiatives, as was the case with the Olympic Games and the World Cup, when a separate federal law was adopted, which made certain exceptions for the duration of the Games. in order to conduct the tournament most effectively.

For example, in the case of" Games of the Future", this applies to payments of prize money to tournament winners in cryptocurrency, including in order to avoid sanctions consequences for participants, or visa support for participants without charging a fee.

Or, for example, this is a specific feature of cyber games, when it is necessary to use licenses of foreign game publishers exclusively for conducting games. And there is a mechanism by which this can be done without violating the law and rights. And also receiving various tax benefits.

The State Duma has a draft law on establishing the principles of such laws for the "Games of the Future", and I ask your instructions to recommend that the State Duma review and adopt it during the autumn session, because we will need it before the games themselves.

Thank you very much. I finished my report.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you, Dmitry Nikolaevich.

So, colleagues, who would like to speak out?

Veronika Igorevna, please.

V. : Thank you very much.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

The Federal Medical and Biological Agency provides medical and biological support for high-performance sports and national teams of the Russian Federation, and pays special attention to the development of sports medicine infrastructure.

On your instructions, over the past two years, two centers for rehabilitation and rehabilitation treatment of athletes of national teams have been established on the basis of sanatorium-resort institutions of the FMBA. Different climatogeographic locations were chosen, convenient transport delivery and, most importantly, the opportunity to receive treatment without interrupting the training process.

The first center was opened in the spring of this year-the Oka center in the Moscow region, completely modernized, re-equipped, equipped with new medical and rehabilitation technologies. Since May, it has already hosted athletes from national teams in Olympic sports, as well as teams of Paralympians with musculoskeletal disorders and, a special group, Paralympians with intellectual disabilities.

Next year, a sports and wellness center with an indoor universal sports hall and a 25-meter swimming pool will be additionally created on the territory of this center.

The second center has been established and will start accepting athletes in November in Kislovodsk National Park on the territory of the Caucasian Mineral Waters. Its difference is that along with advanced rehabilitation technologies, a whole range of unique natural health factors, different types of mineral waters, mud treatment and the special air of the national park is used.

In this center, not only athletes of national teams will receive rehabilitation treatment, but also all those who are undergoing training camps in the Mineralnye Vody region.

Construction of a high-tech research and clinical center for sports medicine and rehabilitation in Sochi, Bolshoy Akhun Mountain, also started in October on your instructions. This center will not only create personalized rehabilitation and rehabilitation treatment programs, but will also contain a center for research and development in the field of sports medicine, as well as implement educational programs to improve the level of specialization of sports medicine doctors.

I would like to note that the agency's already accumulated experience allows it to provide serious assistance to sports associations, leagues, and clubs in international cooperation with our friendly countries in terms of training high-class specialists in sports medicine.

In conclusion, Mr Putin, I would like to support Oleg Vasilyevich, who raised the issue of the need to create a full-cycle production of sports nutrition in the Russian Federation. Understanding the importance of full-fledged sports nutrition, on the one hand, effective and, on the other hand, safe, FMBA is ready to take responsibility for quality control of both domestic substances and finished products at all stages of production.

Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Thank you for your suggestion.

Please, Vladislav Alexandrovich.

Vladimir Tretyak: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

I would like to thank you for your great attention to the development of sports, especially hockey. You know that I have always raised the issue of building hockey stadiums. We lagged behind Canada and America. When I became president of the Ice Hockey Federation in 2006, we had only 145 ice rinks, and now we have 800, and this is thanks to your support, our Government, and the Ministry of Sports.

On behalf of the hockey players, I would like to thank you once again. I think that we will continue this program. Why? Because it is in these stadiums that we educate future champions and patriots of our country. This is very important, because all the stadiums, I will not be allowed to lie, are completely packed to capacity. Many thanks to the regions and governors who understand and love hockey and build new stadiums every year.

I have another suggestion. Russia is a sports power, and sports play an important role in the life of our country. I would like to ask you to suggest that the federal channels pay more attention in their news programs to sports news – the results of matches and competitions. Now we play a lot of tournaments with friendly countries, and we have something to be proud of.

Yes, we have Match TV, and thank you very much for it, but most of them are fans who already love sports and watch this program, and we want to reach all Russians so that they know that we love sports, we develop sports, and we are proud of our sport. A minute in the news channels – it would be great for people to know what we are doing in sports.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you for saying this and for what you are doing.

Of course, we have a lot of facilities for hockey. Now in St. Petersburg, in my opinion, in general, the largest facility in Europe for practicing and holding ice hockey competitions. I am sure that it will be filled in due to the growing interest in hockey.

But you and the specialists from the Ministry of Sports, as I have already said many times, need to understand what we should do with these hockey dealers who take children from sports schools and drag them abroad.

It is clear that we have a free country. It is clear that everyone makes their own choice, and we should not interfere with this. But it is also clear that this is a business, and the business is not always regulated, so to speak, and not always noble.

I have already said many times that little is being done in this regard. I would like to ask the Ministry of Sports to return to this issue, and the Federation too. The dependence there is big, the money is spinning rather big, the damage it causes us is obvious. There should be a certain legal framework and guarantees for both the State and the participants in all these activities.

As for the attention from the media, yes, of course, we will talk with the channels again and with those who work on the Internet. But this also applies to the relevant sports. You need to actively promote your product, actively promote it and do it in a modern, beautiful, creative way.

Look, the Ministry of Sports is now providing this information, the increase in the number of people involved in sports in 2016-2022: figure skating – an increase of 350 percent in those involved. It is clear that this is a favorite sport in our country traditionally. But, among other things, they know how to promote themselves, show themselves beautifully and show them in a way that looks good.

Cycling – 132 percent plus, chess – 63, aerobics-60, sambo-50, rhythmic gymnastics-48, powerlifting-42. Alpine skiing, after all, is quite an expensive sport, the increase in the number of people involved is 41 percent – decent. Swimming – 40, badminton-38, and table tennis, Igor Yevgenyevich – - a pathetic five percent, although a tennis table can be put if not in every apartment, then on every landing. You need to do this actively, and the result will be 100 percent. I agree with you.

Umar Nazarovich, please.

Vladimir Kremlev: Thank you, Mr President.

I would like to say something about attracting extra-budgetary funding to sports, as far as bookmakers are concerned.

In 2020, there was zero spending on sports. After your decision and support, we made an amendment on the unified regulator in accordance with your instructions. In 2021, sports received 10 billion from bookmakers, and in 2022, sports received 13.8 billion from bookmakers.

When this statistic was initially given to amend, there were various criticisms, they said that the bookmaker turnover is about 700 billion. When we connected to the software, it turned out to be a trillion and a hundred billion.

Vladimir Putin: They just counted correctly.

Vladimir Kremlev: In 2023, 17 billion rubles will be received on a quarterly basis,because sports and the federation directly receive 4-4. 5 billion rubles on a quarterly basis.

It was also increased from 1.5 percent to two percent on your instructions. Since January, there will already be more than 20 billion deductions for sports.

When the bill was made, it was made as a single gambling regulator, so that all gambling was included there. This applies to lotteries, casinos and also online games. Today, the bookmaking activity has already proved and demonstrated the software, works efficiently and is made transparent.

Today, it's not even 1.5 trillion dollars at the end of 2023, but the effectiveness of the program that closes the. com zone so that money is not withdrawn is already visible – at the end of 2023, the turnover of two trillion, bookmakers will be closed. That is, it increases by 90 percent every time, and the .com zone is already closed, but we still need to work.

Unfortunately, there are online casinos through which more than 200 billion today, through the zone .coms are output. As they worked, so they continue to work. It is sitting in Moscow and children play, and adults-all play. The controller is missing. And we would like to be able to block all this in the regulator's system as well, so that the volume of bookmakers and lottery payments will increase, as well as deductions for sports.

Also online games. Today, Internet games do not have a regulator. Today, four American companies and one Canadian company are engaged in Internet games, but we don't have any of our own yet. Approximately about five billion dollars in turnover that are withdrawn through the zone .com abroad. It is also proposed to include Internet games in a single regulator, so that we can block those games that can enter the territory of Russia, so that everything is in the .ru zone. All software and servers must be located in the Russian Federation. This will increase the work of employees and IT clusters, and also make the market more transparent.

But the most interesting thing is that all these Internet games-for example, shooting games, something else – they all promote very anti-state values: everything that is Russian is bad there. For example, there is one of the games where you shoot, if you kill a Russian, you get points, and this works on the Internet. Dmitry Nikolaevich and I just discussed it recently, I just don't want to voice these games.

I would like to include these three points in a single regulator. It will be able to fully and effectively block the entire .com zone, and any system that may be on the territory of the Russian Federation, in order for our citizens to play, there must be clear conditions: everything must be "in the white" - in the .ru zone, connection to the program, as well as servers and software. The office must be located on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Pavel Anatolyevich, what is the problem? Why not do it? Indeed, the servers should be located here. We love both Canada and the United States, but they earn money from us, especially in such a negative way for us. Why do we allow this?

Pavel Kadochnikov: Mr President, as far as establishing control is concerned, we are ready to work out and submit proposals together, because, of course, we are interested in keeping all this under control: both financial flows and content.

As for the lottery. There is a subtlety here, it is connected with the fact that…

Vladimir Putin: Just a second. Work it out-yes. We need to do this – not work it out, but do it, and we need to include it in the Unified Regulator [of gambling]. What's stopping you? Do you have something that you think is preventing you from doing this? Or what? Say it right now.

Pavel Kadochnikov: Mr President, it's been accepted.

Vladimir Putin: Agreed.

Please continue. You wanted to talk about lotteries.

Pavel Kadochnikov: There is a subtlety in lotteries. It is connected with the fact that our lottery revenues go to the federal budget, and, of course, we take them into account when planning our sports expenses. Now it is about three billion rubles, administered by the Federal Tax Service. When we plan expenditures on sports – federal budget expenditures-we also adjust these allocations accordingly.

For example, when forming the budget for the next three years, we have provided an additional two billion rubles in comparison with the law, primarily for holding international events. So, of course, we have taken this money into account, and we will work out whether it should be withdrawn from the federal budget to a single regulator.

Vladimir Putin: You know, maybe you don't need to withdraw money – you just need to give it there. Why do we do this? To support a healthy lifestyle, especially physical education and sports. How much do you send there from lotteries? As a percentage? If you take everything you get from lotteries for 100 percent, how much do you spend on sports?

Pavel Kadochnikov: Mr President, we currently have three billion rubles a year.

Vladimir Putin: I don't want to say how much it is in percentage terms. Pavel Anatolyevich, in percentage terms, how much money do you give there?

Pavel Kadochnikov: Federal budget expenditures for the next year are 67, but we get three from lotteries.

Vladimir Putin: Federal budget expenditures are lower, but I don't know if they will be spent next year.

I. : About 60. Out of 539, 60 – the federal budget.

Vladimir Putin: Well, I understand that we never have enough money, it's understandable, it's always the same: both in the" fat " years and in the not-so-fat ones, it's always, always the same. It's a matter of priorities: what the state considers important and what is secondary.

We always say that the health of the nation-and this is directly dependent on physical education and sports-is a priority, of course. So take a look. This does not mean that you need to withdraw from the regulation of the Ministry of Finance – just deductions from lotteries, of course, should be in greater volume. Take a look, please.

Let's take this into account in the draft decisions today.

Yes, Umar Nazarovich.

Vladimir Kremlev: Mr President, first of all, there are not three billion dollars from lotteries today, but two. This year they want to show you one with something. It's just that we understood it, studied everything, and this is generally a penny for sports. From lotteries should be up to ten billion.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

Please, Pavel Anatolyevich, work with your colleagues on this issue.

Irina Alexandrovna, please.

Igor Viner: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

First, let me express my admiration for your ability to work and your attention to sports, athletes, coaches, and everyone involved in sports.

With your incredible workload, you find time to lead these meetings and work very carefully to ensure that the sport is at the level at which it has always been and will always be in our country.

Thanks to your direct support, the issue of sports and education legislation and their harmonization has already been resolved, thank God. This law has been implemented since September 1. Trainers have once again become not only those who serve the population, but also trainers and teachers.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I remember it was your suggestion.

I. Wiener: You have instructed me to do this twice, and finally everything has been completed. Thank you, I would like to convey to you the words of gratitude from my colleagues from the regions.

Everyone here knows you as a leader who is distinguished by a very careful attitude to personnel. Under your chairmanship, an expanded meeting of the Presidium of the State Council was held a month ago to discuss the development of the labor market. It discusses in detail the risks that we will face in the very near future in terms of training specialists for various fields.

I recently visited Sochi, where our leading athletes study. Leading federations and various organizations is a huge help. In order to strengthen the personnel and potential of physical culture, I propose to take a detailed set of measures and ensure its implementation from the municipal to the federal level.

It is necessary to create conditions for training highly qualified specialists, including in the promising areas discussed today, in esports, to provide for measures to support them, and to form a reserve of managerial personnel, as I have already said.

I would like to express my opinion that in the conditions of external sanctions pressure and peremptory humiliation of our country in various international federations, it is necessary to create new organizations that will not be federations and will not be part of international federations, but will be independent organizations that can invite and participate in competitions with friendly countries.

Organizations such as the league of sports societies and the association of clubs. We have already created this in rhythmic gymnastics. This is a huge support for our young athletes, the deductions that Kremlev just mentioned.

Now we have two thousand children participating in our clubs. A huge number of children participate in international competitions, according to the international program. We still have competitions that we do according to the All-Russian program, because the international federation "cut off our head", "pulled up our tail", and it turned out something in between.

We don't want to stop. On the example of rhythmic gymnastics, this is a sport that was born in the Soviet Union and in Russia. We should be legislators, not executors, and we have recently been made so. Many people are already ready to raise their hands.

We are looking for new forms, you are right, we are already finding them. These are competitions and, as I have already said, in two types of programs. Now we have concerts that are timed to coincide with such dates as Defender of the Fatherland Day, Victory Day, Mother's Day, Children's Day.

These are patriotic concerts that raise the spirits of our athletes and spectators, which are attended by children and families of our soldiers, which are attended by poor and large families who could not have been at these concerts. And these concerts are held with live music, with a live voice, our stars perform. We invite athletes from other sports, and this is a wonderful unity of children and adults under the national anthem of Russia. When a small child of six sings the national anthem and says the words correctly, and the nails of this girl are painted in the color of the Russian flag, it says a lot.

Therefore, when our competitions are held at the same time as the World Cups and so on, and we don't have time to rest on our laurels, as they say, or, on the contrary, get off them forever, we have endless competitions for both adults and children.

For example, in Yekaterinburg, we will host the final of the Russian Cup in December, where 86 regions will participate, not counting foreigners. All our regions showed up, and we invited them. And we understand, and according to statistics, we have checked that the largest number of children and adults are engaged in rhythmic gymnastics now, probably.

Therefore, I think that each of our Russian republics, each region, having a flag and having an anthem… This is a huge number, which is not even present at the World Cup, and all these are very strong regions that exhibit their athletes in all types of programs.

I think that the regions that are currently promising for us – I recently visited the Far East, in the Primorsky Territory - I think that these are now, at present, the most promising regions in our country, where all conditions are available and all conditions should be created for all sports, because there are the nearest ones our friendly countries that can come without problems. We need to master it there: there is a great climate, 365 days a year the sun. I think that there the bases for our athletes should be built in an enhanced mode. On Lake Baikal-these are all energy places, Altai-these are all those places that give life, that give strength and energy. No wonder our great artist Nicholas Roerich said that the Altai Mountains are the second Shambhala.

Therefore, I think all those governors and heads of our Government who are now creating all the conditions for sports in these regions… We already have many gyms and sports centers in Siberia and the Urals.

It is also very important that your assignment to develop clusters within walking distance, thank God, is being fulfilled. We talked about this in many of our councils. Now it is very important – within walking distance, so that families can be together, so that fathers and children can play sports together.

There are districts and clusters where – we analyzed-there are fewer divorces, because children and parents are together. If we create such oases for our families, I think we will definitely fulfill your assignment so that by 2030 we will have 70 percent of those involved in sports. As you said, there must be small exercise areas right in the courtyards, where people can go out in winter and summer to train with the child themselves. In the summer – this means running, for example, some tracks. In winter, these are ski runs.

If I may mention the Olympic Games, may I?

Vladimir Putin: Of course. Anything.

I. Wiener: We are all very worried that we hear one thing all the time: lower, lower, sit down. In what sense? The fact that we are constantly bent down. Sometimes we do one thing wrong, then another, then our athletes are dressed in a white uniform under the auspices of "I surrender", like a white flag. Without the national anthem, without our fans. In Japan, there were no fans at all – there was a pandemic. And now how to go without fans? You can't go to mixed zones, you can't talk to journalists. How is that? And the mayor of Paris actually said that we should act as a team of refugees.

I think, in any case, my colleagues and our children will not go to these Olympic Games in this status. It's a shame! We are used to the chanting of our national anthem, when the fans sing our anthem, raise our flags, a sea of Russian flags. The most popular song always at the World Championships is the Russian national anthem. And now to come without all this and be in such a state – I believe that it is beneath the dignity of such a great country as Russia.

Thanks for attention.

Vladimir Putin: What would you like to say right away?

I think that Irina Alexandrovna is right: new organizational and legal forms in the field of sports, of course, are in high demand today, because these forms are all sorts of leagues, associations, associations of clubs, and so on, and they will certainly undermine the existing system of monopolies of international officialdom on the international market. sports and international communication in the field of sports.

And they will not be able to oppose anything to this broad public sports movement, because it will be impossible to block everything and everything. They set up a monopoly in the field of sports medicine, then in the organization of various levels of competitions.

And if we follow the broad path of democratizing sports contacts, then no one will be able to oppose this, because it will be impossible to put barriers that prohibit this communication before people's desire to communicate, especially in such a noble activity as sports. This is simply by definition not going to be possible.

Therefore, we need to follow the path of this democratization, without abandoning, of course, and without driving into a dead end our traditional forms of sports organization, of course, we will support them. But the more widely and democratically organized sports are in Russia, the better and more interesting it will be for everyone.

Because what is happening in modern international sports organizations is a sign of degeneration. It is very commercialized, which means that it depends on business, and business depends on the authorities of different levels, on the political structures of different countries. This is a sign of degeneration. Sports and sports movements were created not to participate in any political squabbles, but to unite people.

If we follow this logic, then now we need to exclude almost half of the Arab countries from the sports movement, and Israel should be excluded. It is still unclear who is there and what they are doing, and restrictions in the sport, judging by what has happened recently, may immediately follow. We will not go down this path.

In order to leave sport as an instrument of international communication between people, it is necessary to democratize it. This is the way to go, and in this sense I absolutely agree.

Please, Vladimir Igorevich.

Vladimir Kozhin: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

Two years ago, at the same Sports Council, you supported the proposal of the Olympic Winter Sports Association to organize and hold the All-Russian Winter Sports Contest among Children and Youth in Olympic winter sports at Olympic heritage sites.

On February 7 next year, despite all the challenges and problems, the opening of the All-Russian Children's Sports Contest will take place in Sochi at the Rosa Khutor complex. It will be attended by more than three thousand young athletes from all over the country – winners of regional competitions.

For the first time, measures will be applied to motivate and support both the regions of the country and the young athletes themselves, such as allocating special subsidies to the regions whose teams will take first or third places; awarding additional points to the winners of the Spartakiad for their admission to sports universities in the country; priority sending children to the Artek and Orlyonok camps, "Ocean" and others and a number of other measures.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, allow me to invite you, if the schedule allows, to the opening of this sports contest.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. I will try.

Please, please.

Sergey Pozdnyakov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

First of all, I would like to thank you for your outstanding speech at the opening of the forum, for your very clear, emphatic and unambiguous commitment to the main Olympic values and ideals of sport. This is very important for the current generation of Russian athletes and sports organizations, including the Russian Olympic Committee, which conscientiously fulfills its duties to protect and promote Olympic values in the Russian Federation.

Returning to the Olympic Games: of course, we had no illusions about the prospects of our centralized Olympic team's performance at the Olympics. Unfortunately, our colleagues from Lausanne chose the side of the political conflict, and all decisions starting from February 2022 are anti-Russian in nature.

At the same time, we are absolutely confident that respect for Russian sports will definitely be restored. At the moment when we return to full-fledged performances at international and Olympic Games, our national teams should be highly competitive.

We need to prepare purposefully for this right now, and we regularly discuss with our sports federations the situation related to the Olympic reserve, and we understand that there are a number of problems that need to be solved today. This applies to competition practice, the composition of coaching staff, scientific and methodological developments, innovations and anti-doping support. In fact, the entire spectrum of components of the continuous educational and training process, which is designed to ensure the transition from children's, youth and junior level to adult level without loss of quality. The Russian Olympic Committee has the necessary expertise, experience and knowledge to work together with federations to address these issues in detail.

We would have been ready to provide much-needed financial support, but at the moment, due to the fact that the Russian Olympic Committee is already de facto unable to participate in the Olympic Games and the corresponding marketing cost is reduced, we have not been able to extend the sponsorship contract with our general sponsor, which is understandable in the current circumstances for us, but somewhat difficult. And in such circumstances, we are forced to reduce not only our own projects, programs, and staff, but also, unfortunately, the funding of all-Russian sports federations, which in turn, leaving the interest of active athletes as a priority, in most cases face the problem of providing the Olympic reserve.

These are the results of our in-depth analysis, including a survey of all-Russian federations. We agreed to discuss these results together at tomorrow's round table. In this regard, we consider it extremely important to find an extra-budgetary source of funding that would allow us to support and develop the Olympic reserve in a targeted manner.

I am writing to you, Mr President, with a request to give instructions to work out this issue. As for the support of active athletes, the Russian Olympic Committee has now found internal resources for a one-time compensation payment to participants of the summer and Winter Olympic Games who are currently active athletes, but are excluded from international competitions due to biased and unfair circumstances. We consider this step a kind of social sports responsibility of our organization, and we will try to help in the future.

Thanks for attention.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

Stanislav Alekseyevich, you said: we will return to full-fledged performances. Our performances are already full-fledged. Always. To the formats, probably. You meant full-fledged formats. Yes, of course, of course, it will happen.

But I want to go back to what Irina Alexandrovna said. We need to develop and democratize this format even today. We also have competitions with both the flag and the national anthem. Umar Nazarovich conducts. I organized my work so that all international boxing competitions are held with the flag and our national anthem. And if we go and expand this layer of cooperation: clubs, as I said, leagues, and so on… They also go to us, and our athletes go there. We just don't need to lock ourselves in the formats that were captured by people at one time with our connivance, and today they use this monopoly, distorting the very spirit of international sports competitions. As I have already said, we all know about this, you all know, you or former athletes themselves have been involved in sports all your life. Sports, like art, should unite people, and now it is used to promote some narrow-minded political interests. It will pass, one hundred percent, this foam will fly off. Time is needed, of course. But of course, you need to think about the future today.

As for the sponsors, we will work with them and also talk. Don't worry, everything will be fine here.

You are welcome.

Pavel Rozhkov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

I wanted to thank you. Three weeks ago, the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee was held, where for the first time the decision of the executive Committee of the International Paralympic Committee was not adopted. The International Paralympic Committee tried to ban the Russian Paralympic Committee completely from the Paralympic movement. The countries of Latin America, Africa, and Asia stood up and voted against the decision as a single bloc – 74 countries. Everyone came up to you, sent their greetings, and thanked you that we were ready to participate in other programs together in the future.

Moreover, it was decided to allow the Russian Paralympic Committee to participate in the Paralympic Games. There on conditions-this is already a separate topic, but nevertheless such a decision took place.

The second thing I would like to thank you for. Thanks to your support, all the new sports facilities mentioned today are now available for our Paralympic athletes. All the bases of the Ministry of Sports are adapted, and all of them are fully undergoing the training process.

Moreover, today it was announced that sports facilities are not being built. Nevertheless, a month ago, the governor of the Belgorod Region and I opened a unique adaptive center in the Belgorod region, which is fully adapted and sharpened for training Paralympic athletes. Immediately, competitions were held with him, more than 300 children participated in these competitions. Next year, such centers will open in St. Petersburg, and a center will open in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Region. But most importantly, Mr Putin, they are all focused on attracting people to physical education and sports. Attract children who have passed a special military operation and received serious injuries that led to disability to these facilities.

Since the first days of the special military operation, we have been traveling to hospitals and rehabilitation centers with the Paralympic athletes who have passed through Afghanistan, the North Caucasus, and South Ossetia, conducting Paralympic lessons and master classes-we are doing everything possible to involve them in the Paralympic movement.

We carry out this work together with the state fund "Defenders of the Fatherland", the Ministry of Sports and the FMBA. It is very important that we are supported by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Together with the state Fund and the Ministry of Sports, we started holding the first competitions for these guys. The first one was held for the Siberian Federal District in the Kemerovo Region. It went brilliantly.

Now Radiy Faritovich and I are going to Ufa for the Volga Federal District. We plan that these competitions will be held in all federal districts. Participation in these competitions shows that it is very important that children have truly modern, sports-oriented prosthetics and strollers – this is necessary for them.

It is a good thing that the state fund has budgeted funds for such sports events and for the purchase of sports strollers and prosthetics for next year. Of course, the Ministry of Industry and Trade also needs help here, because completely different prosthetics and strollers are needed here, and not the ones that are given to children for everyday use today.

Today, the topic of providing sports facilities was discussed. We passed a number of hospitals, Mr Putin, and it turned out that many hospitals do not have elementary sports grounds. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Umar Nazarovich. They found funds not only to fulfill your instructions to allocate funds to federations, including the Paralympic federation, for children's and youth sports, and we started holding children's competitions, but they also found funds. We are in Burdenko Hospital, in Balashikha, where there were no sports facilities at all, nothing – we used them to make the first such pilot project, equipped, completely made a sports facility and equipped a complete physical therapy room.

Of course, I would like the Ministry of Defense, or whoever should be doing this, to be able to do sports in hospitals when the children come to their senses. Both the children and the doctors themselves say that this, of course, significantly accelerates their physical rehabilitation and entry into a new life.

As for what was said about the Unified Gambling Regulator, I have already said that thank you for helping us develop mass sports now. But – I do not know why this problem has not been solved for two years-in our distribution, 20 percent goes to children's and youth sports and 80 percent goes to professional sports. We don't have any professional sports, and we can't spend this money. And this is the solution, it is floating somewhere, in some bureaucratic structures, and the problem is not solved, we cannot spend this 80 percent. We and our federations could easily spend them on rehabilitation of participants in a special military operation.

Moreover, it is legally recorded that, again, professional sports and youth sports. It would be quite possible to write it down, so that the ERAI has a basis, so that we can spend money on supporting children, so that we can also write it down for participants of a special military operation or, in particular, as far as adaptive sports are concerned.

And the next problem. It's not even a problem, but a question of where more financial resources could come from to support our guys in a special military operation. This is again our state program "Development of physical culture and sports" and the program "Accessible Environment". We had a good experience when five years ago these funds were allocated to support our adaptive physical education and sports schools. I spoke at the last Council, and you supported the Ministry of Labor to find options and return to this topic again – support for our adaptive schools. Unfortunately, he never returned after the last Council. Perhaps they will do it more boldly if they also include participants in a special military operation. These are real tools that would help to involve participants of a special military operation in adaptive sports.

That's all I wanted to say. Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Pavel Alekseyevich, when and where did this sport originate? Disabled sports.

Pavel Rozhkov: If we talk about the healing properties of physical culture and sports, it was many centuries ago. And if we talk about the sports part, because we share-after the Second World War in Stoke Mandeville in the hospital, Dr. Guttman began to use for the speedy recovery of participants of the Second World War.

Vladimir Putin: The modern Paralympic movement was initiated by the British. After the Falklands War, I think. I'll have to check it out, but I don't think I'm wrong. Well done, a good idea in itself. And then, when this movement was born after the First World War, and now it has been pushed. We need to develop this ourselves. This is a noble cause. And international contacts should be developed in these sports. We need the Ministry of Sports to help support us, too. Here, too, we need to develop new organizational and legal forms.

I am sure they will come to us, one hundred percent, and they will accept our guests. There is no need to focus on these officials, I repeat once again, who have already moved away from sports, are sitting there on a salary somewhere and doing what they are commanded by political structures. If we are actively engaged in this, and in Paralympics we are absolutely sure that we can be very active and need to behave more actively, then we will succeed.

As for the means of rehabilitation, the Ministry of Labor should free this type of activity from monopoly. Yes, modern means of rehabilitation are more expensive, and much more expensive. I know that the Ministry of Finance has allocated additional money. We will also find everything we need for these purposes from extra-budgetary sources. So please work with your colleagues in all areas: the Ministry of Sports, the Ministry of Labor, and the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation. We will adjust all this in the near future.

We have not only foreign rehabilitation facilities, but also modern and very effective domestic ones. You just need to include them in the work, in the turnover. It is necessary that they do not feel like strangers at this celebration of resource allocation. We will definitely do this.

Please, who else? I ask you to.

Dmitry Svishchev: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear Council members,

Addressing the issues that were raised today will definitely give an additional powerful impetus to the further sustainable development of sports. These issues have long been a concern for the sports community and the industry as a whole.

In your speech, you drew attention to the observation of the Accounts Chamber on the insufficient provision of sports facilities and conditions for the preparation of sports teams. This information was taken under parliamentary control by the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports.

We believe that at this difficult time for Russian sports, it is wrong to assign all expenses for the development of sports infrastructure only to the state, especially since today there is a positive experience of attracting investment in the construction of sports facilities, for example, through the PPP mechanism.

This is not always possible: there are federations that are ready to attract their own funds and private investment, but still cannot build their centers for extra-budgetary funds due to the difficulty of obtaining land plots. I know that such difficulties exist in football, hockey, curling and other federations.

I believe that it is necessary to develop special mechanisms for preferential provision of land plots and utilities, simplify the procedure for changing the category of land, which sometimes becomes a serious obstacle.

The second important issue that concerns us is the further maintenance of such centers. This means not only paying property and land taxes – by the way, the property tax is two percent, imagine how much the object costs, and two percent is a lot of money-but also loading these centers. It is necessary to consider increasing the cost of accommodation and food for athletes.

In the report of Evgeny Vladimirovich, the right proposals were made for an additional source of funding for sports at the expense of deductions from excise taxes. This is a good, necessary and timely proposal, because some of these funds could be used not only to support sports, develop and maintain the material and technical base, but also to build new sports facilities.

Today, there were a lot of short stories for lawmakers. If necessary, we can submit them in accordance with the established procedure, and the State Duma Committee is ready to work out all the issues in detail together with the Presidential Administration, the Government and the federations.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Thank you, Dmitry Alexandrovich.

You are welcome.

Mikhail Murashko : Thank you very much.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear colleagues,

Let me start by saying that we are in Perm, and Dmitry Nikolaevich was a birthday boy yesterday, and I would like to thank him. We often grumble: hand over the object faster. This year, 13 large facilities are being introduced in the Perm Region, 36 FAPs and outpatient clinics, and in 2024 they were supposed to introduce 25, but they have already contracted this year and will introduce them earlier. So, Dmitry Nikolaevich, thank you very much.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, you are probably the most athletic President, so you actively support curbing tobacco smoking and alcoholism. We now have another such area of struggle – this is obesity. Eleven percent of the population already suffers from this condition. This year we held a conference on combating obesity.

Of course, today's agenda for the health system is an important contribution to achieving 78 years of life expectancy. Today it is the highest for all periods – already 73.4, and it is growing. At the same time, we see that there are a number of constraints. I would like to add one more addition to the protocol.

Since, on your instructions, all subjects are completing the implementation of unified information systems and artificial intelligence this year-78 subjects are already implementing artificial intelligence, but such a measure as simplifying the service, if possible, obtaining medical access to physical education and sports in electronic form without visiting a doctor, with the mandatory condition of passing a medical examination or professional examination on a regular basis.

The protocol could be amended so that the regions complete this format in 2024, and it would already be available as a service, so that they can play sports, and not go for certificates and paperwork – If possible, add an addition to the protocol.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Thank you for the offer.

As for excise taxes, a comparative description was given by colleagues. The share of excise taxes in our country, in Russia, in the retail price of wine – seven percent, in Spain the most – 26 percent. The share of excise taxes in the retail price of vodka and cognac, that is, spirits, is highest in Sweden-41, in our country-34, quite a lot. For vodka-34, for cognac-17. And the share of excise taxes in the retail price of cigarettes: in Egypt – 74, in Estonia – 72, and in our country – 48.8.

Of course, we need to look together with the Ministry of Finance at how much of these excise taxes go to wine, vodka, cognac, tobacco, and how much of these excise taxes we deduct for sports. Of course, you need to look at it.

Dmitry Chernyshenko: Not at all.

Vladimir Putin: Dmitry Nikolaevich says: not at all. No, but still there are some…

Dmitry Chernyshenko: It is not "painted" in the budget.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I know, not "painted". But still, the Ministry of Finance has this in mind. But we must not just keep in mind, but pay attention to the fact that if we receive significant funds from this, then they should go to the rehabilitation of people – both those who use everything I said, and those who should not use it, for the younger generation, for young people., in order to develop sports infrastructure, create conditions for physical culture and sports.

Please, who else?

Vasily Nikolaevich, please.

V. Titov: I will not say anything about the development and equipping of sports infrastructure, although such a topic has been announced.

We, the federation, are participating as much as we can: we are working with both the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Industry to find a solution to create the production of modern gymnastics equipment, because we need it very much. We are working with the Ministry of Sports on everything related to the placement of new possible bases, so we have a normal dialogue.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, I would like to say this: I would like to support the idea of discussing the role of sports associations, sports societies, federations, cooperation between the Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports – what you have proposed – at the next meeting. I think the topic is very relevant.

Given the sanctions pressure we are under, we have come close to understanding the role of each of us here and trying to find a common denominator or common goal. Therefore, I fully support this initiative.

That's all there is to it.

Vladimir Putin: Can you tell me more precisely, explain it more clearly? You put it so beautifully, but I didn't understand what you were talking about.

V. Titov: When you spoke, you said that we should look at the role of sports associations, federations, and interaction between them in the development of sports. I fully support this.

Vladimir Putin: Okay, thank you very much.

As the next topic of the Council – Dmitry Nikolaevich reminds us of this-so we will do it, all right.

Igor Galaev: Good afternoon, Vladimir Vladimirovich!

A small sentence to the words of Pavel Alekseevich Rozhkov. He was talking about participants in a special military operation. We hold amateur events all over the country and have taken as a basis for all our official opening ceremonies to invite participants of a special military operation, so that they can, first of all, be honored there and so that people can also communicate with them. The patriotic spirit is very energizing. We have a queue of people who would like to take a picture with these guys.

For example, at the last opening of the ice hockey championship, we had a senior sergeant, a knight of the Order of Courage, who is now in rehabilitation. It was a very serious and exciting moment for him – he had never attended an official sports competition before, and it was also very important for the participants.

Therefore, the proposal: maybe somehow introduce it by law or by order, so that participants of a special military operation must be present at all-Russian competitions.

Vladimir Putin: Of course, the guys who perform their military duty and defend their homeland are worthy. I consider it inappropriate to do this by order – it should be at the call of the heart, then it will achieve a certain emotional effect.

And thank you for doing this.

So, who else?

O. : Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

In your speech, you drew attention to the protracted nature associated with the creation of training centers for national teams. Here we fully support the proposal of the head of the working group, Evgeny Kuyvashev, on the need to create an accelerated program and gradually co-finance it from the federal budget.

As you know, Primorsky Krai is a convenient pre-launch platform for training athletes competing at various international competitions in the Asia-Pacific region and their acclimatization.

Based on this, two years ago, at a meeting of the Sports Council, you supported our proposal to create a federal training and sports center. Based on your instructions, we have already built and opened Olympic-level rowing centers together with the Ministry of Sports. Currently, the construction of a curling center is being completed.

Together with the interested sports federations, with the Ministry of Sports-with the agreed position of Dmitry Nikolaevich Chernyshenko-we identified the need to create five more such centers in the city of Vladivostok. Four of them will be created on Russian Island. These are athletics and water sports centers that will be located on the territory of the Far Eastern Federal University and will be used by students as well. And this is convenient for training athletes, because in the summer we have a housing stock that we can provide. There is also a tennis center, a boxing center. Irina Alexandrovna and I decided that we will build a center for rhythmic and artistic gymnastics.

Based on this, we have already identified the land plots directly, allocated the necessary funding for design, and also pledged part of the funds for 2025-2026.

We ask you, Mr President, to support our proposals for phased co-financing starting in 2025 for the construction of such integrated training centers for our national teams in Primorsky Krai.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Of course, this is a good idea. We've been talking about this for a long time. Much has already been done there, in the Far East. Not only in the Primorsky Territory, but in the Far East, and I mean in other regions, and we must continue to do this, without any doubt.

As for the center for sports and rhythmic gymnastics, we have two federations.

O. Kozhemyako: Center for both sports and art.

Vladimir Putin: If you want to talk about sports, then you need to talk to Titov, and if you want to talk about art, then you need to talk to Irina Alexandrovna. We have several federations. I understand that this is what Titov meant, that we have several federations, and at the international level it is one federation, but it doesn't matter.

What is important is what you have proposed to develop in the Far East, in the Primorsky Territory. This is very correct, and we will do it, of course. Sports infrastructure in the Far East is definitely not enough.

Colleagues, we will finish it.

Mikhail Gerazievich, did you have something to add? You are welcome.

M. Mamiashvili: I will never forgive myself if I do not say a word of gratitude at such a difficult time, first of all, of course, to you – I will join all the words that were said.

Of course, this is a difficult time: we have heard a lot of figures, dates, quality, and number of events here. First of all, of course, this is the FMBA, which is engaged in 24 hours. It has become a native family for our national teams, and, of course, those territories whose leaders are primarily present here.

We have just touched upon the issue of rural sports, for example. After all, there is a very positive and high-quality example in the same Bashkiria, where there is a "Zemsky trainer". A coach is a person who engages a child, gives him the opportunity to live the history of a particular sport. Naturally, the child also has the prospect of social development. For an athlete, this place is the center of attraction.

Of course, I would like to say that today there is a very serious need for the construction of not capital, but multifunctional, not very expensive – cheap to operate sports facilities. They will also provide an opportunity for walking distance.

In conclusion, I would like to express my deep gratitude, Mr President, for your continued support. And we need to do as you correctly said, citing our colleague Umar Nazarovich as an example.

This is a very interesting story. According to the rules established by the people – the overwhelming minority that has usurped power-a person is elected several times to the governing bodies of an organization that has its own history and traditions. It turns out that personal qualities and belonging to a particular country are crucial.

Therefore, we fully support your proposal to create structures that will not be affiliated with this aggressive and overwhelming minority in any way.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Mikhail Gerazievich, thank you for supporting this level of Russian wrestling. Without any exaggeration, we have outstanding athletes and wrestlers. I hope it will be so, and this tradition will continue.

I want to thank all of you for this – for the fact that, despite all the difficulties that they are trying to create from the outside, Russian sport is developing, developing at a good pace, and feels confident. As our colleagues said here, all these superficial things, all this political foam from sports will sooner or later absolutely fly off – no one here doubts this. And our task is to develop mass sports in the country, support it in the widest possible profile, and help our top-level athletes.

We have the resources to do this. We just need to remember that the development of physical culture and sports in our country is one of the most important state priorities. And we want it to be reflected in our concrete actions, first of all, in the financing, organization of work, and personal attention of the top leaders of the state, the Government, and the top officials of the regions of the Russian Federation.

We will do everything possible to support you-first of all, I appeal to the organizers of sports – in your noble endeavors, in the development of Russian sports. Thank you very much.

Our colleagues will definitely need to finalize the list of instructions in accordance with the proposals that were made today.

Thank you.

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