.RF gvt presidium to hear expert report on Strategy-2020.

MOSCOW, March 31 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian government's presidium will hold a meeting on Thursday at which it will discuss the results of 1.5 months of work on updating the country's socio-economic development strategy up to 2020. Rector of the Russian Academy of National Economy Vladimir Mau and Rector of the Higher School of Economics Yaroslav Kuzminov will be reporters on this issue.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier this week had already met with experts who are working on a new version of the document. For more than two hours they together looked for variants of decisions on the most pressing issues, such as the budget deficit, monetary policy and migration policy. Then the Cabinet head noted that the results of the expert community work will be used in the current government activity.
Putin said earlier that "It is extremely important for us to determine our priorities and make effective use of the tools that will guarantee steady and innovative growth and will make Russia more competitive. I'd also like to emphasise that the strategic goals we set for long-term development through 2020 will remain unchanged. These goals are to improve living standards, make the economy innovative, and form effective market and government institutions. Why did we address the period after 2012? We had in mind not only the political calendar but also the premise from which we proceeded in the programme for long term development through 2020 (and it is mentioned there in no uncertain terms) that 2012 marks a new
stage in Russia's socio-economic development. We assumed that major drafts should have been adopted by that time and implemented in the law and that certain mechanisms should have been underway. Needless to say, we cannot pretend that nothing has happened in our country or in the rest of the world since we drafted this strategy. A systemic crisis has hit the global economy as well as our own. And we must adjust our plans and programmes accordingly."
Also, Minister of Transport Igor Levitin will take the floor at the meeting; he will propose to amend the legislation in order to give a clear definition of a small size vessel. "The definition given in the Code for Inland Waterways of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe is taken as basis. Length vessel's body length should be less than 20 metres," the ministry explained, stressing that it does not include towing vessels.
Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Yuri Trutnev will report on ratification of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina will report on changes in the regulation on her ministry that confer on the ministry the authority to keep the register of socially-oriented and non-profit organisations.
Furthermore, the ministers on Levitin's proposal will discuss the
establishment of a coordinating council for the development of the
transport system of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. The Transport Ministry noted that "St. Petersburg is the second largest transport and logistics hub, through which about 20 percent of the total traffic volume runs, and the number of cars in the region exceeds 1.7 million."