Kremlin.ru
May 18, 2010
Meeting with Students from Kiev National University
Kiev

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Good afternoon,

Dear friends, the first time I was here was 20 years ago. I was a young doctor of law from the city that was still called Leningrad at that time, and I remember this trip very well because it was my first trip as a young teacher, a doctor, invited to take part in a conference on law.

Since it was the first such occasion I was naturally very nervous and prepared my presentation. It was early September, I think, and it made a lasting impression on me. The Soviet Union was in the throes of great change at that moment, with all possible past authorities being overturned. Here, within the walls of Kiev State University, I remember how after the conference, we - how shall I put it celebrated the occasion in the party committee, which would have been something quite simply unthinkable before then. This showed how free things had become by then. I never forgot those moments. I am very happy to be here once again now, in a somewhat different capacity, it is true. That first visit probably left no particular mark on this university's walls.  

I hope that we will have the chance to have a good discussion today. I am not going to make any long opening remarks or prepared speeches. I think the whole point of this kind of meeting is in the questions you ask and the answers I give.

The only thing I do want to say at the outset is that I am of course very happy to be here in Kiev, very happy to be here at Ukraine's official invitation. This is my first official visit to Ukraine. I won't hide that it was something we waited long and hard for, something I had long wanted to undertake, but it was only recently that changes in circumstances finally made it possible. You understand what circumstances I am talking about.  

We worked very hard yesterday and produced a whole package of documents, some of which I think will be extremely useful for developing relations between our countries. But this work is only just beginning. We need to rebuild all that was lost over these last years and restore our cooperation to a normal level, get business up and running again. So far, I have no concerns as to our ability to do this, and President Yanukovych and I have been working fast, working in synchronization, I hope. This concerns our foreign policy and our relations in general.

I am all yours now, so go ahead with your questions.   

QUESTION: Mr President, welcome to Kiev National University. I study at the International Relations Institute in the department of international law, so I am your colleague.

Thank you once again for finding the time to visit our university and speak with us. This makes us very happy and honoured and is really an unforgettable experience. My question regards international relations. You just said that Ukraine and Russia now need to rebuild what was lost in their relations. What exactly would you say they lost, and what are their main priorities today? Thank you.  

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Thank you.

This is a good question to start with. What was lost? We lost practically everything that had been built up through such hard work over all the years. Above all, we lost the impetus in our relations. We all know how important the time factor is in today's world. But sadly, our relations were at a standstill over the last five years.   Sometimes we spoke on the phone or held some event or other, but even this intergovernmental commission that met yesterday was meeting for only the third time, though if we look at when it was set up it should have been on to its tenth meeting by now. In other words, the momentum in relations between our countries' leaders had dropped to a low point, and this was having an impact on everything else, including our bilateral trade.

What are the priorities now? Speaking frankly, the priority is to restore our economic ties, above all, by establishing a system in which our social and economic development (we are very close countries after all, and face the same economic problems) move synchronously. President Yanukovych and I agreed on a plan for the next 10 years yesterday. So, the priority is the economy, the economy, and again the economy.

But at the same time, we must also not forget about foreign policy coordination, and regional issues. We signed three declarations on these matters yesterday. We must not ignore humanitarian issues and cultural contacts either, for they are also very important. All of these things are priorities, but the top priority is the economy.  

QUESTION: Good afternoon, Mr President. Thank you very much for finding the time for our university. I think that our student community appreciates this very much.

Could you please tell us how you assess the possibilities for cooperation between Ukraine and Russia as two friendly countries in the area of mutual recognition of education diplomas and carrying out the student mobility programmes the Bologna process?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: As a former teacher it is my pleasure to answer this question. First of all, regarding recognition of diplomas, I think that ideally this problem would not come up between our countries at all. The issue of mutual recognition of diplomas should be settled for once and for good. I realise that this could involve some technical difficulties, but we have our Russian and Ukrainian colleagues present, and I think that this is certainly something on which we could reach a full agreement.  

As for student and teacher mobility, this is an important matter. I looked at reference information on Kiev National University and saw that you have working here a large number of teachers from different countries, which is very good, but not a single one from Russia, which is not good. Perhaps this is just the lingering effect of the political circumstances of recent years, perhaps you have simply not managed to attract any teachers from Russia, which is also an important aspect. As far as I am concerned, this is an important issue for Russia because teachers need to have this mobility. You might already know that I am a big fan of the internet, but no internet and no digital technology can ever replace real face-to-face contact with people, situations when you have someone right here before you, like me now, speaking with you, discussing, saying what they consider to be of interest, teaching a class. It is therefore extremely important to have Russian teachers go to Ukraine and Ukrainian teachers come to Russia, and it is perhaps even more important for students to have these same opportunities.

I gave you the example of how I came here in 1990. This was my first time here in general and it was a very interesting experience, but it came late. I was not so old of course, 25, or even 24 still, but it would have been good to come while I was still a student. Practically all of you have probably been abroad at least once, holidaying at various European resorts. We need to visit each other, including through educational programmes. I think this is something essential and I will instruct our education ministry to look into this, and I hope that our colleagues here today will also get involved, all the more so as this was also one of the decisions that President Yanukovych and I reached yesterday.  

REPLY: Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Mr President, I also study at the International Relations Institute. My question concerns Ukrainian-Russian relations in particular, namely, the Black Sea Fleet. We know that the agreement on the lease of the Sevastopol naval base has been extended until 2042. My question is, do you see strategic importance in Russia's maintaining the base in Sevastopol? Thank you.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Thank you.

I will try to answer in terms of Russia's point of view, and on the issue as a whole. For Russia it is of course very important to maintain this base as a part of our security system. We have been using this base for a long time now. It seems to me that it is not causing anyone any problems but is rather helping to maintain the status quo in the Black Sea region. We know, after all, the dangers that can arise when the status quo breaks down. When the Warsaw Pact dissolved at the end of the 1980s, leaving only NATO, this upset the status quo. I am not passing judgement now on whether this was a good or a bad thing, but am only saying that this status quo was thrown out of balance, and this led to huge shifts in the political map of Europe that impacted the lives of many people. Speaking frankly, many of the armed conflicts on European soil began precisely because the security system changed and countries failed to manage this process properly.

I am therefore always very wary of changes in the security system. You know Russia's position on this matter. We do not like the idea of NATO's continued expansion. This is not because we oppose NATO, or because I am against NATO. No, we have a partnership with NATO, but it is nonetheless a military alliance, an alliance in which Russia is not a member, and the closer it comes to our borders the more discomfort we feel. Russia therefore has clear reasons to want to keep the base.

But I think that Ukraine and Europe also have a clear interest in this. As I said, in this way we are able to maintain the existing system of risk distribution. We (Russia, Ukraine, and a number of other countries) are all Black Sea countries. We are all parties to the special convention, which you, as a student of international relations, no doubt know the Montreux Convention [regarding the regime of the Straits] regulating the right for peaceful passage through these waters of vessels belonging to countries from outside the region. I think this is good. I know that it is a source of tension for us and for our Turkish neighbours too, when foreign vessels with no relation to our Black Sea region enter these waters to make some kind of demonstration. You know that the region has seen various events, serious events. In 2008, we went through the crisis in the Caucasus. The more stable the situation in the Black Sea basin the better for everyone, including NATO.

I therefore think it makes sense for us to keep the base and extend the lease for a long period from this point of view, not to mention that it brings Ukraine some other benefits too.

QUESTION: Hello, I am a law student.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: It seems only my colleagues are putting questions today.

QUESTION: Seating as we are here, at the university, my question concerns education. Ukraine is still engaged in discussion on the Bologna process. What is Russia's view on this matter?  

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: When I answered the question earlier I forgot to mention this issue. We are taking part in the Bologna process, and decided to do so with a certain amount of anxiety in our hearts because many universities opposed the idea of changing their system and moving away from the system of specialization to the system of bachelor and masters degrees. But we decided to make these changes and I think that the results are normal on the whole. There are no big contradictions between these two education tracks, and I think that the situation will continue to level out with time.

Students should have a choice about what kind of education they get. I think this is the most important matter as far as Russia is concerned. Each student should have the right to choose which system suits them better the specialisation system, or the bachelor and master's degree system. Doubts have been expressed about how prepared our education system is and we have close, practically identical education systems for these changes. This is why this special course lasts for a greater number of years. Many times I have heard people asking what kind of specialist is it that can be trained in just 3-4 years, especially in the exact sciences, in engineering, say. But I think that, on the whole, we have managed these changes quite well and the situation is relatively calm now. We will therefore continue to make progress in the Bologna process, and we are willing to coordinate our work in the area with that of our colleagues here in Ukraine.   

QUESTION: Good afternoon, Mr President. Judicial reform is a big issue at the moment for both Ukraine and Russia. As a professional lawyer, what are the main directions for Russia's legal system reform as you see it?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Thank you. This is a good question and it is relevant for Russia and for Ukraine.

Looking at our legal system in general, we have accomplished much over these last 20 years. We should not close our eyes to this fact and say that we both of our countries have the most backward, enfeebled and imperfect judicial system in the world. Of course there are still improvements that can be made, legislative improvements, but the system's backbone has already been formed now. We have clear and unchanging procedures for appointing judges, and also disciplinary procedures for judges. Of course we have criminal-procedural and civil-procedural legislation. We have a developing body of administrative law. These are all good things.

What is not so good? There are problems with respect for the courts and with the courts' place within the political system as a whole. There are problems with how court rulings are passed and how they are enforced. Finally, there is a problem that we both face, namely, when businesspeople pressure the courts and even bribe judges. These are all flaws that still remain in the system and that discredit it.  

I held a meeting on the investment climate recently. The issue of court proceedings, respect for the courts and enforcement of court decisions was practically the top problem. Foreign investors and our own businesspeople too, say that Russia has a normal environment, normal laws, and everything is working more or less. The financial market is developing, despite the crisis. The big problem as they see is that court decisions are not enforced, or are not enforced as they should be. Another problem arises when earlier court decisions are overturned for unclear reasons by a court of higher instance. They see this as a sign of arbitrary action, intervention by the state authorities or by business corruption, in other words.   

This is what we need to fight above all. But this is a sensitive area and we need to tread a fine line between maximum respect and support for the justice system and judges' authority on the one hand, while at the same time sending the right signals so that judges will make the law and only the law the basis of their decisions.

We have a number of instruments that can help here. One of them is money, of course. This was something I worked on when I was Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office. We decided back then on a substantial increase for judges' salaries. Now, judges receive quite decent salaries compared to the situation in the country as a whole. Judges with a good number of years work behind them earn on average from $3000 a month. This does not resolve all the problems though, and so, along with our efforts to improve judges' pay we have also tightened disciplinary penalties for judges. I think these are two sides of the same coin. If judges are caught committing acts not in keeping with their status they should be immediately fired, and if they commit crimes they should go to prison for it.

QUESTION: Mr President, I have many questions.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Let's take the first one.

QUESTION: I will start with the most important one then the global financial and economic crisis. What steps can Russia and Ukraine take together in this area? What can we, as citizens of Ukraine, do to help you and our president to resolve these economic problems?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: This is a good question. I will pass on that you are willing to help the President of Ukraine. Leave your phone number at the dean's office.

Jokes aside, this is, of course, a big problem for our countries. The crisis has hit our countries very hard, harder than other countries. This is partly because of the way our economies are structured, and partly because of the problems that already existed in the financial sector. What steps should we take now? We need to avoid hysteria and simply make efforts to get ourselves out of the crisis by resolving the financial problems that have accumulated, by helping each other and also by turning to the international financial organizations for help. There is no other way out. This was something I discussed with President Yanukovych yesterday. I told the President and our colleagues at the Intergovernmental Commission's meeting that we are ready to help our Ukrainian partners in their contacts with the international financial organizations. I think this is very important, all the more so as Russia has considerable weight in these organizations, as a participant in the Group of Eight and the Group of Twenty, which is a good base to start from.

In a number of cases we are ready quite frankly to lobby Ukraine's interests, to ensure that decisions taken are in the interests of our close friends and neighbours. I say this because we recently took the decision, for example, to buy a whole number of IMF bonds issued for a huge total hundreds of billions of dollars. We bought $10 billion worth of these bonds.

But to be honest, we are not indifferent to where this $10 billion will go. If it goes towards helping Ukraine and other countries close to us this is a good thing. If it is put into unclear purposes and spent on patching up holes in the international financial regulation system I would feel it is money wasted.  

We therefore need to cooperate very closely together. It is extremely important to develop joint projects, business projects, and only in this way can we vanquish the financial crisis.

Our economies are growing now. Our trade is on the rise too. As President Yanukovych and I discussed yesterday, it has practically doubled. Our goal is to reach a figure of a little more than $30 billion this year and perhaps even as much as $40 billion. I said yesterday that we need to set ambitious goals. In any event, I think that for big economies such as Russia and Ukraine a trade figure of $100 billion is entirely realistic. This would turn us into genuinely close and full-fledged partners.  

REPLY: Thank you. We will work towards this success.

QUESTION: Mr President, thank you for this interesting meeting.

I study philology and so will ask a question from this angle. I realise you are busy with all kinds of state affairs, but do you get a chance to keep up with modern Russian and foreign literature? What authors and books do you prefer in general? Thank you.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: This is a good question. To be honest, I mostly read the various kinds of boring documents that presidents usually spend their time reading, things such as draft agreements, orders, instructions, laws submitted for signing, all kinds of reports from the various agencies, ministries and the intelligence services. This is all interesting, but there are limits. Sometimes I want to read something normal, something with a bit of human warmth. I do try to follow what is happening in literature, though I do not always succeed.    

A few years ago, I got someone to buy me around 50 books by modern Russian authors that had come out in the last 5-7 years, and I read some of these works. I cannot say that they were all to my taste, but some of them are interesting. I suppose you could say, though, that my preferences are quite traditional and I like to read the classics, Russian and foreign. Sometimes I even read them in electronic format. To share a secret with you, I was recently given an iPad. Maybe you have one too, I don't know. I downloaded a selection of books from the internet. The last thing that I was reading before flying here to Kiev was [Nikolai] Gogol. It was a real delight to read because I had not read any literature for quite a while. Strangely, I am used to this electronic format now. It used to seem a rather cold and impersonal way to read, not even having to turn the pages, but now I find it a pleasure.

So, I read the classics, but I am not averse to sometimes reading modern authors too, of whom there are quite a few.

QUESTION: Mr President, we know that international terrorism today is distinguished by its use of various new particularly dangerous and cynical methods. What modern methods can Russia propose for fighting international terrorism today?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Thank you.

This is a very serious issue. The only way to really confront terrorism is to get all countries to take a consolidated stand based on rejection of all forms of terrorist activity and resolute condemnation of all terrorist acts, no matter where they happen. Sadly, when Russia was hit by terrorist attacks not so long ago, we saw a situation when these events were described in quite different terms, while the monsters who committed these attacks were described as 'partisans' and so on. But these are people who killed peaceful civilians in pursuit of their own aims.

The international community's unwavering and firm stand is thus essential, as are efforts from each individual country. We in Russia have many problems to address in this respect, unfortunately, especially in the Caucasus.  

The situation is quite straightforward: we need to eliminate those who raise a hand against ordinary people, against their own people, and at the same time, we also need to engage in dialogue and draw out of the forests those who are ready to return to peaceful life. I have spoken on this issue many times and have given the relevant instructions. Regarding our situation, it is extremely important to create new jobs in the Caucasus, get people into modern employment, pay wages. Unemployment is a huge problem in the North Caucasus. In some areas, in Daghestan and Chechnya, for example, unemployment is running at 30-40 percent. This does not mean that everyone there is on the brink of starvation, some people are even living rather well, but even so, when people do not have stable employment they can develop all kinds of psychological problems.

Morals and religion have a very important mission too. There are no bad religions, only bad preachers, only people who attempt to make religion serve their own petty interests. If we take all of these steps we will succeed in defeating terrorism. This is not an evil that will plague us forever. I am sure of this. But it is not an easy combat.

QUESTION: Mr President, thank you for your interesting thoughts on knowledge-based, innovative development of your economy. We know from the media that Russia is working on powerful supercomputers, in particular at Moscow State University. How do you think information technology is influencing modern society? I know that you have a blog on the internet. What prompted you to start it? Thank you.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: As far as information technology in everyday life goes, I said just before that I read books in electronic format now and have even started to enjoy it. I think that people who try to shut themselves off from these kinds of technology are making an unforgiveable mistake. First, it puts them outside mainstream global development, and second, they are quite simply depriving themselves of pleasure. For my part, I really enjoy using these various gadgets, using all kinds of smart devices. I enjoy it and I make no secret of this. I think that this is the way of the future, and I try to promote this technology in every way I can. I hope that you make this technology part of your lives too, in the form of mobile phones at least, and other communications devices, and in the form of computers, of course.

I have said before to our civil servants that civil servants who do not know how to use a computer should be fired because in our days this is tantamount to not knowing how to write. They would not hire an illiterate person, so why hire someone who cannot use a computer? I don't know if all ministers here are computer literate. Maybe you should check. I check our ministers from time to time.  

You are all computer literate? That's good. It is not my business, anyway, but is a matter for your own bosses.

As for the supercomputers, yes, this is an important project. We are indeed working on developing our network of supercomputers so as to later integrate them into a grid network and create new super machines. We are investing considerable amounts of money in this project. It is one of the technological development directions that you mentioned, and one of our national development priorities over the coming years. Of course, this is an area in which we face constant competition. This is a good thing too because competition is a driving force for human progress. We are always in competition with the Americans. It must be admitted that they are half a step ahead, but they are always looking over their shoulders to see who is breathing down their necks Russia, China, France. This competition will continue. Petaflop and exaflop computers are just around the corner.

QUESTION: Mr President, my name is Yevgeny and I am a law student. I want to ask you about education, which I think is a subject of interest to us all.

The university entry period last year in Ukraine was a difficult time because of the introduction of a new system of external examinations. I know that in Russia too there have been various debates over the new national final school exam. What kind of improvements do you think should be made to the university entry procedures?  

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I think this is an area where we need to show rational conservatism while at the same time continuing to move forward. It is hard for me to pass judgement on Ukraine's university entry system. It would not be proper for me to do this and I am not so familiar with all the details of your system. But I can certainly tell you about the situation in Russia. I was a university lecturer too and worked for ten years at the law faculty, sat on entrance commissions, and I can say that the system of entry exams that we used to have was not entirely fair. I imagine that most of you probably sat these kinds of entry exams. You would agree with me, I think, that it was something of a lottery in many ways. To be honest, it wasn't just about having the luck go your way but also was often about connections and corruption.

With that kind of entrance exam system it was always possible to make a deal with someone, make use of this or that connection in order to get the needed results. This was the case when I was a student. I entered Leningrad State University in 1982, and these cases were happening back then. As the new economy developed and people got more money and more and more people began seeking higher education these problems became even more acute.

And so I think that the national final school exam is not such a bad system. It is not perfect because it is based on an average overall approach that cannot test in full student's actual abilities, but the system of tests it offers does work nonetheless. Also very important is that under this system students can apply to enter any university of their choice.  

I sometimes find myself thinking that if a famous Russian scholar such as Mikhail Lomonosov were to apply for entry to university in today's world he would get nowhere. Arriving from a village, as he did, even with the best of knowledge he would not be able to adapt to the entry exam system and make it through. But the national final school exam makes it possible for anyone, no matter where they got their education, in a village or in a city, to apply to any university.

The only change we decided on with the education minister was to limit the number of universities a student can apply to. [Addressing Education Minister Andrei Fursenko] How many can a student apply to now? Five. Students can send their applications to five universities. This is a normal step because otherwise we had the risk of an unmanageable situation with people applying to all universities at once, no doubt hoping to make their parents happy, or get accepted somewhere and head off to start their own lives as soon as possible.  

Overall, therefore, I think the system is not bad, even though it does still require some improvement. Of course there are some subjects that it is hard to test through the national exam. It is one thing to test maths or chemistry, for example. I think the national exam can test students' knowledge quite accurately here. But it is another thing to test knowledge of literature, be it Russian or Ukrainian. There is artistic element to take into account here, and students have to demonstrate their abilities in a different way. In short, there are still issues to discuss and work on. But overall, this is a globally used system and we are also going to keep moving in this direction. I imagine that the same will be the case here.

QUESTION: I study at the Institute of International Relations. Mr President, I have two questions on the Black Sea Fleet. First - and this is a concern for quite a few people in Ukraine - we know that Russia has free lease of the base in Sevastopol. Does Russia plan to pay for the Black Sea Fleet's presence in Sevastopol?   

And second, you said that the Black Sea Fleet is an element in Europe's security, but could it also be an element for expansion into various countries? What is the guarantee that no action will follow on the part of the Russian Federation?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Whose expansion are you talking about, Russia's, or someone else's?

QUESTION: What is the guarantee against Russia using the base to pursue its own interests?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Let' put things in frank terms and ask: what are the guarantees that Russia will not use its Black Sea Fleet to attack neighbouring countries?

Russia will not do any such thing. Russia is a peaceful country.

QUESTION: But what guarantee do we have?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: On the subject of guarantees, in the words of Ostap Bender [a character in Ilf and Petrov's satirical novels Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf], the only real guarantees you'll ever find are in an insurance policy. From the point of view of international relations the real guarantees are the system of international relations that we have, our commitments within the UN framework as a party to international conventions, a party to the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 on cooperation and security in Europe. There are also many other international conventions and agreements. The question of whether Russia could violate its international obligations and act in disregard of international law is really just a scholastic debate. Of course Russia will not do this because this would not be in our country's interests. Russia is a big country with many different interests, but if we start to marginalise ourselves within the international community we would inevitably feel the consequences. We are all grown ups and do not want to return to the Soviet past. This is the case for the majority of people in our country, at least, as in yours.  

As for the Black Sea Fleet, it seems to me that you are maybe missing some of the details about this situation or have received information from just one source. We were already paying for the lease of the base (but this payment was made in a particular form for the preceding period as part of the debt settlement process), and we will continue to pay. The agreement that we just signed recently with the Ukrainian President, the result of all the work accomplished of late, obligates us to pay Ukraine the equivalent of almost $40 billion. This is a huge sum.   

This sum of money has been the subject of much debate in our country. Some people think it is a good thing as it will enable Russia to keep the base and therefore maintain this element of stability that I spoke about, but others think the cost is too high. On average such bases usually cost a lot less. The Americans pay less, NATO pays less. But our position is that this is not just some kind of simple exchange on the lines of swapping one good for another. This is a part of overall European stability and part of our strategic relations with Ukraine, and this is why we agreed to it.  

QUESTION: I study law and am specialising in civil law.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Another colleague.

QUESTION: I have two questions.

First, looking at law, what do you think we could do to improve lawyers' training today?

And second, as a specialist in civil law, do you continue to study this area today, and are there specialists in civil law that have influenced your development as a lawyer?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Thank you. This is a question I like at the personal level. As far as my own scholarly pursuits and current interests go, unfortunately, to be honest, I do not get much time these days to read on civil law, though I do read on the subject now and then. I was really proud to be able to take part in codifying Russia's civil legislation, in particular, taking part in the work on the third and fourth parts of the Civil Code. The Civil Code consists of four parts, and the fourth part deals with intellectual property. When I was First Deputy Prime Minister I had the task of presenting this entire law to our parliament, the State Duma. This was a historic moment, and as a civil law specialist it was really a very memorable experience.   

As for the specialists who have influenced me, of the pre-revolutionary specialists I would name Gabriel Shershenevich, who you all know, and a number of others such as Meyer and Pobedonostsev. I read many different authors, but in terms of views on the civil law system, and the depth and insight of the content and language, I think that Shershenevich has no equals. His course on commercial law and his textbook on civil law and commercial law are simply marvels.

Soviet civil law specialists also had an influence on me. I studied civil law at Leningrad State University, where quite a well-known school had developed that had its prominent figures, such as Academician Venediktov, who wrote many works on property, and a number of other specialists, including my own teacher, Professor Smirnov. The university is still home to a number of well known scholars such as Academician Tolstoy, who has also written many interesting works. We had exchanges with our partners from other universities, of course. Kiev University was one of the closest, and this is still the case today. The rector said that the universities have maintained full-fledged ongoing contacts.  

QUESTION: Good afternoon. I am a chemistry student. We have unravelled the mysteries of gas chemistry in our studies, but not the mysteries of the latest gas agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Could you please explain the benefits for each country?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: It is good that someone has brought up the gas issue. First of all, though, on the subject of chemistry, although I ended up becoming a lawyer I originally wanted to study chemistry when I was still in school. My father worked in this field and chemistry was my best subject in school, but in the end I chose a different direction.

Coming to gas, gas is not just about chemistry and physics, but also about economics and even politics. Gas is at once very straightforward and very complicated. We are engaged in intense consultations with our Ukrainian partners on the gas issue. The situation is normal on the whole. I think that we have reached decent agreements, including the agreements reached in Kharkov. This lets the Ukrainian economy breathe more freely. But this does not mean that there is no room for improvement and that we should not keep moving forward on the gas issue. The world is changing, after all, new energy sources are emerging, and we need to build new gas transport networks, develop new types of fuel based on gas, obtain new substances derived from gas. I think that we could develop close cooperation in all of these areas. The difficult part is organising exactly how to go about this work.

Russia has no desire to impose any particular schemes on Ukraine. We have our company, Gazprom, the world's biggest gas producer, and this company is in ongoing contact with Naftogaz of Ukraine. We are still in the process of settling the specific conditions and projects. But I think this is definitely something we need to do because, as I said, the world is changing, energy sources are diversifying, and energy prices are changing too. We all have an interest in developing new transport routes and providing guarantees, gas transit guarantees that are important to Russia, and gas supply guarantees that are important to our partners and consumers in Ukraine.

In principle, we already have all of this, but I think that we need to think about the future too, on a pragmatic basis, and without trying to impose anything on each other. That is the most important thing. If we work together in this spirit everyone will benefit.

QUESTION: Mr President, I am a law student and am also specialising in civil law. Humanitarian cooperation is one area in which you want to develop ties with Ukraine, and you recently signed an agreement with our President on this. What are this agreement's main provisions, and what are the prospects for developing bilateral ties in this area?

Thank you.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Answering the first question today, I said that our priority is the economy, the economy, and again the economy. But this is because we lost so much economic ground over these last years. I do not want you to get the impression that humanitarian cooperation has been relegated to some completely secondary position. Simply, I think that the closeness of our cultures and our mutual understanding of each other's development makes it easier to develop our humanitarian ties, and at the same time, this is what people want overall. No matter what some might say, we are open countries and we fought hard for this openness. We want to be open and transparent countries at the humanitarian level too. We want our people to be free to travel to each other, free in their contacts with each other, free to speak Russian and Ukrainian, free to watch different television programmes.   

I do not know if you are aware or not about my initiative that has now resulted in a decision to use a Russian satellite to broadcast a whole number of different television channels from the CIS countries, including Ukrainian channels. We are in the process of finalizing the details right now. This will mean that viewers throughout practically all of Russia will be able to watch one of your country's main channels. I think this is very important because it will give everyone in Russia the chance to get information in Ukrainian. It will give everyone this opportunity.  

The same thing should take place here. I think this new environment is one of our biggest achievements over the last century.

But humanitarian cooperation is not limited to just these kinds of exchanges or technology developments. We need to have full and normal relations in all areas of cultural life. This year, we are celebrating Chekhov's anniversary. Chekhov worked in Russia and in Ukraine too. I think this is a good reason to hold some joint events and settle some of the problems that still remain. The anniversaries of other writers and poets also offer such unifying opportunities.

If we want to give full substance to our relations this agreement on humanitarian cooperation needs to cover every area: student and teacher exchanges, reciprocal travel, tourism and recreation issues, and sports too. All of this helps to create an environment for contact. I therefore hope that this is the direction in which President Yanukovych and I will work to build up our humanitarian cooperation.

QUESTION: Mr President, I study at the Institute of International Relations and am specialising in international law.

I welcome you to our university on behalf of all of us, students and teachers. Since I'm the lucky one who gets to ask one of the last questions I wanted to ask something a bit controversial.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Go ahead.

QUESTION: I want to ask about the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). As the head of the country that is the leader in this organisation, can you tell us, does the CSTO plan any enlargement, and would you like to see Ukraine as a military ally? Thank you.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I am not sure that there is anything 'controversial' really about your question. I think it is a perfectly normal question, a good question. The answer is quite simple. It is for Ukraine itself to make such decisions. If Ukraine wants to join the CSTO it is welcome. If Ukraine has reservations on this matter this is something we respect.

The question is one of how Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities, people, and establishment see their place in Europe. If Ukraine sees its place as a fully neutral and independent country this is something that Russia would accept without any problem. What President Yanukovych said about Ukraine not belonging to any blocs was perfectly acceptable to me, as President of Russia, because this is completely in keeping with our own interests, and I think that it is also completely in keeping with a large part of the Ukrainian people's interests too.

But life does change, and if in the future Ukraine thinks it would be in its interests to join the CSTO we would be happy to open the door to you and welcome you into our ranks.  But this has to be Ukraine's own sovereign decision, a serious decision that is the result of careful reflection. There should not be a situation when countries join the CSTO but do not actually do anything there. There has to be some kind of internal discipline. The same is the case in NATO. Imagine a NATO member not carrying out the organisation's decisions they would have trouble. I think the same applies to the CSTO and to other integration organizations. It is very important to have a sense of self-discipline. We do not always succeed in this, but that is a separate issue.   

QUESTION: Can I ask another little question?

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Yes.

QUESTION: Listening to your words today, could we say that the CSTO was established as a means of supporting the status quo in the world and as a counterbalance to NATO?  

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: No, the CSTO was established for other purposes. The CSTO is not the Warsaw Pact and cannot replace it, fortunately. We do not need confrontation between NATO and any other military bloc. You do not remember that time yourselves but know it only from books, but I was in school and university during those years and I remember the endless talk about how we were deploying or withdrawing missiles, trying to keep up parity, us threatening the Americans, the Americans threatening us we've had enough of all of that and do not want to return to those days. The CSTO is therefore a regional bloc aimed at ensuring the member countries' security and helping to develop the economic ties and humanitarian cooperation between them. It has a wider purpose, although the kind of discipline I just mentioned is a part of it too. In accordance with the CSTO's internal rules, an attack on any of the member countries is considered as an attack on the CSTO in general. But it is not an easy organization to manage. Its members include countries with which relations are not always straightforward. I'm sure you understand what I mean. In this sense, a restraining factor of this kind certainly does not go amiss.

I therefore hope that you, as a future politician and international relations specialist, will take decisions on these sorts of issues acting above all in your country's national interests. This is the only way.  

Once again, I thank you all for spending this hour together with me in this warm hall, which is warm indeed both in temperature and in spirit.

It was a pleasure to talk with you. To be honest, I would happily spend more time with you here, but I have a meeting with businesspeople. As I said, it's the economy, the economy, and again the economy.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Joint Press Conference following Russian-Ukrainian summit talks

17 мая 2010 года, 22:20 May 17 2010, 22:20 Киев Kiev

Ключевые слова: внешняя политика , Иран , Украина Keywords: foreign policy , Iran , Pakistan

Разместить в блог Прямая ссылка Post to blog Direct Link

Фото Сергея Гунеева На совместной пресс-конференции по итогам российско-украинских переговоров на высшем уровне. Photo by Sergey Guneeva At a joint press conference following Russian-Ukrainian summit talks. С Президентом Украины Виктором Януковичем. 17 мая 2010 года Вся подпись Вся подпись|||Свернуть From the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich. May 17, 2010 All Signature All Signature | | | Collapse

·

Фото Сергея Гунеева|На совместной пресс-конференции по итогам российско-украинских переговоров на высшем уровне. Photo by Sergey Guneeva | At a joint press conference following Russian-Ukrainian summit talks. С Президентом Украины Виктором Януковичем.|Киев|17 мая 2010 года|http://news.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big/41d2fc609463a9eb9793.jpeg|http://news.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/medium/41d2fc60946cc9323321.jpeg From the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich. | Kyiv | May 17, 2010 | http://news.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big/41d2fc609463a9eb9793.jpeg|http://news.kremlin.ru/media/events/ photos/medium/41d2fc60946cc9323321.jpeg

В.ЯНУКОВИЧ Victor Yanukovych : Уважаемые коллеги, дорогие друзья! : Dear colleagues, dear friends!

Мы с Дмитрием Анатольевичем провели сегодня третье заседание межгосударственной комиссии и пришли к выводу, что так работать нельзя: за такой короткий период времени провести семь встреч – и загнать руководителей наших рабочих групп в ситуацию, когда они должны ускоренными темпами готовить различные решения. We Dmitry Anatolyevich held today the third meeting of the interstate commission and concluded that both can not work: in such a short period of time to hold seven meetings - and to force the leaders of our working groups in a situation where they need to rapidly prepare a variety of solutions. Но они все обусловлены тем, что и Украина, и Россия ещё находятся в посткризисном состоянии. But they all stem from the fact that both Ukraine and Russia are still in post-crisis state. И не принимать эти решения – значит остановить рост экономики и затормозить торгово-экономическое развитие. And do not make these decisions - so stop the growth of the economy and hamper economic and trade development. Поэтому мы сегодня дали поручение нашим правительствам продолжать работать над целым рядом направлений, которые являются для нас взаимовыгодными – и для Украины, и для России. That is why we have instructed our governments to continue to work on a number of directions that are mutually beneficial for us - and for Ukraine, and Russia. Это отрасли судостроения, авиастроения, космическая промышленность, целый ряд энергетических проектов, которые создают условия для роста экономик и, конечно, самое главное, получения финансового результата. It's shipbuilding industry, aviation, space industry, a number of energy projects, which create conditions for economic growth and, of course, most importantly, for the financial result.

Завтра мы будем проводить наш совместный бизнес-форум. Tomorrow we will hold our joint business forum. И представители бизнеса Украины и России выскажут свою точку зрения. And business representatives of Ukraine and Russia will express their views. Мы договорились, что по тем вопросам, по которым мы увидим, что наше объединение даст эффект синергии; мы будем способствовать тому, чтобы создавались совместные предприятия – возможно, холдинги или корпорации, которые, дополняя друг друга, осуществляя кооперационные связи, в том числе работая совместно на третьих рынках, будут увеличивать объёмы наших экономик и делать их конкурентоспособными. We agreed that on those issues on which we can see that our association will give the effect of synergy, and we will help to ensure that joint ventures - perhaps holding companies or corporations, which, complementing each other, carrying out cooperation relations, including working jointly in third markets, will increase the volume of our economies and make them competitive.

Конечно, наши сегодняшние решения в области безопасности – это решения, направленные в перспективу. Of course, our current security solutions - a solution aimed at perspective. Мы предлагаем нашим соседям, предлагаем в целом на евроатлантическом пространстве создать условия безопасности, которые бы соответствовали нынешнему этапу и тем угрозам, которые сегодня есть в мире. We offer our neighbors, we offer the whole Euro-Atlantic area to create security conditions that match the current stage and the threats today are in the world.

Мы определились, что будем работать в области гуманитарного сотрудничества. We have determined that we shall work in the field of humanitarian cooperation. Это также очень важно, потому что граждане наших стран, которые находятся по обе стороны границы Украины и России, связаны родственными связями, связаны историей наших государств, – их права не должны быть ущемлены на территориях наших государств. It is also very important, because the citizens of our countries that are on both sides of the border of Ukraine and Russia, are connected by kinship ties, related the history of our nations - their rights must not be infringed on the territories of our states. И мы должны решить совместно целый ряд вопросов, которые связаны с социальной защитой, с пенсиями. And we have to decide together on a number of issues related to social protection, pensions. Остались ещё старые вопросы, но они очень больные для наших людей, чувствительные. There remained still the old questions, but they are very ill for our people, sensitive. Мы также договорились, что будем их решать в самое ближайшее время. We also agreed that we will resolve them as soon as possible.

Ещё что я хочу сказать? Even what I mean? Мы договорились, что мы не будем вместе дружить против кого-то. We agree that we are not going to be friends together against someone. А все решения, которые мы принимаем, мы их будем принимать для того, чтобы защитить свои национальные интересы. And all the decisions we make, we'll take them in order to protect its national interests.

Хочу сказать, что, конечно, у нас есть вопросы очень принципиальные, над которыми нам придется ещё поработать – например, делимитация нашей водной границы. Let me say that, certainly, we have a very fundamental issues on which we have more work - for example, the delimitation of our water boundaries. Мы не смогли на этот раз прийти к этому решению, потому что было очень мало времени, но мы будем над этим вопросом работать, и я думаю, что мы его в самое ближайшее время доработаем. We were not able at this time to come to this decision, because there was very little time, but we will work on this issue, and I think that we will soon be finalized.

В целом я хочу сказать, что партнёрские, добрососедские, стратегические отношения Украины и России сейчас восстановлены. In general, I want to say that the partnership, neighborly, strategic relations between Ukraine and Russia are now restored. И мы надеемся, что это даст положительный эффект уже в этом году. We hope that this will have a positive effect later this year. Президент России Дмитрий Медведев в своём интервью подчеркнул, что 7 миллиардов долларов, тот товарооборот, который был за три месяца этого года, – это такая, как говорят, первая ласточка надежды на то, что уже в этом году наш товарооборот будет на уровне приблизительно 35 миллиардов долларов как минимум. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview, said that $ 7 billion, one turnover, which was three months of this year, - it is as they say, the first sign of hope that this year our turnover will be at approximately 35 billions of dollars as a minimum. Но я думаю, что мы во втором полугодии динамику ускорения роста товарооборота между нашими странами увеличим. But I think we're in the second half momentum to accelerate the growth of trade turnover between our countries will increase.

Я хочу поблагодарить Дмитрия Анатольевича за то, что он в свойственной ему деловой манере очень принципиально поставил вопросы перед Правительством России, перед российской частью нашей межгосударственной комиссии, и нам легко было работать с нашими коллегами. I thank Dmitry for the fact that he was in his usual businesslike manner is fundamentally put questions to the Government of Russia before the Russian part of our Interstate Commission, it was easy for us to work with our colleagues. Мы, естественно, не могли ответить другим. Naturally, we could not answer others. То есть всё, что мы делали за этот период времени, – это была напряженная двусторонняя работа, которая проходила в различных регионах Украины и России. That is all that we have done during this period of time - it was a tense two-way operation, which took place in various regions of Ukraine and Russia.

Кроме этого, мы договорились значительно активизировать наше межрегиональное сотрудничество и приграничную торговлю между нашими регионами. In addition, we have agreed to significantly strengthen our inter-regional cooperation and cross-border trade between our regions. Этот вопрос также связан с упрощением процедуры прохождения наших границ и таможенных переходов для наших граждан. This issue is also linked to the simplified procedures for our borders and custom transitions for our citizens. И конечно, вопросы миграционной политики также важны: чтобы эта политика не была унизительной для тех граждан, которые работают и в Украине, и в России, которые не нашли работу на своих территориях. And, of course, issues of migration policy are also important: that this policy was not humiliating to those citizens who are working in Ukraine and Russia, which did not find work in their territories. Мы также будем над этим работать. We will also work on this.

В целом мы удовлетворены проведением третьего заседания. In general we are satisfied with the third session. Считаем, что объективно то, что можно было за этот короткий период времени решить, мы этого достигли. We believe that an objective fact that can be for this short period of time to decide, we have achieved this.

Д.МЕДВЕДЕВ: Уважаемые представители средств массовой информации! DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Dear representatives of mass media!

Мне бы хотелось практически со всем согласиться из того, что было сказано Президентом Украины, – может быть, кроме одного. I would like to agree with almost all of what was said by the President of Ukraine - can be but one. Виктор Федорович сказал, что так работать нельзя, но мне бы хотелось добавить, что так работать придётся по нескольким причинам. He said it can not work that way, but I would like to add that both have to work for several reasons. Во- первых, потому, что за последнее время мы очень многое потеряли. First, because the last time we lost a great deal. Я обращаю внимание на то, что сегодня у нас третье заседание межгоскомиссии – и это за пять лет. I draw attention to the fact that today we have the third meeting of interstate commission - and this for five years. А вообще-то по-хорошему нужно встречаться таким странам, как Россия и Украина, два раза в год. But in fact in the good to see countries such as Russia and Ukraine, two times a year. Стало быть, к сожалению, ничего до этого почти не делалось. So, unfortunately, nothing to it almost was not done. И, во-вторых, что, на мой взгляд, очень важно, Виктор Федорович сейчас сказал о том, что хорошо работалось, российская сторона была по-деловому настроена, – мне приятно это слышать, не буду скрывать. And, secondly, that, in my opinion, very important, Viktor Yanukovych said today that work well, the Russian side has been in a businesslike set - I am pleased to hear it, I will not hide. Мне бы хотелось сказать, что российская сторона хорошо работала потому, что у неё наконец появился полноценный украинский партнёр, то есть нормальное руководство, которое принимает решения и исполняет их. I would like to say that the Russian side has worked well because it finally came full-fledged Ukrainian partner, ie the normal direction, which makes decisions and executes them. Это очень важно в межгосударственных отношениях, когда твой партнёр отвечает за свои слова, когда он руководствуется не сиюминутными политическими интересами, политической конъюнктурой, которая есть, конечно, в каждом государстве, а стратегическими интересами развития своей страны, развития своей нации. It is very important in international relations, when your partner is responsible for his words when he is guided not by short-term political interests, the political situation, which is, of course, in every state, and the strategic interests of his country's development, the development of their nation. И таких партнёров Российская Федерация обрела в лице Президента Украины и тех людей, которые сегодня составляют его команду, входят в Правительство и Администрацию Президента. And those partners Russian Federation found in the person of the President and the people who today make up his team, composed of government and the Presidential Administration.

Мы почти всё уже рассказали из того, что было сделано. We have almost all been told of what had been done. Действительно, приятно то, что так быстро стал возобновляться рост товарооборота. Indeed, it is nice that so quickly became a renewed increase in turnover. Мне уже на эту тему приходилось рассуждать. I already had on this topic to discuss. Я уверен, что это следствие не только общего улучшения экономической ситуации в наших странах. I am sure that this is a consequence not only the general improvement of economic situation in our countries. Здесь весьма весом субъективный фактор – и это хорошо, потому что тем самым мы надеемся на то, что выход товарооборота на докризисные цифры не за горами. Here it is very subjective weight factor - and that's good, because thus we hope that the yield of turnover on the pre-crisis figures are not far off.

Более того, я считаю, нам нужно ставить амбициозные цели. Moreover, I believe we need to set ambitious goals. В ходе своих визитов в различные государства мы всегда смотрим вперед, думаем о том, как будут выглядеть наши торгово-экономические отношения, скажем, через три, пять, семь лет. During his visits to various States, we always look forward, think about how to look our trade and economic relations, say, three, five, seven years. Мы сегодня с Виктором Федоровичем тоже об этом говорили и договорились о том, что создадим специальный план координации нашего социально-экономического развития на перспективу в десять лет. We are today with Viktor Yanukovych also talked about this and agreed that create a special plan for coordination of our socio-economic development in the future in ten years. И торговый оборот нужно планировать на перспективу. And turnover need to plan for the future. Я считаю, что если мы сейчас говорим о цифре в 35–40 миллиардов, то это цифра нынешнего года, её нужно достигать в этом году, а в перспективе ставить 100. I believe that if we're talking about a figure of 35-40 billion, this figure this year, it must achieve this year, and in the future to put 100. Это как раз тот уровень, который отвечает и масштабам наших экономик, и нашему желанию развивать взаимную кооперацию, нашему пониманию места экономики России и Украины на европейском рынке, и не только на европейском, конечно. This is just a level that meets and scope of our economies and our desire to develop mutual cooperation, our understanding of the place of economics in Russia and Ukraine in the European market, not only in Europe, of course.

Обо всём, что было сделано, мы уже рассказали. Everything that was done, we are told. Впереди, конечно, работа над конкретными проектами. In front, of course, work on specific projects. Я надеюсь, что мы в ближайшее время завершим ряд документов, которые сейчас согласовываются и в области топливно-энергетического сектора включая атомную энергетику. I hope that we will soon complete a series of documents which are now coordinated and in the field of fuel and energy sector, including nuclear power. Также наше сотрудничество будет расширяться в сфере ракетно-космических технологий, авиастроения, судостроения. Also, our cooperation will expand in the rocket and space technologies, aerospace and shipbuilding. Мне бы хотелось, чтобы наше сотрудничество приобрело именно тот самый высокотехнологичный характер, тем более с учётом потенциала наших экономик, их технологической, их производственной близости, несмотря даже на достаточно трудный постсоветский период и кризисный период последних двух лет. I would like to make our cooperation has become exactly the same high-tech in nature, especially given the potential of our economies, their technological, their proximity to the production, even though quite a difficult post-Soviet period and crisis period of the last two years. Всё-таки эти экономики коррелируются друг с другом. Still, these economies are correlated with each other. И это очень важно, потому что мы только таким образом можем достичь полноценных результатов. And it is very important, because we are the only way we can achieve the full results.

Важны, конечно, и гуманитарные проекты. What matters, of course, and humanitarian projects. Хотел бы напомнить о том, что мы и сегодня подписали целый ряд документов на эту тему. I would like to recall that we have signed several documents on this topic. Очень важными являются культурные обмены, контакты между гражданским обществом. Very important are cultural exchanges, contacts between civil society. Я в прошлый раз говорил о том, что мы готовы к тому, чтобы начать полноценное вещание на украинском языке с использованием российских спутниковых возможностей, с тем чтобы все, кто интересуется украинским языком, украинской культурой в Российской Федерации, могли получать информацию прямо от источника, имея в постоянном 24-часовом вещании один из важнейших или крупнейших украинских каналов. I said last time that we are ready to begin normal broadcasts in Ukrainian with Russian satellite capacity, so that all who are interested in the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian culture in the Russian Federation, to receive information directly from the source, with a constant 24-hour broadcasting one of the most important or the largest Ukrainian channels. Впоследствии можно будет этот перечень расширить. Subsequently, it will be possible to expand this list.

У нас есть нерешённые вопросы, по которым предстоит ещё провести довольно сложные консультации. We have outstanding issues on which there is still a fairly complex consultations. Мы люди здравомыслящие, мы понимаем, что за три месяца невозможно решить все задачи. We are sensible, we understand that three months can not solve all problems. Мы понимаем, что впереди ещё длительные консультации по целому ряду вопросов. We understand that there is still lengthy consultations on a range of issues. Но самое главное, что мы вновь вернулись к дружескому обсуждению, сели за один стол. But most importantly, that we are back to a friendly discussion, sat at one table. И сегодня, закрывая заседание межгоскомиссии, я сказал, обращаясь и к российской стороне, и к украинской стороне: самое главное сейчас зависит от наших коллег, которые должны практически в ежедневном режиме общаться, снимать мелкие вопросы, которые возникают, продвигать амбициозные цели, договариваться о создании совместных проектов. And today, closing the interstate commission meeting, I said, referring to the Russian side, and the Ukrainian side: the most important thing now depends on our colleagues who have almost a daily basis to communicate, to remove minor issues that arise, to promote ambitious goals, agree on establishment of joint projects. И тогда всё получится. Then do it.

Бизнес должен подключиться. Businesses need to connect. Я надеюсь, что мы с Виктором Федоровичем завтра поговорим с деловым сообществом и дадим все необходимые сигналы о том, что мы открыты для взаимных инвестиций, что эпоха «охоты на ведьм» прошла, что инвестиции из наших стран (украинские и российские) взаимно приветствуются и им обеспечивается надлежащий уровень защиты – уровень наиболее благоприятствуемой нации, как говорят обычно в международном праве. I hope that we'll talk tomorrow Yanukovych with the business community and give all the necessary signals that we are open for mutual investment that the era of "witch hunt" was that the investment of our countries (Ukrainian and Russian) are welcome and mutually they provided an adequate level of protection - the level of most favored nation, as they say usually in international law.

Вот что мне бы хотелось сказать вначале. That's what I would like to say first. Хотел бы искренне поблагодарить Виктора Федоровича Януковича и наших украинских партнёров за продуктивную работу и за то, что заседание межгоскомиссии прошло в столь деловом ключе. I would like to sincerely thank Viktor Yanukovych and our Ukrainian partners for productive work and for the Interstate Commission that a meeting was held in such a businesslike manner.

ВОПРОС: Вы уже упоминали о том, что договорились активизировать сотрудничество и в судостроении, в авиастроении, космической области, энергетике. QUESTION: You have mentioned that agreed to intensify cooperation in shipbuilding, aircraft building, space area, the energy sector. Нельзя ли чуть подробнее об этих проектах? Could a little more about these projects? И, главное, на каких условиях они будут осуществляться, потому что украинская оппозиция утверждает, что при создании совместных предприятий, холдингов Украина потеряет и авиастроение, и атомную энергетику, и в результате – газовую трубу. And, more importantly, on what terms they will be implemented, because the Ukrainian opposition claims that the establishment of joint ventures, holding companies and Ukraine lose the aircraft industry, and nuclear power, and as a result - a gas pipe.

И второй вопрос – относительно границ: когда уже на местности будут проведены границы? And the second question - on the borders: when it was on the ground will be held on the border? И при такой дружбе – что дают эти границы двум государствам? And with such a friendship - that give these two border states?

Д.МЕДВЕДЕВ: Меня спрашиваете? DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I ask?

РЕПЛИКА: И Вас тоже, да. Comment: And you too, yes. Обоих президентов. Both presidents.

Д.МЕДВЕДЕВ: Хорошо. DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Good. Понятно. Understandably.

По поводу проектов в области судостроения, авиастроения, космоса, энергетики. With regard to projects in shipbuilding, aviation, space and energy. Знаете, если бы мы были всем довольны, можно было бы никаких совместных проектов и не затевать. You know, if we were all pleased, could be no joint projects and not start. Но мы с вами знаем те сложности, которые испытывает промышленность – и украинская, и российская, если уж по-честному говорить. But you know the difficulties faced by the industry - both Ukrainian and Russian, if it fair to say. И кризис в ещё большей степени эти сложности обострил. And the crisis in even greater extent, these difficulties worsened. Мало того, что у нас наша промышленность требует коренной реорганизации, модернизации, так ещё и кризис крайне негативно повлиял на наши конкурентные возможности. Moreover, we have our industry requires a major reorganization and modernization, so also the crisis in an extremely negative impact on our competitive capabilities.

Что в этом случае делать? What in this case do? Во-первых, не расстраиваться, а стараться находить даже в тех отрицательных процессах, которые идут, максимальный позитив. First, do not worry, but try to find even in those negative processes, which are the maximum positive. А позитив заключается в том, чтобы создать принципиально иные стандарты конкурентоспособности. A positive is to create a fundamentally different standards of competitiveness. Вот мы должны все те проекты, которые мы будем реализовывать, реализовывать исходя из двух принципов. Here we have all the projects that we implement, implement, based on two principles.

Первый принцип. The first principle. Это должны быть абсолютно прагматические подходы. It must be absolutely pragmatic approaches. Никакой филантропии, никаких односторонних решений, а именно полная взаимовыгодность этих проектов. No philanthropy, no unilateral decisions, namely the complete mutuality of these projects. Только в этом случае они будут жизнеспособны, в противном случае одна из сторон будет чувствовать себя обиженной и не будет заниматься реализацией этого. Only in this case they will be viable, otherwise, one party will feel aggrieved and will implement it.

И, второе, мы должны выходить на самые современные технологические решения. And second, we must go to the most advanced technological solutions.

У нас, например, в авиастроении есть уже неплохой потенциал сотрудничества и желание продолжить работу по всей линейке тех авиационных продуктов, которые, например, могут совместно разрабатываться ГАК «Антонов» и Объединённой авиастроительной корпорацией. We have, for example, in the aircraft industry is already a good potential for cooperation and a desire to continue work on the entire line of the aviation products, which, for example, may be developed jointly by SAC Antonov and United Aircraft Corporation. Речь идёт о всех машинах, которые, собственно, уже изготовлены и, что называется, поставлены на крыло, или о перспективных машинах. These are all machines, which, in fact, already made and that is called, put on the wing, or the future machines. Я имею в виду и «Ан-140», и «Ан-148», в перспективе – «Ан-70» и «Ан-124». I mean, and AN-140 ", and" AN-148 ", a term -" AN-70 and AN-124 ". Но на этом нельзя останавливаться. But this can not stop. Если мы смотрим в будущее, то мы должны думать о том, чтобы готовить продукты, которые будут востребованы на авиационном рынке через 10–15 лет. If we look to the future, we must think about how to prepare foods that will be needed in the aviation market in 10-15 years. А если говорить прямо, все из названных мною машин – они всё-таки в основном из прошлого. And if you speak frankly, all of the machines I have mentioned - they are still mostly from the past.

Нам нужно создавать новые продукты, это должны быть уже цифровые модели и самолётов, и судов. We need to create new products, it should already be digital models and aircraft, and ships. Только в этом случае мы сможем с этими моделями выходить на рынок: на украинский рынок, на российский рынок и на европейский рынок. Only then can we go with these models on the market: the Ukrainian market, the Russian market and European market. Поэтому сотрудничество в этой сфере может быть только на таких началах. Therefore, cooperation in this field can only be on these principles.

А что касается конкретных соглашений, то по всем этим направлениям они готовятся. As for the specific agreements, all of these areas they are preparing. Кстати, сегодня подписан вполне серьёзный документ по ГЛОНАСС. Incidentally, today signed a very serious document for GLONASS. Это абсолютно практическая работа, взаимополезная, которая позволит использовать соответствующую систему на территории Украины с использованием всех самых современных технологий. It is absolutely practical work, to be mutually beneficial, which will use the appropriate system on the territory of Ukraine using all the latest technologies. Поэтому я надеюсь, что в ближайшее время мы сможем выйти на подписание уже конкретных договорённостей о кооперации по всем самым важным индустриальным отраслям нашей экономики. So I hope that soon we will be able to enter the already signed specific agreements on co-operation on all the most important industrial sectors of our economy.

В.ЯНУКОВИЧ: Я хочу дополнить немножко Дмитрия Анатольевича. V. Yanukovych: I want to add a little Dmitry. К той линейке «АНов», о которых он сказал, ещё добавился «Ан-158», который на 15 мест больше, чем 148-й, и по экономическим характеристикам выше, чем 148-й. By that line of "ANOVA", which he said has added a "AN-158", which is 15 seats more than the 148 th and on the economic characteristics of higher than 148 th. Думаю, что он тоже будет конкурентоспособным на рынке, мы его уже поставили на крыло. I think that he too will be competitive in the market, we have already put on the wing.

Хочу сказать, что предварительно наше сотрудничество в авиастроении, которое мы прорабатывали, предусматривает, например, что, если сборка самолета происходит на территории России, комплектация приблизительно будет такая: 60 процентов – российская, 40 процентов – украинская. I would say that previously, our cooperation in aircraft building, which we have studied, for example, provides that if the aircraft is assembled in the territory of Russia, completion will be approximately this: 60 percent - Russia, 40 percent - Ukrainian. Если на территории Украины сборка, комплектация будет 60 процентов украинская, 40 – российская. If the territory of Ukraine assembly equipment will be 60 percent Ukrainian, 40 - Russian. И наши специалисты давно уже работают друг с другом, в разные времена им только мешала власть, мешала бюрократия. And our specialists have long worked with each other, at different times they only interfered with the power, interfered with the bureaucracy. Сегодня мы прекрасно понимаем: для того, чтобы выйти на рынки третьих стран, нужно выйти не на штучное производство самолётов, как оно производилось до этого, а на серийное производство – это уже будет совершенно другая конкурентная цена, это уже будет совершенно другое качество. Today, we are fully aware: to reach the markets of third countries that do not have to go for piece production aircraft as it was done before, but for mass production - it will be a completely different competitive price, it will be a totally different quality. И конечно, смежные предприятия, которые выпускают комплектующие для авиастроения, также будут снижать цены на свои комплектующие, потому что они будут выпускать их в большем количестве, и они будут гораздо дешевле. Of course, associated companies, which produce components for the aerospace, will also reduce the prices of their components, because they will produce them in large quantities, and they will be much cheaper. И это значит, что мы будем совместно зарабатывать больше, чем если бы мы в одиночку боролись на мировых рынках. And that means that we will together earn more than if we had single-handedly fought in world markets.

Аналогично можно сказать и о судостроении, провести такую же параллель и в космической отрасли. Similarly, we can say about shipbuilding, to make a similar parallel in the space industry. По судостроению, Дмитрий Анатольевич не сказал, мы договорились с ним о том, что Россия достраивает проект 1164 – это крейсер «Украина». Shipbuilding, Dmitry did not say we have agreed with him that Russia to finish building the project 1164 - a cruiser "Ukraine". Этот проект для нас тоже имеет, я бы сказал, принципиальное значение, потому что он столько лет уже простоял, фактически 95 процентов готовности, но мы его без России достроить просто не имеем возможности. This project is for us, too, has, I would say crucial, because he had stood for so many years, actually 95 per cent ready, but we did not finish the Russia simply can not afford to.

Что касается демаркации границ, Вы задали вопрос: договор об устройстве границы между Украиной и Россией был подписан в 2003 году. With regard to the demarcation of borders, you asked the question: the agreement on the device the border between Ukraine and Russia was signed in 2003. Представьте себе, прошло семь лет – и только через семь лет мы вышли на договор о демаркации границы. Imagine, it took seven years - and only seven years later, we came to an agreement on the demarcation of the border. Конечно, это было наше совместное политическое решение. Of course, it was our joint political decision. И сейчас в рамках этого соглашения будет создана комиссия, которая очень быстро решит эту проблему, создаст дополнительные условия и для Украины, и для России в решении различных проблем, в том числе международных. And now, under this agreement will be a commission, which quickly solve this problem, create additional conditions for Ukraine and for Russia in solving various problems, including international ones.

ВОПРОС: Виктор Федорович, добрый день! QUESTION: Viktor Yanukovych, a good day! Вы сейчас сказали, мы действительно видим в последнее время серьёзную активизацию российско-украинских отношений, но вместе с тем не секрет, что на Украине есть силы, которые выступают против этого. You just said we really see the recent significant strengthening of Russian-Ukrainian relations, but at the same time it is no secret that in Ukraine there are forces that oppose it. Как Вы считаете, есть ли сегодня реальная угроза тому, что будет сохранён новый тренд в наших отношениях? How do you think there is now a real threat that will be saved new trend in our relationship?

И сразу, Дмитрий Анатольевич, если можно, вопрос к Вам. And immediately, Dmitry, if possible, a question for you. Сегодня стало известно, что Иран, Турция и Бразилия договорились о дообогащении урана на территории Турции, о передаче урана для обогащения на территорию Турции. Today it became known that Iran, Turkey and Brazil have agreed on beneficiation of uranium in Turkey, on the transfer of uranium enrichment to Turkish territory. Будет ли это служить гарантией от применения санкций в отношении Ирана? Will it serve as a guarantee against the use of sanctions against Iran? И будут ли каким-то образом задействованы российские мощности в этом процессе? And will somehow involve the Russian power in this process?

В.ЯНУКОВИЧ: Я уверен в том, что сегодня украинскому народу стало абсолютно понятно, где мы были пять лет. V. Yanukovich: I am convinced that today the Ukrainian people became absolutely clear where we were five years old. И, если нам нужно вернуться в прошлое, этот вопрос нужно задавать не мне. And if we need to go back in time, the question we must ask not for me. Нужно задать его людям в любом регионе Украины. You have to ask his people in every region of Ukraine. Повторяю, не только на западе, юге, востоке. I repeat, not only in the west, south, east. В любом регионе Украины сегодня понимание стабильности приобрело решающее значение, потому что стабильность – это фактор улучшения экономики и жизни людей. In any region of Ukraine today, understanding the stability become critical, because the stability - a factor in improving the economy and people's lives. И мы не только во  внутренней политике должны быть эффективными. And we are not only in domestic policy to be effective. Власть должна пользоваться доверием людей. The government should enjoy the confidence of the people. А доверие достигается только решением различных проблем, я бы сказал, жизнеустройства в нашей стране, жизнеобеспечения. A trust can be achieved only solution of various issues, I would say, living arrangement in our country, life support. А без экономики это невозможно решить. And without it the economy can not be resolved.

А в международных отношениях – скажите, пожалуйста, когда была эффективной политика противостояния? And in international relations - please tell me, when I was a good policy of confrontation? Я не знаю такой страны, которая бы за счёт такой политики защищала свои национальные интересы. I do not know such a country, which would be at the expense of such a policy defending its national interests. Поэтому, естественно, принципиальная позиция защиты национальных интересов всегда будет присутствовать в нашей политике. So, naturally, a position of principle of protection of national interests will always be present in our politics. Мы всегда будем принципиально к этому относиться. We always will be fundamentally attitude. И это будет основой. And it will be the foundation.

Д.МЕДВЕДЕВ: Прежде чем сказать несколько слов по иранской ядерной программе, хотя вопрос адресовался и не мне, и в общем перед украинским народом отвечает Президент Янукович как избранный Президент, а не кто-либо другой, я скажу, может быть, совсем простую вещь, но, на мой взгляд, самую важную. DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Before I say a few words on the Iranian nuclear program, although the issue was addressed and not for me, and in general to the Ukrainian people meet President Yanukovych as president-elect, and not anyone else, I would say maybe just a simple thing but, in my opinion, the most important. В конечном счёте, люди, которые живут здесь или живут в России, они чувствуют, есть изменения к лучшему или нет. Ultimately, the people who live here or live in Russia, they feel there is a change for the better or not. Их восприятие основано на самых разных фактах, из которых складывается их благополучие, их самочувствие. Their perception is based on a variety of facts that contribute to their welfare, their well-being. Так вот если от сотрудничества между Российской Федерацией и Украиной люди, которые живут здесь, и на востоке Украины, и на западе Украины, и в центральной части, будут ощущать только позитивные изменения, если они будут чувствовать, что приход инвестиций, увеличение товарооборота, в конечном счёте, создаёт новые рабочие места, увеличивает их зарплату, создаёт возможности для нормальных выплат пенсий, социальных пособий, я уверен, что ни у кого никаких сомнений не возникнет, потому что это главный критерий, по которому обычные люди определяют правильность внешней и внутренней политики руководства страны. So if the cooperation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, people who live here, and in the eastern Ukraine and western Ukraine, and in the central part, will only feel the positive changes if they feel that the arrival of investment, increased trade in Ultimately, creating jobs, increasing their salaries, creating opportunities for the normal payment of pensions, social benefits, I'm sure no one no doubt will not arise, because it is the main criterion by which ordinary people determine the correctness of domestic and foreign policy leadership.

Теперь в отношении того, что происходит на иранском треке. Now as to what is happening at the Iranian track. Действительно, из Ирана пришла интересная информация. Indeed, Iran has come interesting information. Та работа, которая велась с участием Бразилии и Турции, завершилась подписанием соответствующей декларации. The work, which was conducted with the participation of Brazil and Turkey, ended with the signing of a declaration. Сейчас мы эту декларацию самым внимательным образом изучаем. Now we have this declaration the most careful study. Я надеюсь ещё сегодня вечером пообщаться по телефону со своим коллегой, со своим другом Луисом Инасиу Лулой да Силвой, Президентом Бразилии. I hope to have this evening to talk on the phone with her colleague, with his friend, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil. Надеюсь получить информацию из первых рук. I hope to get information first hand.

Сейчас могу сказать следующее. Now I can say the following. Во-первых, хорошо, что есть определённый результат: удалось обсудить самую сложную проблему ядерной программы Ирана. First, the good that there is a certain outcome: able to discuss the most difficult challenge Iran's nuclear program.

Во-вторых, есть желание проводить обменные операции низкообогащённого урана на высокообогащенный уран в тех пропорциях, в которых это зафиксировано в соглашении. Secondly, there is a desire to carry out exchange operations to low-enriched uranium highly enriched uranium in the proportions in which it is fixed in the agreement.

Возникает вопрос о том, достаточен ли этот уровень обменных операций? The question arises, whether this is sufficient level of exchange transactions? Все ли участники международного сообщества будут этим удовлетворены? Do all members of the international community will be satisfied with that? Не знаю. Do not know. Видимо, потребуются отдельные консультации с участием всех, кто, что называется, в теме, кто в процессе. Apparently, require separate consultations with the participation of all those who, as they say in the subject, who in the process.

Отдельный вопрос, который возникает, – будет ли Иран сам проводить дообогащение? A separate question which arises - whether Iran itself undertake beneficiation? Насколько я понимаю, судя по выступлениям отдельных официальных представителей этого государства, такого рода работа Ираном будет продолжена. As I understand it, according to statements by individual officials of this state, this kind of work Iran would continue. В этом случае, естественно, те опасения, которые были у международного сообщества, могут остаться. In this case, of course, the fears that have been in the international community can stay.

И, наконец, нужно посмотреть, что последует за соответствующей декларацией. And finally, to see what will follow the relevant declaration. Поэтому, думаю, в любом случае то, что было сделано нашими коллегами из Бразилии и Турции, следует приветствовать. So, I think, in any case, what has been done by our colleagues from Brazil and Turkey, should be welcomed. Это политико-дипломатический способ решения иранской проблемы. This politico-diplomatic way to solve the Iranian problem. Нужно провести безотлагательные консультации с участием всех заинтересованных сторон включая Иран и уже по итогам этого определиться, что нам делать дальше, достаточно ли тех решений, которые предложены, или же необходимо предпринять что-то иное. It is necessary to hold urgent consultations with all stakeholders including Iran and already on the basis of that decide what we should do next, enough of those decisions that are proposed, or the need to do something different. Поэтому я думаю, короткая пауза по этому вопросу будет не лишней. So I think a short break on this issue will not be redundant. Я уверен, что мы консультации с нашими партнёрами – и Бразилией, и Турцией, а также другими коллегами, которые занимаются вопросами иранской ядерной программы, – продолжим в самое ближайшее время. I am sure that we consult with our partners - and Brazil, and Turkey, as well as other colleagues who deal with the Iranian nuclear program - will continue in the near future.