The President received Mayor of Vladivostok Konstantin Shestakov in the Kremlin and proposed that he take up the post of Acting Governor of the Primorye Territory.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Shestakov, I am looking at your service record: place of birth – Vladivostok and place of study – Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.
Konstantin Shestakov: That is correct.
Vladimir Putin: You began your career in Vladivostok and have spent your entire professional life there. Your current post is Mayor of Vladivostok. Everything in your life is connected with your home city and with the Primorye Territory.
Konstantin Shestakov: That is true.
Vladimir Putin: But Vladivostok is not the whole of the Primorye Territory.
You know why I have invited you here. How would you feel about a possible appointment to a new position with broader powers and, naturally, greater responsibility?
Konstantin Shestakov: Mr President, thank you for the opportunity to be considered for this position.
You are absolutely right. Both Primorye and Vladivostok are indeed home to me, and I believe that such a challenge and such an opportunity will not only place a considerable responsibility on my shoulders but also offer a great chance to make our beloved region and our beloved city of Vladivostok even better. There is a special joy in being able to create and improve something in the city you love.
Over the past few years, thanks to your support, the team in the Primorye Territory has accomplished a great deal, and the results are evident. In my view, Governor of the Primorye Territory Oleg Kozhemyako has delivered several important projects for the territory. And the most important achievement is a strong team he built together – a strong team of like-minded people who are now working effectively.
I have been part of this team for many years. I know it inside out, and I share its core values. I believe a positive era lies ahead for the city of Vladivostok and the Primorye Territory. For my part, I pledge to dedicate all my energy, knowledge and skills to helping Primorye reach new heights.
I believe we have built a very solid foundation over this time. I am sure you would agree that it is widely recognised, for instance, that Vladivostok and Primorye serve as the eastern gateway to the Northern Sea Route, a project of great significance to our entire nation.
As for our current efforts, we have developed a comprehensive plan centred on four key areas. Working in this region leaves no room for error, and every detail matters. We have identified four priority areas that I consider vital for our region.
The first is, of course, supporting the men who are currently defending our country’s interests and fighting for our Motherland, as well as supporting their families. This also includes assisting those who have returned home as veterans – ensuring they have access to employment, rehabilitation and habilitation services. Oleg Kozhemyako has placed – and continues to place – a great deal of emphasis on this, and we will certainly carry this work forward.
The second area concerns the economy and investment. One in every three shipping containers in our country passes through the ports of Primorye. Furthermore, Primorye ranks eighth among all Russian regions in terms of housing construction volume.
These are among Primorye’s key strengths, though certainly not the only ones. We will ensure that particular focus is placed on projects being implemented in accordance with your instructions. For instance, in collaboration with our colleagues from Rosatom, we will be building a nuclear power plant, while a civilian shipbuilding yard is set to be established in Vladivostok together with our partners from the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).
Just recently, you inaugurated the first phase of the Nakhodka Mineral Fertiliser Plant, and we are now moving forward with the development of its second phase. We are also working on a metallurgical plant, which will serve as a robust extension of the shipbuilding cluster in the Primorye Territory – a significant and serious undertaking.
As for investment, Primorye has truly excelled. Over the past year, we have increased our investment volume by 27 percent, reaching 487 billion rubles. This translates into new jobs and new projects.
However, none of these projects can succeed unless we address two, in my view, critical issues: attracting young people and implementing a well-considered human resources policy.
Mr President, thanks to your support, young people have come to believe in Primorye. Quite recently, at the end of September, we reviewed the enrolment figures at Far Eastern Federal University. A total of 6,900 young people enrolled in the first year, including 4,800 from outside the Primorye Territory. These are young people from the Far East and Siberia, as well as from the western part of the country and, of course, our international students.
The situation is the same at Pacific State Medical University. Young people have put their faith in us. You may remember that Vladivostok was awarded Youth Capital status, and we are continuing this comprehensive work to attract young people.
However, in my view, attracting young people is not enough in itself. Naturally, they will come here to spend four years of their lives with us, and we will provide them with a high-quality education. Yet we face a very serious and interesting task – to make them fall in love with the Primorye Territory and show them that here, in this city by the sea and across the Primorye Territory, they can fulfil their potential in science, entrepreneurship, the creative arts, sport and, of course, at our industrial enterprises.
We have a clear plan and, most importantly, concrete examples to show young people that the Primorye Territory is a wonderful place to live. Young people have excellent prospects here. Mr President, this has become possible thanks to the decisions you made earlier. Take the Far Eastern mortgage programme, for example. Young people genuinely see an opportunity to make a lasting commitment to the Primorye Territory and build their lives here in a variety of ways.
Naturally, for each of us, for the residents of the Primorye Territory, whether living in large cities or small municipalities, our surroundings always matter – the infrastructure available to us and the quality of the urban environment. We have therefore decided that the fourth area of our work will focus on comprehensive development, improving public transport and implementing the project announced by Oleg Kozhemyako at the beginning of this year. It is called Major Improvement. This involves not only major, significant projects being implemented, for example, under the national project – such as parks and public gardens – but also improvements to the areas around people’s homes, including their courtyards and residential neighbourhoods in our cities and throughout the Primorye Territory. When residents began to believe in us and realised that this was a practical possibility, they joined forces, and I am sure that this will be our strength and our main task for the next few years.
Mr President, thank you for this opportunity. Believe me, I will devote all my energy and knowledge to the further development of the Primorye Territory.
Vladimir Putin: Excellent.
You said that the Primorye Territory is a gateway to the world. But it is more than just a gateway; it is the land itself and, above all, the people who live and work there, those who came to the Far East long ago and managed to persuade their children to stay and build their lives there. This is our greatest asset, and we must cherish and develop it. In the past, our predecessors, earlier generations, did a great deal to establish Russia’s presence in this part of the world. Today, we can see just how important that has proved to be.
Unfortunately, we sometimes lose sight of the people who built what we now call Primorye, and the Far East as a whole, for Russia. It is our duty, both today and in the future, to do everything we can to develop this region. We want those who live there, as well as those who might choose to move there, to feel that this is a place where they truly want to live – not as though they were embarking on some heroic, monumental undertaking like moving to the Moon. You made a very important point about this just now.
Achieving this requires a great deal of work in all the areas you outlined – and, in truth, in even more areas than those four you have mentioned. We have indeed made progress in recent years, thanks to the efforts of capable people such as Yury Trutnev and, as you mentioned, Governor Oleg Kozhemyako. They have worked hard, and they will continue to focus on these priorities.
In Mr Kozhemyako’s case, this is clear: he will serve as both Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy and Deputy Prime Minister. Ultimately, however, the success of our joint efforts depends first and foremost on the person leading the region on the ground.
You have succeeded in everything you have undertaken so far, and I believe you will continue to do so in this new role, which carries an even greater degree of responsibility. It is essential – and you are good at this – to maintain direct contact with people, not only in Vladivostok but throughout the Primorye Territory. I wish you every success and the very best of luck. I sincerely hope that you will bring all your knowledge and energy to bear. I can also see that you have the fighting spirit needed to achieve our ultimate goal: ensuring that people feel their lives are getting better, day by day, or at least month by month, and year by year, and that the situation in the Primorye Territory is improving. Once again, I wish you every success.
Konstantin Shestakov: Mr President, thank you. I will live up to your trust.
Vladimir Putin: Good.