Address by Viktor Kress at the LIV Session of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast (November 24, 2011)

Dear deputies, dear friends!

Today, at the last Session of the Forth Convocation Duma, I would like to cordially thank you for the fruitful joint work. During this time, since 2007 we have seen much. Your tenure faced the economic crisis whose aftermath we have barely begun to endure. I believe that the crisis could be deeper and more acute but for the tense and efficient interaction of the executive and legislative branches – and we have really worked closely this time.

Together with the Duma we made timely decisions for social support, labor market stabilization, support for both individual enterprises and a number of economic sectors of the Oblast. This period was anything but simple – when the production downswing, unemployment growth and fall of living standards. We had to freeze a number of projects including the vital one ¬– road construction.

But the time showed that our joint efforts were effective to a greater extent, and might me the only possible ones. Yet we have witnessed also positive events for the latest years and, I guess, more positive than negative. Despite the highly imperfect inter-budgetary relations, while you are the Duma deputies, for the first time we are going to reach and overstep the fifty-billion consolidated expenditure budget this year. This is a response to those who yell that we have ruined the economy. And in the aggregate, Tomsk Oblast will collect 150bn rubles and possibly more of taxes for the first time this year. I wish we could keep a half or better some 60 per cent of the collected sum. I believe it will be so some day.

Average pension in Tomsk Oblast in October this year has crossed the 9,000 line for the first time and now amounts to 9,068 rubles. Small? Small… but the highest average in Siberia. I think as well that the breakthrough in development of the innovative system would have been impossible in Tomsk Oblast for the last five years without the deputies’ support for the undertaken actions: this refers to both passing the bills for innovations in the region and personal involvement of many deputies in promotion of our innovations. Those were the years when we were successfully taking part in creation of Tomsk Special Economic Zone of Technical Innovation Type; when we were supporting Tomsk universities in their endeavors to become innovative and in particular Tomsk State and Tomsk Polytechnic Universities to get the status of National Research Universities.

Without you we would be unable to give more magnitude to Tomsk Innovation Forum which is a trademark of the region today. The apex of our joint efforts was the governmental approval of the concept to jointly create the Center of Education, Research and Development INO Tomsk 2020. Together with you, with the Tomsk Oblast citizens we may be proud of the work done. Another reason for satisfaction is based on the demographic statistics numbers: the most important results of our joint activity were revealed during the tenure of the Fourth Convocation Duma. Tomsk Oblast managed to get rid of the notorious demographic cross from its shoulders.

For the forth year the population has been consistently growing by 4-5 thousand people a year. The birth rate is growing and the death rate is decreasing; for nine months of this year the natural increase has been over 600 people so far. Almost five thousand people came as a migration gain. We are among nine Russian regions where these two rates are positive.

I believe these numbers is the most important appraisal of the work of the authorities for the latest period. We jointly managed to implement many good projects. We have significantly progressed in modernizing educational system, health care and social security of the citizens. Let me give you one figure – on November 01 at the meeting with the president in the Altai Territory a local rural teacher was proud to announce that 26 schools were repaired within 5 years in the Altai Territory. I began to count my head – with the population 2.5 times less than in the Altai Territory we managed to repair over forty schools.

Hospitals and clinics were newly equipped; as I have told, over forty schools were built and repaired in Tomsk and in the Oblast. All schools have access to Internet. I surely won’t enumerate everything we’ve done for four years but to summarize – we have laid the tangible groundwork for the future deputy corps.

I would like to express my gratitude especially to our irreplaceable speaker Boris Maltsev – he has been running the Duma a little bit less than I have been governing the Oblast. We were successful in our joint work to a greater degree owing to his wise, efficient managing of the Oblast government. Thanks to all deputies of the Fourth Convocation Duma.

I wish you success in your further activities, victory to those who are running for the office in the Fifth Convocation Duma. Good luck and prosperity to those who decided to take no part in elections. Please remember that you are always welcome in my office. I am convinced that lots of victories and success, much interesting and important in work await us in the future for the sake of all citizens of Tomsk Oblast. Have a nice day! Thank you!

The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast

Address by Viktor Kress at the LIV Session of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast (November 24, 2011)