WEBVTT

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Dear comrades, in opening the current
session of the Federation Council,

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I consider it extremely important and necessary

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to speak clearly and with complete candor
about the current situation.

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It is such that, in essence, we are talking
about a serious danger

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hanging over our country.

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This is a danger to our statehood,
to the Soviet federation,

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whose preservation was endorsed
by a majority of the adult population.

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This is the danger of economic collapse,
with all the consequences that entails

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for the interests of the people and
for the country's defense capability.

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This is the danger of paralysis of the institutions
of power, law and order, and legality.

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And consequently, for the normal life and work
of every Soviet citizen,

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every Soviet family.

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In short, we are talking about the very foundations
of our life, which stand above all

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ideological views, political platforms,
not to mention personal

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preferences and group interests.

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Right now I am not, generally speaking,
inclined to analyze the causes of this situation.

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Everything has become intertwined here:
the difficulties of the transitional period, mistakes

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of central, republican, and local
bodies, and the pressure of problems that

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have their roots in the past.

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All of that is true.

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The analysis of all of this and all these causes

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is something we are conducting, and we must continue it,

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drawing lessons for our work.

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But right now we must act.

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We must act, and without delay.

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Act decisively, not alone, but together,
uniting all the healthy forces

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of society, setting aside quarrels,

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acting so as to prevent

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the country from sliding toward catastrophe.

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This is what must be said today at
this session of the Federation Council.

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And so, proceeding from this understanding
of the situation, it seems necessary

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to carry out a number of decisive
steps in the very near future.

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First,
to take decisive measures to preserve

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and renew Soviet statehood.

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The people expressed their will
in the referendum of March 17 of this year.

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On this vitally important, fateful
question, the people voted for the Union of Soviet

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Socialist Republics as a renewed
Federation of sovereign republics,

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in which the rights and freedoms of people
of every nationality

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will be fully guaranteed.

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No one —
neither those seated here

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nor anyone outside this hall — has the right
to rewrite the results of the referendum,

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much less to ignore them.

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We now have a mandate from the people to
pursue a consistent, firm

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policy of renewing and strengthening
the Union state

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in the interests of working people,
on the principles approved by the referendum.

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For the conclusion of a new union
treaty and the adoption of a new Constitution,

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we have a reliable foundation
for constructive work

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in strengthening legality and the system
of governance, increasing oversight and

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accountability of officials.

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On this basis, we must immediately end
the so-called war of laws, which is, in

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essence, the most flagrant
lawlessness of all.

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In the near term, finalize and then
sign the new union treaty.

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To this end, discuss the published draft
at the sessions of the Supreme Soviets

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of the republics and of the USSR Supreme Soviet.

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Reach final agreement on the text
of the treaty and sign it.

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The signing of the Union Treaty will make it
possible on a lawful basis to begin delineating

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the functions of Union and republican bodies,
and thereby put an end to the current

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process, which, broadly speaking,
resembles a peculiar kind of

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seizure by self-appropriation.

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And the squabbling,
which has led to mistrust, to the pitting

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of one against another, to suspicions,
and ultimately from all of this

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society suffers, people suffer, and progress is impeded.

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This will also make it possible to move forward
with completing work on the new Constitution —

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a draft of which should then be considered
at the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR

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and subsequently, perhaps,
put to a popular vote.

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Third, to immediately restore
the vertical chain of command of executive

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bodies of power from bottom to top,
and to decisively apply measures of legal,

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administrative, and economic
accountability with respect to subordinate

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executive bodies and officials
for failure to carry out the decisions of superior

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bodies on matters within
their competence.

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Here too, complete clarity
must be introduced.

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And we cannot allow processes to unfold
under the banner of democracy, under the banner of sovereignization,

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that strike at that very sovereignty

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and at the entire Union state, and at democracy itself,
and that call into question

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our entire course of transformation.

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It may serve someone's interests,
but society suffers from it.

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In the shortest possible time, complete the adoption
of laws governing the activities

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of law enforcement bodies.

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In the current circumstances I address — here,
and I hope this appeal will be

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heard in the Supreme Soviet —
preserve the internal unity of the system of these

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bodies, strengthen their
material and technical base.

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Fourth, in view of the danger to
the state posed by interethnic conflicts,

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we propose to call on all parties drawn into them
to immediately cease violence,

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to rescind any restrictions on the rights
of citizens based on ethnicity,

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and to enter into negotiations in search of
mutually acceptable political solutions.

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One must step over everything
that has accumulated over these years.

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This is not easy to do, but the highest
interests dictate precisely this logic

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of action and conduct, this kind of position.

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Fifth, to declare a moratorium until the end of the current year
on strikes, rallies,

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demonstrations, and other political actions

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that are destabilizing the situation in the country.

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In the economic sphere.

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To urgently take measures to prevent

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further decline in production
and the breakdown of economic ties.

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The Cabinet of Ministers has taken up this matter.

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There is a draft decree on this subject, and there is
a coordinated decision that has been signed

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by all the representatives of the republics.

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On this matter,
comrades are raising the need to extend

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the presidential decree on the same
issue through the second and fourth quarters.

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And most importantly, to implement the decisions
that have been taken concerning

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the operation of core industries.

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And everything recorded in the economic

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agreement for 1991 must be
implemented by each republic.

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Otherwise, everything else is pointless

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talk among those present, which provokes in

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people not only irritation, but outright protest.

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People are decisively opposed
to this way of doing things.

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We meet, we draft, we coordinate, we sign.

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And we leave without
proper attention and organizational follow-through

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all the previously adopted decisions of republican
and local bodies restricting

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the export of goods beyond the borders of republics,
oblasts, and regions — within one week

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they must be rescinded.

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If we do not do this,
nothing will change.

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It only seems that someone feels
confident when he controls every

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ton, issues directives on every matter
pertaining to the activities,

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the economic activities, the contractual
activities of the enterprises themselves,

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the actors in the all-Union market.

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Moreover, it must be made clear that individuals
guilty of failing to carry out these requirements

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must be held strictly accountable, up to and including

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removal from their posts.

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That is how the matter stands.

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Because at the other end of all of this
stands the fate of the state.

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How will things proceed from here?

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Either we will take the situation in hand,
take it firmly in hand, or we will

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continue with pointless squabbling.

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That is, in essence, what this is about.

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In view of the particular importance
of food supply for the population,

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a special regime is being introduced for supplying
the necessary resources to collective farms and

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state farms and other rural
commodity producers.

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All enterprises
of the agro-industrial complex.

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At the state level, assistance to the countryside
from urban residents is guaranteed in

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carrying out agricultural
work, and especially the harvest.

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The Cabinet of Ministers must without delay,
in the second quarter of this year,

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address the question of maintaining
equitable terms of exchange between agriculture

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and industry and other branches
of the national economy under

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the new pricing conditions.

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If we let this slip now, if we postpone it even
by a month, matters will turn out such that in

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the past year our collective and state farms
as a whole closed with a profit of 57 billion rubles.

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By the end of the second quarter, virtually
all collective and state farms will be operating at a loss.

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Such is the situation in connection with what
has happened in the sphere of the national

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economy with wholesale prices.

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This matter demands an immediate solution.

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To adopt a decision on introducing incentives for
enterprises in industry, construction,

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and transport that carry out work on the social
development of rural areas, and

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thereby create incentives for them.

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For next year's harvest, land reform
in the countryside must be set in motion.

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The necessary laws.

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The relevant provisions exist at both
the all-Union level and in the republics —

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the relevant documents have been adopted.

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As far as I am aware, in virtually
all the republics,

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local authorities and farm managers are obliged to ensure

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their precise implementation.

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A primary task remains
the filling of the market with goods.

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Here we must act on the basis
of an emergency situation and

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take extraordinary steps.

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First of all, it is necessary to introduce preferential
financing and preferential taxation

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for all enterprises producing
consumer goods.

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Work collectives, whatever their line of activity,
must have a stake

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in expanding the production of goods.

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To replenish market supply,
draw upon much of what

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is currently going toward production needs.

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This must be directed to the market, increasing
commodity resources by reducing

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exports and increasing imports.

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Anti-crisis measures are inconceivable without
fiscal recovery, without pursuing

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a strict course toward reducing
the state deficit,

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and with the most stringent oversight over
the use of every public ruble.

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We cannot tolerate for another week, not
another day, the way in which

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the economic agreement
for the current year is being fulfilled.

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In what concerns the budget, the tax
system, the creation of stabilization and

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pension funds, and the functioning
of the banking system.

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In the face of this financial chaos and the anti-state
practices we

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encountered in the first months of the current
year, there can be no question of preserving and

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developing the all-Union market, of improving the country's
finances, of emerging from the crisis.

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This is outright robbery of the Union budget
and the entire financial system of the country.

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And it will be stopped.

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I will say plainly: references to any extenuating
circumstances are inadmissible here.

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We must finance defense,
the activities of law enforcement bodies and

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state security agencies,
and fundamental science.

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Expenditures on culture, the fulfillment of major
Union-wide social programs,

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and the support of core industries.

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To provide budgetary
assistance to a number of republics.

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One of the main tasks of the anti-crisis measures
is strengthening the ruble and bringing order to

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monetary circulation through the regulation
of pricing and credit policy.

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And most importantly, ensuring that every ruble
appearing on the market has been

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genuinely earned.

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The intention is to launch active
efforts on denationalization and

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privatization,
first and foremost in trade, public

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catering, in personal services, and in small and
medium-sized enterprises

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of industry, toward the development
of entrepreneurship, the demonopolization

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of the economy, the support of small and medium
business, the accelerated creation of commodity and

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financial exchanges, and the practical
implementation of the transition to

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ruble convertibility.

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A primary place in the system
of anti-crisis measures is given to the creation of

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social guarantees and social protection
for the population, so as to allow

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those who are able to work to earn their living, while
at the same time supporting

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those who are unable to work and the socially vulnerable.

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To this end, within the next
month, a draft law on the indexation

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of the incomes of the population in

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connection with price changes will be submitted to the Supreme Soviet.

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Work is being completed on forming a system
of minimum consumer budgets.

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A republican employment service and
a system of public works have been established.

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Special attention in conditions of the transition to the market
will be given to health care,

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education, science, and culture.

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I have named only a small part of the proposed
measures covered by

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the anti-crisis program.

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It will be completed within one week by the Cabinet of
Ministers and presented

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to the USSR Supreme Soviet.

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We must, comrades, make clear to ourselves

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and say plainly to our people that there is no
single economic miracle,

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no magic remedy, by using which
one can overturn everything at once and

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decisively change things for the better tomorrow.

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This is an entire system of interconnected
political, economic,

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social, legal, and foreign economic
measures within the framework

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of the course we have chosen toward the transition to
a market economy, the rule of law,

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and the renewal of the Union.

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Its implementation is no simple matter, especially
in the present extremely difficult circumstances of

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the disintegration of the economic
and social mechanisms.

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Therefore, I raise once more the question of
the effectiveness of the functioning of power

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structures, strict observance
of state discipline and order,

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legality, and the universal development
of initiative and responsibility.

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We must achieve mutual understanding and
cooperation in this, and then, I am confident, we will be able to

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halt the further development of crisis
conditions and by year's end achieve

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a certain stabilization, create
conditions for an economic revival, improvement

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of the situation in the country, and the acceleration of reforms.

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In conclusion, I want once more
to emphasize that the anti-crisis program

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we are proposing
is an extraordinarily complex and difficult undertaking,

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but it serves the interests of society as a whole.

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And in putting it forward, we propose that all
political forces and movements set aside

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political differences as a secondary concern
and postpone ideological battles.

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In this regard, I welcome the calls heard at
the recent Congress of People's Deputies

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of the Russian Federation for
cooperation and interaction between

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the center and the republics.

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Especially since such calls have in recent times
been made with ever greater and greater insistence

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at virtually all forums
in all the republics.

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And this is already a matter of conscious awareness.

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It is simply the imperative of the times.

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And right now the main thing is to act,
to resolve practical matters.

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It is from this vantage point that we must examine

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the questions placed on the agenda
of this session of the Federation Council.

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They are, perhaps in the most —
the very closest way —

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well, more than merely close: they are the most
central issues today in terms of

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implementing the anti-crisis measures.