Russian President Vladimir Putin told the reporters during his 13th annual news conference in Moscow why he is participating in the elections.
"I have already repeatedly said during public events and more private discussions what kind of Russia I would like to see. It [Russia] should be looking into the future, be very modern, its political system should be flexible, economy should be based on high technologies, workforce productivity should increase multiple times," the head of state explained.
Putin said that he does not want to discuss his election program though he "practically has" one. "Today’s occasion is possibly not the right moment for presenting it," he pointed out.
According to the president, the main thing on which both the authorities and the society need to focus are development of infrastructure, healthcare, education, as well as advanced technologies, increasing labor productivity. "And, undoubtedly, it all must be aimed at increasing the income of the citizens, the income of our people," the incumbent president said.
Saying about opposition, Putin said that it is important not only to "make noise on the streets and at various meetings, but also to offer ways to make things better". "People definitely are not happy with many things and they have a point, because better results could be achieved. But when they start to compare and assess what opposition leaders, particularly leaders of the non-systemic opposition, have to offer, they face begin to have doubts. I believe, this is the main issue that those seeking to become a competitive opposition are facing - they need to offer a practical agenda that the people would believe in, rather than bringing forward an unclear agenda," the president stressed.
Putin said at the conference that he will run in the 2018 presidential election as an independent candidate. "I expect to have support of those political forces that share my view on the country’s development and trust me. I expect a widespread support of the Russian citizens," he said.
According to the head of state, the myth about the "manual" administration style in Russia is greatly exaggerated, an enormous amount of systematic work is done by the government and regional authorities.
Speaking about the economy, Putin said that it is growing. "GDP has grown 1.6%, industrial production has also grown 1.6%. The auto industry, light industry, agriculture have experienced good growth."
President Putin said that Russia has become the world’s leading exporter of grain. "Exports are growing, they are becoming massive. We have taken the lead in the world in terms of grain exports," he said, adding that in 2017, the grain harvest may exceed 130.5 mln tonnes.
"We have overcome two shocks: the sharp fall of energy prices and external restrictions, or so-called sanctions. Sanctions did not had as much of an impact as the oil price, but they still did," President Putin pointed out.
"Our development has started to rely more and more on domestic demand, which is crucial for any economy," he said, noting that foreign investment this year doubled and reached $23 billion. The Russian leader said that the nation also recorded the lowest inflation this year since the Soviet collapse - 2.5%.
This year, the number of journalists accredited for the event broke last year's record, with 1,640 journalists expected to attend.
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