In the Georgievsky Hall of the Kremlin, Dmitry Medvedev devoted an hour and a half to the address, much of it on the global financial crisis, anti crisis measures, and Russias role in a changing world. He also proposed political reforms, including changes to the electoral system, and set the ambitious task of strengthening the ruble as a regional currency. Separately, the president called for faster adoption of laws to create an international financial center in Russia and stressed the need to support business.

The president’s speech in the Georgievsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, where the most solemn events are held, lasted an hour and a half. As expected, a significant part of the head of state’s address was devoted to the global financial crisis. The president called the timely implementation of anti-crisis measures one of today’s priority tasks.
The president began by saying that this year had become a serious test for Russia. In particular, this concerns the August war in South Ossetia and the behavior of the United States on the international stage. Moreover, in the head of state’s view, these things are interconnected.
The international community must create mechanisms that “block erroneous, selfish, and dangerous decisions” by individual states. And Russia, which gained a significant advantage during the period of rapid growth in the world economy, is ready to work on this issue together with other countries.
Turning to domestic policy, Medvedev proposed guaranteeing parliamentary seats to parties that win between 5% and 7% of the vote in elections. But he spoke out against lowering the 7% threshold.
In addition, he supported abolishing the cash deposit in elections at all levels and proposed discussing the possibility of gradually reducing the number of voter signatures required to participate in State Duma elections.
One of the president’s main tasks was the transformation of the ruble into one of the regional currencies. “We need to take practical steps to strengthen the role of the ruble as one of the currencies in international settlements,” Medvedev said, adding that the transition to settlements in rubles should begin first of all in export deliveries of oil and gas.
In addition, according to the president, “it is necessary to encourage the placement of new issue securities precisely in rubles and preferably on the Russian market.” “The ultimate goal of all these processes is to make the ruble one of the regional currencies,” the president concluded.
Besides this, the president demanded that a package of laws to create an international financial center in Russia be adopted by the end of 2008.
Medvedev is confident: the state must support business.