President Putin announces new pandemic response package

Good afternoon!

The leaders of the Government of the Russian Federation and the leaders of all regions of Russia take part in our work. I propose focusing on issues that are today the main, key for all of us. This is the fight against the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, the protection of health and life, the safety of people, the sustainability of the economy, the preservation of employment and income of our citizens.

I will start with an urgent task common to all regions. We are talking about the increased readiness of medical institutions, a substantial increase in their resources and capabilities. Now this is an absolute priority.

The necessary federal support for these purposes has already been allocated and has arrived in the regions. Including more than 33 billion rubles was allocated for the deployment of additional specialized, fully equipped beds in hospitals and infection wards.

Another 13 billion rubles were allocated for the purchase of medical equipment, including mechanical ventilation devices, as well as reanimobiles and ambulances, which will begin to arrive in the regions in April.

Let us hope that the reserves created in the healthcare system and additional capacities are not required in full. But now we must be ready to fight for the life of every person in every region.

I believe you understand how high your, your personal responsibility is for the allocated funds to work as efficiently as possible.

I ask you to act quickly, collectively and professionally, value time, every day and every ruble. To solve all organizational and personnel issues in advance. To form teams of specialists capable of working with new equipment in hospitals that are redesigned to treat people with coronavirus infection.

At the same time, I instruct the Ministry of Finance to give the regions the opportunity to act flexibly, to concentrate the allocated resources on those problems that are better visible on the ground. I know that the leaders of the constituent entities of the Federation, and I communicate with you, colleagues, on a daily basis, have proposals on this subject. And I ask you to separately report on them today, to dwell on them separately.

But I emphasize, providing such freedom of maneuver, we will strictly ask. To evaluate the result not by the formal number of reserved beds, but by the real readiness of medical facilities, equipment and personnel to provide precisely the specialized care that patients with severe illness need.

We also provided additional payments to doctors, nurses, medical personnel for special working conditions and increased workload. Funds from the federal budget for these purposes - more than 10 billion rubles - have been allocated and will soon go to the regions. People should receive such payments on time, without delay.

In addition, I consider it necessary to implement another measure, namely for three months, starting in April, to establish a special federal payment to specialists who work directly with patients with coronavirus and who risk their health every minute.

For doctors directly working with patients with coronavirus infection, this surcharge will amount to 80 thousand rubles per month. For paramedical personnel - paramedics, nurses - 50 thousand rubles. For junior medical personnel - 25 thousand rubles a month. As for emergency doctors who also work with patients with coronavirus, they will receive a payment of 50 thousand rubles a month. Paramedics, nurses and drivers of car crews - 25 thousand rubles.

I repeat, such specialists are at the forefront. Therefore, we will proceed precisely from this terminology and from this situation. And it will be right to make one more decision: namely, to establish for them increased insurance guarantees at the expense of the federal budget. So, as it is done for the personnel of the Armed Forces of Russia. Further, at a meeting with his plenipotentiaries in the federal districts, he gave instructions to work out all the details of inter-regional cooperation, including the reception of patients from other regions, as well as the departure of ambulance medical teams to neighboring regions of the Federation. Please inform today how this work is organized. Are unresolved issues still persisting here. In addition, it is necessary to fully utilize the capabilities of our leading federal medical centers. At the same time, I understand their specifics well, but now it is important to gather all our resources into a fist. Therefore, I instruct the Government to draw up a schedule for the transfer of beds from federal clinics to the disposal of the regions within two days.

Dear Colleagues! In accordance with my Decree, all subjects of the Federation were to prepare plans for optimal preventive measures. Do this based on the risk of spreading the infection. I ask you to report today whether such plans have been developed and, most importantly, how their implementation is unfolding.

Giving additional powers to the heads of regions, I proceeded from the fact that now acting on a single uniform template is not only ineffective, but sometimes harmful. You have all the opportunities to work targetedly and accurately, to take into account the situation in each settlement, at specific enterprises, in the subject of the Federation as a whole, to take adequate, well-considered preventive measures, the main purpose of which is to protect human life and health.

At the same time, the economy cannot be stopped. Close transport, freight, passenger traffic between regions, massively restrict the work of enterprises, regardless of the real situation, even when isolated cases of infection are recorded in the region. We must understand what damage, what devastating consequences this can lead to.

I draw your attention, even in Moscow with its population density, with the concentration of traffic flows, and hence the objectively greater risks of spreading the infection, there is no practice of ubiquitous closure of enterprises - “all under one comb” - this is not the case. Many metropolitan companies continue to work or switched to remote mode.

Now we need to create all the conditions for companies, organizations, entrepreneurs to return to their normal work schedule. I repeat, this must be done thoughtfully and accurately, carefully monitoring the situation. There should be a clear, understandable list of organizations whose work is limited due to increased risks. Other enterprises do not need to be “loaded” with various additional certificates, clarifications and approvals. They can continue to work, naturally, observing all the necessary sanitary requirements and safety standards.

And, of course, it is important to minimize the crisis, mitigate the blow for the business, the losses of which, frankly, are already quite serious, but can be even more significant.

We agreed that each region of the Federation will have its own regional list of enterprises that play an important, systemic role for the economy of the regions. Once again, I appeal to the heads of regions, I ask you to delve into the problems of each enterprise, to help ensure their sustainability, maintain employment, and seek targeted solutions.

As for the federal level, here I want to say about the following new solutions.

The first one. We have already reduced the size of social contributions for small and medium-sized businesses by half - from 30 to 15 percent. They did this so that enterprises have additional resources for remuneration of workers. This measure, as already said, is of a long-term nature.

As an emergency, additional help, I propose extending to all affected small and medium-sized enterprises a deferral of payment of insurance contributions to social funds for six months - as we have already done for microenterprises.

The second one. For small and medium-sized businesses, we have provided for deferment of all taxes, except VAT, also for the next six months. However, he specially drew the attention of the Government after a meeting with entrepreneurs: there should not be a situation when, in six months, companies will have to immediately, simultaneously pay off accumulated debts. This is what worries the business community the most; it would have an extremely negative impact on doing business. Therefore, we are restructuring such a debt. It can be extinguished smoothly, monthly, in equal installments for at least a year after the end of the delay.

However, the situation continues to change. In this regard, the third. I entrust the Government with the participation of the Central Bank within five days to prepare a program of additional business support. It should allow companies to maximize their employment and employee income.

I understand that it is not easy for entrepreneurs, but you see, dear friends, that this is happening everywhere, almost all over the world: demand is falling, orders are being reduced, many companies are not just having to, especially in the service sector, many are closed. This is a serious test for every entrepreneur, his business reputation. I am sure that business, thinking about the future, will make every effort to preserve its teams and its teams, and we will support such a responsible, mature approach.

I consider the following formula to be fair: to help, first of all, first of all to those companies that maintain employment. But if, nevertheless, people find themselves without work, then in this case we will directly help precisely them - those citizens whose incomes have decreased, families with children who are now difficult, people who cannot maintain their loans in the same volume. In this regard, a number of measures.

The first one. Yesterday I signed a decree on the beginning of additional payments to families eligible for maternity capital of five thousand rubles per month for each child under the age of three years inclusive. Such payments will be made in April, as well as in May and June.

The second one. Also in June, one month ahead of schedule, payments will begin to families with children from three to seven years old inclusively.

But here it is important to emphasize what I want to dwell on in more detail. When he proposed this decision in the Message, it was a question of the so-called criterion of need, that is, the family had to show its income for the past year in order to receive payments. But now, when the current income of many has "subsided", it is impossible to judge the wealth of the family by last year’s information.

Therefore, for those who are temporarily recognized as unemployed, I propose not to take into account income received earlier at the place of work when calculating payments for children from three to seven years old, as well as other benefits. Thus, we significantly expand the circle of recipients of such support. Those who previously could not claim such a payment will begin to receive it. I repeat, proceeding not from past inquiries, but from the current real situation and problems of a particular family.

The third. To everyone who lost their jobs and contacted the employment service after March 1 of this year, I propose in April, May and June to pay unemployment benefits automatically at the upper limit, which we have already revised upwards, namely in the amount of the minimum wage - 12 thousand 130 rubles. I ask you to do so in such a way that you could draw up the allowance as simple and easy as possible remotely.

Now people are not up to bureaucratic formalities and walking around the courts. Therefore, I ask the Government to also work out a mechanism for automatically renewing passports, driver’s licenses, and other certification documents for at least three months.

Fourth. As already mentioned, special support measures are needed for families with children, where parents are temporarily unemployed. In this case, in addition to unemployment benefits and payments that we already have for families with children, I also propose to pay an additional three thousand rubles a month for each minor child in the next three months.

Fifth. In March, he instructed to provide for citizens a vacation on consumer and mortgage loans. I ask the Government to return to this issue and consider expanding this support measure so that it becomes available to more people.

Dear Colleagues! Yesterday, as you know, I met with scientists and epidemiologists. We carefully study the experience of all countries that also faced the coronavirus threat, and he says that the most difficult, most difficult are the first four to five weeks from the start of the epidemic. This means that the next two to three weeks will be decisive for the development of our situation. This is the period when the maximum concentration of all resources will be required of us, the most strict implementation of the recommendations of doctors, of the preventive measures that are being introduced in every region today.

Of course, we cannot say with full, “one hundred percent” certainty how the situation will develop in the healthcare sector, in the economy both in our country and in the world as a whole. But we can, with a high degree of probability, predict, anticipate possible options for the development of the situation, which means we can and must develop and have our own action plan in advance for each of these options, and then these actions will be timely and effective.

We will work confidently and rhythmically, professionally. I emphasize that for this we have everything: a stable macroeconomic situation, a minimum state debt, a solid “airbag” in the form of reserves accumulated over the previous years, there are means to solve problems in any of the possible scenarios, and finally, we have experience in overcoming past crises years.

It is clear that certain losses cannot be avoided, but we are able to minimize these losses and create conditions for future development. We will support the economic sectors affected by the crisis, the labor market, and the healthcare system, and we will do our best to help the people who need such help today.

I repeat, support measures in all these areas should be prepared in a timely manner, and should be implemented taking into account the high dynamics of the situation. It’s impossible to postpone such decisions. I ask both the Government of Russia and the leaders of the regions of the Russian Federation to be guided by just such an initiative approach.

And now I would like to appeal to all citizens of Russia. I understand that fatigue has already accumulated, a serious burden of financial, domestic, and other everyday problems. Your usual rhythm of life is broken. For most, constantly staying in four walls, as they say, dreary and nauseous. But there is no choice now. The mode of self-isolation, its tests must certainly withstand. That discipline in the fight against infection that we must achieve depends on our discipline and responsibility.

And you know what is especially valuable: this is what every day confirms the strength and cohesion of our society. I’m talking again about doctors and nurses today. They act selflessly as one team. Perhaps, over the past decades, for the first time we have acutely realized the importance and indispensability of their work. I’m talking about volunteers, volunteers, the number of which is growing today, about athletes, artists, journalists who have joined this work.

And of course, about you - about millions of people who help their neighbors, care about their parents, family members, and in this difficult time, show high civil responsibility. These are not simple, not empty pathos words, but our reality, when the best qualities of each of you are needed and in demand.

Dear friends! Everything passes and this will pass. Our country has repeatedly gone through serious trials: both the Pechenegs tormented it and the Polovtsy, Russia dealt with everything. We will defeat this coronavirus infection. Together we will overcome everything.