Andrey Vandenko
The middle class. Where was it lost? We were told it would account for more than half of the population.
Vladimir Putin
Listen. Do you know what the middle class is? Do you think that the middle-class lifestyle is the way they live in France, Germany, or the US? Nothing could be further from the truth. Each country has its own middle class. The World Bank has an appropriate method [to classify] the middle class. It is estimated by using the number of households, people whose incomes are 50 percent above the minimum wage. This year’s minimum wage is, if I remember correctly, 11,280 rubles, right? While the average wage is far higher. There are a lot of such people. Well above 70 percent.
Andrey Vandenko
Then our middle class should not be called "middle" but rather "the mediocre class."
Vladimir Putin
You know, we have to judge by the day-to-day realities.
Andrey Vandenko
By one's means.
Vladimir Putin
Not by one's means but by the methodology of the World Bank. "By one's means" is a very unclear formula. The World Bank's method suggests that each country has its own middle class. So do we. Our task is just to make this middle class stronger. To boost incomes and strengthen the middle class.
Andrey Vandenko
Like in France and Germany…
Vladimir Putin
And raise incomes...
Andrey Vandenko
Vladimir Vladimirovich...
Vladimir Putin
Things should not be like they are in France.
Andrey Vandenko
We wouldn’t?
Vladimir Putin
Just look at what is happening there. Is there anything good about it? Protests rage on there non-stop. Right? Whole branches of the economy are stalled. The unrest has left 11 people dead. Many were injured. Lost their eyes to rubber bullets. What’s so good about this? Is this what you want? I do not think so.
Andrey Vandenko
Well, the people in France took to the streets.
Vladimir Putin
Yes
Andrey Vandenko
Macron made one move forward and one move back. Then, he backtracked.
Vladimir Putin
Is this really a good thing?
Andrey Vandenko
I don’t know. For the French people it probably is.
Vladimir Putin
I don’t think so. Firstly, nothing has fundamentally changed. In the context of the reform, the most critical issue, as I see it, was the one related to early retirement and basically equal treatment for all. From an economic standpoint, this is actually reasonable. Pragmatically speaking, President Macron is doing the right thing overall. From a practical standpoint, we did the wrong thing because we left practically everything in place. We kept almost all the entitlements, and all privileged categories. We still have early retirement, while in France its [dissolution] is precisely the reason for the discontent.
Andrey Vandenko
Early retirement has remained for the military and for law enforcement agencies…
Vladimir Putin
Where?
Andrey Vandenko
Here in Russia.
Vladimir Putin
Not only for them. It’s been kept for coal miners, for instance, and for other categories. It is still in place for teachers. We have many groups eligible for entitlements. Moreover, for mothers of large families, the retirement age is 50. We need to fulfil a very important task – raising people's real income. We should think about the best use of the available resources which are large enough. Our National Wealth Fund has exceeded 7 percent of the GDP – to be more precise it is 7.3 percent. Next summer, in July, as far as I remember, funds are expected to be credited to our accounts and we are getting to the point when we will begin to spend these reserve funds more intensively. We agreed on this earlier. We made a decision to do it when this reserve fund, and we have only one reserve fund left, the National Wealth Fund, exceeded 7 percent. The question is what should we spend the money on? On investments, on support for certain groups of the population, and so forth. This is what our discussion is revolving around nowadays.
Sources: Russia’s Ministry of Finance, Federal State Statistic Service.