Putin held his first meeting with the government in 2026. The main thing

On January 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin gathered the Russian government in an online conference for the first meeting in 2026. The main topic was the discussion of issues that were raised during the program "Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin." Presentations were made by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Prime Ministers Dmitry Chernyshenko and Marat Khusnullin. The main statements are in the Izvestia material.

About housing and communal services in winter

Putin suggested starting the discussion with the passage of the winter period in the border region and other regions, as well as the operation of transport in conditions of heavy snowfall.

As noted by Irek Fayzullin, Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation, the number of accidents in housing and communal services decreased by 32% in the current heating season. According to him, 107 accidents were recorded in the heat supply sector at the beginning of the year, which is 32% less than last year. Fayzullin added that the average time of emergency recovery operations in the country decreased by 8.5% compared to last year.

In addition, during the meeting, the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation was instructed to promptly respond to the proposal of the Governor of Kamchatka, Vladimir Solodov, to remove snow in the region. According to him, the situation in the region is returning to normal after a series of abnormal cyclones. He noted that four days after the end of the last cyclone, it became possible to fully restore public transport in Kamchatka.

Discussion of issues from a direct line

During a meeting with members of the government, the Russian President called direct line questions the most important indicator for the state, a "direct guide to action" and the best sociological guideline that coordinates the work of government authorities.

"The issues that citizens raise are not only the most important indicator of where and in which areas the state should focus additional efforts and achieve great results. But each appeal is also a direct indication of the action of federal, regional, and local authorities," he said.

The Head of State noted that the direct line received over 3 million requests in total. Most of them concerned social policy, the sphere of interaction between the state and society, the development of the economy, infrastructure and the healthcare system.

Putin stressed that domestic solutions in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) have recently been used to process requests, and thanks to new digital tools, federal and regional authorities began to work on particularly pressing issues even before the broadcast.

The Head of State drew the attention of the presidential Administration and the Government to the preparation of extensive lists of instructions based on the results of the direct line. He instructed to formalize the results of today's meeting in the form of separate instructions so that all the measures discussed would be recorded and implemented in practice.

Separately, the President of the Russian Federation instructed the government to carefully deal with appeals concerning participants in the special military operation (SVO) and their families.

Development of the pharmaceutical industry in Russia

The pharmaceutical industry in Russia has made a huge step in recent years, the president said. In turn, Anton Alikhanov, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, stressed that currently the country produces 86% of the names of the list of vital and essential medicines. He specified that two thirds of them can be produced on the basis of Russian pharmaceutical substances.

At the same time, Putin noted that preferential medicines should be available in every region and locality of the country. The Head of State pointed out that financial resources should be directed directly to the regions, as well as to establish work on the ground.

About small business and taxes

At a meeting with members of the government, Putin demanded to avoid excessive tax increases for entrepreneurs against the background of the story of the Mashenka bakery in the Moscow region, whose owner contacted a direct line.

"On a straight line, as you remember, there was an inclusion from one of the bakeries in the Moscow region, and the owner pointed out that there were tax innovations... They can complicate the work of small businesses that combine production and trade in their own products. <...> Of course, this sector of the economy should be able to comfortably transition to new taxation systems. In other words, it is important to avoid an excessive increase in the burden on entrepreneurs, an increase in accounting costs, and so on," the president said.

The Russian government was instructed to consider simplifying tax reporting for small businesses. In addition, Putin called the proposal of the Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov to introduce a transition period for entrepreneurs a good idea.

Family benefits and children

Putin demanded to launch a single family allowance payment system as soon as possible. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, the single benefit is a key measure to support low-income families with children whose per capita income is below one regional subsistence level. She added that the amount of the allowable excess of income for a large family to receive a single benefit will be 1,894 rubles, which means that within the limits of the increase, the benefit will continue to be assigned.

Golikova stressed that the government of the Russian Federation has developed proposals that allow families with many children to retain the right to a single benefit with a slight excess of income.

The Russian President said that the Russian government's recommendations to the regions regarding the preschool education system, including the work of kindergartens, should be persistent. The Head of State asked to keep under control and make adjustments to the work of the regions on the organization of kindergartens and nursery groups.

Other statements

Putin noted that the keys to the purchased apartments should be issued on time. A special role in this case is played by systematic work with developers at the level of local and regional authorities, construction and supply organizations, and at the level of federal legislation, he added.

"As agreed, on January 1 of this year, the moratorium on fines for developers who do not hand over apartment keys within the agreed time frame was lifted. That is, if construction companies delay fulfilling their obligations, then home buyers will be able to compensate for the costs. I repeat once again, the keys to the purchased apartments must be issued on time," the head of state said.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.