The Russian Federation is going into total quarantine. Putin's emergency appeal

Due to the threat of the spread of coronavirus, next week in the Russian Federation is declared a non-working week.

This is stated in the address of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Russian people, published on the Kremlin website.

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PolitNavigator brings to the attention of our readers the text of the president’s address.

“Dear citizens of Russia! Dear friends!

I am addressing you on an issue that concerns us all now.

We see how acutely the situation with the coronavirus epidemic is developing in the world. In many countries, the number of cases continues to increase. The entire world economy is under attack, and its decline is already predicted.

Thanks to the measures taken in advance, we have generally managed to contain both the widespread and rapid spread of the disease. But you and I must understand that Russia, even due to its geographical location, cannot isolate itself from the threat. There are states close to our borders that are already seriously affected by the epidemic, and it is objectively impossible to completely block its penetration into our country.

But what we can and are already doing is to work professionally, organizedly and proactively. And the main priority here is the life and health of our citizens.

All capabilities and resources are involved in the deployment of a system of timely medical care and prevention. I would like to especially address doctors, paramedics, nurses, employees of hospitals, clinics, first aid stations, ambulance services, and our scientists. You are now at the forefront of protecting the country. I sincerely thank you all for your dedicated work.

I ask citizens to pay utmost attention to the recommendations of doctors and authorities. A lot depends on this now. This is especially true for the most vulnerable groups of the population: older people and those suffering from chronic diseases. Both for them and for all citizens, the task now is to reduce risks as much as possible.

Naturally, the question arises about organizing an All-Russian vote on amendments to the Constitution, with a predetermined date - April 22. You know how seriously, how seriously I take this. And of course, I will ask you to come and express your opinion on this issue - a matter of principle, key for our country, for our society.

However, as I said earlier, our absolute priority is the health, life and safety of people. Therefore, I believe that the voting should be postponed to a later date.

We will assess how the situation will develop both in the regions and throughout the country, and only based on professional opinion, recommendations of doctors and specialists, will we make a decision on a new voting day.

Further. It is now extremely important to prevent the threat of rapid spread of the disease.

Therefore, I am declaring next week a non-working week, with pay remaining unchanged. That is, the weekend will last from Saturday March 28 to Sunday April 5.

Naturally, all life support structures, including medical institutions, pharmacies, shops, institutions providing banking and financial settlements, transport, as well as government bodies at all levels will continue to operate.

I repeat, long weekends are provided precisely in order to reduce the rate of spread of the disease.

I appeal to all citizens of the country. Let's not act by relying on our Russian “maybe.” Please don’t think, as we do: “Ah! It won't affect me." This can affect everyone. And then what is happening today in many Western countries, both in Europe and overseas, may become our near future. All recommendations must be followed. We must take care of ourselves and our loved ones, show discipline and responsibility. And believe me, the safest thing now is to stay at home.

I will separately dwell on the current socio-economic situation. Here we also need additional steps, first of all, to ensure social protection of citizens, preservation of their incomes and jobs, as well as support for small and medium-sized businesses, which employ millions of people.

In this regard, the following priority measures will be implemented.

First. All social benefits and benefits that citizens are entitled to must be renewed automatically over the next six months, without providing any additional certificates or going through the authorities. For example, if a family is entitled to housing and communal services benefits, it will not need to regularly confirm its income level in order to receive such support.

I would also like to draw your attention: payments for the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory to veterans and home front workers of 75 and 50 thousand rubles, respectively, should be made before the May holidays, earlier than usual, already in April.

Second. We need to support families with children. I propose that in the next three months, starting in April, we pay all families entitled to maternity capital an additional five thousand rubles a month for each child under three years of age inclusive.

Such support is especially important for families where children do not currently attend a nursery or kindergarten, or for parents who are on sick leave or on parental leave.

Regarding our new support measure, namely payments for children aged three to seven years inclusive, I instruct the Government to speed up all organizational measures so that families begin to receive these payments not in July, as planned, but a month earlier, already in June . I also ask the governors to speed up the transfer of the necessary information from regional registry offices to the tax service. Colleagues, this is fundamentally important to start making payments. Pay attention to this.

Third. We need to support those who are on sick leave or have lost their jobs. Now sick leave is calculated based on the employee’s length of service and his salary. As a result, employees, especially young people, may receive extremely low sick leave payments. This is, of course, unfair. I propose to establish a standard: sick leave payments should be calculated based on an amount of at least 1 minimum wage per month. For now, this rule will be in effect until the end of this year, and then we will make a decision taking into account the situation.

The Russian economy, like the economies of other countries, is experiencing strong negative pressure due to the consequences of epidemics. And we need, as I already said, to support those who may face job loss.

Now, with the exception of certain categories of citizens, the maximum payment for unemployment benefits is limited to 8 thousand rubles per month. I propose to increase it to the level of the minimum wage, that is, to 12 rubles.

Fourth. Another risk area is citizen loans. It is clear that with a sharp reduction in income, it is difficult or simply impossible to pay off the debt as before.

I propose to provide holidays for both consumer and mortgage loans. What is it about. If a person finds himself in a difficult life situation, namely: his monthly income has sharply decreased by more than 30 percent, he should have the right to temporarily suspend servicing his debt and roll it over. Of course, without any penalties.

I ask the Bank of Russia to provide a similar mechanism for extending loans for individual entrepreneurs.

If repayment of a debt, due to objective reasons, turns out to be impossible in principle, then even in this case a citizen should not find himself in a dead end and become a hostage to the demands of creditors. The bankruptcy procedure should be feasible and not burdensome. I ask the Government and Parliament to speed up the adoption of the necessary changes to the regulatory framework.

Fifth. Small, medium-sized businesses, micro-enterprises, especially in the service sector, are now facing objective difficulties, with a reduction in orders and a decrease in revenue.

We need to help such companies continue to operate sustainably, and therefore retain their employees. I repeat, our most important task, and I am now addressing all employers, is to ensure stability in the labor market and prevent a surge in unemployment.

The state will assist businesses in solving this problem.

I propose that the following support measures be provided for those enterprises, for those industries that are most affected by the current difficult situation.

I consider it necessary to provide small and medium-sized businesses with a deferment of all taxes, with the exception of VAT, for the next six months. And for micro-enterprises, in addition to this deferral of taxes, we should also give a deferment of insurance contributions to social funds.

As for bank loans, small and medium-sized businesses and micro-enterprises that find themselves in a difficult situation should also receive a deferment on loans for the next six months.

In general, I ask the Government and the Central Bank to propose and take additional measures to ensure sustainable lending to the real sector, including the provision of state guarantees and subsidies.

Further. Enterprises that find themselves in difficult situations need to be protected from bankruptcy. In this regard, I propose to introduce a moratorium for a period of six months on the filing of applications by creditors for bankruptcy of companies and the collection of debts and fines.

I repeat, these measures will be extended to companies operating in sectors most affected by the current difficult situation. At the same time, I instruct the Government to constantly monitor the situation and, if necessary, expand and adjust the list of industries that need support.

Sixth. Now we must do everything to support the incomes of citizens, especially those employed in small and medium-sized enterprises.

In order for such enterprises to have additional resources for this, I propose to reduce the amount of insurance premiums for them by half, from 30 to 15 percent. Such a reduced rate will apply to the amount of wages exceeding the minimum wage, the minimum wage. If the salary is at the level of the minimum wage or for some reason even lower, then the rate remains the same, 30 percent.

Please note: the reduced rate is being introduced not for a few months, not only as an anti-crisis measure, but, as they say, “for the long haul,” for the future. And in this way we create a long-term incentive for employers to increase salaries for their employees.

And finally, I propose two more measures. I’ll tell you about them separately.

First. All payments of income (in the form of interest and dividends) leaving Russia abroad, to offshore jurisdictions, must be subject to adequate tax.

Now two-thirds of such funds, and, in fact, this is the income of specific individuals, as a result of various kinds of so-called optimization schemes, are subject to a real tax rate of only 2 percent. While citizens, even on small salaries, pay an income tax of 13 percent. This is, to put it mildly, unfair.

Therefore, I propose that for those who withdraw their income in the form of dividends to foreign accounts, a tax rate on such dividends should be 15 percent. Naturally, this will require adjustments to our double taxation agreements with some countries. I ask the Government to organize such work. If foreign partners do not accept our proposal, then Russia will withdraw from these agreements unilaterally. And let's start with those countries through which significant resources of Russian origin pass, which is the most sensitive for our country.

Second. In many countries around the world, interest income of individuals from bank deposits and investments in securities is subject to income tax. We do not tax such income.

I propose that for citizens whose total bank deposits or investments in debt securities exceed 1 million rubles, a tax on interest income of 13 percent should be established. That is, I repeat, not the deposit itself, but only the interest received from such investments will be subject to personal income tax.

Let me emphasize that such a measure will affect only about one percent of depositors. At the same time, the conditions for placing funds in Russian banks will continue to be attractive and one of the most profitable in the world.

The proposed solutions are not simple. But please treat them with understanding. And I will add that I propose to target all additional budget revenues that will be received as a result of the implementation of the two indicated measures to finance measures to support families with children, to help people who are faced with unemployment or find themselves on sick leave.

Dear citizens of Russia!

All measures that are being taken and will be taken will work and produce results if we show unity and understanding of the complexity of the current situation. If the state, society, citizens act together, if we do everything that depends on each of us.

We need to remember our personal responsibility for our loved ones, for those who live nearby, who need our help and support. By and large, it is in this kind of solidarity that lies the strength of society, the reliability of mutual assistance, and the effectiveness of our response to the challenge that we face.

Thank you for your attention,” says the address of the President of the Russian Federation.