13.02.09

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday he believes that special attention should be given to the development of small business now that the economy has come to grips with a crisis.

As he met with Vyacheslav Pozgalyov, the governor of Vologda region some 450 kilomerers to the north of Moscow, he highlighted some social aspects of the situation in Russia's penitentiaries.

"We must watch closely the development of our social system, first and foremost, and the situation with employment in the conditions of this crisis," Medvedev said. "With the aid of small business, the country will be able to go through the crisis with minimum expenses."

The crisis has brought to spotlight the fact that attention to small sectors of the economy has been practically nonexistent in the past.

"We'd pay attention to big issues that could facilitate our development but now we must enact all the segments /of the economy/, too," Medvedev said.

Governor Pozgalyov told him about the efforts the Vologda region's administration is making to develop small business.

He also said the regional authorities are seeking to develop manufacturing of import-substituting products, especially in the field of household appliances.

The plans drafted to date for small businesses alone may help the region get about 3,000 new jobs, Pozgalyov said.

Prior to the meeting with the governor, Medvedev had contacts with the residents of Volga, an older and quite traditional Russian town.

The people wished health and prosperity to the President and his family.

"Please tell me if you have problems," Medvedev asked them.

Some young people who came up to the President asked him about the crisis.

"This crisis is everyone's headache, and we'll be scrambling out of it together, we'll be working hard and we'll overcome it in the final count," Medvedev said. "We've known much harsher times in the past."

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Source: Itar-Tass