Putin to tackle problem of plummeting population

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin has promised cash bonuses to Russian women who give birth to two children or more in order to reverse what he says is the gravest problem facing contemporary Russia: a plummeting population.

He used his annual state of the nation address yesterday to warn that Russia's population of 143 million is declining by an average rate of 700,000 each year, a figure comparable to the population of the Gulf state of Bahrain.

The problem is regarded as a national security issue since large swaths of Siberia and the far east of Russia are dangerously under-populated.

It is an anomaly that has stoked fears among ordinary Russians that they will one day be usurped by migrant workers from neighbouring China whose population-packed territory is considerably smaller than Russia's, the world's largest country.

Mr Putin made no mention of such fears yesterday but warned the problem had become "critical."

"The most acute problem in modern-day Russia is demography," he told the country's great and good in the Kremlin's Marble Hall to frequent outbursts of frenzied applause.

"We have to stimulate the birth of a second child in every family. This is what we need to resolve this problem: first, a lower death rate; second, an efficient migration policy; and third, a higher birth rate."

Statistics show that around eighty Russians die every hour, often due to preventable lifestyle diseases such as alcoholism, and that life expectancy for Russian men is just 59 years of age.

Mr Putin conceded that poverty was putting many would-be mothers off and promised to dip into the country's growing pot of oil revenues to tackle the problem.

"What stops a woman deciding to have a second child?" he asked.

"Poor living conditions, limited income (and) sometimes, God help us, the thought of whether they will be able to feed the child or not."

Mr Putin's solution was a ten-year plan that it is estimated will cost the Kremlin £80m ($239m) a year.

Quoting the country's most famous living writer Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, he called for the revival of 'ancient caring attitudes' towards the family and the home arguing that love of country begins with love of family.

Under Mr Putin's proposals, which are due to take affect from January 1 of next year, women who give birth to a second child will receive a one-off cash bonus of 250,000 roubles ($14,859).

In a country where many scrape by on a monthly wage equivalent to just £160, ($478) the bonus is a generous one.

Child benefit will also be increased, from the current level of 700 roubles a month to 1,500 roubles for the first child in the family.

Women who give birth to a second child can lay claim to a further 3,000 roubles a month and will receive financial help with childcare facilities.

Though he devoted much of his speech to domestic issues, Mr Putin also found time to subtly deal with harsh criticism of his policies from Washington.

US Vice-President Dick Cheney recently accused Russia of backsliding on democracy and of using its energy resources as a political weapon but Mr Putin dismissed the allegations.

He said: "Not everyone has been able to move on from the...prejudices which are a left-over from the epoch of global confrontation despite the fact that there have been fundamental changes in the world.

Where is all this pathos about protecting human rights and democracy when it comes to the need to pursue their own interests?" He made it clear too that Russia was actively rearming and was poised to substantially boost military spending which he said was currently 25 times lower than Washington's.

"Their (the Americans') house is their fortress - good for them," he said, pausing for effect with a wry smile.

"But that means that we must also make our house strong and reliable."

- INDEPENDENT