Putin blames internal reason for economic slowdown

MOSCOW - Russia's sluggish economic growth is caused mainly by domestic reasons not global crisis, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday in his annual state-of-the-nation address to the parliament.

According to him, the main cause hampering Russian economy is its low labor productivity. "We need to boost domestic demand for high technology, for innovations," Putin noted.

He demanded to find balance between industrial growth and environmental protection, vowed to resume sustainable economic growth.

Meanwhile, Putin said Russia must objectively estimate its competitiveness on the world market and to work out a road map of supporting export-oriented companies.

Putin believes that insufficient measures have been taken by the executive branch of power to implement the ideas offered by the decrees issued by the president in May 2012.

"Where are all these measures? Eighteen months have already passed since the decrees were published. Either something is being done to cause a negative response in society, or nothing is being done at all," Putin said.

"We will definitely not achieve the set targets if we continue to work in such a manner. These reforms are taking unacceptably long. As a result, people, consumers of services, do not feel any drastic changes," the president said.

The ambitious goals of Russia's socioeconomic development set in May 2012 presidential decrees will not be revised due to economic difficulties, Putin said.

"I hear from time to time that there is not enough money for implementation of all these declared plans and goals, and that it is necessary to lower our standards and to simplify our tasks. I believe politics should not be based on formal principles," Putin said.

"Surely, economic trends may vary, but this is no reason to talk about revising our goals. We should do real work, look for solutions, and clearly set budgets and other priorities," Putin said.