I.Metshin: "The main aim is to preserve the unity of society"

Speech by the Mayor of Kazan in the primaries May 15, 2015.

Dear colleagues!

Four months later, in a single day of voting on September 13 we will elect the President of the Republic of Tatarstan and more than 7.5 thousand deputies of local councils.

Today we have gathered to listen to "candidates in candidates” of the new third convocation of the Kazan City Council.

I want to emphasize that the election campaign will be held in conditions that have been generated in past five years of the successful development of our country. The experience and ideas of Tatarstan now are taken over at the federal level. Kazan as the capital, not only realizes all republican initiatives, but also breaking new ground very actively, as an example for other municipalities.

Even in the face of declining economic performance in the whole Russia, the republic and Kazan continue to move forward.

The guarantee of our common successes is that the republic does not share power in a federal, republican and municipal, as the main task of any government is the only one: that is the increase of quality of life of the citizens, responsibility for the territory.

And of course, a huge contribution to this common cause has brought the leader of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov with his many years of fruitful work, first as prime minister and then as the president. With the first President Mintimer Shaimiev, he laid the foundation of the new Republic of Tatarstan. Minnikhanov as an experienced and strong leader now sets the main development trends in the Republic and defines priorities.

We always felt understanding and support of the republic's leadership, the State Council and the Cabinet of Ministers. We have not been able to achieve such scale of transformations in the city without understanding from the republic's leadership, without consent of our positions and common objectives. But we also know that the success of Kazan, which we are proud about, was achieved through the diligent work of municipality and due to the social activity of each Kazan citizen. We have reached impressive results together.

Today in Kazan one-third of the housing stock has been renovated. We are the leader in Russia in terms of repair of housing.  Every four square meter of roads have been overhauled in Kazan. Of course, the people expect more from us, and the theme of the road is not removed from the agenda.

Due to the project of the party "United Russia" "New roads of Russian cities" and the support of our President, for the first time (!) in the post-Soviet history of Kazan substantial funding to repair yards and driveways has been allocated. Today asphalt pavement in 1105 yards has been renovated – that is more than a quarter of all households in Kazan.

High-tech medicine came to Kazan and the results are obvious:  mortality from cardiovascular disease reduced on 21%. For a quarter century preceding the "Five-year plan of health" only 2 medical facilities were built in Kazan, but for the last 5 years 15 new healthcare facilities appeared in Kazan such as Russia's largest children's clinic "Azino", the best in Russia student health center , Emergency Medicine Clinical Hospital №7, not conceding to the largest medical centers in Europe.

We got rid of traffic congestion, and today Kazan is the one of the most prosperous megacities in terms of speed of traffic flow.

Among million-plus cities Kazan is the leader in the provision of land to large families, though the large families blame us for lack communication in these areas. These criticisms are valid, but the solution to this issue is not included in the powers of the city. But we can move this issue on the federal level and we already do it.

Five years ago we promised to the voters to build 20 kindergartens, and we have built nearly a hundred. The queue to kindergarten for children aged three to seven years is eliminated.

Another program, which appeared at the initiative of the President Rustam Minnikhanov, allowed to carry out the major repairs in 88 schools, aged over 30 years. Another 17 schools will be renovated this year.

Along with the overhaul we built new schools every year.

Houses of culture appeared in our villages due to one of the president's program. Total 30 presidential programs are implemented in the republic.

Never before our city developed so rapidly. New metro stations and embankments, dozens of sports facilities and playgrounds, hundreds of new houses and restoration of cultural heritage, thousands of families improved their living conditions, tens of thousands of babies were born and trees were planted, millions of square meters of roads were built and repaired, millions of flowers decorate our city! And never before Kazan citizens have taken part in this grand building with such unanimity. We felt the unity with society; we fought on the flanks, which, according to residents, were the most acute.

Kazan is moving forward rapidly. In the past 5 years, we have reached the peak of development of the city, in 10 years Kazan became one of the best cities in Russia in comfort and level of infrastructure. Even our die-hard critics and skeptics do not deny these facts.

But there are other results that warm my heart. This is something that is extremely difficult to plan at the level of ministries, agencies and municipal committees. For example, the birth rate, that has doubled for 10 years! For the fourth year in a row Kazan puts new population record.

Today every third Kazan resident leads a healthy lifestyle. This is three times more than at the start of "Five years of health."

I see the way forward in the continuation of ongoing projects. We have to bring to the finish the repair of houses and schools, to continue the improvement of courtyards, gardens and parks. After bringing an order at hospitals we need to upgrade polyclinics.

The experience of my 17-year work as head of the city allowed me to formulate my basic principles.

First of all it is necessary to set high standards for ourselves and achieve them by all means.

The second is that any undertaking must be considered from the standpoint of public benefit that it can bring. Not only momentary, but in the future. Preserving the historical heritage today, we save the history of our city and its unique character for future generations. Planting trees today, we prepare a healthy future for our children and grandchildren.

But also it's time to think of goodness and charity. City in its development went to the high moral level. Doing good should become a habit, a way of life. Especially today in the difficult economic situation.

On our initiative, lessons of kindness and charity fairs are held in all Kazan schools, and we are sure this work will continue. Help may be different. But it will always be in demand. Thanks to modern technology today's world gives us limitless opportunities to do good and help others.

The third principle is that we must be able to take unpopular decisions. Recall for a moment the year 2006, when we began the reform of public transport. Resistance was huge. There were threats, courts, protests. But life proved that we were right. Today the market of passenger transportation in the capital is transparent and understandable.

The same was with the market of outdoor advertising. When we started the reform, revenues were just laughable, and the city was literally covered with billboards. And here we met fierce resistance from some players of the advertising market.  But we won because we have established clear rules of the game for everyone. The historic center of the city has been liberated from the billboards.

We held the first Russian public auction for the sale of advertising spaces in electronic form.

The fourth principle, and perhaps most important one is to listen to the citizens, using all feedback channels: opinion polls, media reports, personal meetings and Internet reception. The enormous positive effect gives the attraction of social work experts.

Starting the program "Green Record", we honestly could not imagine how complex it is. But when we invited environmental scientists, it turned out that things are not so simple. But the greening of the city went on scientifically principles.

We restored the historical center of Kazan with business people, local historians and architects. Initiatives that have emerged at the meeting with the creative intelligentsia of the city have made the Year of Culture bright and informal in Kazan.

In the open conversation with businessmen - restaurateurs, hoteliers and tour operators, we worked out the principles of the tourist attraction of Kazan, and now are reaping the fruits. The results of the May holidays were 4 times better than expected - 120 thousand tourists.

Dear party members!

Today we see more active people who are ready to engage in a solution to urban problems. And we must strongly encourage citizens to discuss plans to identify current issues and to solve problems.

The main thing is to preserve the unity of society. Unity is clear evidence of the stability of the whole of our country, its reliability, and readiness to perform obligations.

United interests! United goals! United Russia!

We can!

We are together!