MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave his annual question-and-answer session with the Russian people on Thursday.
Below is a selection of comments about the speech:
IVAN TCHAKAROV, CHIEF RUSSIA ECONOMIST, BoA MERRILL LYNCH
"There was no surprise that he said the Russian economy would recover to pre-crisis levels in 2012 -- that is in line with our estimates.
"We think economic momentum is picking up right now going into 2011, which is supportive of that claim.
The budget deficit forecast of 3.5-3.8 percent in 2010 is... but somewhat better than expected."
MATTIAS WESTMAN, CEO, PROSPERITY CAPITAL
"His comments on police reform were very important -- that is one of the biggest problems Russia has. They are part of (President Dmitry) Medvedev's sphere of influence, so if Putin publicly supports them it is a lot more likely they will be implemented.
On extremism, Russia has always been tough. Putin was more specific today because something specific has happened."
YEVGENY MINCHENKO, DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF POLITICAL ANALYSIS
"It seems the preferred scenario for the ruling elite is for Putin to stay on as Prime Minister and (Dmitry) Medvedev to stay on as President for one more term.
Putin could have used today to push his own political agenda, but on policy and politics he is the same as Medvedev. There are no new ideas.
The main idea so far is that Russia does not need any political reforms and the political system is almost ideal. There are some specific problems, but they are not connected with the level of democracy."
ILDAR DAVLETSHIN, OIL ANALYST, RENAISSANCE CAPITAL
"His comments on oil exports to Belarus are very positive. There had been concerns that the agreement signed last week on oil export duties would not be enough, but 20-21 million tonnes in 2011 covers demand. This shows that relations between Russia and Belarus are on a positive track."
MARIA LIPMAN, POLITICAL ANALYST, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT
"What he said on Khodorkovsky was interesting ... He fully defied the opinion of those Russians and foreign observers who have said that his imprisonment is worse than a travesty of justice, it is totally absurd.
"He quoted a line from a movie -- 'a thief must be in jail' -- playing up to the mindset of the majority and not the most educated people."
ALEXANDRA EVTIFIYEVA, ECONOMIST, VTB CAPITAL
"Putin confirmed our estimates for the budget deficit of 3.5 to 3.8 percent -- it is lower than previously planned as well as Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin's forecast of 4.6 percent.
"Elsewhere, he dedicated a lot of his speech to infrastructure."
(Compiled by John Bowker and Zlata Garasyuta; Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel)
