Social Policy Takes Center Stage in the Economy

On November 24, 2025, the House of Unions once again became a hub for politicians, experts, and business leaders. It hosted the Inter-Faction Conference "Priorities for Russia's Socio-Economic Development". The main discussion block unfolded across three parallel expert sessions, giving the debate particular momentum.

One of the most discussed sessions focused on monetary policy. The debate centered on key issues: from inflation and interest rates to understanding the very nature of money and the regulator's role under current conditions. Session moderator Andrey Podoinitsyn (economist, director of ANO "Glavintellectplan") immediately set the intense tone of the discussion, stating:

"Money, from our perspective, is a universal economic symbol whose main function is measurement. Money is a brilliant invention that allows us to continuously measure everyday activities and any qualitatively diverse resources."

The effectiveness of coordination between the government and the Bank of Russia also came under scrutiny. Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Albert Bakhtizin, drawing on fresh IMF data, emphasized how sensitive economic growth is to coordination between the two institutions:

"When the monetary regulator doesn't hinder development but instead helps the government take actions to accelerate economic growth, that's when growth rates are maximized. Every dollar invested shows a response in GDP growth."

Executive Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Murychev attempted to outline a more practical picture for the coming year. He listed sectors that, in his opinion, will drive the economy upward in 2025: food service, agriculture, services, and construction. At the same time, he didn't hide the fact that the debate between the Ministry of Economic Development and the Central Bank regarding actual growth dynamics is far from over: a forecast in the 0.5–2% corridor only underscores the gap in approaches. However, the Central Bank, represented by board member Rustem Mardanov, made it clear that it doesn't intend to change strategy yet: the regulator will continue targeting inflation, considering it the safest way to prevent economic activity from declining.

No less substantive was the session "Spatial Development in the Context of Socio-Economic Challenges." Head of the DPR Denis Pushilin spoke about the scale of road construction:

"Roads are one of the important areas where we've invested our efforts—since 2022, we've repaired and built essentially about 2,400 km of new roads. We've managed to do this thanks to coordinated work between the federal center, supervising specialized agencies, and proper internal regional configuration."

He noted that work is proceeding ahead of schedule, with plans to build another 3,500 km of roads by 2030.

Continuing the dialogue, Chairman of the Committee on Regional Policy Alexey Didenko reminded that the previous model of territorial development requires revision: growth cannot be limited to major metropolitan areas—the needs of remote regions must be considered.

At the "Production and Investment" session, the focus shifted to foreign economic cooperation and the role of big business. Participants discussed expanding ties with friendly countries, primarily China, where scientific and technological progress is advancing rapidly. A separate discussion block addressed the impact of corporations on regional social development. Rosatom's Business Development Director Ekaterina Lyakhova emphasized:

"Over the past 15 years, Rosatom has been very active in the international market. And we've understood what our main competitive advantage is."

According to her, the company is "the only one in the world to have opened the full cycle from uranium mining to operating nuclear power plants."

She also noted the long-term impact of the corporation's activities:

"We're selling people quality of life for a hundred years ahead," clarifying that modern plants have a service life of 60 years and can be extended.

Elena Bezdenezhnykh, Vice President of RUSAL Management JSC, drew attention to the fact that discussions about energy sector prospects and related industries inevitably lead to questions about digital infrastructure. According to her, data processing centers are becoming a derivative product of the energy sector, but the risks for this market are underestimated. She stressed that today not everyone seriously considers the scenario of sanctions imposed not only on energy resources but also on computing. The RUSAL vice president noted that energy alone is insufficient for full-fledged trade in computing capacity—data transmission networks are critically important. However, given Russia's geography and vast territory, restricted access to such networks could effectively deprive the country of the ability to develop exports of digital services, including mining operations and data centers.

The plenary session became the conference's culmination: here all participants, after three separate sessions, gathered together and attempted to outline what the next stage of the country's economic strategy should be. The discussion at times turned into a frank, principled conversation. The plenary session was chaired by State Duma Deputy Chairman Alexander Babakov. He emphasized that the conference brought together politicians, business, and citizens experiencing the consequences of decisions being made:

"Speaking today about Russia's current state overall, we can say that the special military operation is an event that has fundamentally changed the perception of Russia itself. But if we speak about the military and take pride in their achievements, we must also take pride in the economy and social sphere. There are an enormous number of problems here, but our task is not so much to identify them as to propose solutions."

In his opinion, moving toward economic sovereignty requires a systematic approach:

"Now the social sphere is coming to the forefront. This kind of discussion can serve as support for those working to solve such problems," he added, thanking Vyacheslav Volodin for "the opportunity to speak out on the most complex issues."

The economic block of the plenary session was opened by First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Maxim Kolesnikov, presenting updated data:

"Russia's economy continues to develop; growth rates have become more restrained after the growth of the previous two years. By our estimate, GDP growth for the nine months of this year was around 1% after more than 4% in 2023–2024. Thanks to measures by the Government and the Bank of Russia, inflation is slowing, which expands the space for further easing of monetary conditions and is necessary for stimulating investment activity."

However, participants did not share a unified vision for continuing the economic course. Sergey Mironov spoke about rising hidden unemployment and the need to "strengthen technological sovereignty," while Maxim Topilin countered: "We don't have such a phenomenon as hidden unemployment. Today unemployment is at a minimum level." He also reminded about the multi-year growth in real incomes.

The topic of AI implementation sparked lively debate. Alexander Demin called for more active use of technology in government administration, but Maria Zakharova warned: "Talk about AI should not be romantic in nature."

For his part, Denis Parfenov stated that "economic growth at 1% cannot be considered satisfactory," proposing to turn to the experience of long-term planning. And Konstantin Babakin reminded about the revision of the 2026 growth forecast to 1.3% and called for moving toward a "strong diversified industrial development model."

Summing up, Maxim Topilin announced that the United Russia faction will prepare a compilation of proposals voiced at the conference:

"We will summarize them, but will proceed from a responsible socio-economic policy… It is precisely responsible policy for protecting our citizens that is the foundation of our party program."

The conference once again demonstrated that inter-faction dialogue remains an important tool for finding balanced solutions. The discussions revealed contradictions, but simultaneously demonstrated readiness for joint work on key directions of the country's economic policy.

"Money, from our perspective, is a universal economic symbol whose main function is measurement. Money is a brilliant invention that allows us to continuously measure everyday activities and any qualitatively diverse resources."

"When the monetary regulator doesn't hinder development but instead helps the government take actions to accelerate economic growth, that's when growth rates are maximized. Every dollar invested shows a response in GDP growth."

No less substantive was the session "Spatial Development in the Context of Socio-Economic Challenges." Head of the DPR Denis Pushilin spoke about the scale of road construction:

"Roads are one of the important areas where we've invested our efforts—since 2022, we've repaired and built essentially about 2,400 km of new roads. We've managed to do this thanks to coordinated work between the federal center, supervising specialized agencies, and proper internal regional configuration."

He noted that work is proceeding ahead of schedule, with plans to build another 3,500 km of roads by 2030.

"Over the past 15 years, Rosatom has been very active in the international market. And we've understood what our main competitive advantage is."

According to her, the company is "the only one in the world to have opened the full cycle from uranium mining to operating nuclear power plants."

She also noted the long-term impact of the corporation's activities:

"We're selling people quality of life for a hundred years ahead," clarifying that modern plants have a service life of 60 years and can be extended.

"Speaking today about Russia's current state overall, we can say that the special military operation is an event that has fundamentally changed the perception of Russia itself. But if we speak about the military and take pride in their achievements, we must also take pride in the economy and social sphere. There are an enormous number of problems here, but our task is not so much to identify them as to propose solutions."

In his opinion, moving toward economic sovereignty requires a systematic approach:

"Now the social sphere is coming to the forefront. This kind of discussion can serve as support for those working to solve such problems," he added, thanking Vyacheslav Volodin for "the opportunity to speak out on the most complex issues."

The economic block of the plenary session was opened by First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Maxim Kolesnikov, presenting updated data:

"Russia's economy continues to develop; growth rates have become more restrained after the growth of the previous two years. By our estimate, GDP growth for the nine months of this year was around 1% after more than 4% in 2023–2024. Thanks to measures by the Government and the Bank of Russia, inflation is slowing, which expands the space for further easing of monetary conditions and is necessary for stimulating investment activity."

Summing up, Maxim Topilin announced that the United Russia faction will prepare a compilation of proposals voiced at the conference:

"We will summarize them, but will proceed from a responsible socio-economic policy… It is precisely responsible policy for protecting our citizens that is the foundation of our party program."