Putin hails Musk’s genius, talks of Akkuyu nuclear plant proposals

Putin speaks about technology with visiting presidents at the Africa summit

MOSCOW | TASS | Entrepreneur, inventor, and Starlink CEO Elon Musk is a genius and Russia is in contact with him, Russian President Vladimir Putin said inspecting an exhibition on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit.

He noted that Russia’s Rassvet system, similar to Starlink, is only taking its fledgling stages. Putin boasted of the system’s quality, highlighting that now it’s time to put the required satellites in orbit.

He also said that Russia is happy to hear that Turkish companies want to participate in the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant by buying shares in the project.

TASS has compiled the key statements of the head of state.

Digital sovereignty

Russia is one of three countries, along with the United States and China, with full digital information sovereignty: “No one else has a full set of these sovereign technological capabilities.”

If a country isn’t sovereign digitally, it can’t be sovereign in general: “If there is not complete sovereignty in the information sphere, there is no sovereignty. This is impossible in the modern world.”

A modern economy cannot exist without modern information technology: “That is, the economy exists, but it is outdated and inefficient. It depends on others, and this dependence will increase.”

The impact of social media

Governments should manage social networks in their countries: “I think it would be right for us to have some control over this [the sovereignty and work of social networks]. And think about security issues.”

The French government admits that the unrest in the country is due in part to uncontrolled social networks: “The French leadership also points out that the events that are currently taking place in major French cities are influenced by social networks that aren’t in France’s control. They [the local authorities] have little or no influence on the operation of social networks in their country.”

The street protests in Tehran were largely provoked on social networks that were not controlled by the Iranian government: “What was happening on the streets of Tehran at the time of the crisis was largely initiated on social networks that the Iranian government did not manage or control. There was only one thing they could do-shu it all down.”

Space cooperation with the United States

Russia’s Rassvet system, similar to Starlink, is only taking its first steps: “This is only our first step. But we are proud that we started doing it and started doing it on our own.”

The quality of the Rassvet system is high, now Russia needs to launch the required number of satellites: “The quality is there. Now it’s important to move from quality to quantity.”

Interaction with Musk

Russia is in contact with the United States on the space issue and, in particular, with the head of Starlink, Elon Musk: “Both we and our American partners value this and, despite all political issues, we work closely with them. Both our Roscosmos and other companies do.”

Launching satellites into orbit requires order and discipline: “Because in orbits it is important not to interfere with each other, to observe certain discipline and order.

“Elon Musk is a brilliant man, just really brilliant. How many such [satellites] does he have in orbit? More than 5,000, and we are only taking the first steps.”

Nuclear power plant construction

Russia successfully competes with Western companies in the nuclear power plant construction market outside politics: “And our competitors, we work with them outside politics, these are French companies, Japanese companies, American companies – they all say they are ready to develop small power plants. But so far, no one has done anything in practice.”

Russia is the only country that has not only developed, but also operates small floating nuclear power plants: “This is not just a development, this plant is working. It is located in the north of Russia in the Arctic zone and has been operating and producing energy since 2020. This is quite effective: they are popular under certain conditions.”

No other country in the world, including Western ones, has been able to achieve anything like this: “And our competitors, French companies, Japanese companies, American companies – they all say they are ready to develop small power plants. But so far, no one has done anything in practice.”

Russia only welcomes the intention of Turkish companies to participate in the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power station by buying shares in the project: “However, now there are companies inside Turkey that want to participate in this process and are ready to buy out part of the package. We only welcome – please.”

Taxation

Russia’s Federal Tax Service is so modern and automated that it resembles a space facility: “Our modern tax service is, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but not much, very similar to a spacecraft control center.”

The Federal Tax Service of Russia is, without a doubt, “one of the most effective in the world.”

Russia has good digital taxation technologies, the functioning of fiscal services and customs regulation: “We have good technologies, really good ones, I recommend you get acquainted, send specialists in the field of taxation, fiscal services functioning, customs regulation. Technologies are getting better and better. Moreover, they are not paper-based, they are digital technologies.

“When we agree on joint work with our closest partners, we introduce common standards, I won’t speak specifically now either, I won’t name the countries, but tax collection increases not by 1-2%, but by tens of percent at once. Very effective tools. And we are ready to share them with you, and these are modern digital tools.”

AI in the taxi industry

Artificial intelligence in the taxi industry ensures complete optimization of work: “Artificial intelligence builds optimal routes, gives the customer a taxi that is closer to him. Optimization across the entire service delivery chain.”

This is also important from the point of view of passenger safety: “It’s always clear in the control center who the driver is, who he took, where he got him from, where he’s taking him. This is an extremely important thing and it works very effectively.”

Tourism

The Russian tourist flow can become a significant reinforcement for the national economies of African countries: “It is necessary to increase this flow with African countries. Of course, Africa is a unique continent with a unique culture and nature. And we will be able to direct the appropriate flows.

“For some countries, the Russian tourist flow has become an essential sector of their own national economy, even for such a significantly developed country as Turkey,” Putin said. “7 million Russian tourists visit Turkey a year, which brings in $12 billion to the Turkish economy thanks to the tourist flow from Russia.”

Cooperation on hydrocarbons

De Beers wants to cooperate with Russia and is trying to establish relations, Moscow welcomes this cooperation: “De Beers is a competitor for the [Russia’s] core [company Alrosa], on the one hand. On the other hand, they want to cooperate with us more and more, because problems are being created for them there, in the Western world, and they are trying to establish relations with Russia and our company. We are in favor, we only welcome this cooperation.”

Vessels for fishing and processing of fish
Russia builds powerful and efficient vessels for fishing and processing of fish directly at sea, there were no such vessels even in the Soviet times: “Even the Soviet Union did not build such large vessels for the production and processing of fish directly at sea. Modern, efficient vessels are very important.”

Indonesia has shown interest in Russian vessels for fishing and processing fish: “We have started building a fishing fleet. Fishing and processing. These are large enterprises for fishing and processing of fish resources. Some of our partners, for example, Indonesia, the president of Indonesia, are very interested.”

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