Putin urges Russians to be 'self-reliant'

Russian President Vladimir Putin in his annual state of the nation address to parliament Thursday urged Russians to be self-reliant.

The presidential address was the 21st in Russia's history and eleventh for Putin, the Moscow Times reported.

Some 1,100 people, including parliament and cabinet members, governors, religious leaders and other senior officials, attended the address, which lasted for 70 minutes.

Putin asked all citizens to get involved to help change Russia's course, as the country has been hard-hit by falling oil prices and by Western sanctions imposed over its role in eastern Ukraine.

He said that the inflation should be lowered to four percent, and issued a warning to those looking to profit from Russia's current economic plight.

Monday, the rouble suffered its biggest one-day fall since 1998.

The currency slid almost 9 percent against the dollar before rallying after what is believed to be intervention by the Central Bank of Russia.

"The Central Bank must do everything to reduce speculative activity on the currency market," he said.

"The government knows who these profiteers are. It is time to do something about them," he added.

Putin also said that ties with the US and the European Union (EU) would not be curtailed.

"Sanctions are harmful for everyone, including their initiators."

"The US has always influenced Russia's ties with neighbours directly or behind-the-scene," he added.

Putin expressed no regrets over Ukraine's Crimea peninsula acceding to his country, saying the territory had a "sacred meaning" for Russia dating back to the early spread of Christianity.

He said that tax rates would be frozen for four years and tax holidays would be given to new small businesses.

Putin talked about infrastructure and investment climate and said that the government would aim to double road construction.

"The quality and scale of the Russian economy must correspond to its geopolitical role," he said.

"We must attain GDP growth higher than world's average in three-four years."

The president also spoke about demographics, noting that a UN forecast that Russia's population was on the decline did not come true.

"For two years in a row we have had natural population growth. With Crimea and Sevastopol, Russia's population will surpass 146 million this year," he sais.

"Difficulties create new opportunities. We are ready to confront and overcome them," he concludes his speech.