MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) - President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday the time had come for Russia to take more decisive steps to modernize the economic and social sectors.
"The goals are indeed very ambitious. However, unambitious goals do not work so we are setting ambitious aims," he told a meeting of the Valdai discussion group. He stressed that challenging targets "are absolutely vital" for Russia's development.
He also said that the situation had stabilized, but that was not an end in itself.
"The only goal can be development through economic and political modernization, as well as the modernization of social life," he said.
"Today, we have a semi-Soviet social system, which has inherited all the flaws of the Soviet system and all difficulties of the present life," Medvedev said.
He stressed that "the time has come for more decisive initiatives."
"We need to change the pension system and the healthcare system, not imitate these changes," the president said.
He warned that "all these steps should be taken carefully," so as not to "undermine the economic foundations and create difficulties for people."
