UPDATE: Putin says Russia must prioritize building social state

(rewrites story)

SOCHI, Oct 21 (PRIME) -- Russia must build a social state, and this is a priority, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

"You know, we must build a social state. In fact, in Europe, in particular, in the North, many people say that they need a social state. But this is of a special importance for us, having in mind the difference in income of different strata of people," Putin said.

The global food crisis will soon become worse, he said.

"Food crises periodically hit some states and even entire regions, but there are all reasons to believe that the crisis would deteriorate soon," Putin said. Besides, energy markets demonstrate that capitalism does not work, he added.

But he said that there is no ready recipe for a different economy than contemporary capitalism. Global solutions of global problems will most probably never be found because no one will give up their sovereignty. Putin said that the countries must look at each other's experience of balance between the state and market opportunities.

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