VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends and colleagues. Mr Winterkorn, I am pleased to see you in Moscow.
I would like to point out that Volkswagen projects in Russia are developing successfully. I would also like to thank you and your colleagues for the decision to establish production in Kaluga.
Despite the global financial and economic crisis, your company is carrying out all of its plans. On the other hand, both the Russian government and the regional administration are doing everything in their power to create favourable conditions for this investment - after all, it is 590 million euros.
The governor of the Central Bank of Russia just said that it issued a licence to your bank and now you have the opportunity to offer new car loans to potential buyers.
Volkswagen is a household name in the world, in Europe and Russia. But not all of us know that Volkswagen is the general sponsor of Russia's national football team and a general partner in the Sochi Olympic Games.
I wish to thank you for this in particular - not on behalf of the government, but in the name of Russian fans.
You are welcome.
Martin Winterkorn (as translated): Good evening. Above all I would like to thank you all for this invitation. I am glad that this meeting was organised on such a short notice. I wish to express my special thanks to the Kaluga Region governor, Mr Artamonov, for being here and for backing so enthusiastically our project in Kaluga.
Before we proceed to our subject, I would like to describe some of the personnel changes.
My colleague, Professor Heitzmann, will head the company's heavy-duty lorry division and supervise cooperation with MAN in Spain from October 1 of this year. This is a very complex assignment, but I am confident that he will succeed. He has shown he can achieve success in Russia - I trust him.
Vladimir Putin: That is a heavy business - both literally and figuratively.
Martin Winterkorn: I also want to introduce my colleague, Mr Macht. Through September 30, he will be heading Porsche, but from October 1, 2010 he will be in charge of all production planning at Volkswagen, that is to say, he will succeed Mr Heitzmann. So I would like to wish Mr Macht every success in his work in Russia.
Colleagues, the main reason for our visit today is that the Russian market in general and for Volkswagen in particular are unable to meet the demanding pace of development with existing capacity.
We estimate that we could sell 360,000 cars a year by 2017-2018, that is to say, in this decade. This is why we have come to discuss some options. For example, in the short term, we could pursue contract assembly of cars at GAZ Group facilities, while in the long run we are thinking of a second phase at the Kaluga plant.
