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
I am happy to welcome you. I remember the warm welcome we enjoyed in Tripoli. First of all, I would like to ask you to convey the best wishes to the Leader of the Libyan Revolution, Mr Kaddafi.
During my visit to Tripoli, important agreements were reached on the development of bilateral relations in practically every area. We see your visit as the continuation of the talks aimed at implementing these agreements.
I would also like to thank you and to convey thanks to the Leader of the Libyan Revolution for resolving the issues connected with the release of a Russian citizen, Mr Tsygankov, an employee of the LUKoil company. I think all the issues that are supposed to be cleared up by the Libyan special agencies have to a large extent been cleared up. But if you need additional information you can rest assured that we will do all we can to assist you in that. That is just a detail that reflects the quality of our relations.
We have extensive cooperation and ambitious plans in the fields of energy, transport, military-technical cooperation and other fields. We are very glad to welcome you.
Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi: First of all, we would like to thank you. We are very glad to be in Moscow and we would like to convey to you the best wishes and warm words from the Leader of the Libyan Revolution Mr Kaddafi. Thank you very much for giving us your time so that we can discuss a number of issues, some of which we began to discuss back in Tripoli. After your historic visit to Libya and the meeting with the Leader of the Libyan Revolution, we can safely say that there has been a qualitative leap in Russian-Libyan cooperation.
Undoubtedly, we seek to develop friendship and cooperation between the Russian Federation and Libya in various areas, above all oil and gas. We would like to see a larger volume of investment cooperation between Russia and Libya in the oil and gas sector.
Recent months have seen an active dialogue between the Libyan National Oil and Gas Company and Gazprom on the development of investment cooperation in the oil and gas sector. Therefore we hope that today, in the course of our negotiations, we will manage to give a new impetus to the development of our partnership and cooperation in the oil and gas sphere. We envisage the development of cooperation in diverse areas related to the oil and gas sector, be it exploration, extraction and refining of oil or other related spheres. We have a special attitude to the company Gazprom. We believe it is a highly promising area for the development of Russian-Libyan cooperation.
Another strategically important issue that we began to discuss in Tripoli is the development of infrastructure, which is of fundamental significance for us. A major Russian company has been charged with developing and implementing the project of building a railway branch in Libya. We hope that the start of the practical implementation of that project will have the benefit of your presence at the invitation of the Leader of the Libyan Revolution. It should happen in late August. I take this opportunity to convey to you an invitation from Mr Kaddafi, the Leader of the Libyan Revolution, to attend the inauguration of the construction of the railway due to be held in the city of Bengazi in late August.
We are also committed to developing and increasing mutual investment. Libya intends to open an office of its investment agency in Russia. We hope that our Russian friends will assist us in that. We believe it will contribute to the development of investment cooperation between Russia and Libya.
I would like to stress that after your historic visit to Libya we have moved on from purely military-technical cooperation to an era of economic and investment cooperation. That is undoubtedly an event that may go down in the history books. You have been directly involved in that historic change. We hope of course that we will manage to achieve success in this field of cooperation. Once again I would like to stress that we are seriously committed to the development and strengthening of such cooperation between the Russian Federation and Libya, as the Leader of the Libyan Revolution confirms. The released employee of the LUKoil company came to Moscow together with us yesterday on the order of the Leader of the Libyan Revolution Mr Kaddafi. The decision to release him was made after a request from the Russian President, and today he was delivered to Moscow by our charter flight.
We wanted to hand him over personally to Mr Prime Minister, in the literal sense. It was a kind of a surprise for us. We were at the airport yesterday evening, we had practically boarded the plane, and suddenly a Russian citizen was brought to us and we were told that the Leader of the Libyan Revolution wanted us to take him on board and to hand him over personally to Mr Prime Minister.
The move was followed through in spite of all the doubts and possible objections of the corresponding competent agencies, which still suspect that he may have been involved in some not quite lawful actions.
Undoubtedly, such a step is only possible thanks to the contacts and the relationship that has developed between the Leader of the Libyan Revolution and you, Mr Putin. We are sure that a similar breakthrough and further development will happen in Russian-Libyan relations in various fields. Once again permit me to thank you. Thank you for finding the time to meet with us.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you also for the gesture made by the Libyan side, above all the Leader of the Libyan Revolution. I am referring to the release of the Russian citizen. Especially the fact that you have brought him on your plane - this is unprecedented.
As regards cooperation, it can be large-scale and very promising.
First, we will do all we can to ensure a favourable environment for Libyan investments in Russia. We are interested in foreign investments and we see no obstacles to expanding and consolidating that sphere of activity.
We are aware of your plans to develop your country's infrastructure. That policy undoubtedly is aimed at meeting the basic needs of the population and developing the economy. That is why we have offered a contract to build a 514-km railway line. It is a good contract for our company, it is worth $2.2 billion. We will work in the oil and gas sphere, and not only in Libya, where our companies are already working, but in third countries as well.
