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: Mr Stepashin, I know that you have monitored the spending of anti-crisis allocations.
Sergei Stepashin: That's correct. The Audit Chamber monitors it permanently, and I have prepared a relevant report.
I am starting with trivial things. However, I will not do abstract theorising but summarise monitoring. Government troubleshooting steps have brought expected fruit, and we can say it officially today.
The Audit Chamber has checked all banks and seen that they have enhanced liquidity. Many industrial companies have regained stability. Only 25-30% of companies could draw loans toward the end of March, against present-day 45% despite inflation and a 12.5% refinance rate. This is a hopeful trend, and I think it will persist.
The main goal is to fight unemployment and create new jobs-in particular, in housing construction.
You have not cut road building allocations by a single kopeck. I am extremely grateful to you for that. The Finance Ministry asked you to do so but you made explicit objections during the St Petersburg meeting. I think your stance is so important, in particular, because it promises new jobs.
We can conclude that what has been done is proper and timely anti-crisis action. Our checks bear out this point.
I came from Vladivostok by plane last night. You might remember me reporting its problems approximately a year ago. You made insistent orders to make a cleanup, establish an effective construction arrangement and management, and fund construction. Now, we have every reason to expect deadlines met for the bridge, the Russky Island complex, waste disposal plants, and tidying up the city. I made my latest check during the visit, and I think APEC summit preparations are not bad, though there are problems on which I have made a written report.
Vladimir Putin: Construction costs are too high.
Sergei Stepashin: We have cut allocations by 62 million roubles, as you know. They are ready to reimburse, at least partly, what has been obtained through bloated rates. More than that, the St Petersburg design institute has cut construction costs.
There is another problem, however. The Avtodor road construction and maintenance agency CEO accompanied me to Vladivostok for firsthand information. A new road from the airport is a must, though it will cost another several billion roubles-you know the situation.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, I do.
Sergei Stepashin: The old road is in a bad shape, especially considering the upcoming summit-an essential international event. Construction should go on once it has started. We have arranged it with Avtodor and the Ministry of Economic Development. The Audit Chamber will make relevant estimations. I think costs might be reduced-possibly, at the pier's expense. Sailors are willing to moor at Russky Island, so we needn't build a new pier for 10-12 liners-you know it all.
Vladimir Putin: Cost reduction should concern not only this particular project but the entire region. Commodity prices and service tariffs must go down in every economic field and in every company, irrespective of ownership form. It's impossible to reduce costs of just one project if prices are bloated everywhere else.
Sergei Stepashin: You are absolutely right-all the more so as the APEC summit is a federal and regional project at once. We have two projects of a similar scale now, plus the Nakhodka seaport. Its construction is making good progress. There is something to see there.
Vladimir Putin: I think our corporate mammoths should have a look, too. Federal and regional expenditures should go together.
Sergei Stepashin: That's what we deem necessary-it's in the memo.
Vladimir Putin: All right, let us have a look.
