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:
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today, we will discuss the state of leading Russian manufacturers-mainly AvtoVAZ, the United Aircraft Building Corporation and the Oboronprom United Industrial Corporation-with an emphasis on engine engineering.
Our principal goal is to help those companies pay back their debts, find the money to modernise production, and restore their market positions.
Any plans for their economic improvement should take into account the interests of all concerned, including the personnel, creditors, investors and the state. More importantly, our decisions should be based on the strategies to encourage transparent and realistic competitiveness that have been advanced by those companies.
Let us discuss our conclusions on AvtoVAZ. I talked to the company's management and personnel when I visited. My colleagues also subsequently visited the company, and we had met several times here. As our analysis shows, its bad debts-worth a sizeable 38 billion roubles-are the biggest problem.
However, it is not enough to pay off the company's debts. It needs money for development-that is, to design new, competitive products that have the potential to be upgraded in the future. Even at the start, no fewer than 12 billion roubles are necessary for these purposes.
We are making it a point to treat the workforce with due care, and so the company needs a programme to create new jobs, which will cost 4.8 billion roubles minimum. Therefore, AvtoVAZ needs a total of 54.8 billion roubles to stay afloat.
There is an idea of finding all this money in the market. I have been told that this idea has been discussed with the Finance Ministry.
We will also work closely with AvtoVAZ creditors to pay off the debt. I think they are aware of the current economic situation in general, and see the state the company is in. We will certainly make allowances, and I hope we will come to terms with the creditors.
All this means that the Russian Government is assuming a great part of the company's old debts and taking on the responsibility for providing employment, including creating new jobs.
It also means that stockholders-both Russian and foreign alike, I would like to emphasise-should present a relevant plan for the company's development. This plan should not only be concerned with overcoming the crisis-we are doing that ourselves-but also with AvtoVAZ's effective, long-term development after the crisis is over.
AvtoVAZ will also need support to create jobs in the future. This will require a thorough restructuring of the company's production and the technological base, which will require technoparks and new, smaller affiliated production facilities.
Experts estimate construction costs at 10,000 roubles per square metre-about 5 billion roubles, all told. This programme is not so urgent, and we will discuss it later.
Let us turn now to the United Aircraft Building Corporation and Oboronprom. As I have said, we will focus on engine engineering. Please familiarise yourselves with all of the relevant details within two weeks, and be ready to make additional reports on corporate debts and other problems. Be sure that your proposals take into account financial management and technological modernisation.
We have discussed these matters on many occasions before. Our efforts should not tackle the crisis alone-that is not enough. We must also guarantee development after the crisis.
This is all I want to say to begin. We will also discuss more general problems today. Let's get to work.
