The Prime Minister has discussed sports and space industry plans for the next decade.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday met with Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko and blessed him to file an application for hosting the 2018 World Football Championship. Later Mr Putin received the head of AFK Sistema, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, to hear his thoughts on the creation of the GLONASS satellite system. Our special correspondent ANDREI KOLESNIKOV gives the details of how Mr Putin was looking into the future and the implications for the present.
The story of Russia's bid to host the World Football Championship began some six months ago. In January this year the Russian Football Union announced that it would bid to host the World Football Championship. True, it said that it needed government guarantees because hosting the world championship would cost billions, even more, according to experts, than the cost of hosting the winter Olympics. On the one hand, this is good news for those who initiated the idea, but on the other, the country would be still reeling from hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics and, if it wins the 2018 Championship it would have to launch at least ten large-scale construction projects the size of the Sochi one, which by the way, has not yet been launched.
Mr Putin was to say the final word on the matter yesterday. Apparently all the other methods of convincing the country and the world that the Russian economy would not only withstand the economic crisis, but would emerge from it, if not with its head held high, at least on its own two feet have been tried and failed. At first Mr Mutko reported how many gyms and arenas would be built in Siberia, in the Far East and the Urals area, adding that there is a special plant for the production of artificial turf for just such stadiums operating in the Moscow Region (any other cover would naturally freeze out).
Mr Mutko promised to build at least seven indoor football and track-and-field arenas before 2015. One might have got the impression that the Minister of Sport intended to keep his job at least until that time (so that Vladimir Putin could hold someone responsible for these plans). Yet it turned out that Mr Mutko's confidence in tomorrow rested on more solid ground.
Asked whether the Russian Football Union was going to file applications to take part in European and World Football championships (not an idle question and probably a planted one) Mr Mutko said that FIFA was open for applications for 2018 and 2022 World Championship (the Minister of Sport is looking that far ahead).
"The earliest event in which we can take part, he said, is 2018".
In order to implement the plan Mr Mutko needs "ten cities, ten stadiums with a capacity of 40,000 each, plus transport, security, hotels and healthcare". He named the cities: Sochi, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Moscow, St Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Samara, Volgograd and a yet-to-be-named city in the Moscow Region as well as Yekaterinburg or Saransk...
"Yes, said Mr Mutko, we have studied that issue, but we cannot start work without the Government's order".
"I am instructing you to prepare the application", Mr Putin blessed him thus making it clear that he too was looking to the future, even perhaps more distant future.
The Prime Minister reinforced that impression in the second meeting that he held that day, with director-general of AFK Sistema Vladimir Yevtushenkov.
Mr Yevtushenkov told the Prime Minister that the "GLONASS service will be launched" in 2009. True, when Vladimir Putin was still President he had been told that the system had already been launched. But since then it has been lost track of. Yesterday Mr Yevtushenkov picked up the trail. "A network federal operator will be created, he told the Prime Minister. It will provide this service to all the interested agencies (above all the Ministry for Emergencies, the police and the ambulance service - A.K.). We produce equipment for building palm-size telephones with a built-in GLONASS-GPS chip... It's produced at our joint enterprise in China... The telephones may go on sale and they are every bit as good and they are even cheaper", he enthused believing rightly that in the context of economic crisis such a comparison is a strong argument.
Mr Putin did not object. His whole day was devoted to the country's future and so far there was no hint of any failures (unlike in the present).
"However, Mr Yevtushenkov continued, we have a request to the Government. The Americans protect their market: they determined that all the phones imported into the country should support GPS navigation. We should do something to encourage foreign manufacturers in the same manner. We want all the equipment on Russian territory to have a built-in GLONASS-GPS chip."
Mr Putin looked at him with some bewilderment. The inherent link between GLONASS and GPS probably eluded him. One would have thought that all the efforts should be directed at getting rid of this unwelcome connection so that GLONASS and nothing but GLONASS should reign in Russia.
"The transition must be smooth, Mr Yevtushenkov explained. We should work with this joint chip for at least a year and let the consumers choose which system to use, especially because our system is competitive".
"Why should we tell our producers to insert the GPS chip, the Prime Minister inquired, fixing the head of AFK Sistema with his gaze, "if your system is competitive?"
"It is very easy to switch to GLONASS only, Mr Yevtushenkov shot back. The commercial aspect will kick in 2010".
"Have you managed to agree on cooperation with the European partners?" Mr Putin inquired.
Obviously he felt that information on cooperation with the Chinese was not enough.
"Yes, there is a company called Infineon, Mr Yevtushenkov replied cheerfully. We are working to create a joint concern".
"Is Siemens the main shareholder in Infineon?" Mr Putin asked.
"No, they held an IPO some time ago and they work independently. In short, if we manage to pool efforts we will be, roughly speaking, at the world level in industrial electronics".
It looked as if Mr Putin shared Mr Yevtushenkov's view that the standard would be at world level only "roughly speaking". He told Mr Yevtushenkov that to create a fully-fledged navigation system it would be a good idea to joint efforts with, for example, Iridium concern.
"But they have problems, Mr Yevtushenkov dismissed the offer. They need 4 billion euros urgently. They have only one satellite, all the rest has been put on hold. We are launching ours in 2009 and they in 2015".
Vladimir Putin again looked Vladimir Yevtushenkov in the eye.
"But if you think, the head of AFK Sistema went on confidently, that a merger is possible let us give it a try, let us launch them all in 2015. Anyway, time flies". This seemed to be the thought that haunted Mr Putin throughout yesterday.