Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Minnikhanov,
Figures show that your republic performed well in the first quarter: GRP and industrial production both increased. By how much?
Rustam Minnikhanov: Good afternoon, Mr Prime Minister,
Yes, we did well in the first quarter. Industrial production and GRP increased by 8% and 6.5% respectively. We resolved the situation in the petrochemical industry, and it's growing well now. Machinery manufacturing is lagging somewhat. This is because of the difficult situation in the automotive industry, where there are some shortfalls.
I believe if this trend continues the labour market will stabilise. We cannot say that the situation has improved greatly here, but the federal programmes, which were implemented in our republic and continued into this year, did prop up the labour market.
The first programme entailed a series of measures to support the labour market, and this really helped stabilise the situation.
The second programme was intended to support the automotive industry. And the third programme entailed recycling old cars. People really like this programme, and we believe it could even be expanded in the future to include old cars...
Vladimir Putin: Lorries you mean.
Rustam Minnikhanov: Yes, lorries.
As far as agriculture, there was a small decline, but we almost reached the level... Well, of course this is because last winter was...
Vladimir Putin: Were winter crops affected?
Rustam Minnikhanov: Yes, at least half of them were affected, to the best of my knowledge. It's the most serious disaster in the history of agriculture in Tatarstan.
Nevertheless, spring planting has started as planned; 54% of cultivated land has been planted so far. We plan to finish planting grain cultures by May 9, and we'll need to plant potatoes after that.
Vladimir Putin: But winter crops have been destroyed. Shouldn't these fields be sowed with new seeds?
Rustam Minnikhanov: Winter crops will be sowed again. We have a good stock of seeds, and we have the capabilities to sow them, but it'll be very costly. I will probably have to call on the agricultural producers that took out loans to use the so-called loan holidays. I think that would work. The situation is difficult in several other regions as well as in Tatarstan. So we'll have to appeal to them.
Vladimir Putin: All right.
Rustam Minnikhanov: As far as other industries, work is well underway there. You supported the oil refinery project, which we'll commission in autumn, although this work is complicated...
Vladimir Putin: You'll finish construction?
Rustam Minnikhanov: Yes, we will finish construction. Over 7,000 people are employed at the construction site. We have used 140 billion roubles, and I presume we'll have used 200 billion roubles by the end of this year. We'll finish this refinery, which is critical here, and will continue building up the petrochemical industry in general.
We'd like to double the previous output, seven million, to refine not seven, we already have seven, but another seven million tonnes, plus another seven later, reaching a total of 20 million tonnes of oil. We believe that Russia must refine as much oil as possible and produce more petrochemical products. We have everything to achieve this - we have the experience and the specialists.
Naturally, we received significant support through the Student Games project. Thank you very much for this. It's like another anti-recessionary programme for us. Have no doubt that we've learnt how to design projects. We produce all necessary commodities in Tatarstan, including polymers. We have improved the quality of our commodities thanks to this programme.
We have paid special attention to supporting small and medium-sized businesses. We have chosen a special site for this purpose, and it's proved suitable. Tatarstan is a petrochemical republic. We produce a lot of polymers, including polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene.
I'd like to mention one more project that was supported by the Investment Fund and the Ministry of Regional Development. We have two modern production facilities that allow us produce import substitutes. They are located in the single-industry town of Kamskiye Polyany. We currently produce thread and stretch film, and are planning to expand these projects.
We're launching a cutting-edge new facility at Kamaz.
It's true that the area of the production facilities decreased during the recession, but the number of residents remained the same. In addition to federal support, we enacted our own measures to protect jobs.
Another major project that we've been thoroughly preparing for is the joint Fiat-Sollers project. We've decided on the site already. It'll be the special economic zone; it fits all parameters perfectly. This zone is the best we can offer.
Our plans go beyond the construction of this plant. Vadim Shvetsov (Director General of Sollers) and I discussed the creation of a new facility to produce car parts. We've worked it out with leading international parts manufacturers, and they are eager to work here.
Vladimir Putin: Where?
Rustam Minnikhanov: In the special economic zone. They have already carried out some preliminary studies, but they have one requirement: they want ready-made facilities.
We're considering this option. It will be a big modern production facility at 350,000 to 400,000 square metres. We'll also draw up a programme. I'd like to make a report to you, if possible. It'll be a very important step.
Vladimir Putin: Good.