Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: We met in early April and discussed issues facing the Kirov Region, including the problems experienced by the Molot factory in Vyatskiye Polyany. You then identified unpaid wages as the main problem. We agreed to do our best to clear these debts.

Nikita Belykh: Yes, Mr Putin. We have followed the instructions you gave us. Before the May holidays, or to be more exact, before April 28, the amount of back wages owed to the employees of the Molot factory, which turned out to be the largest Russia had ever seen - 300 million roubles, had been paid in full. I mean, the factory does not owe a kopeck of wages, whether overdue, or current, to its employees. We managed to accomplish this following a number of serious meetings with the Finance Ministry. On April 15, [First Deputy Prime Minister] Igor Shuvalov chaired one of those meetings. By amending the Kirov region's law on budgets we provided a loan for this factory so that it could pay the back wages, which helped it to settle accounts. The Finance Ministry promised to replace the amount by July 1. That means we have credited the federal budget, but based on the way that other instructions have been enacted, we have no doubt that we will resolve our budgetary issues in the nearest future.

Vladimir Putin: You also considered using the Employment Fund to support the factory.

Nikita Belykh: You are right. There is a regional programme for relieving tension in the labour market. In view of the challenging situation in Vyatskiye Polyany and its region we extensively looked into the issue together with the Health and Regional Development Ministry; we arrived at a common understanding and agreed on the amount of funds that we needed and that the ministry could approve. A little over 182 million roubles will be earmarked from the funds, with 60 million roubles to be spent on retraining workers that will leave the factory to work in other in-demand areas in the region. Over 100 million roubles will be spent on restructuring the factory. That is what Mr Chemezov will tell you about.

Vladimir Putin: Draft a relevant executive order and I will sign it as soon as possible. However, all these measures are meant to support the current conditions of the facility and the people who have ended up in a difficult situation, but we need to think of the factory's future. What is it that State Corporation Russian Technologies is planning to do?

Sergei Chemezov: The Molot factory is part of a group which also includes Izhmetall and the Izhevsk Machine-Building Factory. All three entities are engaged in manufacturing products of the same type. We have decided to consolidate military production at Izhmetall and the Izhevsk Machine-Building Factory and then restructure the Molot factory.

Vladimir Putin: That is too much of the same kind of production.

Sergei Chemezov: We simply could not find enough orders for all the three factories. That's why we decided to set up an arms recycling centre. In addition, we are negotiating a venture with Italy's Beretta that we hope will begin jointly producing hunting and sporting guns and pistols for special services and the police early next year. The products will be both exported, to the CIS countries and elsewhere in the world, and sold in Russia. We are also negotiating with German and Finnish companies to begin co-production of small thermal power plants, and I believe we will soon complete these discussions. These power plants will be in demand. In fact, they are already in demand in the region and throughout Russia. There are a number of other projects as well.

Nikita Belykh: Actually, the idea is to use the land that will become vacant through the factory's restructuring, which could total tens of thousands of square meters, for the establishment of a good industrial park in cooperation with Vnesheconombank; this will happen if our integrated investment programme is approved. To this effect we are planning to hold another meeting with Igor Shuvalov next week. This park is where the said projects will be carried out.

Sergei Chemezov: All these projects will be carried out in this industrial park.

Nikita Belykh: The people that will be dismissed [from the factory] will be involved in dismantling equipment, clearing and arranging these grounds.

Vladimir Putin: In preparing the grounds for the industrial park.

Sergei Chemezov: As with AvtoVAZ, we will establish two subsidiaries where the people, who are currently working at the factory, will be employed. These subsidiaries will train the people who will be later employed at the joint production facilities. Others will prepare the grounds, dismantling the old equipment and making the necessary preparations for installing the new ones.

Vladimir Putin: I ask you to keep up the pace and to not waste time because we do not have all the time in the world. Naturally, we need to look closely into the financial arrangements since all these plans seem very attractive but are likely to require significant financial support. We also need to think about involving our financial institutions, the Development Bank, and government funds, if necessary. We need to analyse this thoroughly but also do it as soon as possible.