Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Mr Tkachyov, you have done well in the first quarter.
Alexander Tkachyov: Thank you. Obviously, the government's support has helped us quite a bit - we've seen good economic growth in virtually all areas. It's a good start.
Vladimir Putin: How much has your economy grown?
Alexander Tkachyov: About 4% in the first quarter. Last year during the downturn we shrank by a total of 3%. This ratio shows that we are about to see serious growth. I think that by the end of the year our economy will have grown by between 5% and 7%, which is not bad at all. And I hope very much that we will return our investment potential to plus 2%, as was the case before, which will attract about 500 billion roubles. This is what we hope to achieve. Also, income levels are rising.
Vladimir Putin: By how much?
Alexander Tkachyov: By 10%.
Vladimir Putin: Ten percent? That's higher than the national average. Is it in real terms?
Alexander Tkachyov: Absolutely. Industrial production has grown by 4%. I should report that we are launching a project in Kuban, for the Kuban economy... Perhaps this is not a typical project for us, but we have actively invested 1.5 million roubles in production, transport, and a production facility for rolled metal products. This year we created 3,000 jobs. Moreover, glass production, woodworking, medium-density fibreboard, rolled metal products and pre-fabricated metal components have all attracted the attention of serious investors to the region. They want to invest and, of course, make profits.
Our agriculture is also doing well, partly owing to the relevant national project. We will open about 12 megafarms and double the production of meat and milk in the next three years. And, finally, we will produce the long-awaited ten million metric tonnes of grain.
Vladimir Putin: What about spring planting?
Alexander Tkachyov: Spring planting is on schedule. If you remember, last year we had serious concerns about frosts. We harvested 20 centners less than expected per hectare, losing about three million metric tonnes. In April we had temperatures of minus ten degrees Celsius, which is a record low for our region. We have had a little too much moisture this year, but we are doing well nonetheless. We have finished beet planting.
Vladimir Putin: Your winter crops haven't been damaged, have they?
Alexander Tkachyov: No, everything looks good. We hope to get a good harvest. Take rice, for instance. You've visited our rice plantations, our rice basins. Our dream is to harvest a million metric tonnes of rice. During Soviet times we harvested 300,000, sometimes 500,000 or 700,000, metric tonnes of rice, and today there is nothing preventing us from cultivating a larger area and bringing yields up to 80 centners per hectare in just three or four years.
Vladimir Putin: I'm glad that your winter crops are in good shape. I've recently been to the Volga Region, where winter crops have been seriously damaged.
Alexander Tkachyov: We have advanced technology, good equipment and credit resources.
Any project today benefits from cheap and long-term credit, with interest rates almost as low as 4%. This is something we had never dreamed of.
Vladimir Putin: Is work to install natural gas infrastructure in progress?
Alexander Tkachyov: Absolutely. Rosneft is currently investing in industry and transport; Gazprom is laying a gas pipeline along the bottom of the Black Sea and along the shore through nearly the entire Tuapse district, towards Sochi...
Vladimir Putin: They are working fast.
Alexander Tkachyov: The technology for this is unique, and we are happy with the gas project. Otherwise the Tuapse district would not have access to natural gas. The entire resort area was heated with oil, which produces a lot of smoke...
Vladimir Putin: This will be a significant improvement both for the environment and the economy.
Alexander Tkachyov: For investors this is fundamentally...
Vladimir Putin: And for regular people, of course.
Alexander Tkachyov: Both for those who holiday there and the local residents. More than 200,000 people live on the Black Sea coast.
Vladimir Putin: The gas pipeline will be 320 kilometres long, correct?
Alexander Tkachyov: Yes.