Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: How are you doing, Mr Kress?
Viktor Kress: Coming out of the recession...
Vladimir Putin: Unemployment has barely declined in your region. The rate of decline is very modest.
Viktor Kress: Unemployment has always been a bit higher here, especially in rural and forest areas, than in neighbouring regions. The unemployment rate has been lower in Tomsk, but there was even a shortage of skilled specialists there. However, unemployment is currently no higher than the average level in Russia, and is slowly declining.
This year we'll put into operation a few large facilities.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, I've seen the documents. There are several good, large projects in timber processing and agriculture.
Viktor Kress: Yes, each of these projects will employ several thousand people. But there are some shortcomings.
Vladimir Putin: Wood panels...
Viktor Kress: Yes, MDF [medium density fibreboard], which is used to make façades in the West. We already commissioned the plant last year, but international investors... Eurasian Bank has in fact helped a great deal.
Vladimir Putin: The Russian-Kazakh bank?
Viktor Kress: Yes, the Russian-Kazakh bank. They were also affected by the recession, and this is why the process dragged on this long. Last week, I met with the top managers of the German company Diefenbacher. We agreed on the commissioning deadline, it'll be in November, but some assistance will be needed...
Vladimir Putin: There's also a good agricultural project; it's worth half a billion, to the best of my knowledge...
Viktor Kress: Yes, there's a good agricultural project. Processing in the agricultural industry has always lagged behind somewhat, even back in Soviet times, but in the past years we've processed and supplied quite a lot thanks to privately held companies. For example, we already produce twice as much poultry and pork than in the best Soviet years, the late 1980s. We supply our products to neighbouring regions. However, there are problems in beef production, as there are in Russia in general.
In the past few years, we've bred several thousand head of beef cattle. On the one hand, the flood plain is very large, and we can provide a lot of fodder, but on the other hand, it's not the proper pasture and the production cost is... It's not the same as producing meat in Argentina.
Vladimir Putin: There's been a significant growth in industrial production in your region. And budget figures are quite good. The surplus has already totalled four billion roubles.
Viktor Kress: The surplus is a different matter. We're holding it back a bit.
Vladimir Putin: That's right. Very good.
Viktor Kress: We don't allow a lot of the funds to be spent.
Vladimir Putin: Good. We cannot throw money around at a time like this. However, the growth in industrial production is a bit higher in your region than in the country on average.
Viktor Kress: It was 11.5% after three months. In the past four months, it reached 9.7% in terms of volume and 33% in value.
Vladimir Putin: Good.
Viktor Kress: But the growth of the budget hasn't been very high. It takes time.
Vladimir Putin: There have been quite a lot of projects in education, including the construction of university buildings and residence halls at the university. How is this progressing?
Viktor Kress: We'll soon open one dormitory at the Tomsk State University of Architecture and Building. And it was last year that we laid the foundation for another one, a larger dormitory, for 1,000 students, at Tomsk State University, so we'll open it a bit later. Also, we're planning to build a fairly large campus at Tomsk Polytechnic University.
There are student business incubators at each university, since we prioritise the market value of the students' work. And I think we're advancing faster than other regions.
Incidentally, we held the 13th Innovation Forum recently. It started as a regional forum in 1998, when the country was hit by a default. This time, the forum was attended by over 500 delegates, including several hundred international guests. So, this forum is gaining ground. The heads of eight regions participated in it, including Nikolai Merkushkin, Governor of the Republic of Mordovia, alongside representatives of the Kaluga, Perm, Irkutsk, and Novosibirsk Regions and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. We signed a protocol of intent to set up the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia in the autumn in Novosibirsk.
Vladimir Putin: Good.