Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr Kuznetsov, it's September 1 today. Your daughters go to school, don't they?

Lev Kuznetsov: Yes, they went to school today.

Vladimir Putin: Have they moved to this region with you?

Lev Kuznetsov: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: How do you like it here?

Lev Kuznetsov: We like it very much here. Today all 1,232 schools in the Krasnoyarsk Territory opened their doors, along with 132 vocational schools. Knowledge Day is in full swing.

Vladimir Putin: Are there any problems?

Lev Kuznetsov: There aren't any problems. We have commissioned three schools this year. We do understand that this is not much but our goal is to renovate the education infrastructure and today's opening of the Oil and Gas Institute is a significant contribution toward this goal. We believe that a key to a successful modernisation of the economy, including our region, is above all a highly qualified workforce and trained specialists that are in demand in large-scale investment projects and at our major industries, including metallurgical, gold mining and in the defence industry as well as at industries which are new to the Krasnoyarsk Territory, especially the oil industry which employs many people here and improves the quality of life.

That's why unemployment has been decreasing since the beginning of the year, along with other factors. At the beginning of this year there were 42,000 unemployed people whereas now there are about 37,000 unemployed, which corresponds to 2.3% unemployment.

Vladimir Putin: These are registered unemployed residents?

Lev Kuznetsov: These are officially registered unemployed people.

Vladimir Putin: Well, 2.3% is a fairly good showing.

Lev Kuznetsov: Yes, it's an average rate across the country. Unemployment was higher in the Krasnoyarsk Region before.

Higher employment rates are only one of our objectives. It's much more important to encourage people to learn the trades in demand on the labour market.

Meanwhile, we should create all the conditions necessary for training. For this purpose, the Krasnoyarsk Territory government, Rosneft, Norilsk Nickel, RUSAL and Polyus Gold are creating a network of vocational training schools that have been tasked with developing training programmes. You have spoken about it today. They are provided with the equipment and rooms they need...

This project will help improve the overall economic situation in the region.

Turning our attention to the economy, we expect the gross regional product to increase by some 7%. Last year it stood at 758 billion roubles, while this year we expect it to reach 930 billion roubles.

Industrial production is expected to grow by 10%. This growth matters for a great deal to us since the share of large industrial enterprises is very high in our region. They are stable, but production usually increases pretty slowly there. Also, the current trend shows that the share of backbone companies, which dominate the region's economy, like Norilsk Nickel, is changing.

This was made possible through the merger of regions into the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the discovery of the Vankorskoye field. Rosneft became the second largest taxpayer...

Vladimir Putin: After Norilsk Nickel.

Lev Kuznetsov: Yes, after Norilsk Nickel. We tell them that Rosneft is hot on their heels and that they should work more effectively because if they don't, Rosneft will outpace them.

On this point, I'd like to ask you, Mr Prime Minister, to support tax breaks for new oil fields in Siberia at least during the first stage. The companies that develop them spend a great deal on transport infrastructure...

We discussed this issue with Rosneft and other oil producers. Rosneft's experience shows that the emergence of new high-tech businesses in the industry has an immediate positive macroeconomic effect, increasing revenues for the federal and regional budgets. It's very important that such businesses employ local residents, as this gives them a good reason to stay in Siberia. Rosneft and Norilsk Nickel not only use environmentally friendly technology - Rosneft uses it extensively - they invest a great deal in social services.

Our key objective is to use tax revenues to improve living conditions in the region, create a good social and cultural environment, including through the high-tech medical centres, the cardiovascular and perinatal centres, created thanks to your personal support and funded by the Russian government through the Health national project.

I have to admit that we're lagging behind here, but as I said we have committed ourselves to open a new modern perinatal centre, which will take into account local specifics, in 2011, and we shall do everything in our power to meet this commitment. We believe that this will help reduce infant mortality rates in the region and create incentives for families in Siberia to have more children.

We have developed a design plan for an oncology centre and will soon begin construction. As you know, heavy industry dominates the region's economy and industrial production is on the rise, which partly explains why the problem of treating patients that have cancer is becoming more acute. I believe that a modern oncology centre will help us address this issue more effectively. We have already coordinated the plan for this centre with the Herzen Institute in Moscow.

We also invest a great deal in sports. I'd like to thank you for supporting the project for the Academy of Winter Sports. Its prime objective is promoting mass participation in sports. We chose a good site for such a centre - the academy was created in Krasnoyarsk, a city with a population of about one million. It uses facilities that were built here before, upgrading infrastructure in accordance with modern standards and taking into account the sports traditions that have formed in Siberia. The academy offers a good opportunity for training professional athletes. I believe this project will promote a healthy lifestyle and improve Russia's performance at international competitions.

Moving on to education, we're implementing an extensive programme across the whole network of education institutions, starting from kindergartens. The region has only 61% of the kindergartens it needs. We understand how critical this issue is and are doing our best to resolve it.

To address this challenge, we'll need to create modern social infrastructure. It's important to detail development priorities for the social and economic infrastructure of each region, taking into account their unique characteristics and mission. We should understand how many people will live there and what needs to be done to create good living conditions for them. Northern regions are mostly industrial, while southern regions are more like the regions in the European part of Russia.

Transport accessibility is critical for every region. The government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Ministry of Transport are working on a programme to establish government-run companies here, taking advantage of Yakutia's best practices. They will be set up in the towns where the region's main airports are situated. There are 11 such towns, including Khatanga, Dikson, Tura, Baikit, Vanavara, Severo-Yeniseisk, Kodinsk and Boguchansk. These towns already have social infrastructure. Some of them offer exclusive access to important mineral deposits. We have coordinated project details with the ministries involved and are waiting for your approval.

This project will allow us to keep this network, make these territories accessible and reduce the strain on the existing social infrastructure. We need to modernise this network because its maintenance costs are included in the prices of the minerals mined here, and they are pretty high. In addition to this, these regions will have modern health protection services, utilities and schools, which will encourage more people to move here. We're on top of these issues.

Speaking about transport accessibility, we helped one regional airline stay afloat and are subsidising it. The government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Norilsk Nickel have developed a plan to modernise and bolster it to address the region's transport problems more effectively, taking into account its vast area. Young people and pensioners are already taking advantage of the opportunity to buy airline tickets at discounted prices, and yesterday's decision regarding possible support for Norilsk and other cities will make a major contribution to the development of out transport infrastructure.

Vladimir Putin: Good.