Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's introductory remarks:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

We have just seen for ourselves the work that goes on at one of the Sibur facilities outside Nizhny Novgorod.

We've also taken a look at several of LUKoil's ambitious investment projects, in particular a modernisation project for a new catalytic cracking facility at its Norsi plant (LUKoil Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez), in which 30 billion roubles have been invested.

Work is on track. The companies have been taking advantage of new solutions for several years already, and investing massively in these projects. Obviously, their investment is paying off.

I'd like to thank everyone involved in these innovative projects. Such projects bring Russia closer to its strategic goal in the oil industry.

I'd like to remind you that new government regulations will ban the production of petroleum below the Euro 3 emissions standard starting next year. Also, changes have been introduced to the Tax Code so that the higher the quality of engine fuel, the lower the excise tax on it. By doing so, the government has sent a very clear signal to the industry.

A new car costs quite a lot, and consumers have every right to demand high-quality and safe petroleum.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We discussed the challenges facing the petrochemical industry nearly a year ago, in November 2009. As a follow-up to our meeting, members of the production chain were tasked with drawing up long-term cooperation agreements to set transparent rules in the industry and develop well-balanced relationships with suppliers and consumers. I'd like to hear about the progress on this work today. Let's discuss what has been accomplished so far.

Next, the largest Russian companies plan to start operations at new gas condensate fields in Siberia in the upcoming years, which will expand the resource base of the petrochemical industry. To create new stable petrochemical facilities, it is necessary to deal with infrastructure limitations and eliminate administrative barriers. This is the main challenge we must meet if we are to have an industry that is truly competitive. For this purpose, the Ministry of Energy and other federal executive bodies have been tasked with simplifying the procedure for issuing permits to construct production facilities and evaluating opportunities for constructing new routes to transport crude oil and gas. This work has been carried out, to my knowledge. Let's focus on this issue today.

Another challenge is producing new high-tech materials for housing and road construction and other industries. We must create production centres in the areas that already have the necessary infrastructure. The Tomsk Region and the Republic of Tatarstan have gained some valuable experience here, and the Nizhny Novgorod Region is working on this issue as well. This will also be on today's agenda.

And finally, we are creating federal and national research centres at Russia's higher education institutions, which will form the innovation core of Russian research. I think we should select a leading Russian chemistry university to host a national centre for chemical technology. Let's consider this issue today as well. I'd like to hear your proposals.

Our meeting is joined remotely by representatives from several facilities in Russian regions where modernisation projects are underway. So let's see what's going on there. Let's start with Tobolskpolimer, where one of the world's largest polypropylene facilities is being constructed. It will manufacture 500,000 tonnes of polypropylene annually. Investment in this project has exceeded 60 billion roubles, of which 40 billion roubles has been lent by Vnesheconombank.

Then we'll see what's happening at Tomskneftekhim, Kazanorgsintez, Stavrolen and Angara Polymers Plant.