Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited an exhibition of major projects for regions in the Volga Federal District. In particular, he looked over the plans to develop the city of Perm and prepare its bid for the European Capital of Culture title for 2017. Perm Territory Governor Oleg Chirkunov suggested including a separate provision in the draft for a general agreement between the Russian Federation and the European Union to get Russian cities involved in the annual contest for the European Capital of Culture.

"Will you support it?" the governor asked. "I need to discuss it with President Medvedev, but I like the idea," the prime minister replied.

He also supported the idea to create the first Russian innovative centre of higher education for social integration in Bashkortostan. "There are about 11 million people with disabilities in Russia, who account for 8% of the population, and only between 13% and 15% of them have a permanent job," said Bashkir leader Rustem Khamitov.

The republics of Mari El and Tatarstan as well as the Penza, Orenburg and Saratov regions presented large-scale projects in agriculture, including new poultry farms, livestock breeding complexes, and harvesting machines and equipment.

"You don't let the cows sleep at all," the prime minister quipped about the high-tech dairy farms that work round-the-clock. Vladimir Putin also liked the idea to raise sterlet, trout and other fish in the Kama River. He was shown a scale model of a future fish breeding facility with pools.

Many regions in the Volga Federal District are set to address transport challenges. The Saratov and Samara regions are modernising their airports. The Nizhny Novgorod Region plans to build a new bridge across the Volga. The Kirov Region is considering plans for a new logistics centre to ship construction materials across Russia.

"Transport is our main problem," said Kirov Region Governor Nikita Belykh. "We need a 25-kilometre long motorway to connect Tatarstan with Udmurtia. This project requires 1.2 billion roubles."

Mordovia is modernising cement production facilities and creating a federal training centre for the national Olympic team. Chuvashia is constructing facilities to produce solar cells and railway carriages that have no international equivalents.

Prime Minister Putin received several invitations to visit regions and look at the innovative projects on-site. The prime minister is expected to receive a very hearty welcome in the Republic of Mari El, and he was also invited to the renovated Drama Theatre of the Penza Region for the premiere of a play. "I'll try my best to come," he promised.