Opening the meeting, Vladimir Putin described the current construction of houses for fire victims as satisfactory. "Houses have been erected at nearly all sites, and in other places the foundations have been laid or roofs are being built," the prime minister said.

Mr Putin paid special attention to the quality of the houses, saying they should be comfortable and meet all modern requirements.

In addition, the prime minister asked about reforesting the areas burned by the fires. "We must not allow the dead zones, wasteland, with burned stumps and dead trees, to remain for years around villages and towns," the prime minister said. He also said the decision had been made to allocate an additional 5 billion roubles for the Federal Agency for Forestry to buy firefighting equipment and 2.5 billion roubles to restore forests.

Vladimir Putin's opening remarks:

Let's start working. Today we are going to talk about managing the aftermath of the wildfires of this past summer.

Please, take your seats and let's start working. Today, six weeks after the disaster, we are only halfway through dealing with this issue, which is the only way to describe it. Let's see what we have achieved in these six weeks. This conference is being attended by top officials of the federal government, governors and representatives of the government commissions dispatched to the affected regions to monitor and coordinate the relief efforts.

As you know, I was in the Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir regions yesterday and I observed what was being done there. Construction is proceeding apace at nearly all sites; we are closely monitoring their progress. Just as I said I would do, I am monitoring the situation through web cameras placed at all the construction sites. I can see in real time that construction is mostly progressing in a satisfactory manner. Of course, the situation differs from site to site, but it is adequate overall. Six weeks after we launched the project, houses have been erected at nearly all sites, and in other places the foundations have been laid or roofs are being built. In other words, this project is underway.

In all, we need to build over 2,000 houses, or more precisely 2,181 houses, across Russia by winter, including in the Volgograd Region and the Altai Territory. I'd like to remind you that the new housing must be commissioned by December 1 in the Volgograd Region and the Altai Territory, and by November 1 in the other regions.

There is very little time left, which is why we are monitoring construction sites on a daily basis.

I expect Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin to present the latest data on all the construction sites, but primarily those where problems could hinder construction, as well as the measures taken to ensure that the project proceeds according to schedule.

We must pay special attention to the quality of housing, which must be comfortable and comply with modern requirements. In some regions, as I saw yesterday in Nizhny Novgorod and in the Vladimir Region, local leaders have reached agreements with sponsors and furniture companies, so that furniture and household appliances are provided at a discount. I think an agreement like this benefits both the people and the companies, which profit from large orders.

Besides, we have promised to provide the necessary infrastructure to these new communities. I expect you to report individually on the construction of social facilities, roads, and water, gas and electricity supply networks.

And lastly, we must also consider long-term solutions, including the reforestation of the burned-out areas. We must not allow the dead zones, with burned stumps and dead trees, to remain for years around villages and towns. People asked me about that just yesterday.

The government has decided to allocate an additional 5 billion roubles to the Federal Agency for Forestry to buy firefighting equipment and 2.5 billion roubles for reforestation. This money will be channelled into the affected regions. I'd like each region affected by the fires to draft reforestation measures and to submit their plans to the Forestry Agency.

I am now giving the floor to Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin.

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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's closing remarks:

In closing, I'd like to highlight two issues that require special attention - delays in compensation payments for lost property, which the federal minister spoke about, and the need to decide on the form of compensation as soon as possible. Some people haven't chosen one yet, and we need to ask them to do it promptly. This process needs to be moved along.

I have looked through reports for this meeting. According to these reports, 899 families have chosen cash compensation, while only 210 families have received such compensation. These people have made a decision - they have opted for cash compensation but haven't received it yet. When will you transfer the money? Why are we procrastinating?

Next, 120 families have chosen ready-made housing bought from the market, while only 29 families have received it. I have just looked it up in the reports to find that housing has been provided to only ten families in Penza, ten families in Ryazan and some more families in other regions. That's it. Where are the rest? This form of compensation has been chosen predominantly in the Voronezh and Ryazan regions. Do you mean you can't buy housing for such people on the secondary market? Let's consider this issue together and resolve it as soon as possible.

Moving on. Yesterday I visited the Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod Regions. I think the problems facing them are common for many regions.

The first issue I'd like to draw your attention to is the restoration of so-called summer homes. We agreed that what was damaged by wildfires must be restored if people want it. This applies to summer homes as well. The restoration procedure must comply with federal requirements. We will provide a maximum of 2 million roubles for the restoration of one cottage. If the area of the cottage to be rebuilt was smaller than required by health and safety standards, we'll build a bigger cottage, but the amount allocated for this will not exceed 2 million roubles in any case.

In the Vladimir Region foundations haven't been laid yet, to my knowledge. I'd like you to attend to this issue immediately and speed up this process.

Regarding cash compensation, the government of the Vladimir Region uses a wear coefficient when calculating amounts, pointing out that these cottages were not new. It's true that the cottages in that area were not new. But did you really expect them to be new? Yes, 99.9% were not new. And this housing was in fact very modest and cheap.

We agreed that the amount to be paid to those who have chosen cash compensation will be calculated based on the market price of housing in a particular region, not even the average price in Russia. Please use this market price to calculate the sum to be paid in compensation for lost housing without any coefficients and discounts. This is not Rublyovka, and we must not scrimp on ordinary people. We have provided you funds from the federal budget to resolve this issue. Please, carry out your work as we agreed. You should not be improvising. You can be sure that we'll check, and if any regions have diverged from the plan, I will order the Ministry of Finance to impose financial sanctions on them.

I'd like to turn our attention to so-called unpromising villages, or, to put it bluntly, the remnants of the villages hit by wildfires, in particular two villages in the Vladimir Region, Kamenka and Yuzhny. A few homes there survived the wildfires but the cottages, utilities and public facilities were all badly damaged. I raised this issue with Governor Nikolai Vinogradov yesterday and we decided to relocate these people. This won't require much money, only 72 million roubles by our estimates. We agreed that the federal and regional governments will each provide 50% of the sum. We can provide more if necessary.

I'm asking you to do as we agreed. The leaders of the rest of the regions affected by wildfires should keep in mind that ownership of the new cottages should be transferred to the people if necessary. All legal issues can be settled easily, it's no problem. If there is something else that the federal government can do, please tell us, and we'll do it promptly.

Next, we have already spoken about the need to meet technical requirements during the construction of cottages. This is very important.

Modern construction technology is very good and reliable, but the construction process still requires proper attention and discipline. It's not enough to finish the inside of a house, for example. If it is required to reinforce interior walls with steel bars, it needs to be done this way. Otherwise, if you scrimp on construction materials, you will fail to meet these requirements, discrediting the entire project. I'd like to know who oversees it. Who is monitoring to ensure that all technical requirements are met?

I am asking the Ministry of Regional Development to form groups of experts and send them to regions, to each construction site, to check what's going on there. In the Belgorod Region, and other places, ordinary people come to construction sites to see the process for themselves. But I'm sure you understand that ordinary people cannot check everything. For example, when a surface is plastered, it is necessary to make sure that proper plasterboards, reinforcement bars and buffering materials are used. These details are very important because they determine the quality of housing.

I'm sure that contractors and producers of construction materials are interested in meeting these requirements. Otherwise, it can discredit their products and services. I think they should get involved in inspections. I hope they will heed my message.

The next related issue is the need to maintain this housing properly. It is necessary to explain to people how to do it. We are using modern construction materials, different from what was used traditionally in construction in this country, and people should follow certain rules while living in their new cottages. This needs to be explained to them without delay.

We must deploy utilities engineers to each district where new high-tech housing is constructed. I'd like regional leaders to think how to organise it and attend to this issue without delay. If people don't know maintenance rules, they are likely to break them, which is dangerous.

It is also necessary to create modern engineering and public infrastructure. Many governors have spoken today about schools, kindergartens, shops, sports facilities, cultural activities centres, libraries and so on. They need to be planned and built in time.
In conclusion, as I said in my introductory remarks, we need to build 2,181 cottages for over 3,000 people affected by wildfires. The population of Russia is over 140 million people, and this number can seem small to some. But I'd like you to keep in mind that the rest of the 140 million people will see how the state supports its citizens and what it is capable of in an emergency judging by how we address this issue.

We have everything we need to meet our commitments. We have modern construction materials and technology and funds from the federal budget. There are construction companies that know how to do the work. I'd like all of you to show professionalism and diligence while addressing these challenges. We will soon enter the final phase. Now is not the time to relax.

Thank you very much for your attention. Good luck!