Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr Potanin, I'd like to start with a problem that arose while coordinating the details of the plan for the Olympic University. I am referring to the need to preserve parkland, or a small grove to be precise, which is of value to Sochi. You've been on this issue and have found a solution, to my knowledge. So what kind of solution is it?

Vladimir Potanin: Mr Prime Minister, when you and IOC President Jacques Rogge laid the foundation stone for the future Russian International Olympic University three months ago, you asked us to pay special attention to our environmental commitments while implementing this project. Following up on your request, we had to alter the initial plan. I'd like to report back to you, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University, that your orders have been executed. To make a long story short, I'd like to show you... This is the university building. The grove is at the embankment. According to the initial plan, this site was to be used for university facilities.

Vladimir Putin: So the grove was to be cut down?

Vladimir Potanin: Yes. But the thing is that this grove is located on the retaining wall and will be destroyed by natural process whether we build here or not. According to experts, this wall will start to erode in 15 years at the latest and these trees will die anyway.

According to your order, we introduced several changes to the original plan. First, we will use a different construction technology. Second, to preserve the grove, we'll build an overpass and replant the trees in more solid ground. Here's how it will look.

Vladimir Putin: These trees here, right?

Vladimir Potanin: Yes. This is the grove and this is the construction site. As you can see, the area of the grove is fairly large. According to established practice in urban planning, parkland should be 25% of the total area of such complexes. It has been raised to 36% for this project, which is very good.

Vladimir Putin: Will it require additional funds?

Vladimir Potanin: No, it won't. We have achieved this by reducing the area of commercial facilities. The campus is a part of a large complex, and while adjusting the initial plan we decided to reduce the area of infrastructure and commercial facilities, leaving the campus area at 16,000 square metres, as called for in the initial plan. It also needs to be mentioned that the terms of the loan for this project, issued by Sberbank, will remain unchanged - there will be no breaks for us. Even so the project will remain profitable.

Vladimir Putin: When will the university embark on its first projects?

Vladimir Potanin: Although the university was founded only a year ago - the founding meeting was held last October - we have already started several academic programmes. So far nine programmes are underway, which will prepare over 50 certified specialists by the end of this academic year. But this is just the beginning. In the future, the university will produce 500 specialists annually. We have a long road to go. We will start dozens of new academic programmes in addition to the current nine. They will meet all modern standards. To this end, the university is partnering with leading international institutes in Canada and other countries. It also maintains contacts with sports federations, including the International Ice Hockey Federation, which has recently held a seminar here.

We are adopting international best practices and will continue doing so through 2014. We will build on the experience we will gain during the Sochi Olympics and the programmes that the university is developing right now, so that we can export programmes in the future, to offer them to our international partners. This will bring some profit to the university, which is important for a public organisation, and increase the prestige of the university and Russian education in general.

From my viewpoint, the yardstick of success of such universities is whether their programmes are adopted internationally. We expect that after the Olympics the university will focus on cooperation with international partners, along with training programmes for our sports federations and regions. The university is working on this with the steering committee of the Sochi Olympics. We are doing our best to meet every requirement of the International Olympic Committee.

We also cooperate with Russian sports unions and regions. I have a request to ask of you, as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. In February, Sochi will host the first competitions ahead of the Olympics, including the pre-Olympic European skiing championships. We'd like to hold a seminar for CIS ministers of sport and presidents of national Olympic committees and perhaps a meeting of the Board of Trustees during this period. If you can find time, we'll submit this proposal to you on behalf of the Supervisory Committee.

Vladimir Putin: All right, let's do so. Regarding your plans to market these programmes internationally, I'm sure you understand that, as in any other sector, only a competitive product or service will be in demand on international markets, and we should try our best to meet the highest standards.

Vladimir Potanin: We aim to, Mr Prime Minister.