Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Mr Zoellick, ladies and gentlemen,
To begin with, I’d like to welcome you to St. Petersburg again.
Russia’s relations with the World Bank are developing successfully. We have established a business relationship and are cooperating in many areas, such as the development of financial support, the development of the Russian judicial system and state statistics, to name but a few. Considering that the World Bank is ready to provide resources in the amount of $4 billion in the near future, we must by all means discuss the specific areas of our work together. I’m very glad to have this opportunity to discuss these issues with you today.
Robert Zoellick (as translated): Mr Prime Minister, thank you very much. You have been generous with your time today, so I don’t want to use too much of it. Nonetheless, I’d like to thank you again for this meeting.
I am very interested to find out the specific areas you’d like us to concentrate on today.
In addition to our cooperation on diversifying and modernising Russia, we are carrying out some joint projects in Central Asia, which are worth discussing.