Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Ladies and gentlemen, friends,

Welcome again! I would like to greet the French delegation on behalf of Russia. And I hope that our work today is productive.

Last night the French prime minister and I shared our views on current issues and discussed them for several hours today. We touched on almost every critical issue. At this expanded meeting we’ll need to focus on our cooperation in energy, manufacturing industries, science, space, education, transport and agriculture.

Today we’ll also review the results of the Year of Russia in France and the Year of France in Russia, which have been very rich in different cultural events. Incidentally, they were concluded yesterday with an excellent show at the Bolshoi Theatre with performances by the best Russian and French ballet dancers.

I think everyone agrees that this ambitious project has been very successful. Many Russian and French people got involved in it.  And hundreds of remarkable events were held, such as the exhibitions Holy Rus, the Art of Living in French Style, exhibitions of Picasso’s works in Moscow and St Petersburg, festivals of Russian cinema in Cannes and Lyon, which have become significant cultural events in our two countries. On this occasion, I would again like to thank everyone who helped to organise and hold these events.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Russia and France have developed close ties in science, culture and education. These are underpinned by commercial and political partnerships and strong business relationships. Cooperation in trade, the economy and investment is gradually recovering after the global financial crisis; there are steady positive trends in these areas. 

In the first nine months of this year bilateral trade grew by some 40%, exceeding $17 billion. This means we have nearly reached the level of the pre-crisis year 2008. We need to do our best to maintain this dynamic, developing closer ties between the main industries of our economies. One of the most effective mechanisms available to us is cross capitalisation. This is something that several Russian and French companies are already pursuing. I believe that more companies should follow suit, forming business alliances. So far such alliances are expected to emerge in the aerospace and auto industries, and other sectors.

I would also like to highlight our accomplishments in investment cooperation. In April we inaugurated a PSA Peugeot Citroen plant in Kaluga, not far from Moscow. A big manufacturing centre is being created there, which will include assembly lines and production facilities for auto components. I believe that French investors should look more closely at the opportunities that are opening up to them in Russian regions, as Renault-Nissan, our strategic partner, is doing. This alliance is working to modernise the facilities of the Volga Automotive Plant.

France and Russia have collected extensive positive experience in the aircraft and space industries. Russian manufacturers supply minor components to EADS. Russia’s VTB Bank participates in its capital. This was one of the issues I raised with Mr Fillon today. A great deal has been accomplished here, and now we need to determine our next steps.

The Soyuz space centre in Kourou has been a landmark project for us. Clearly, sharing space technology has made Russia and France far more competitive. This project will allow our countries to expand our market presence in commercial space launches and to carry out advanced research.

We have prioritised cooperation in high-tech and science-intensive industries, where Russia and France have trump cards, by which I mean great potential in resources and scientific experts.  I believe this approach is justified. Our French partners have an excellent opportunity to work in Russia’s special economic zones. The French prime minister discussed one such opportunity with President Medvedev today.

One of the most important areas of high-tech cooperation is energy conservation, energy efficiency. Today Russia and France will sign an agreement to create a centre that will address these problems. I’d like to note that we have achieved tangible results in this area. For example, Inter RAO UES and EDF have established a joint venture to promote high-tech and energy efficient services in the Russian market.

Cooperation between RusHydro and Alstom has been equally successful. These companies have developed a strategic partnership, engaging in the construction of a high-tech energy equipment facility in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan.

Danone and Unimilk have also begun cooperating. This will allow them to increase sales in Russia and increase their participation in the market of the Customs Union that Russia has created with Belarus and Kazakhstan, as you know.

Overall, we regard France and its business community as traditional and privileged partners that have proved their eagerness to cooperate with us in making modernisation initiatives a reality and promoting major economic initiatives. We have included all our main commitments in the joint statement on partnership in the interests of modernisation that is due to be signed today.

There is still another area where we could develop cooperation. I am referring to preparations for major sporting events, such as the FIFA World Cup. France has a wealth of experience in hosting such events. We all remember the excellent 1998 World Cup and France’s triumph. We would appreciate your help in organising these world-class competitions.

Thank you for your attention. I hope that today we will also touch on cooperation in related areas, such as tourism, culture, education and others.

Mr Fillon, please.

Francois Fillon (as translated): Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, ministers,

First of all, I would like to thank you, Mr Prime Minister, for a warm welcome and for all the hard work we have already done. We had a productive five-hour discussion yesterday and met this morning to look at every issue, every problem that we face. In my opinion, this shows that relations between Russia and France are developing successfully. That’s what President Sarkozy and I have always strived for. We have made great progress: France is the fifth largest investor in Russia. We are even ahead of the United States and intend to maintain this position and even strengthen it.

I’d like to note that our cultural cooperation has also been very successful. We held the Year of France in Russia and the Year of Russia in France, and I can say that these events have become a symbol of our friendship. It is my pleasure to meet members of the Russian government, with whom I have become quite familiar and gotten accustomed to cooperate. I’d like to greet Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko, who was my counterpart for some years, Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev, who watched over my son over the years – the ambassador’s office overlooks the school my son went to. I think my son even made a racket sometimes, didn’t he?

I’d like to say a few words about football and our cooperation here. We are eager to share the experiences we accrued hosting major sporting events. As far as our expertise in winning world cups, I don’t think we can give you any advice with that since if we come to the 2018 World Cup we’ll have only one aim – to win, and to beat you of course.

Mr Putin and I discussed our cooperation in almost every area this morning. I would like to stress that the president of the French Republic and I – and this is my strong belief – advocate a very simple idea: Russia is a major European power.

Regarding stability, Europe’s well-being and prosperity depend on our ability to create a common political and economic space and a security zone between France and Russia, and between Europe and Russia. To this end, Paris and Moscow have enacted a series of measures in the past three years to move this process along. And I reiterated our willingness to carry on this way at my meeting with Mr Putin. We will also try to diversify the areas of our cooperation, notably in the economy. I am now primarily referring to energy efficiency.

Incidentally, we are to sign an agreement for a French-Russian centre, which will open up exciting vistas for cooperation. I have already told Mr Putin that we would like to build up our participation in the Skolkovo project. We will nominate a prominent French scientist, the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, to the centre’s research council. And we are also encouraging French companies to create a similar research centre. We have recruited one company so far.

I would also like to mention financial cooperation, which is represented by the forum held jointly by Paris and Moscow.  I’m also referring to new areas of cooperation in the economy. I expect this meeting to provide further impetus for cooperation in agriculture. I’d like to welcome the French and Russian Ministers of Agriculture attending these talks. I disagree with those who think that this industry belongs to the past. Absolutely not, these issues are strategically important as we deal with global food security. We need to figure out how to meet the global demand for food, since, as we know, the world’s population is growing rapidly. In addition to this, we should adopt new technology in different industries, including in agriculture.

Another important area of cooperation is healthcare. I appreciate that both the Russian and French healthcare ministers have personally contributed to promoting cooperation here, and I believe that there are very good prospects for it. So, Mr Prime Minister, I think we can give the floor to our colleagues so they can comment on these issues, otherwise they may get the feeling that they are useless here, which is the last thing I want, even more so because it is not true.