Transcript of Vladimir Putin's talk with Yury Chikhanchin:

Vladimir Putin: I thought it would be good for us to meet now that the former head of the agency has transferred to the Presidential Executive Office, and you have come back. The work to which you are returning is not new to you. At the same time you were absent from it for a certain period while working here, at the Government Office. How do you assess the situation in the sphere and what are the priority tasks in your opinion?

Yury Chikhanchin: Oleg Markov and I were just discussing the character of our agency's future activities in the light of the task set by the President and by you, and we identified several main areas. The first and main task is as follows: An FATF assessment has been carried out and the final results will be summarised at the plenary meeting in the middle of June. We should see and work out a mechanism for addressing existing problems. Basically, a tentative assessment is not bad, but there is work to be done. The second task you have set is monitoring the budgetary assets invested in the economy today. There are some questions regarding specific projects, such as the APEC summit, the Sochi Olympics, "Industrial Urals - Arctic Urals", and so on. A third and very important problem to which the international community attaches great significance - I have just attended a plenary session of the Egmont Group - are issues connected with corruption. And two more tasks are very important: countering the financing of terrorism, which is a very serious problem and we are working on concrete materials at present, and the fight against drug money laundering. These are the priority tasks that face us today and that we are going to tackle.

Vladimir Putin: How many years' experience do you have of working with financial intelligence? 



Yury Chikhanchin: Over six years.

Vladimir Putin: As its deputy head?

Yury Chikhanchin: Yes, initially I was the first deputy chairman of the Financial Monitoring Committee. Before that, at the Finance Ministry, I was a member of the working group drafting the law, which I also introduced at the State Duma and saw through all the stages of approval. Later, after the administrative reform, I was deputy chairman of the Financial Monitoring Committee. I worked at the Government Office. And now I am back on the Financial Monitoring Committee.



Vladimir Putin: I wish you success.

Yury Chikhanchin: Thank you very much.