Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Some time ago we made the decision to sell 10% of the shares of the main government bank, VTB, the foreign trade bank. The government is the main shareholder there. You and your staff have done much to make this deal possible: you went on a fairly long tour of many countries, meeting with your colleagues and promoting the deal. Today I signed a government executive order to finalise the transaction.  

According to tentative expert assessments, this work has been successful and has brought good results. I would like to hear your comments.

Andrei Kostin: It is true that we met with a high degree of interest in our efforts to attract investors. The bids for VTB Bank shares exceeded the offer by two times. That made it possible to raise the price to the market price today, which is rare in such offerings. When a large number of shares are floated, it naturally tends to push the price down.  

During the course of the meetings (I held more than 50 meetings with investors last week) the investors commented on the prospects for the development of VTB itself. However, a successful offering would have been impossible, as has been invariably stressed, without a high assessment of the government policy and the positive outlook for the development of the Russian economy as a whole.

We have been told that the government’s policy in combating the crisis has been effective and successful, which made it possible to live through the crisis with minimal losses, including in the banking sector. We were told that the government’s macroeconomic policy was effective, that Russia today looks much more attractive than even many European countries in macroeconomic terms. We were told that the mechanism the government has worked out, the new privatisation mechanism, was also much more transparent and in line with international practice, which enabled many big investors to take part in this SPO. That is why the government’s measures have contributed seriously to boosting investor demand in the still difficult post-crisis period in terms of the stock markets.

Vladimir Putin: I am pleased to hear the positive assessment by the expert community of the activities of the Russian government, especially regarding the crisis. It is true that we have succeeded on many counts. We are facing considerable challenges, including inflation and inflation targeting.

As for the transaction in question, it has been a success. I would like to congratulate you and your colleagues on this work and urge you to be careful to meet the interests of the investors.

This is a difficult job. I visited your bank recently and I saw that generally your work is organised to the highest technological standards. I have seen your experts and they are all young, personable and highly professional people. It is indeed a powerful international institution.

I expect that this move, which undoubtedly attests to confidence that investors have in our financial system and our economic policy, will be to the benefit of the financial system, the economy and to VTB.

Andrei Kostin: Thank you very much, Mr Putin.