Vladimir Putin: Distinguished colleagues,
Yesterday it was exactly a year since Vneshekonombank was registered in its new capacity, the Development Bank.
The bank was charged with tasks connected with the implementation of major investment projects aimed at removing infrastructure restrictions on economic growth. This means the development of energy, the transportation system, more effective use of natural resources and solutions to environmental problems.
The bank is also to provide financial support for the modernisation of domestic industry, above all aviation and shipbuilding, electronics and nuclear engineering, and other strategic sectors of the economy.
An important new area in the bank's activities should be assisting the development of small and medium-size businesses.
Investment projects will be implemented mostly on a partnership basis with maximum involvement of private business.
As far as I know the bank's leadership is planning to increase its credit portfolio to 850 billion roubles by 2012. Today the figure is around 200 billion roubles. Of course, it is a large-scale task, an ambitious task, to use a trendy word, but I am sure that it is absolutely realistic.
Today the supervisory board is to examine the annual report of Vneshekonombank for 2007.
The results are not bad in general. During the year, the bank extended 56.4 billion roubles in loans. Thirty-nine investment projects are in progress. They include significant projects such as the building of the Sheremetyevo-3 air terminal, modernisation of nuclear power plants and other projects.
I urge the members of the supervisory board to pay attention to the report and express their remarks.
We will also consider the practicability of the bank's participation in a number of new projects, specifically, the building of a plant to manufacture railway freight cars in the city of Tikhvin, Leningrad Region, of the first stage of the new Moscow-St Petersburg Highway and other major projects.
We will look at the bank's current issues.
I give the floor to Mr Dmitriev, the Chairman of the bank.
Vladimir Dmitriev: Thank you, Mr Putin, members of the supervisory board, guests.
We intend to put before the supervisory board some major issues -a report on the operation of our bank for 2007, including a review of the activities of Vneshekonombank that includes several documents officially approved by the supervisory board and the audit company. These documents are about cash flow, profit and loss, and other items approved by the Central Bank and the Ministry of Economic Development. All these documents are within the jurisdiction of the supervisory board.
From the report that we present, and we hope that it will be approved, it is clear, as you have already said, Mr Putin, that the bank is fully ready to launch full-scale activities at the start of the year.
It should be noted that the past reporting year was the time when the bank was organising itself. In reality the projects that constitute new areas of the bank's activities were examined and started being implemented after the approval of the credit policy, after the approval of the procedural format for investing in these projects and the adoption of other procedural documents, including those approved by the supervisory board. The agenda of our supervisory board includes issues that pertain to our bank's core activities. We are committed to gearing our activities to the sectoral and core areas of the operation of our bank.
So, with your permission I will present the annual report which is subject to approval by the supervisory board.