Vladimir Putin's opening remarks:

I would like to address both the Russian audience and the audience of our friends and colleagues in the German city of Freiburg, one of the oldest scientific and educational centres in Europe.

I genuinely wanted to look at the activities of the higher education institution where we are now. At the meeting of the Russian Government's Presidium today we will discuss the programme of training scientific and pedagogical personnel, we will discuss the creation of new federal scientific-educational centres, and the Moscow State Steel and Alloys Institute may be one of them.

Frankly speaking, it is a total surprise to find myself in this auditorium. And it was a still greater surprise to be able to address our colleagues in Germany.

The Moscow Steel and Alloys Institute (MISiS) is one of the oldest. It has been functioning since 1918, when the metallurgical faculty was created at the Moscow Mining Academy. In that sense MISiS is a distant relative of the Freiburg Institute.

It gives me particular pleasure to note that many people in Germany speak fluent Russian. Russian students also freely switch to foreign languages. It shows that the academic community of Europe is gradually emerging as a single whole. People are closer to each other, they understand each other better, there is growing trust, and professional standards are rising.

It is great that in spite of competition in education, the leading German universities recognise the MISiS diploma. I very much hope that this cooperation will continue in the future, not only in education and science but also in production. We are aware that leading Russian and German companies have such plans.

I would like to wish you all success. Thank you very much.

After the presentation devoted to the creation of a Federal Technological University in Russia, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said:

I think that the Moscow Steel and Alloys Institute has every chance to become a federal scientific-educational centre.

MISiS has a rich history. In addition, it is already emerging as a major research and educational centre: its undergraduates, post-graduates and teachers publish hundreds of articles, defend a lot of patents and conduct extensive research and development.

Today I had a chance to see that the MISiS management spends the federal money it receives under the Education national project in a fairly effective way. The money is used first and foremost to buy research equipment.

I would like to stress again the international contacts MISiS enjoys, especially with such major European centres as the Freiburg Institute. We have just been recalling that Lomonosov in his time studied at Freiburg and allegedly was expelled from the Institute after the first semester for abuse of alcohol. But I think it is just a myth, he simply couldn't wait to return home.

I very much hope that our students will feel comfortable here. I also look forward to the implementation of plans of training foreign specialists. I hope that Europe's best teachers will come to us and that they will feel at home in Russia.

I would like to wish you success.

I think MISiS has every chance to move still further up the "league tables" of higher education in Russia.

You have an excellent school, which is very much in demand and very interesting. We have looked at the development plans presented by your rector, and they are very interesting. Let me tell you that many envy you. And in the future they will envy you even more.

I wish you all the best. Good-bye.