Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr. Karlin, industrial production in your region is growing, and faster than the national average. That’s good news. There are some problems to deal with, though.

I’ve got a few questions concerning the region’s short and mid-term development. I wonder how you’re planning to use the money from your regional road construction fund. And I’d like to know whether you’ve made any progress in repairing dilapidated apartment blocks and providing alternative housing for the tenants. Let’s begin with these two issues and then move on to the modernisation of healthcare and education.

Alexander Karlin: We’ve worked closely with the [Housing & Utilities] Fund from the very start. We conclude agreements on an annual basis. And we raise substantial resources for repairing dilapidated facilities and providing alternative housing for their tenants.

Many of the Altai Region’s residents live in district centres and rural settlements, which number about 1,600.

Thanks to Law № 185, we’ve been able to change the appearance of our district centres by doing major repairs to local apartment blocks. Quite a few tenants of dilapidated buildings in the regional capital, in other cities have now been provided with safe housing. We cooperate with the fund more closely than most regions do.

Last year, we completed an innovative residential project based on energy-saving technology. That’s the way for us to go, I think, all the more so since the harsh Siberian winters make us spend so much on the maintenance of our housing. We’ve increased the spending on such projects in the regional budget, and we expect some federal support, too.

We’ll stick to our course. The population is positive about the work we’ve done until now and would like us to continue our efforts. And we will carry on.

Vladimir Putin: How much will you get from the Housing Fund?

Alexander Karlin: This year, we’ll channel more than 700 million roubles from various sources into resettlement and major repairs.

As for the road sector, our region has some 16,600 kilometers of roads. The costs of road construction and maintenance are quite high here, especially in the winter.

We’ve drafted plans for providing communities of 500-plus with asphalt roads in the next few years. We hope the project gains federal support. We’ve got federal highways running across our region, and these are repaired and renovated from the federal purse.

Vladimir Putin: Some governors ask for permission to redistribute the money coming into their road funds, saying that their actual capacities just won’t let them use that much money. What’s the situation like in your region?

Alexander Karlin: We’ve kept our road maintenance and improvement operations in tact; it’s one of the most solid in Siberia and in Russia at large. More than 60 companies with various specialisations are involved in new construction projects in the [Altai] Region. I’ll show you photos of a new bridge over the Katun. It took construction crews a year-and-a-half to complete this high-quality motorway, leading to a special economic zone. So, we do have strong experience in road construction and we are not going to use the allocated funds for the any other purpose.

Vladimir Putin: I am glad to hear that.  There is a law, and let us stick to the decisions taken. In previous years, many governors would have complained about the lack of funds for road construction. Now that a road fund has been set up, we shouldn’t divert any of its resources to other budget items.

Alexander Karlin: I see your point. We’re also working with the Agriculture Ministry on its agriculture development programme. This programme, too, provides allocations for the construction of roads into rural settlements. We’ll make the most of those finances too.

Vladimir Putin: Okay. And how’s your health and education reform going?

Alexander Karlin: We’ve prepared all of our agreements on healthcare and have signed all the necessary documents with the Health and Social Development Ministry. Under the health modernisation programme, we’ll spend an additional 8.3 billion roubles to upgrade healthcare in the region. This amount will go for major repairs, new equipment, personnel training and to raise medical personnel salaries.

Vladimir Putin: And what about your schools?

Alexander Karlin: We have a lot of schools; 1,224, to be precise.

Vladimir Putin: How are they doing?

Alexander Karlin: Eighty percent of our schools are smaller than a standard size school.  Nevertheless, in recent years we have paid a lot of attention to bringing the quality of education at those schools up to federal standards, even at schools in small rural communities. And today, we are close to the target – 75% of our students study in conditions that meet federal requirements.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Karlin, your region’s average salary is quite modest, right? And what about teachers’ pay? Is it much lower than the average?

Alexander Karlin: You mean the salary of school teachers?

Vladimir Putin: Exactly.

Alexander Karlin: Their pay is, indeed, a bit lower than what people in manufacturing earn. But we’re working to bring it up little by little. They received a modest increase on June 1. And then, following in the federal resolution’s wake, we adopted a regional resolution on pay increases for all public-sector workers.

Vladimir Putin: How much will that raise be?

Alexander Karlin: Some 6.5%. We plan further increases within the school modernisation programme.

Vladimir Putin: When will you bring your teachers’ salary to the regional average?

Alexander Karlin: Next year I believe. But we’ll get close by the end of this year, I think, given the additional allocations.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Karlin, your region’s average is rather modest, so you should try and bring teachers’ pay up to that level before the year’s end. It seems feasible to me. Okay?

Alexander Karlin: Okay.

Vladimir Putin: Please talk to the deputies, review your resources and redistribute some funds if needed. This won’t take too much money, I’m sure. You could also use some of the funds we allocate for renovation.

Alexander Karlin: Yes, they will come in very handy, Mr Putin.

Vladimir Putin: Will there be further pay raises for teachers on September 1?

Alexander Karlin: Yes, we’ve adopted a resolution in line with federal targets.

Vladimir Putin: Good.