Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: How are parliamentary primaries going, Mr Gryzlov?

Boris Gryzlov: There are a lot of candidates running, 4,700, to be precise. That is, we have almost eight people per spot on the list of 600. The level of activity is amazingly high. There will be 255,000 people voting in these primaries. All of them are registered in computer databases, meaning that a quarter of a million Russian voters will make their choice at this early stage.

Vladimir Putin: You're talking about electors, aren't you?

Boris Gryzlov: Yes. Four or five rounds of primary elections have already been held in some of the regions, and their winners have appeared on the ballot. One such leader is Alexander Iltyakov, who spoke at a recent interregional conference in the Urals Federal District. Do you remember him?

Vladimir Putin: He is a farmer, isn't he?

Boris Gryzlov: Yes, he represents an agrarian association, and his speech was very well received. This is a very good project indeed and we've taken it as a regional project. He (Mr Iltyakov) tops the ballot for the Kurgan Region. He isn't affiliated with the party, but his leadership qualities have earned him wide voter support.

Vladimir Putin: He's come through the (Russian Popular) Front, hasn't he?

Boris Gryzlov: Yes, he's come through the Front and, after four rounds of primaries, has risen to the top in the Kurgan Region.

The Krasnodar Region and Dagestan are two regions with the highest number of candidates, 150-plus and 130, respectively. Moscow has as few as 70 candidates. Here the selection of candidates for the primaries has been really rigorous. And the total number of candidates is 4,700.

The primaries are gaining momentum, so we've decided to extend them through August 25. Under the election law and the provision on primary elections, there are several stages to go through. When the primaries are over, regional coordination councils shall tally the results and submit them to the Russian Popular Front's federal coordination council.

Vladimir Putin: When will the primaries end?

Boris Gryzlov: The primaries will end on August 25. It will take a week to process the results. The tallies are to be submitted also to United Russia's regional political councils.

Vladimir Putin: This will be in early September.

Boris Gryzlov: Early September, yes. We'll then need to hold regional conferences, where the results of primaries are to be approved.

The documents are to be submitted to United Russia's Supreme Council and then passed on to you for consideration. As the party's chairman, you send the lists over to the Supreme Council's board so that they can eventually find their way to the congress.

Given that we've extended the primaries, please schedule the congress for late September, say for Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th, so that we can hold it over the weekend.

Vladimir Putin: Okay, I agree. Let's do so. In fact, this date had already been proposed by our chief trade unionist, (Mikhail) Shmakov, when he spoke at some Popular Front gathering.

Boris Gryzlov: Really? Well, this seems to be the most appropriate date.

Vladimir Putin: We planned it for an earlier date first. But, anyway...

Boris Gryzlov: Sure, the timing is good.

Vladimir Putin: Okay, let it be September 23-24, then. Thanks.