Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Mr Kostin, what are the performance results for the past six months? How would you assess the situation in the markets? How is the bank doing? Are there any questions for me or for the government in general?
Andrei Kostin: Mr Putin, the bank's financial performance has improved substantially this year. We have revised our mid-year revenue forecast for this year, from 88 to 100 billion roubles of net income. This is a truly indicative figure, and it is nearly twice as much as the net income from last year. Overall, according to these indicators, VTB is now fully comparable to major financial institutions in Western Europe and the United States, and surpasses these financial institutions in terms of capital returns.
The situation in financial markets is currently causing major concerns. The processes that are taking place in the United States and Europe, such as the decline in the US credit rating and increased debt in a number of Western European countries, are having a negative impact on global securities and financial markets, and are also directly affecting Russian markets. We are prepared for this, however. We are ready to confront these challenges, much more so than two years ago, and I don’t foresee any problems for the VTB Group or other Russian banks, even in a less favourable environment than what we are expecting. Overall, we feel that this is a problem we will be able to handle.
Separately, I would like to inform you about several major projects that the bank is currently engaged with. Profit is important, but we believe that the participation of our bank in major economic projects in Russia is also very important. In particular, I'd like to report that we have just learned of the decision of the bidding commission in St Petersburg to award the consortium led by VTB the right to implement a major project that is part of the public-private partnership. This project consists of the construction and concession of a western high-speed diameter, and the construction of its central, most technically-challenging part.
Vladimir Putin: The governor has told me about this in detail.
Andrei Kostin: Our proposal was 20% better, less expensive and more precise than the other proposals, with an approximate savings of 20 billion roubles. We also offered less expensive maintenance terms and a shorter construction period of 36 months from the day the concession agreement is signed.
Vladimir Putin: The main thing is for prices not to start climbing later on.
Andrei Kostin: Mr Putin, this is completely ruled out, because we have firmly set down all the terms and conditions. We fully understand our responsibility, and we will follow through on our deadlines and prices. In fact, this is our second major infrastructural project in St Petersburg, as we are involved in the construction of the new Pulkovo airport. We are already ahead of schedule, even though we started out a bit later than we planned. We are making good progress, and we will definitely meet the deadline that is set for late 2013. These are two major infrastructural projects that VTB is currently working on in St Petersburg.
Vladimir Putin: How much will the high-speed diameter cost?
Andrei Kostin: Mr Putin, the net cost is about 91 billion roubles without VAT. This is the part that is being built by investors, the central part. It’s considered to be the most complicated part of construction, involving three bridges, a tunnel and overpasses. It's quite a lot of work, in all… We have enlisted the participation of leading Turkish and Italian firms, but of course, we will also have to hire subcontractors from St Petersburg and other parts of Russia. In my view, this project will significantly change the situation in the city, in terms of its future economic development.
Vladimir Putin: Good.