Prior to the meeting, Viktor Zubkov went to see progress in the restoration and construction work at the monastery and also visited its Sunday school and Resurrection Cathedral.

In his opening remarks, Viktor Zubkov said as follows:

"It's not our first working meeting on the monastery's premises. We have just taken a look at the progress here, which looks good.

A parochial school will be commissioned in late October, which will be used as living quarters by monks during renovation. They are about to complete renovation of the gate church and carry on the manufacturing of church decoration items and painting icons for the iconostasis and tabernacles. The icons will be placed in the first quarter of 2012.

There is significant progress in work on the Resurrection Cathedral. They completed reinforcement of the foundation and built a heating system, which will make it possible to conduct renovation work all year. The project documentation was approved by state experts. All of the above will make it possible to start full-scale restoration work at the cathedral this year already.

They have conducted necessary research and studies. Several discoveries were made during archaeological digs, which sped up the restoration and engineering work at the monastery.

The work is following the approved schedule. Over 500 specialists are involved in the work, and this number will still increase. They have already planned work at other properties of the monastery, and they also plan to reinforce the slope of the hill. Currently, work is underway to dismantle the pyramidal roof of the rotunda of the Resurrection Cathedral and reinforce its walls.

Participants of the round table discussions held in May decided to replace the existing makeshift roof. The designers came up with a dismantling project; the project will get the approval and the work permit from the Russian Ministry of Culture before the end of 2011. Actual work will begin in 2012.

The pace of work and the determination of the designers and contractors will make it possible to conduct full-blown work and complete renovation by late 2016 as planned. Our key goal is not to build a splendid-looking new property, but to preserve the idea of Patriarch Nikon and stay as close to the original beauty of the monastery during its heyday as possible.

Fast-paced work requires our ongoing attention. There are some unexpected events like the replacement of the developer and builder on November 1. From then on, these functions have been taken over by the state agency Federal Construction Department No. 900 of the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy). Their senior executives reassured us that they were up to the task, and cooperation among all the participants of the restoration work would even improve.

Let me remind you that we all should be guided by fundamental documents, such as the guidelines for restoration of the historical look of the monastery and the programme for restoration of the monastery during 2011-2016. I would like to ask senior officials of the charity fund for monastery restoration to keep monitoring closely compliance with regulations and financial discipline.

The restoration of the monastery is supervised specifically by President Dmitry Medvedev and His Holiness Kirill. Ordinary people also contribute to restoration of the monastery as best they can.

Today's meeting is attended by senior officials from the Moscow Region government who are also active in supporting the fund and the monastery."

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A charity fund to restore the Resurrection Monastery in New Jerusalem was established in 2008 upon the initiative of the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to support the motion by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The Fund's board is led by First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov. President Dmitry Medvedev and Patriarch Kirill co-chair the Fund's Board of Trustees.