Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Khoroshavin, I am glad of another opportunity to visit Sakhalin. We have driven around the city a little. There is a feeling that things are moving forward. I too can see that there is steady progress in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the Sakhalin Region. There is definitely progress and that’s a good thing.

Yesterday we held a meeting with you of the big Government Commission on the Development of the Far East and Eastern Siberia. I brought a large group of ministers and other department heads with me. We discussed various issues, including transport, which is a very big issue for the Far East. We are going to meet now and discuss the issue of the development of your territory and districts, but it’s clear that transport issues are the most pressing for the Sakhalin Region too, so let’s talk about that now, and about other matters too. Please go ahead.

Alexander Khoroshavin: Yes Mr Medvedev. Thank you very much. You know that yesterday’s talks were indeed very significant for us. Above all we would like to thank you for the attention you are paying to the overall development of our region, and one of the most important and pressing problems for us is the issue of transport.

The title of yesterday’s meeting was “Remote areas,” which puts it in very human terms, people can understand what that means. I think that people very much appreciate it and understand it correctly. We live on islands and accessibility by air is for us, well sometimes it can simply be a matter of life and death. Okay, if someone goes on holiday, it’s clear he’s going to relax or whatever. But what about when it’s a matter of saving lives? When we need an air ambulance or something like that?

So when we are discussing the state of our runways, the maintenance of our airports, the smallest airports, helipads, transfers, maintaining our aircraft, small aircraft, that’s very important for us and very relevant. I think yesterday’s conversation was very timely and very useful. And the fact that you have decided to continue this conversation and take control of the issue is even more significant and very important.

Dmitry Medvedev: We are talking now on this topic in the context of the problems that Sakhalin faces, because of course in the Far East the range of transport problems is very pertinent, but still you have your own specific set of problems living as you do an island existence. We will also have to talk about this. As you have just rightly pointed out, a person’s life may depend on the presence of a transport hub, even a small one. We should not approach this issue in a bureaucratic manner: say, let’s assume we close everything or merge everything. Sometimes you have to take decisions which may require additional funding but which will allow transport access to be maintained for a significant number of people, or certain services or the resolution of certain problems. Let’s talk about this as well.

Alexander Khoroshavin: Thank you.