Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Poltavchenko, today we’ve focused on the transport, including road infrastructure and shipbuilding. Both are very important for St Petersburg, since shipbuilding is one of St Petersburg’s key industries, and it’s good that new ships are being launched. Today, we gave the green light to a large scientific research vessel, the first one manufactured in Russia in recent history, laid the keel for a new icebreaker, talked about the shipbuilding industry and individual enterprises, including the embattled Baltiysky Zavod where the situation was very difficult for a long time because of the fraudulent former owners and managers.

However, I would like us to focus on the expansion of the road network now, because roads are very important for our country and St Petersburg, in particular. I saw the new section of the Zapadny Expressway today and commented on it already. This is a remarkable project that will go a long way. I’m saying this because I know firsthand about traffic in St Petersburg, especially its older parts, and what it takes to drive from Pulkovo toward the Finnish border. Solutions like this expressway improve the traffic drastically. I believe that we should spare no effort or money (within reason, of course) and complete the construction of the Zapadny Expressway and all other projects, including the bypass highway, in order to ease traffic in the city. St Petersburg's complex development and numerous architectural monuments make it unlike other cities in Russia. Its streets cannot accommodate heavy traffic.

It is likewise important to make these new state-of-the-art roads (their quality is very good, indeed) easy to use. Since some of them will be toll-free and some not, it is important to balance out toll charges along the entire length of the Zapadny Expressway when the construction is finished, so that motorists can plan convenient and inexpensive routes. Of course, drivers will decide for themselves whether they want to cross the city or bypass it, but balance is important. We have already spoken about this with you and the Minister of Transport, and I hope you will see this work to completion

Georgy Poltavchenko: By all means, Mr Medvedev.The agreement that we signed with a group of investors, primarily VTB as the consolidating investor under the public-private partnerships, spells out the expressway’s minimum rate of return. If the toll revenue falls short of the estimated return, the city will cover the difference so that motorists can still afford to use the Zapadny Expressway. I believe it’s the right thing to do, because the primary purpose of building this expressway is to divert traffic from central areas. I have a favour to ask, Mr Medvedev. The city will not be able to pay for all the projects that you mentioned, including the construction of the city bypass and additional Neva River crossings. We're trying not to be greedy and we spend the money when we have to, but there are other projects that need our attention as well. Could you please support us with funds from the federal budget? Of course, we will use the experience gained during the construction of the Zapadny Expressway in our future projects under the public-private partnerships. I believe it has good prospects.

Dmitry Medvedev: Good prospects, indeed. I believe that public-private partnership is the way to go for such projects. We'll see how it works out for us. We may as well provide additional funding for new projects that you've mentioned. Most importantly, funding should be provided on a complementary basis where federal, city and private sources pay their fair share. And you need to finish the stadium, too.

Georgy Poltavchenko: That’s the only way to go for us. We will.

Dmitry Medvedev: Please do.