Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s opening remarks:

 Good afternoon, friends and colleagues,

A new construction project or a new stage in a company’s history is an exciting time, not only for the company, but also for its employees and other companies that it does business with. The decision to build this plant is a great thing not only for our German partners, but also for Kaluga and the Kaluga Region.

Importantly, our cooperation is gaining momentum. The first Volkswagen Group Rus plant opened five years ago, and in 2009 it switched to full-cycle assembly. Its products, as we have just heard, enjoy high demand.

Congratulations on your 500,000^th vehicle!

Touring your production floors is an enjoyable experience. I told my colleagues that everything here, from air quality to production practices, looks good. Russia needs such smart investments. I’d like to take this opportunity and thank Volkswagen once again for all it is doing in Russia.

Investment goes where it’s welcome. In this sense, I believe that the Kaluga Region and everything that is being done by the Kaluga Region authorities is a very proper business model which helps the region’s economy grow. A lot of investment is coming to this region, not only from Volkswagen. That’s the way it should be, because this is what the market economy is all about.

An airport is the only thing left to build, after which we will be able to confidently say that this is the best investment project in Russia.

Friends, congratulations on this important event. I'm really pleased to be here. Thank you for inviting me to this symbolic but important ceremony. I am confident that we will see a new engine plant here very soon, which is great.

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After the ceremony, Dmitry Medvedev, and Volkswagen Group Rus executives laid a memorial capsule in the plant’s foundation.