During his visit to the plant, which is part of EVRAZ Group, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev familiarised himself with rail production. Accompanied by the plant’s top managers, Mr Medvedev visited all shops of the rail production chain: the electric arc furnace, rail-and-beam, bar section and sheet mill shops. At the conclusion of his visit, Mr Medvedev spoke with the plant’s workers in the finished products shop.
Transcript of Dmitry Medvedev’s conversation with employees of the EVRAZ Consolidated West Siberian Metallurgical Plant:
Dmitry Medvedev: Good afternoon. First of all, I would like to say that it is very interesting for me to be here. This is my first time here, and, of course, the new production facility looks very impressive. I would like to know how your work is going, and what your mood is. How are your wages, and what are your future plans in general?
Question: And we would like to ask your opinion. You have walked through our workshop. We are very proud of it because this is our home …
Dmitry Medvedev: The workshop is really cool and impressive.
Question: Yes. Have you seen our first 100-metre tracks?
Dmitry Medvedev: Yes, I have.
Question: These are our own, Russian-made tracks. Were you overcome with pride?
Dmitry Medvedev: You know, to be honest, I have never been familiar with this production process. When they explained all this to me, I learned that that this was the latest technology in railway transport development. No matter what they say, Russia will have to expand its high-speed railways network. And, of course, all high-speed railways have these tracks. So, not only was I overcome with pride, I felt truly pleased, and I would like to congratulate you on this.
But, most importantly, the tracks must now pass the tests. Are the tests scheduled to end late this year?
Answer: Yes.
Dmitry Medvedev: Will the tracks be tested in Shcherbinka or somewhere else?
Answer: In Shcherbinka.
Dmitry Medvedev: Commercial production will be launched after that.
Remark: We will definitely pass the tests.
Question: Mr Medvedev, you have seen our production facility, and you have probably assessed the scale of the work that we have carried out. Currently, our enterprise …
Dmitry Medvedev: I have assessed the scale of your work, and, frankly speaking, the scale of investment. To be honest, the scale of investment is quite impressive. Of course, the owners should be praised for deciding to make this investment.
Remark: We are now ready to manufacture the entire range of top-quality railway tracks, which conform with global standards. But, considering the current market situation, railway tracks’ prices are the same as those for metal rods and girders. In effect, railway tracks production is far more metal-intensive and capital-intensive. That’s why, in order to ensure the subsequent development of our enterprise and our future, and in order to raise wages …
Dmitry Medvedev: You must raise prices.
Remark: …yes. That’s why we are asking for support in promoting our products on the foreign and domestic markets, and, most importantly, during the signing of long-term contracts with Russian Railways. And, of course, we want all tracks for new high-speed railways in Russia to be manufactured in Novokuznetsk.
Dmitry Medvedev: Don't worry. We will provide support, both moral and organisational, and also regarding our contacts with Russian Railways. As I understand it they are ready to purchase your products, they understand the need for it and have long-term contracts. And Mr Lukashenko said that they are ready to buy. So we will give you support both on the domestic market, in the CIS countries and hope not only in the CIS. What else do you have in mind? Where are you planning to deliver?
Answer: Latin America was among the countries we have worked with. Unfortunately, the contracts were not consistent, because the country was not always able to fulfill its obligations. Here, we work with our Expert Credit Agency.
Dmitry Medvedev: I see. You should work with the Russian Export Insurance Agency as well.
Remark: They all require financing.
Dmitry Medvedev: Let’s work with the agency, because this is what it was established for. As for the Russia – CIS market, it is huge and we will have enough contracts. It's a large market.
Question: My name is Nikolai Bedarev, I work at the rail shop. Mr Medvedev, during the Great Patriotic War, our city’s motto was “Everything for the Front! Everything for Victory!” and the city produced steel for missiles, tanks and planes. All plants in the city were fulfilling a state order, up to 50% of all contracts. The year 2018 will mark the 403rd anniversary of our city, and it would be good if by this time, the buildings of the pre-war time and those built after the war were renovated, and new cultural and sport facilities were built.
Dmitry Medvedev: This is my first visit to Novokuznetsk, and I like it here. You always see the details first here. Maybe not everywhere – I fear I will say something and people will start saying things like “we should have shown him this, we should not have hidden that...” But I have seen for myself: you have good roads, that’s good. At least, we saw the main motorways, I know not all the roads are that good, unfortunately. And second, it can clearly be seen that the city is being taken care of. But maybe you are right, and we need to do everything possible to renovate old buildings and pre-war buildings too, by 2018. As I see it, we just need to demolish them and construct new buildings.
Remark: But we also want our city to be awarded the status of a City of War Glory.
Dmitry Medvedev: Oh, this is what you mean?
Answer: Yes.
Remark: The second tank’s armour, Mr Medvedev.
Dmitry Medvedev: I understand; 40 cities have the title of a City of War Glory. If you were addressing me, I could say, sure, Novokuznetsk deserves it. However, we made a decision, I was President then, not to extend the list of such cities too much. Because, as you remember, there were not many of them during Soviet times. But we will consider your request and see what we can do, if the city residents want this, too. Because it’s still more of a moral issue.
Remark: Our fathers and grandfathers deserve it…
Dmitry Medvedev: They supplied nearly the entire front…
Remark: Yes. So our children must know…
Dmitry Medvedev: So you think that we should do this?
Answer: Yes, to make our children proud, to make them understand…
Dmitry Medvedev: Okay.
Answer: In fact, the moral aspect also has an economic issue underneath, because the title will bring federal subsidies for some programmes.
Dmitry Medvedev: You know, this is not connected directly to the programmes, but I can’t argue with you about the moral factor, you are right, because this would mean the evaluation of the work of a large number of people spanning several generations. And in this sense, you are right, the city should be awarded the title. We will consider it.
Question: Mr Medvedev, may I ask a question? I am a young specialist with a young child.
Dmitry Medvedev: What do you do?
Answer: I’m a technology engineer at the rail shop. I have a two-year-old child, and my wife and I would like to have more children.
Dmitry Medvedev: That’s a decent goal.
Question: But the housing problem is very difficult to deal with. I know that maternity capital is given for the second child, and it can be spent to improve the living conditions. Could you please tell me, for how long will this support measure last?
Dmitry Medvedev: This has proven to be a good programme – at least, all families whom I talked to about the maternity capital they all think it’s a good measure. Now it is 409,000 roubles. I understand that this money is not enough to buy a flat in most cities, but it is enough for a deposit. According to statistics, 98% of the money received by a family because of the woman is spent on improving living conditions. The programme will last until 2016, so we have some time to implement it.
We are thinking of preserving this programme in one form or another, but have not made a decision yet.
Question: May I ask? My wife is on maternity leave. We already have one child…we have put our names down on the kindergarten waiting list…I understand that the Government is doing a lot to build new kindergartens, but we have not got a place there yet. And child benefit is just 65 roubles a month…
Dmitry Medvedev: Yes, that's not much, to say the least…You know, to tell you the truth, our goal now is not to increase this payment, but to increase salaries…
Remark: Of course.
Dmitry Medvedev: This is more important and makes more sense. And we need to provide all children with kindergarten places because there is a shortage of places in many cities. What is the situation like in your region, Mr Tuleyev? (Addressing Aman Tuleyev, Governor of the Kemerovo Region)
Aman Tuleyev: We will solve this problem next year.
Dmitry Medvedev: And what does the waiting list look like?
Anam Tuleyev: It includes 37,500 children.
Dmitry Medvedev: 37,500 children, and this is a big, rich region, where construction is underway. So, task number one: to provide all children with places in pre-school facilities, and not only those who are over three years old, but those over 1.5 years old too, because all families are different: some parents want to stay with their kids at home until they reach the age of 3, and some don’t.
Question: Mr Medvedev! My name is Pavel Tsygankov, I’m a technology expert at the rail shop. My question concerns mortgage lending. In our region, public sector workerss can get a zero-interest loan for 20 years…
Dmitry Medvedev: This is a good programme. We discussed it with Mr Tuleyev today. But this programme is only for public sector workers.
Remark: Yes, it's for public sector workers but we're not public sector workers.
Dmitry Medvedev: You would agree, it has certain advantages…
Remark: It does, but…
Dmitry Medvedev: There are faults too.
Remark: It is still difficult to earn enough to buy your own flat, you understand that.
Dmitry Medvedev: Yes, of course.
Remark: Commercial banks charge 14%-15% interest on loans. This is just too much.
Dmitry Medvedev: 14% is indeed too much, but again, the situation varies from region to region and from bank to bank. And of course, a lot depends on the company you work for. Do you have a mortgage programme?
Answer: There is a programme, 50/50.
Dmitry Medvedev: What does it do?
Answer: They pay 50% of that 14%-15% interest.
Dmitry Medvedev: In other words, the real interest stands at 7%?
Answer: Yes. But, unfortunately, not all workers are covered by this programme. Young people…
Dmitry Medvedev: How many people?
Answer: Initially 267, and then we added 140. Now it’s 400 people.
Dmitry Medvedev: We need to improve the mortgage programme to keep hold of skilled professionals.
As for the interest rate… this is a problem. Unfortunately, there is a huge difference between the bank rate, the Central Bank refinancing rate and the real mortgage rate. It shouldn’t be that high, it should be about 1.5% - 2%. The aim is to get this rate to around 7% all over the country. If inflation allows we can do this and then the mortgage rate will decrease at the plants which have corresponding programmes. But honestly, the inflation rate is high. The situation is difficult, so it is unlikely we can get it down to 7% this year, but we will try to make it at least 9%-10%.
Remark: This would make things much easier.
Dmitry Medvedev: We will try to do that, because this, again, depends on the macroeconomic situation.
Remark: My name is Yevgeny Bykovsky, I’m a technology expert at the rail shop. You have already mentioned the roads, they are in good condition…
Dmitry Medvedev: Now let’s talk about fools, right? By the way, it's April Fools’ Day today, April 1.
Question: Yes. The roads have been renovated constantly, but they wear out quickly due to the increasing numbers of cars and the climate. Would it be possible to help the region with this?
Dmitry Medvedev: We’re helping. Mr Tuleyev, you remember we talked about 750 million last year?
Aman Tuleyev: Kemerovo – Leninsk-Kuznetsky, the motorway.
Dmitry Medvedev: Yes. On my last visit, we discussed that…
Remark: This is a federal motorway, while in the cities…
Dmitry Medvedev: You understand correctly. We need to improve the roads in the cities as well.
Aman Tuleyev: Prices for coal, metals and iron have fallenIt’s difficult now..
Dmitry Medvedev: This is a problem too. So, we will pay attention to roads. This is not easy, but some funds were allocated for the federal motorway last year and we will keep supporting road maintenance. But you should take part in this too, use regional money, too.
Aman Tuleyev: We will definitely do that.
Dmitry Medvedev: Agreed. So, how do you like it in the new building?
Remark: The building is the same.
Dmitry Medvedev: Yes, but the equipment is new. And another building has been constructed in addition. Are your salaries getting paid on time, is everything okay?
Remarks: On time…salaries, yes…
Question: Did you like Sheregesh?
Dmitry Medvedev: Yes, very much. Maybe the weather is not great, but it was quite beautiful yesterday when the sun came out. The complex is great, I didn’t expect that. There is a lot there: various ski trails, hotels, many people. It is really great that we have such a resort in Siberia and don’t need to travel far to the Far East or Sochi. I didn’t expect such a developed infrastructure here. But we need to improve still further, and I talked to the regional and municipal heads that we need to allocate more land, expand the resort and get prices to go down. Because this ski pass is really not cheap. In short, we need more ski tracks and to change the prices.
Aman Tuleyev: Mr Medvedev, I signed the documents yesterday to develop a new slope, Zelyonaya Hill, in the E zone.
Dmitry Medvedev: Well, have a good time skiing.
I wish you all health and good luck.