Transcript of the start of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.

Eduard Rossel: Mr Putin, my annual summary reports to you have become traditional. Here is a list of projects we have finished; it is not exhaustive, but all projects of interest are mentioned.

The region's economic growth for 2008 was 2.6%.

Vladimir Putin: How was the start of this year?

Eduard Rossel: We met 80% of planned targets in January, compared with 72% in December. Things improved somewhat in January. I will say later what we plan to do in every economic sector. Industries have gotten a new lease on life, and companies are retaining their personnel entirely.

Here are some telling figures: we invested 230 billion roubles in technical re-equipment of the engineering industry last year, and commissioned 1,000,704 sq m of housing-much better than in 2007. The private sector is growing, which is a good sign. Of the total floor area, 700,000 sq m of housing has been built on private investments.

As for the budget-financed sphere, the region had limited electricity before we commissioned the large Yemelino plant, which will cope with half of the regional needs for years to come. It will supply electricity for industrial companies and social welfare. A new 450-megawatt unit is under construction at the Mid-Ural thermal power plant, and will be ready within the year.

MRSK (the interregional switchgear company) is rapidly developing its nets. The performance of this net-extending state company is excellent. It is meeting 130% of its planned targets-not in terms of money, but in transmission line length (measured in kilometres).

Let us move on to social welfare now. We have opened an initial unit of the Nikita Demidov Technical College. When Peter the Great gave Demidov the Nevyansky plant, its new owner started by establishing a technical school there. We opened a school for gifted homeless children in his memory, and have given shelter to 23,000 such children over the last few years. 11,000 of them are orphans, and the parents of the other 12,000 cannot afford to raise them.

Vladimir Putin: What about the Programme Ural Village?

Eduard Rossel: It was launched on my own initiative. I aim to raise rural living standards to the urban level-build roads, hospitals, schools, community centres, etc. Jobs matter even more. The region will have 50 large cattle farms working on Dutch know-how, which promises up to 10,000 litres of milk a year. Seven such farms are working already, and many are under construction. We hope to finish 22 of them this year.

There is a very interesting matter I would like to tell you about. How can we involve people outside cooperatives or any other organisations in economic activities? We have drafted a programme to promote private milk and meat farming. It envisages 80 new milk purchasing units. Sixty are working already, and another ten will open this year. We are subsidising private farmers at a rate of 3 roubles per litre of milk.

There is also a programme to extend cattle-handling centres, so livestock breeding has become popular. All farmers are looking for places to buy good cows and calves because the business pays. Cattle farmer families averaged 6,000 roubles net profit per month in 2007. Now, it is 10,000 roubles net profit. We obtained 12,500 litres of milk and 6,000 tonnes of meat last year from private farms. Furthermore, there are no jobless people in the countryside. People who really want to work have every opportunity.

We do everything to improve rural specialists' lives. Teachers, doctors, veterinarians, and others have grants from the regional budget for housing construction. The grant covers 70% of the whole cost, and the other 30% is paid in instalments for 15 years. We really aim to attract good personnel.

Vladimir Putin: Do you have normal contacts with Selkhozbank?

Eduard Rossel: More than normal-it is real friendship! We have signed a good contract for a 3-billion-rouble loan that we will receive this year. It is in line with your wise decision to help with interest payments.

Vladimir Putin: You mean subsidies?

Eduard Rossel: Yes, that's it. The present crisis may help us cope with huge national problems. Take my region-we were going to build seven Dutch-model cattle farms this year but eventually decided to build 22 instead.

We have signed an arrangement with Selkhozbank for an additional 4 billion rouble loan in 2010, and another 5 billion in 2011. Bank President Yury Trushin and I have agreed that we will transfer some money from the preceding year to spend on our needs if the bank only affords 4 billion in 2011 - in other words, everything is OK.

A pig complex for 210,000 animals will be ready this year, from which we expect an annual 27,500 tonnes of pork. Poultry farming is also making good progress. When I became Governor, the region was producing 28,000 tonnes of poultry meat. Last year, it was 95,000, and we intend to produce 147,000 tonnes in three years, which will be enough to satisfy the regional demand. We will no longer buy a single tonne on the side.

Vladimir Putin: What about wage arrears?

Eduard Rossel: They were real bad at the start of the crisis, peaking at 240 million roubles. I am delving into the matter, and the prosecutor's men are investigating to see whether things are really bad or if managers were merely using the crisis as a pretext. Now, back wages have shrunken to 60 million roubles.

Vladimir Putin: Are there back wages in government-financed companies?

Eduard Rossel: None. We are paying wages in good time-and not only wages, but all social grants, as the law demands.