Transcript of the Start of the Meeting: 

Vladimir Putin: How are things with you?

Igor Slyunyayev: Thank you, on the whole 2008 was a good year for the Kostroma Region. The industrial production index was steadily on the rise. Its growth was the biggest in February of 2008 - 115%, but by the fourth quarter the general trend was toward its reduction. Nevertheless, the end result was positive - 101%. The Gross Regional Product (GRP) went up by two percent compared to the previous year.

We had two major shortcomings. First, the performance of our agro-industrial complex in 2008 was worse than in 2007 for two reasons. The reason for this poor performance is that the weather was bad - there was pouring rain and we started harvesting only by the end of September, and in addition, the statistics on milk and fodder were incorrect. We have adjusted this together with statisticians.

One more problem is the scale of exports. Needless to say, they went down in the fourth quarter. This is a problem, although we do have an export surplus.

Vladimir Putin: In what industries?

Igor Slyunyayev: Mostly in timber processing. Our strategic company Kronostar produces wood board, chipboard, and wood fiber board. Its consumption in the United States went down a lot -- by about 20% to 25% -- in the fourth quarter of last year.

I'd like to thank the federal government for legal and financial aid. The documents that it drafts and adopts, such as the employment programme and additional measures to reduce tensions on the labour market, are helping us to elaborate our concepts and create mechanisms for our region.

Vladimir Putin: Have you prepared your own programme?

Igor Slyunyayev: Yes, we have drafted and adopted it.

Many thanks for giving us funds from the federal budget in advance for the major expenditure items. In January, February, and March we received money well in advance, which allowed us to eliminate cash gaps resulting from our lack of income in January and February.

Vladimir Putin: This is only natural. There are always problems at this time. What about the labour market?

Igor Slyunyayev: There is pressure on the labour market. It has grown compared with 2008. We think unemployment went up by 2.3%, which means that there are two unemployed people for every vacancy. The total number of unemployed has grown by 2,500. All in all, we have 8,700 registered unemployed, mostly in machine building and timber processing.

Vladimir Putin: Good.