Vladimir Putin's opening address:
Good afternoon, colleagues!
Today, we are having one of the regular meetings of the Vnesheconombank Observation Council. We will discuss a wide range of problems of further support for the Russian financial system.
Allow me to remind you that when we met last week, we discussed the banking situation and the measures to increase industrial crediting in sufficient detail. We made essential decisions to streamline state guarantees and extra bank capitalisation.
I emphasise that we retain our main goal despite the critical situation. That goal is to create the best possible conditions for entrepreneurs' access to state money, and make loan interest rates less burdensome.
The pivotal role in these efforts belongs to Vnesheconombank, which should retain the full scope of its functions as a development bank.
The entire volume of its development credits to the national economy will exceed 300 billion roubles by the end of this year.
Projects of national importance aimed at removing infrastructural obstacles and promoting employment should retain priority in crediting.
Please pay especial attention to the promotion of small and medium-sized companies. Russian state banks have earmarked 100 billion roubles for said purpose. In particular, the relevant VEB programme is estimated at 30 billion roubles.
It is extremely important for this money to reach industry in full and be used extensively to support companies in dire straits. I hope Vnesheconombank will participate in this work as actively as possible.
The adverse financial situation demands greater rigour in loan preconditioning. Vnesheconombank has loaned a total of 257 billion roubles to six commercial banks for now.
Today, the Observation Council will discuss another 12 applications that together total over 19 billion roubles. I want to say in connection with this that the loans will be made according to new regulations-for no less than 12 months and on the Central Bank refinancing rate plus 3 percentage points. This means that further talks with banks will be necessary in order to reach an agreement on these partnership terms.
Vnesheconombank will also take further part in efforts for Svyaz Bank financial recovery. To monitor the repayment and tentative writing-off of Svyaz Bank's bad debts made before October 2008, I propose establishing an ad hoc commission on which law enforcement agencies should be represented. The Observation Council should also be kept abreast of the situation.
The issuance of currency bonds by Vnesheconombank will promote the increase of crediting in the Russian economy. It will not only neutralise any excessive currency liquidity among commercial banks, but also channel generated currency into servicing Russian companies' activities in foreign markets to refinance the earlier generated funds of the Central Bank of Russia.
We will make a decision during this meeting on the issuance of currency bonds totalling $5 billion.
We will also analyse Olympic project funding by Vnesheconombank in compliance with the decisions on said funding made at the previous Observation Council meeting.
Vnesheconombank has allocated 63 billion roubles on applications concerning eight projects-the Sochi thermal power station, the Sochi Airport, the Sochi Imeretinsky seaport, the basic Olympic Village, the Sochi seaport, and a garbage recycling plant in Sochi.
Financing began at 1.8 billion roubles last week. I ask the bank managers to monitor this work especially closely.
Let us proceed with our agenda.