Vladimir Putin: Mr Khokhlov, yours is one of the region's largest enterprises. What is the current outlook there, and are there any problems?

Sergei Khokhlov: We have one problem, Mr Putin. During the last three years we have completely overhauled the enterprise, and doubled our production capacity. Today we can produce 2 million, 200,000 tonnes of steel, compared with 600,000 produced in the past. The only problem is replenishing working capital.

Mr Putin: But the decision taken regarding scrap metal, as I understand, should also help you.

Sergei Khokhlov: It is a decision we have waited for for a long time, and it is very helpful. Now the export sector has vanished from the market.

Vladimir Putin: So you've got no problem with raw materials at the moment?

Sergei Khokhlov: There are no problems with raw materials.

Vladimir Putin: Just now we've been talking about the problems related only to shipbuilding. And of course, in the future your produce will be in demand, right here in the region. But that requires more than just reconstruction and modernisation. You know that shipbuilding requires long steel sheets of a particular width. Additional resources are needed to acquire new rolling mills. What is your current production geared to?

Sergei Khokhlov: Incidentally Mr Putin, we have taken the first steps towards wide sheet production. Last October we brought in a slab caster from SMS Demag, which is to date the most modern slab caster in Russia. As the slab is two meters wide it means we can make a sheet up to four meters wide.

Vladimir Putin: But how long?

Sergei Khokhlov: It can be up to nine meters in length. We are also planning to modernise our sheet rolling facility to enable us to make sheets that are up to four metres wide, rather than 2.1 metres. Shipbuilders need sheets that are no less than three metres wide. That is the next step. But, unfortunately, the crisis threw us off kilter a little.

Vladimir Putin: And your main problem is replenishing working capital?

Sergei Khokhlov: Yes, exactly, working assets. You know that metallurgy as a sector ran at a loss in the fourth quarter of last year, and in the first quarter of this year.

Vladimir Putin: What does your business pay in wages?

Sergei Khokhlov: Before the crisis, our wages were on average 22,000 roubles. Now unfortunately, capacity has fallen four-fold, and wages have been cut to 15,000.

Vladimir Putin: How many people do you employ?

Sergei Khokhlov: 6,300.

Vladimir Putin: A respectable amount.

Vyacheslav Shport: One of the largest enterprises in the Amur Region.

Vladimir Putin: I know, let's discuss mechanisms of possible support for the enterprise in more detail now. And then I will give appropriate instructions to the ministries, we might be able to find a way out - and this is in fact the option we can talk about - through a public-private partnership. We can talk about its parameters later. I have just announced a decision on Sberbank buying out 59% of the shares from the owners of the Amur Shipbuilding Plant, with the subsequent transfer of those shares to the United Shipbuilding Corporation. Your situation is completely different. Your owner has demonstrated his efficiency, and we are willing to support him. Let us talk about how we will deliver this support.