Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr van der Veer, colleagues. I am very pleased to see you here in Moscow.

Shell has been working in Russia for about a hundred years. Today, Shell is represented in the most diverse areas. Your company employs over 2,000 people in this country. They work in oil extraction, gas extraction, gas liquefaction, staff training, and retail; in Moscow alone, you operate a large number of petrol stations. Scientific research is another element of your operations here.

Of course, the largest project is Sakhalin, where your company's share is almost 30%, 27.5% to be precise. Your work there has been developing with success. I would like to extend my thanks to you for this.

Our work efforts have not just seen success, but are even ahead of schedule. All contracts are being fulfilled and Russian companies have received orders worth over $12 billion during this project's realisation. This also has a rather significant impact on the economic climate of the region and in some sectors of the Russian economy.

Thus, we think it is wholly possible to continue cooperating with Shell on other projects; I am referring to Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4.

I am also aware of plans to expand the current natural gas liquefaction business. This would involve a third line, which would significantly increase the production of this valuable raw material for internal Russian consumers, for regions of the Far East; this would also increase the volume of our supplies to the Asia-Pacific region.

Shell has done a great deal of work on gas liquefaction. And as regards the Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4 projects, you know that here we are referring to the fields that are farther away from the shoreline, ones at great depths. Your skills and experience will certainly be required in those areas.

Finally, today you will sign an agreement on the construction of a specialised tanker for liquefied gas transportation. This is also a very important document. It allows us not only to provide work for the Sovkomflot shipping facilities, but also allows us to think about broadening and improving our own abilities when it comes to the construction of specialised vessels, something which could be needed in the very near future.

Our discussions have not been uncomplicated, but both sides found the strength to meet each other halfway and to resolve problems in a way acceptable to both sides, forming a stable basis for future cooperation. To a great extent this has been achieved, Mr van der Veer, thanks to your own personal efforts, and for that we are grateful to you. We hope that we shall continue our fruitful joint cooperation not only in the areas I have already mentioned, but also through the diversification of our cooperation.

Jeroen van der Veer (as translated): Thank you very much for this meeting. I would like to present you with a small book about the Sakhalin-2 project. Mr Prime Minister, many thanks for your introductory words, and for your thanks in our address. Your speech began with mentioning that Shell has been working in Russia for over a period of 100 years. And Sakhalin-2 will be a landmark project that will allow us to stay in Russia for another 100 years.

When I say that Shell will stay here for 100 years, I am talking about the Shell company itself. Personally I am leaving as the company's head, handing over my duties to Peter Voser, who will take the organisation forward in the same spirit of efficiency.

Vladimir Putin: For the next 100 years.

Jeroen van der Veer: Mr Voser speaks German excellently, just as you do. So you will be able to communicate directly. He is from the German-speaking area of Switzerland. You have listened on many occasions to my bad German, but there will not be anything like that with Mr Voser.

Vladimir Putin: Take it from me, Swiss German is no easier. But I can also understand some phrases in the Swiss dialect.

Jeroen van der Veer: Mr Prime Minister, today we are not only pleased with the wonderful weather in Moscow, but also with the plant opening on Sakhalin. It is a wonderful event and a very important milestone. And here we must note both sides' participation, and also those people who had an input into putting this plan into action.

Our relationship has developed excellently since our last meeting in the Kremlin just before New Year 2006. We have a great relationship on all levels with the management at Gazprom, with Mr Miller. We met him not long ago at the economic forum in St Petersburg. This is another basis of our successful cooperation.

Many thanks to you for mentioning possible projects such as Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4. We are ready to start work on these projects soon, if the possibility should arise. The conditions are currently ideal for this, from the economic point of view, since prices in the construction sector are considerably low and spending will consequently be lower. That is why we are ready to start work. As far as we know, the situation regarding licensing of the current fields will be resolved in the near future. For this reason, we are ready to move onto the construction phase, should the opportunity present itself.

In the wake of the meeting, a general agreement on cooperation between Sovkomflot and Shell International Trading and Shipping Company was signed in the presence of Mr Putin and Mr Jeroen van der Veer.