Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr Immelt, colleagues, it is my pleasure to meet with you at the International Investment Forum in Sochi. General Electric has worked in Russia for almost a century. It participated in one of the grand Soviet projects, GOELRO.

We have every opportunity to continue cooperating under contemporary conditions: General Electric has well-established contacts with Russia's leading energy companies.

There are hundreds of GE-manufactured gas turbines, steam turbines and other equipment operating in this country, with dozens of medical centers fitted with your engineering.

We'll be happy if you expand your presence in the Russian market and cooperate with Russian partners, which will result in business development and technology exchange.

I'm aware of your promising plans regarding Russian regions, for example in Yakutia. You are actively reviewing the opportunities to cooperate with Russian Railways. I think combining efforts is the right approach during the financial and economic crisis.

Jeffrey R. Immelt (as translated): Thank you, Mr Prime Minister. I very much enjoyed the discussion this morning and now with you.

I can say that three things are most interesting for GE in terms of investing in Russia today.

The first is developing a partnership around gas turbine manufacturing and design while working with local Russian companies. We've already begun to build a plant here and we think there might be more opportunity in the future with our partner.

We're still in conversations with major companies like Saturn over aviation and energy equipment manufacturing, and we hope to establish long-term cooperation to move a part of our production facilities to your country and to continue to grow.

I believe Russia can be a great leader in energy and technology. We're working with Gazprom and other prominent companies in terms of both production and sales here and for exports as well.