Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Have you made any progress on the Caspian so far? I mean literally as well as figuratively.

Vagit Alekperov: I would like to report that we have fulfilled your instructions. What you have seen on display is already at sea (the prime minister has visited a company of the Caspian Energy group in Astrakhan on April 30, 2009). I would like to show you how everything is done. (Showing documents) Here are that rigs and there is a residential block which will accommodate nearly 300 people. The facilities have already been assembled and installed and drilling will begin in November. I would like to invite you to see it when oil production begins next March. That will be the first Caspian oil produced in the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you, I will certainly attend.

Vagit Alekperov: We have prepared a report on sustained development. LUKoil is currently present in seven one-company towns. Let me add that this report reflects all of our activities, including social, environmental and industrial safety efforts. All of the seven towns are developing steadily. In Naryan-Mar, we have built a unique modern kindergarten, which for the most part eliminated the problem of the shortage of early educational establishments there. The new childcare centre accommodates over 300 children and has several swimming pools, also for children with motor disorders.

We are also working on increasing the population of West Siberian towns. The facilities we plan to commission there require additional staff. A unique personnel training facility is under construction in Kogalym. We cooperated with the local authorities and involved local technical schools and programmes offering associate degrees. This means these towns now have fully fledged personnel training systems.

I would also like to say that there is no social tension, instead there is constructive work. In fact we have to attract more people to our oilfields, because there aren't enough local personnel.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

Vagit Alekperov: I would like to show you two more projects.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Alekperov, I would prefer to return to the Caspian Sea. I remember when you and I were there together, you cited plans to build more such facilities. You also considered ordering them from our manufacturers. What about those plans?

Vagit Alekperov: Thanks to your instruction, Astrakhan now has a new industry - the construction of floating rigs. We will build 200,000 metric tons of metal structures there over the next five years. All of Astrakhan shipyards will be busy working on our contracts, and so will be a Kaliningrad plant, which will be producing a component for us.

Vladimir Putin: Which plant, Zvezda or Yantar?

Vagit Alekperov: Both. We have built a plant on our site in Kaliningrad, which will produce entire residential blocks as well as all piles for floating rigs. The project will be implemented with Russian technology only, and all facilities will be operating in Russia. The equipment will be manufactured in Astrakhan, probably also in Kaliningrad because Astrakhan's capacities will not suffice, and Volgograd assembly sites will be involved to produce modules to be later joined together on sea.

Overall, construction will require $12 billion in investment over 6.5 years. It is a colossal project.

Vladimir Putin: It is certainly very large. But I was asking about a specific facility which was to be ordered back in summer. You were holding an internal tender and selecting bidders. You told me then that, if all offered equal conditions, you were ready to choose a national producer.

Vagit Alekperov: Mr Putin, I always do remember about your instructions and follow them to the letter. Two of the drilling rigs will be ordered from Astrakhan shipyards.

Last week, Perm Oil celebrated its 80th anniversary (showing documents). This is how the company performed during the past 80 years - back in 1929, then reached its peak in production, and here are the first drill rigs... We have awakened this land, and developed a programme jointly with local authorities to boost oil production. Unique Russian technologies are being applied in this old region, developed for the first time by PechoraNIPIneft... Look, we drill into the formation. We don't shoot in, but carefully insert ignore the drill 3-4 meters deep, then expand the formation's pores to boost the well's flow rate. The technology has been developed in Russia.

Vladimir Putin: You apply this technology on old deposits, don't you?

Vagit Alekperov: Right. We commission small oilfields. This helps us maintain high production rate. We put two units into production at a time, which cuts costs, also making an unprofitable field relatively effective.

Vladimir Putin: Who designed the technology?

Vagit Alekperov: LUKoil-PermNIPIneft, our subsidiary. They design tailor-made projects for each specific field and implement them very efficiently.