Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. Let's speak about your region's social and economic situation. I know that you are using unconventional sources of energy such as geothermal power in your region. This is an interesting experiment. How is it going?

Roman Kopin: Yes, Mr Putin, we are doing this. I would like to say a few words about the current situation in the region, if I may. On the whole, the social and economic situation in the region has improved this year. Major indicators have been favourable.

For example, gold mining has increased to 30 tonnes this year, which is very significant for us. This figure is close to the record. This result was due to last year's opening of the Kupol mine, one of our biggest deposits. This is a joint Russian-Canadian project, in which Chukotka has a 25% state. Overall investment is about $1 billion.

We are planning to attract new investors, increase the output of the existing deposits and expand their service life so that they do not run out in one, two or three years.

We believe that this industry is making rapid progress. Geological prospecting is being carried out, and private companies are working actively. We believe that this trend will continue next year.

I'd like to draw your attention to the amount of gold that has been mined.

Vladimir Putin: It's twice what it was in Soviet times, isn't it?

Roman Kopin: The old record is 35 tonnes, which we are now approaching. We are also doing well as far as silver. We consider 260 tonnes of silver a major achievement.

All these accomplishments are the results of our strategy. As you have noted correctly, we have gold, silver, gas and coal.

We have operations in three major areas. We are working with Gazpromneft to produce and process gas and also hope to develop alternative energy sources, such as liquefied gas. We have built a gas engine power plant, and it is already in operation. We are planning to build a small plant to produce liquefied gas for our region.

We have been trying to diversify energy sources for a long time. We have two projects - one for geothermal energy and on wind power. We are working with partners from Iceland on the geothermal project.

Fourteen percent of Russia's wind potential is from our area, in part because we are on the ocean, where peak loads from wind power are very high.

Nonetheless, we have realised only one project - a facility with an aggregate capacity of 2.5 megawatts. It is working now. We are studying this experiment to apply what we learn to the rest of the area.

In addition, we are considering wind power as a way to supply energy to reindeer breeders, small villages, and isolated facilities.

Vladimir Putin: Is your budget sufficient? What about social objectives?

Roman Kopin: Based on the region's economic development, I consider the situation stable. The Kupol deposit alone has produced 4.3 billion roubles. Overall the area's budget is 14 billion roubles.

We also benefited economically from our role in this project. For the first time ever, the area's government has received dividends worth 800 million roubles. This is a serious gain for us.

Tentatively, the gross regional product will reach 32 billion roubles, which will be 13% higher than last year. This is also a significant figure in today's conditions.

The average monthly salary has grown, but not by too much. Nevertheless, it has increased by 9.7%, to reach 42,000 roubles.

Vladimir Putin: Is this a real or nominal increase?

Roman Kopin: That is a nominal increase. It falls slightly behind inflation, which was higher than 9.7%. Inflation in the area is about 11%.

Vladimir Putin: Which means there was no real growth.

Roman Kopin: No, there wasn't. We are trying to keep the average monthly salary at least at this level.

Vladimir Putin: Is the situation approximately the same as last year?

Roman Kopin: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: That's not bad during the crisis.

Roman Kopin: Nevertheless, we planned...

Vladimir Putin: Excuse me, if I may. Your area's revenues have fallen because of a decreased tax base, and so you received assistance from the federal budget. How is the situation now?

Roman Kopin: We have taken steps to increase our revenues and and increased our revenues by almost 40%. The burden on the federal budget has been decreased from 74% to 46%.

Vladimir Putin: So it was almost cut in half?

Roman Kopin: Yes, almost. We believe we are on the right track. I cannot promise that we will become a self-sufficient region today or tomorrow, but the government's choice of strategy is very important.

In addition, we are taking steps to mitigate the crisis. We consider it important to monitor unemployment.

Vladimir Putin: Have you received money for this?

Roman Kopin: Yes, and we received it on time. We have signed all the required agreements with the federal Government, and I think we are carrying them out well.

Vladimir Putin: How are you carrying them out?

Roman Kopin: We have two programmes to reduce unemployment. About 700 people took part in them, and we spent 17 million roubles for this purpose.

Vladimir Putin: What are you doing in practical terms?

Roman Kopin: The area's government is trying to be proactive. We have drafted anti-crisis measures and are following up on their implementation. We are monitoring the situation at all factories in our region. If a layoff seems possible, we start working with these people.

We give them the opportunity to be retrained or relocate to find a new job. The Chukotka labour market is unbalanced in that some areas have more manpower than they need, whereas others are short of it.

Vladimir Putin: Do you think you are doing well on the whole?

Roman Kopin: Yes I do. These programmes will help us a lot if we continue them into next year.

Vladimir Putin: Good.