Mr Zhukov said that Russia will start implementing the government Pure Water Programme in 2010. He noted that an interdepartmental working group had been set up last October to develop it.

Mr Zhukov expressed the hope that "in the first quarter of 2009 the draft programme will be submitted to the Government, and that its full-scale implementation will start in 2010 to improve water supply services in 2011." The programme will make it possible to supply the Russian population with quality water in the mid-range perspective, in 2012-2014, and to "introduce the innovation growth model in the water supply sector by 2020."

Speaking about the programme's targets, Mr Zhukov emphasized that the programme will increase the share of the population with an access to centralized drinking water supplies by 40%. "This sector should become commercially attractive," he emphasized.

Mr Zhukov said that the Government is planning to upgrade the water sector with private investment. "Public-private partnership is essential here," he noted.

In the future, it will be necessary to draft a federal law on quality water supplies for the population, he observed.