Igor Sechin's opening speech:

Good day,

As you know, under Government Resolution No.131 of February 14, 2009 a Government Commission on the Development of the Metallurgical Sector has been formed.

Its composition was approved by Government Executive Order No.377-r of March 26, 2009.

During the past year the Government held several meetings devoted to metallurgy in which the majority of the Commission's members took part. On July 24, 2009 the Prime Minister chaired a special meeting in Magnitogorsk about problems in the sector.

However, the Commission has not yet officially met.

Therefore the subject of our first meeting is formulated fairly broadly: Guidelines for the Post-Crisis Development of the Metallurgical Industry in View of Ongoing Investment Projects and Stimulating Domestic Demand for Metal Products.

It can already be said that crisis in domestic metallurgy peaked in autumn 2008. Output was higher in the period November- December 2009 than in the same period of 2008. However, the record pre-crisis output volumes have not yet been restored.

During the crisis the industry's financial indicators gave particular cause for concern. Prices, especially export prices, dropped more dramatically than the physical volume of shipments. The industry's workforce shrank. However, we managed to keep the main investment projects going. The average wage fell by no more than 3-5%.

Accordingly, the nature of the problems has changed. Two years ago, when demand for metallurgical products was booming, monopolistic tendencies between related industries were our main concern. This had a negative effect on metallurgy and acted as a brake on growth in machine-building, the construction industry and other sectors that consume metal products.

Today the challenge is to restore and maintain the demand that contracted during the crisis. In particular it means making our products more competitive and ensuring the industry's stability.

Considering the developments since autumn 2008 it is important to understand what we should focus our efforts on in the current situation. What correlation should we see between developing production for export and increasing production to facilitate sustainable growth in domestic demand?

Perhaps the most important thing in today's conditions is to learn to react rapidly to changing market demand using cutting-edge technology and constantly improving the quality of products? Whether the scheme of metallurgical manufacturing locations in the country is really optimal?
This is by no means the full complement of alternative long-term solutions. Every company should make its own choice. However, the overall strategy for developing domestic metallurgy can and must be discussed.

Metallurgy is one of the most capital-intensive sectors of the economy. Therefore the investment decisions must be carefully weighed.

And of course they should be tied in with the government decisions on infrastructure projects, housing construction and programmes for companies in which the state has a stake. And of course with the country's defence capability and so forth. The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade must be more accurate and thorough in their assessment of the demand for metallurgical products under the implementation of Federal Targeted Programmes and other government-financed projects.

The current state and development prospects of the main markets for metallurgical products need to be analysed and assessed. The extent to which our enterprises' investment programmes match the medium- and long-term market trends needs to be considered.

In doing so it is important to set this sector the goals of modernisation and innovation: goals that all levels of executive body will work towards achieving.

Let us listen to and discuss the main reports, identify the issues that call for an immediate response in order to improve the situation in the sector.

And please do not repeat yourselves. Do not refer again and again to the decisions of previous meetings which are already being put into practice.