Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's speech at the award ceremony:
Good afternoon,
Before we start our meeting I would like to perform a pleasant duty: to present government awards to the builders, engineers and all the others who worked on the power unit No. 2 of the Volgodonsk Nuclear Power Plant.
This was a very serious effort. I am pleased to say that everything has been done at the highest level and in time.
This plant has an interesting history. Its construction was launched in the late 1980s but suspended in 1991. At the end of 1999 we made a decision to resume its construction. It was restarted in 2000 and the first unit was built in two years. The construction of the second unit started in 2006. It was built in three years, a short span of time and at a high quality level.
This is, without any doubt, a great success of the Russian nuclear industry and the people who were involved in this effort and put their talents and hearts into it. This is bound to improve the energy balance in the region and the performance of the energy industry in the entire country.
We will continue building up our nuclear energy capacities and we will discuss this at our meeting.
We will work both at home and abroad. I am sure that the talent, persistence and dedication of our nuclear energy workers will be put to good use.
Please accept my congratulations and good wishes.