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The list of journalists accredited to cover the meetings of the CIS Council of Heads of State and the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.
Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.
CIS Council of Heads of State and the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council will be held in Sochi on the 11th of October 2017. as well as information for the media on the working procedure at these events have been published.
Information for the media on the working procedure at these events have been published.
The press center will be open on the 11th of October 2017 from 9 am to 11 pm.
Journalists with accreditation badges will be able to enter the press center through the hotel’s side entrance on Golubaya Street. Accreditation badges will be issued at the entrance to the press center.
Main events:
Photo opportunity for the heads of delegations of the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting (12:55 PM)
CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in restricted format (11:00 PM)
CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in expanded format (02:00 PM)
Photo opportunity for the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council heads of state (04:25 PM)
Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in restricted format (04:30 PM)
Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in expanded format (05:30 PM)
Press statement (06:30 PM)
Starting time is subject to change!
The events will be streamed to the press center.
Information on the host broadcaster.
To receive video materials from the host broadcaster or to broadcast your own materials and charter stand up positions, please contact Dmitry Kashmanov (VGTRK) by telephone +7 (985) 035-13-91.
Note for the CIS media: To receive video materials from the host broadcaster, to broadcast your own materials or charter stand up positions, please contact Natalya Zhuravleva (MIR) by telephone +7 (985) 156-98-30.
Note for television journalists: Please, do not use wireless microphones or any other radio systems that might interfere with the operation of VGTRK, the official broadcaster, in the events rooms or adjacent rooms. If you need to record events or stream information from these rooms, please use only cord microphones.
The list of accredited journalists.
Аббасов Адалет (Пресс-служба. Азерб Рес)
Абдель Мунем Салем Адил (AL MAYADEEN TV)
Абдраева Салтанат КНИА (Кабар)
Абельдинов Рустам 1 канал (Евразия)
Абубякеров Руслан Сяитович (Вести ТК "Россия")
Автухов Александр Телеканал (ОНТ)
Агаев Омаргелди Говшудович (ТРК Туркменистана)
Адилова Айгуль Хабар
Азаров Дмитрий Бойкович (Коммерсантъ)
Айниддин Самариддин (PRESS TJK)
Акабиров Азаматхон (Пресс-служба)
Акбаров Фарид (АПА)
Акимжанова Маржан (Пресс-служба Президент РК)
Акиньшина Лилия Анатольевна (ТВ Центр)
Александров Александр Владимирович (МТРК "Мир")
Али Дархан (ТРК Президента РК)
Алиев Вугар (АзерТадж)
Алиев Заур (Пресс-служба. Азерб Рес)
Алимова Мая Ахмедовна (Газета «Нейтральный Туркменистан»)
Амаев Нурислан Амаев (газета "Туркменистан")
Амансарыев Бекдурды Джумамырадович (ТДХ)
Амирова Галина Игоревна (Вестник экономики)
Аразгулыев Гурбанназар (Журнал «Дияр»)
Арибжанов Алий Махмудович (Первый канал)
Арипов Сахибжон (НТРК)
Архипов Илья Владимирович (Bloomberg)
Аскаров Арнур Егемен (Қазахстан)
Ахмет Аршын Телеканал (Казахстан)
Ахметов Медет (Казинформ)
Баграмов Станислав (НТРК)
Балицкий Александр Александрович (Вести ТК "Россия")
Балыкин Василий Владимирович (МТРК "Мир")
Баранов Павел Александрович (LIFE)
Баранов Дмитрий Юрьевич (Первый канал")
Барроуз Эмма (CNN)
Батурин Василий Михайлович (ТВ Центр)
Бедняков Павел Викторович (ИЗВЕСТИЯ)
Безлаковский Денис Валерьевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Белов Владимир Геннадьевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Белозеров Александр Викторович (Телекомпания НТВ)
Бельгибекова Акмарал Пресс-служба (МИД РК)
Бескоровайная Надежда Геннадьевна (Вести Сочи)
Бескоровайный Артем Сергеевич (RT - Russia Today)
Бешанова Юлия ЗАО (СТВ)
Биргебаев Жумагали Хабар
Блинов Максим Николаевич (МИА "Россия сегодня")
Бугайченко Елена (НТС)
Былкина Екатерина Владимировна (RT - Russia Today)
Ваган Игорь Станиславович (ЕЭК)
Василюк Вячеслав Борисович (МТРК "Мир")
Велиев Ровшан (АзерТадж)
Верницкий Антон Владимирович (Первый канал)
Выжга Станислав (Accent TV)
Гадиев Фазиль (АзТВ)
Глебова Мария Сергеевна (РИА Новости)
Голованова Татьяна Александровна (МИА "Россия сегодня")
Голок Борис Григорьевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Горячев Геннадий Валентинович (МТРК "Мир")
Григорьянц Татьяна Юрьевна (Вести ФМ)
Гунеев Сергей Геннадиевич (МИА "Россия сегодня")
Давыдов Сергей Викторович (МТРК "Мир")
Долотакунов Самат (НТС)
Досалиев Султан (Аппарат Президента КР)
Досанова Шынар (Телеканал "Казахстан")
Дрэгэлин Виталие ( НТВ Молдова)
Дубовицкий Владислав Александрович (Телекомпания НТВ)
Дуйшенбеков Бактурсун (ОТРК)
Евтякова Елена Николаевна (Первый канал)
Егоров Сергей Викторович (Журнал "ХРАМ")
Ежов Илья Максимович (Вести ФМ)
Ентебеков Дулат Хабар
Еркетаев Тимур (Телеканал "Астана")
Желноваков Антон Юрьевич (Телеканал Дождь)
Жестков Александр (Accent TV)
Жуасбаев Бауыржан (Bnews.kz)
Журавлева Наталья Павловна (МТРК "Мир")
Завражин Константин Юрьевич (ФГБУ РГ)
Залиту Мохаммад (RT - Russia Today)
Захаров Геннадий Сергеевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Зейналова Ирада Автандиловна (Телекомпания НТВ)
Ибодов Мумин (Пресс-служба)
Ибраймов Мухтар Хабар)
Иванова Дина Олеговна (Телекомпания НТВ)
Иманалиев Азамат (AKIpress)
Исаева Алина Шамилевна (ИА "Связка")
Исраилов Учкун (Пресс-служба)
Истратова Ольга Юрьевна (Власть Буквы)
Кабылова Урмат Кабыловна (Аппарат Правительства Кыргызской Республики)
Кадырова Асель (1 канал Евразия)
Каниметов Канат (ОТРК)
Караджан Сефа (АAnadolu)
Карлин Андрей Анатольевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Кауметова Индира (Bnews.kz)
Кел Джеффри (CNN)
Киртоки Михаил Александрович (Вести ТК "Россия")
Колбачаева Жанар (Пресс-служба ПРК в РФ)
Колесников Андрей Иванович (Коммерсантъ)
Колчков Олег Сергеевич (Первый канал)
Комиссаров Евгений Александрович (Телеканал Дождь)
Корзин Андрей Андреевич (ТАСС)
Коротаев Артем Викторович (ТАСС)
Корсунская Дарья Владимировна (Рейтер)
Корунов Никита Сергеевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Костенко Юлия ИА (24.kg)
Кудрявцева Елена Владимировна (РИА Новости)
Кузнецов Андрей Сергеевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Кузнецов Борис Владимирович (RT - Russia Today)
Кукушкина Татьяна Александровна (РИА Новости)
Курамаев Азамат (Аппарата Президента КР)
Курдубанов Константин Евгеньевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Кушнир Валерьян Валерьянович (Телекомпания НТВ)
Лаврийчук Артем Владимирович (AL MAYADEEN TV)
Ласеева Юлия (1 канал "Евразия")
Латухина Кира Александровна (РГ)
Любезнова Наталья Евгеньевна (ИА "Интерфакс")
Магер Юлия (Казахстанская правда)
Мадорский Дмитрий Анатольевич (Рейтер)
Мазуро Олег (Пресс-служба)
Макей Ольга (Белтелерадиокомпания)
Максимова Анна Витальевна (Вести ТК "Россия")
Малышев Александр Ярославович (Вести ТК "Россия")
Мамбетшерипова Назира (НТРК)
Мамедов Ельнур (АзТВ)
Мамедов Турал (АзТВ)
Матиевский Михаил (ИА "БелТА")
Махмадалиев Дилшод (PRESS TJK)
Махмудов Фарходжон (НТРК)
Мелехов Андрей Валерьевич (Первый канал)
Меликян Татьяна Мишовна (Lenta.ru)
Метцель Михаил Иванович (ТАСС)
Мешков Дмитрий Алексеевич (ИНТЕРФАКС)
Мирзоян Тигран Эдуардович (Вести Сочи)
Михайлов Андрей Юрьевич (Телекомпания НТВ)
Михайлов Александр Анатольевич (Телекомпания НТВ)
Михин Еламан ТРК Президента (РК)
Могилевский Дмитрий Фабианович (Мастерская)
Морозов Владимир Владимирович (Вести ТК "Россия")
Морозов Владимир Евгеньевич (Телекомпания НТВ)
Мосафир Салам А (RT - Russia Today)
Мочалов Геннадий Анатольевич (Вести ТК "Россия")
Мухамедьяров Адильхан (Пресс-служба Президент РК)
Мухаммед Ариж Абделькаримовна (RT - Russia Today)
Наговицын Сергей Сергеевич (МТРК "Мир")
Насср Хассан - (RT - Russia Today)
Ниёзи Султон (PRESS TJK)
Никаноров Владимир Степанович (Исполнительный комитет СНГ)
Никольская Полина Михайловна (Рейтер)
Новгородцев Андрей (ЗАО "СТВ")
Новицкий Георгий Александрович (Телеканал "ЗВЕЗДА")
Vladimir Putin attended a plenary session of the first Russian Energy Week (REW) Energy Efficiency and Energy Development International Forum.
Following the plenary session, Vladimir Putin had a brief meeting with foreign guests of the Russian Energy Week who arrived in Moscow to take part in the Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). President Putin wished successful joint work during the Russian Energy Week to heads of the related ministries of the GECF member states.
Representatives from major international energy companies and organizations together with leading world experts have been invited to participate in the forum, which is taking place from October 3 to 7 in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The Russian Energy Week’s official program includes about 50 business events. The main topics being discussed are the global energy agenda, the main directions of the fuel and energy sector, and the existing challenges in the energy sector.
Russian Energy Week plenary session.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin:
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
I cordially welcome everyone at our representative event. Four hundred companies, including 70 foreign partners, are a large team of those who are engaged in the most important sphere of the world economy – energy.
Vladimir Putin during the Energy for Global Growth plenary session at the first Russian Energy Week Energy Efficiency and Energy Development International Forum.
Today, at the Energy for Global Growth plenary session, we are discussing key, defining questions: what tomorrow's global energy will be, what priority tasks we have to solve in order to ensure a reliable supply of energy to the largest macro regions of the planet and each country separately, and on this basis to increase the competitiveness of national economies as well as improve the quality of life of millions of people.
Today I would like to outline the most important trends that will determine the common energy future of mankind, in our opinion.
The new energy layout will inevitably change. Experts believe that mankind will require 30 percent more energy than today in as soon as 20 years’ time. This is due to the global economic development, rising population, better quality of life and growing consumption, especially in developing countries. Let me remind you that, according to statistics, up to 2 billion people on earth still do not have full access to energy sources.
Undoubtedly, this situation will change in the coming decades, leading to the formation of new markets. The geography and structure of energy demand will primarily shift towards Asia-Pacific countries.
Further on. The energy community is now actively debating the future energy balance of the 21st century.
The majority agree that hydrocarbons will continue to play a leading role in the next 20–25 years, particularly in the conditions when some countries voluntarily restrict their nuclear power generation. At the same time, we can expect competition between fuel resources, above all conventional and new energy sources.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Russian Energy Week Forum in Moscow.
Presently, nearly all developed nations have opted for clean energy development, including renewable energy sources. They account for over half of the global power generation. By 2035, their share in the global energy balance is expected to grow from 15 to 23 percent, and in electric power generation – from the current 7 percent to 20 percent (without hydropower).
However, the traditional power sector will also undergo transformation. For instance, the modern prospecting and production technologies make hard-to-access oil and gas reserves more accessible, including the Arctic potential reserves.
Another key trend will be the lowering of energy intensity of the economy, first of all due to the mass use of modern technology. Internal combustion engines are an example. Twenty years ago, a car used on average 12.2 liters of petrol per 100 kilometers and now it is currently 8.5 liters, which is 31 percent lower.
Another very important trend is the digitization of the energy sector. The fast processing of huge amounts of data, artificial intelligence, the introduction of smart energy grids will allow for a system analysis of the production plus consumption of energy and in the future will lower the cost of energy, increasing its efficiency as well as cutting losses.
Another obvious tendency is the increased accessibility of energy and energy infrastructure in general. Regional markets are being integrated, traditional logistics chains see new energy delivery routes, first of all the Northern Sea Route and the Silk Road.
A flexible LNG market is being formed. Thus, the number of LNG consumers has doubled over the past decade.
All these trends will make the connection between producers and consumers stronger and will lead to the further globalization of markets as well as growing energy interdependence between various parts of the planet.
Colleagues, being a leading energy nation, Russia understands well its role and responsibility in providing sustainability and the development of the global energy sector. Our country exports energy to dozens of countries in the world and has repeatedly confirmed its status as a reliable and stable partner.
We scrutinize and take into account the global energy trends. Over a period of the past few years, Russia has created conditions for major investments in the development of new technology, equipment production localization plus increased added value. All this made it possible to increase the competitiveness of the Russian fuel and energy sector on the global market throughout the world.
We are upgrading oil refineries and creating powerful oil and gas processing facilities such as the Amur and Tobolsk clusters and the Eastern Petrochemical Company. We are concentrating on this sector in other regions of Russia, primarily in Tatarstan.
We are implementing projects that promote infrastructure development and export diversification, such as Yamal LNG. We are building gas pipelines: Nord Stream 1 is operational, and Nord Stream 2 is under construction, just as Turkish Stream and the Power of Siberia are. All this is of crucial significance for Eurasia. We are also increasing the capacity of the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline.
Russian Energy Week Forum in Moscow.
I want to stress that these are modern high-tech projects. It is also important that our foreign partners are involved in them, which is evidence of our fuel and energy sector’s competitiveness and its attractiveness as a strategic investment destination.
Like other leading countries, we want to have cleaner energy and we have attained considerable progress in this respect.
I would like to say in this context that Russia’s energy balance is one of the cleanest among the world’s largest economies. Nuclear and hydroelectric power plants and renewable energy sources produce over one-third of our electricity. Fifty percent of electricity is produced at gas-fueled stations, which helps to considerably reduce emissions and other negative impacts on the environment. This is why we so calmly pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate agreement.
Taken together, the clean sources of energy produce some 84 percent of our electricity, and we expect this figure to increase to 90 percent by 2035.
The ongoing change in Russia’s energy balance will reduce domestic oil consumption, and the methods for coal use will become more environmentally friendly.
In accordance with Russia’s national energy strategy, renewable electricity generation in Russia will increase several-fold in the next 20 years. Also, the development of renewable resource technology will help us gain the competencies needed to shape the global energy field of the future, including the development our own technologies.
The Energy for Global Growth plenary session at the first Russian Energy Week Energy Efficiency and Energy Development International Forum.
I would also like to note that we are employing effective mechanisms to support investment in renewable electricity generation, so investors can earn guaranteed profits. We will continue to encourage investment in this sector, including from our foreign partners, foreign companies.
I mentioned earlier that, unlike other countries, Russia has not abandoned its plans to develop clean and safe nuclear power. Moreover, Rosatom has become a leader in the atoms for peace market: at this point, Rosatom has received requests to build 34 power plants abroad.
In a bid to increase energy efficiency by 2035, we plan to cut our GDP energy intensity by 33 percent. This will be achieved through structural changes in the economy, as well as efforts to reduce electricity losses in the grids, the introduction of energy-efficient and digital technologies, and cutting the fuel consumption rate in the transport and electricity generation sectors.
No doubt, our energy sector is looking to the future and the future requires innovation. That is why we are paying special attention to research, engineering and design solutions in the energy sector and are creating conditions conducive to attracting private investment in promising projects.
One good illustration of this is the expanded production of modern solar panels using domestic technology, as well as equipment for wind generated power.
Colleagues, existing opportunities, and at the same time, objective problems in the energy sector require that we join efforts to be able to move forward.
We are in favor of joint efforts in order to remove the obstacles that are hampering any further economic growth of countries, primarily developing states, which need a reliable and accessible supply of energy.
Regrettably, however, we often see different trends instead of progress towards this global energy partnership. For example, a number of restrictions (unilateral financial and so called sectoral sanctions in the energy sector) are directly used by some of our partners, by some countries for unfair competition – you can’t say it in any other way – for peddling their own interests and energy resources, even in spite of their non-competitiveness.
The negative effect of these steps is obvious for the entire world economy plus the entire global energy sector. This primarily affects the consumers as well as the countries, which, in supporting these actions, are losing lucrative investment opportunities.
The growing technological inequality is also presenting an undoubted danger for the global energy sector. For example, only three companies from advanced economies account for two-thirds of hi-tech oil services in the world.
Today, it is important to consistently remove barriers in the path of a free movement of energy resources and investment in their production, to actively develop energy infrastructure, as well as to develop new technology by joint efforts.
Let me emphasize that we are indeed ready to cooperate in the energy sphere with all partners concerned on the basis of the principles of equality and mutual benefit.
We attach special importance to working within the framework of such authoritative organizations as BRICS, EAEU, SCO, OPEC, plus the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
A good example of successful joint actions is the agreement that Russia and a number of other countries have signed with OPEC. Not only have we achieved stabilization on the oil market, but we now see new opportunities opening before us, opportunities for the implementation of promising projects and for technological cooperation, because investment has flown back into this sector of the world economy.
I am confident that we will continue pooling our efforts for the sake of building a stable and fair energy future.
I wish all those taking part in the Russian Energy Week to be able to carry out lots of productive work and also have some interesting discussions.
Thank you.
John Fraher:
President Putin, thank you very much for those opening words. I think they very eloquently have expressed the full range of the themes and the topics that we want to talk about today at this forum.
Let me first introduce our illustrious panel. My name is John Fraher. I am a senior executive editor at Bloomberg News. To my left is Mr. Seyed Mohammed Hossein Adeli, Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. I am, of course, delighted to welcome our host Vladimir Putin. To his left is the Secretary General of OPEC, Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo. And to his left is Adnan Amin, the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Thank you very much for joining us.
President Putin, let me begin with you. You mentioned Russia’s alliance, or recent agreement with OPEC, and you mentioned the fact that it opens up new opportunities for Russia. As you know, there is a lot of talk about whether Russia and OPEC will extend these production cuts, which are due to expire at the end of March. Would you consider extending them beyond the end of March?
Vladimir Putin:
I put it a bit differently. I said this creates an opportunity to invest in the global energy industry because we are seeing investment return to the energy industry after prices stabilized. Remember that in 2016, when we agreed on these joint actions toward the end of the year, there was a surplus on the market, production exceeded consumption and reserves were critical. All this led to a critical reduction in energy prices, primarily oil.
In late 2016 we agreed on joint actions and reduced production. By the way, all countries are essentially meeting their commitments under these agreements. Initially, they were meeting them by 103 percent. Russia assumed the commitment to reduce production by 300,000 barrels per day and this is what we did. We fully meet our commitments. As you rightly noted, later we agreed to extend them by another nine months, until March 2018.
I believe all countries – not only oil producers but also consumers – have a stake in what is taking place today because when oil prices dropped below the lower limit, so to speak, investment in the industry stopped. This meant that sooner or later the world energy industry was bound to face a sharp and unexpected shortage of energy resources, and prices would have skyrocketed again. Nobody wants this. To the contrary, all countries want a stable market.
I believe what we did together with OPEC benefits the entire global economy. Whether we will extend these agreements or not will depend on the situation in the world market. In principle, I do not rule it out, but we will proceed from the realities that take shape by March 2018.
John Fraher:
But nevertheless, that sounds a little bit to me like you would perhaps be in favor of extending them beyond March. Of course, the end of March is not very far away.
Vladimir Putin:
I think this is possible. You know very well that we must be very cautious in our public statements at this point. Many countries that have not joined us have been very positive about our cuts to oil production. I understand that the Libyan leadership, for example, publicly stated recently that they are considering the possibility of Libyan companies signing onto our joint efforts, at least in the part of the country controlled by the forces that said this. I am referring to Marshal Haftar, for one.
Everyone understands this, everyone understand the need for such joint efforts. Again, we will have to see how the global energy balance looks in March 2018. We are in contact with our key partners, both with OPEC and major oil producers. I hope we will very soon have the pleasure and honor of receiving the King of Saudi Arabia in Russia, and we will certainly talk about this. We maintain a regular dialogue and, as I said, we will make a decision proceeding from the realities of March 2018. But I do not rule out that we may also extend these agreements.
John Fraher:
I put to you one last question on this. Everyone in this room, of course, likes stability. Everyone in markets likes stability. If you were to decide to continue the production cuts, could you see the extension of cuts lasting until the end of next year?
Vladimir Putin:
I am telling him that we do not yet know whether we will extend them or not, and he is asking us for how long we will extend them. When we decide whether to extend them or not we will determine the time frame. But in general, speaking about a potential extension, it should last at least to the end of 2018.
John Fraher:
You’ve always said that Russia would never join OPEC. Has the success of this agreement changed your mind on that? Is it something you would think about again?
Vladimir Putin:
No, nothing has changed, all the more so since we all see and analysts see that we can effectively coordinate our work even while remaining outside OPEC. We do not consider it necessary to bind ourselves with administrative restrictions but will continue working with the OPEC countries and major producers on a voluntary, mutually beneficial basis. When we negotiated who must reduce production, by what amount and in what time frame – and this was a complicated negotiation process – we looked at the production level of participants at the moment and when and by what amount they should cut it. This was not an easy job. We were ready to compromise and we did. Our partners were also ready to compromise to stabilize the entire global energy market. We have positive experience, which we will use going forward.
John Fraher:
Mr. Barkindo, let me turn to you. The oil market does look healthy right now; prices have rallied and global inventories are falling. Do you feel right now that the deal with Russia should be extended?
OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo:
Thank you very much, John, and let me begin by thanking the Russian authorities under the able leadership of President Vladimir Putin for putting together this premier event in the very timely situation that we are in today, and to thank them for inviting OPEC to participate.
I had listened attentively to the very comprehensive address of President Putin, which has covered the entire energy spectrum, and to the very apt answers that he gave to your very pointed questions.
I would like to use this opportunity, on behalf of OPEC, to really thank the President and his Government and his very able Minister Alexander Novak for the role they played in the run-up to these historic decisions that we reached last year. The declaration of cooperation that we agreed on December 10 last year, which the President just referred to, was very historic, and the work that went into each was very strenuous, very challenging. But thanks to Alexander Novak and his colleagues in OPEC, the president of the conference Mohammed Sada of Qatar, who is here with us today, and Bijan Zangeneh, del Pino for Venezuela – we all rallied together despite the fact that Russia is not a bona fide member of OPEC. But they took a leadership role in ensuring that we had this consensus not only within OPEC, but between OPEC and non-OPEC in order to restore stability to this market.
The President has made reference in his speech to stability. The issue is about stability. Without stability, which eluded the oil market in the last 2–3 years, we can all see the consequences on investments that the President had referred to. Investments in this industry have contracted in the last 2–3 years, cumulatively over 40 percent, threatening future supplies. And we all have the shared responsibility, whether OPEC or Russia, to ensure the security of future supplies. We are reliable and dependable suppliers of oil to the oil-consuming markets, not only now, but for the foreseeable future.
So I want to reiterate the vision of the declaration of cooperation and also state here that all the participating countries have been abiding by and implementing their own obligations fully. For the first time in history we are having a joint effort where conformity to these obligations has been extremely well, very high. Russia has played its part. It is actually implementing over 100 percent of its obligations, particularly in the last two months. So, we are all on course. And, as the President has just said, the fundamentals will decide in March of next year whether we have been able to achieve the objective of re-balancing the market. One variable in the equation, stocks, has been out of balance since the fall of 2014. And it was the collective decision of Russia and OPEC that in order to balance this equation we had to address this variable of stocks, to bring it down, to help the market to bring it down to the five-year average, and we are on course. From January to date, we have seen a stock draw-down of nearly 170 million barrels. So there is massive de-stocking that is taking place across the spectrum, across regions, both onshore and offshore. And I am confident [that with] this platform that we have created, thanks to President Putin and Alexander Novak and the ministers in OPEC, we will be able to restore stability on a sustainable basis to this industry. Thank you.
John Fraher:
And how quickly do you think you will be able to get to that point? I mean this restoring of stability. Is that happening more quickly than you would have anticipated maybe three months ago?
Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo:
As you have seen, when we started,the stocks had built up to over nearly 380 million barrels over the five-year average, and this was unprecedented in the history of oil. But as a result of the full implementation of the declaration of cooperation, from January to date we have been able to stimulate the draw-down to about 168 million barrels as the latest numbers are showing. Therefore we are on course, the draw-down is ongoing, the market is re-balancing, going forward. And without preempting what Alexander Novak and his colleagues, the ministers, will decide on November 30, I think the fundamentals that will be presented to them at that time, as President Putin has just referred to, will inform the decision that they will eventually take on going forward. But all I can say is that the future is looking much brighter than before this decision was taken on December 10, and we are looking beyond the re-balancing of this market to further institutionalize this strategic partnership between OPEC and the non-OPEC through the Russian Federation, so that we will be able to sustain the level of cooperation beyond the issue of supply and demand on stocks.
John Fraher:
And finally on that topic, could you give us a sense of what is the mood among the OPEC members? You obviously talk to them all the time, what is the current balance of opinion in OPEC as regards extending production cuts next year?
Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo:
I think there is a common understanding, not only within OPEC but on the international oil markets, that for the first time we have got our act together, that for the first time we have shown and demonstrated our commitment of 24 producing countries to take full responsibility in restoring stability to this market. And we have also demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that we are committed to sustaining this beyond the re-balancing of the market.
OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo and Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Adnan Z. Amin during the Energy for Global Growth plenary session at the first Russian Energy Week Energy Efficiency and Energy Development International Forum.
The market in the fullness of time, based on the figures that are before us now, will re-balance, will come back to balance, and the equilibrium will be restored. But what happens the morning after? Now discussions are ongoing among my ministers in OPEC, together with Alexander Novak and his colleagues in the non-OPEC group, on how best we can institutionalize this partnership so that we can begin to address issues like investments that the President has just referred to. Without sustained investments in this industry in a predictable manner, we may be sowing the seeds of future shortages of energy, which is not in the interests of either producers or consumers. What we have done is not only in the interests of producers, but also in the interests of consumers as President Putin has aptly described.
John Fraher:
Thank you for that.
Let’s shift gears now and turn to the future of the energy industry. So, governments around the world are throwing their weight behind fighting climate change regardless of what Donald Trump and the US thinks about Paris. Transport is becoming more fuel efficient and electric cars, self-driving cars, may transform societies in ways that are as yet impossible to predict.
Despite all this, a lot of oil producers say that the industry has still got decades of growth ahead of it as it tries to feed the needs of the world’s emerging middle classes.
But Mr. Amin, you represent the renewable industry here in this panel. Do you think those predictions are wrong? Is there too much complacency? Do you find too much complacency when you come to conferences like this full of representatives of the energy establishment?
Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Adnan Z. Amin:
It’s a very interesting question but let me start by saying how privileged I feel to be here. And to have somebody from renewables on the same stage with the leader from a leading energy country and two leaders from the hydrocarbons is an indication of how this change is taking place. You wouldn’t have expected that a year ago. So that’s the first indictor.
But in a broader sense, if you look at the pulse of what is happening… I had the privilege of listening to President Putin three times this year. First was in Istanbul at the World Energy Congress when President Putin said the advent of green energy is moving fast and it is the right development for the world for the future. In St Petersburg, I was there and I listened to him when he said that we are reaching limits of sustainability and we need to find a new paradigm for development for the future based on more sustainable energy. And today, placing the whole energy discussion in the broader landscape of global affairs and how this is happening. And I think what I am hearing from a very visionary leader of a leading energy country in the world is that he sees the world of energy changing quite fast beyond what we expected. And I think this is what we see from the perspective of renewables.
Now you mentioned some of those trends but let me just give you a sense of what’s happening. And the fact that this is such a destructive force that we are seeing, is that the bulk of new capacity addition in the power sector – and I think we need to segment how energy is used to analyze it properly – but the bulk of capacity and investment in the global power sector, the majority in the last four years has been from renewable energy, and last year added capacity was 62 percent from renewables. What we are seeing here is that business case for renewables and power generation in different countries – and you cannot generalize among countries because every country has a very specific resource endowment – but in general across the world, the cost of renewables has come down dramatically, the technology to integrate renewables in a reliable way in electricity systems has advanced incredibly fast, and now we are seeing the advent…not just talking about capacity addition but talking about system transformation, how systems of electricity in the future are going to look, how they are going to be based on clean energy generation and how the cost of clean energy generation has come down so fast.
Just to give you some examples, solar PV has decreased, technology has decreased in cost by 80 percent in the past seven years. The cost of onshore wind has decreased by 60 percent. And we are projecting from our research looking at all the different sources that this trend is going to continue into the next ten years. And when you look at the cost of generation from some of the new projects, we are seeing wind and solar projects coming in at three US dollar cents a kilowatt/hour around the world. This is a remarkable new development, and yesterday was the most shocking news – the bid for 300 MW of solar generation in Saudi Arabia by Masdar in Abu Dhabi has been made at 1.7 US dollar cents a kilowatt/hour.
Now, I am not saying that the solar endowment in the Russian Federation is the same as in Saudi Arabia. Clearly not, but what I am saying is that the general trend of cost is coming to a point where we can expect transformative change to take place on the business side.
But on your last point in terms of what does this mean for the system. I was with the CEOs of all the major European utilities yesterday morning in Amsterdam to discuss the implications for them. They have gone through a very traumatic restructuring of their industry because they have now to deal with the advent of new technology, digitization of energy, demand response from renewables in ways they we had not imagined, and the fact that the renewables mix in Europe is now moving so incredibly fast that traditional utilities have to move to service models and have to change their business model. I think that this trend is something that will become global in a very short period of time. If you start to look at India and China and the ambitions on renewables; if you look at the fact that in Africa and in Latin America, this has become the dominant form of capacity addition to the global electricity sector. On the power sector, I think the future is going to be largely renewable.
The issue becomes what happens when you start to look at the future of oil. And of course, renewables cannot compete yet on mobility, transportation, freight and other end-use and industrial sectors. But the advent of electric vehicles is going to be a game-changer because we are now seeing countries like China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavian countries, which are now committing to electric mobility by 2030 or by 2040. When that begins to happen is when you will see real impact in terms of demand for different types of hydrocarbon projects. I believe that, you know, gas will continue to play a very important role because, for the time being, you need some level of stability in systems, and gas provides that quick response capability to balance intermittency from renewables and systems. But, you know, demand for oil is very different from the demand you have for renewables, and there I would never predict what will happen to oil, I leave that to much wiser people to do.
John Fraher:
But nevertheless, do you feel there’s still too much complacency?
Adnan Z. Amin:
I do, and I think that what we haven’t yet fully grasped is how quick this disruptive force is going to move. When you remember what happened very quickly with IT and mobile telephony, and the fact that the landline became obsolete in very few years. We are now seeing new systems for power generation and distribution that are making the old fixed infrastructure of centralized generation and distribution obsolete. And when you have the advent of storage like in electric vehicles…you know, people normally use an electric, use a car two hours a day. But when you have an electric vehicle you basically have a battery on wheel sitting in your garage, and if it’s connected to the system, you have the storage capability with a one second response time that can help to balance systems. So, I think electric mobility will move much faster than people are expecting, I think that will have very destructive implications for the energy sector overall, and I think that we need to prepare because the advent of new technology and digitization and blockchain is going to be transformative in terms of how we generate and distribute energy in the future.
John Fraher:
Mr. Hossain Adeli, let me turn to you. You are here representing the gas industry, and of course we’ve heard a lot already about the important role that gas will play in the transition from oil to more renewable cleaner energy forms. But yet, there are concerns that we’re about to face a long period of oversupply in the global LNG market, for example. Is it time to make the GEFC a bit more like OPEC in regulating production?
Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Seyed Mohammed Hossein Adeli:
Well, let me first say how pleased I am to be on this wonderful panel with His Excellency President Putin. Also, I would like to congratulate the Russian Government under His Excellency’s leadership for this timely conference. Also, I would like to say that today we are organizing our 19th ministerial meeting under the presidency of Russia. Minister Novak is the president of the ministerial meeting, and we are discussing among the ministers developments of gas.
Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Seyed Mohammed Hossein Adeli during the Energy for Global Growth plenary session at the first Russian Energy Week Energy Efficiency and Energy Development International Forum.
But talking about the future of gas, I should say that although gas is now facing some challenges – and the challenges are because of the changing dynamics of the market – it has a promising future. Why? I think that there are four main reasons why gas has a promising future.
The first one, as you rightly mentioned and it was also repeated by President Putin, is the environmental agenda of the world. We have the UN 2030 agenda, we have the sustainable global agenda, I mean the Sustainable Development Goals (STG), and we have the Paris Agreement. And all of these would make the countries and energy policies to mitigate CO2 emissions – and they have only made some commitments…I guess even the United States, practically that is not going to happen. At the state level, there are many authorities over there that will go into mitigating CO2 energy. So, the mitigation of CO2 energy and the advance to a low carbon society is a global movement which is going to advance its own way. This is one factor which is a very important factor.
The second factor is the flexibility of gas. Flexibility of gas – by that I mean that gas has become very competitive. We see that LNG is growing, also it’s giving a lot of competitiveness to the trade of gas, as well as we see that there is lots of flexibility in terms of trade terms and conditions. So, this makes gas flexible and competitive. I think that although we hear about the cost of investment in renewable energy is coming down – and I agree that the technology is helping it really to come down – still they cannot compete with low cost gas production which is very much found in the Middle East and the CIS countries. Therefore, the second is the flexibility and the competitiveness.
And the third, which is very interesting, is that you know, gas only has a very rich infrastructure. So, if your country would like to invest in that, instead of creating and investing a lot in other fuels…I mean gas has already lots of investments which you can do all these investments on that.
And last but not least, we are talking at the global level. And our solution should be a global solution. Solution for Africa, solution for Asia, it is not a Europe-centric solution. And that comes to the nature of gas which is accessible, affordable and abundant. Not as much as renewable. Renewable is great but to rely for the majority of energy consumption for an African country on renewables, it is impossible: getting the technology, obtaining all of those things. So, this is why, although we say as a motto that gas is a “AAA asset” because it is abundant, accessible and affordable…but because of these four reasons I see that gas is moving forward.
According to all forecasters, including ourselves, the GECF Outlook 2040 forecasts that the gas share in the energy mix is going to grow from what it is now 22.5 to more than 26 percent. This is the fastest fossil fuel growth of any energy. And when we look at the other sources of energy, for example renewable, renewable is going to increase in the next 25 years from what is now – of course, by renewable I exclude the hydro – the renewable is something around 12 or maybe 13 percent, and when I say “maybe” that is according to our outlook, 12 percent. According to the outlook of the other forecasters it is something more than that, one percent more than that. This is going to increase to something around 16 percent. So, I mean, in 25 years we see that even the renewables will be something like 16–17 or even, according to IEA, 19 percent. So, this is why we see that gas is going up.
And there is one other reason, and I would like to use what Adnan said – also as something which would add to the gas – and that is the growth of renewable. You know, the growth of renewable would add to the growth of gas. Why? Because renewables are intermittent. They need the backup of gas. So, this is why wherever you have more renewables, you have to have a backup of gas in order to have the sustainability of the production. So, in general we see it as very promising.
Vladimir Putin had a meeting with newly elected President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev.
During this meeting, Vladimir Putin announced that he has signed an executive order appointing Alexander Sergeyev as President of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Vladimir Putin held a meeting with new President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev.
On September 26, Director of the Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev won the election for President of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin:
Mr. Sergeyev, first of all, I would like to congratulate you on your convincing victory in the election for President of the Russian Academy of Sciences. You received over 70 percent of votes in the second round. This means that the academic community trusts you and hopes that, as the leader of the academy, you will continue to strengthen and develop it, and raise its prestige, role and significance in the country’s affairs. Of course, I hope this is what happens.
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.
On that note, I would like to request that you give due attention to the implementation of the strategy that was adopted some time ago. For this, it will certainly be necessary to establish working relationships, very good relationships with the state authorities at various levels, including the Russian Government and the Executive Office. It will certainly be necessary to build a relationship with the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations. I hope that together we will be able to think about how to organize this work. If you consider it necessary, we can and should think about improving the regulatory framework to guarantee that the academy continues to develop as the leading organization in the sphere of science.
And when I mentioned the strategy, if you recall, we agreed that a relevant council would be created for each area of focus. I think it would be reasonable to put this work on a practical footing, to create a coordinating body led by you and possibly involving various ministries and departments, an interdepartmental body headed by the President of the Academy of Sciences that would coordinate the work of these councils in key areas related to promoting science.
Alexander Sergeyev:
Mr. Putin, first of all, it is very important for me, and I think it is very important for the academy that you took the time to meet with me the day after the election.
Vladimir Putin with President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev.
I want to say that the election was held in a completely democratic atmosphere, after we met on June 22, when you told all the candidates that the election should be held. Everyone heard you loud and clear. Yes, a new federal law was adopted, and everyone passed through this filter. But we understand that the Academy of Sciences is a state institution, so it is clear that such an agreement is necessary.
When yesterday I spoke to the academy as the newly elected president, I said that it is very good that the election was absolutely democratic. It is also very important that the government also acted very democratically during the entire election campaign. So there is a basis for a consensus that will allow us to cooperate.
President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev.
Thank you very much for finding an opportunity to receive me today.
I have not been confirmed as president yet by you, but I hope that I will be confirmed.
Vladimir Putin:
You are already confirmed. Here is the Executive Order I have just signed. I want to wish you good luck.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Russian Government members.
Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak prior to the meeting with Russian Government members.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin:
Good afternoon, colleagues.
Today we will primarily discuss the budget, because work on it is wrapping up and the draft will be submitted to the Russian State Duma soon. I will give you more details in a minute.
But I would like to first address the situation around VIM - Avia airline. Yesterday, I spoke with the Transport Minister about this. Mr. Sokolov told me that the company had fully met the requirements for airline companies. He knows my response, I do not want to repeat myself. I will only repeat one thing. If you developed criteria, what good do they do if you cannot see the actual situation behind them? What kind of criteria are these? A company may meet all requirements and still not be able to operate.
Tens of thousands of people, tens of thousands found themselves in a very difficult situation. I would understand if it was the first time but similar cases occur year after year. And we are still unable to develop functional and efficient legal regulation.
I understand very well that we want to create adequate conditions for businesses without the excessive burden of additional costs related to various forms of protecting people’s interests, insurance and so forth. But it is not possible to run a normal business without them. After all, business is not for business people but for the customers.
By the way, the same is taking place in construction. We have been endlessly talking about housing equity holders and so what? We are investing funds, of course, and remedying some payments – many but not all – but the problem is still there. And now law-enforcement agencies report that apart from this predicament of so-to-speak official housing equity holders, there is also a different problem linked with illegal construction. This problem is many times larger than that of housing equity holders. Some companies are building housing on sites that have not been properly registered, and people have absolutely no idea where to go and whom to contact. Yes, of course, I understand that without the use of private funds this business would not have been as effective as it is now. We know about the problems facing the construction industry. Everything is clear. But why are we still unable to regulate properly the normal, civilized functioning of these vital economic sectors?
I have just discussed this with the Prime Minister, and I would like to draw the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of transport to this issue: you do not pay enough attention to this sector. Not enough. Maybe you are overloaded? We have already spoken about this.
Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Kirienko prior to the meeting with Government members.
And I want to tell the Minister that this is a reprimand for incompetent performance. If you cope with this problem quickly and successfully, Dmitry Medvedev and I will think about what to do about this incompetent performance. If you fail, we will think about that as well. Please resolve this problem quickly and effectively, and not only resolve it but also submit proposals on settling this situation in general, intensifying the legal regulation of this sector and enhancing responsibility of carriers. It is necessary to monitor the implementation of norms, requirements and standards. They must be effective, understandable and transparent.
I do not want to repeat anything, I have a reference here. I do not want to talk about this issue anymore. You know everything yourself, please work more actively in this regard.Today I would like to focus in more detail on the issue I just mentioned at the start of our meeting, I mean the draft federal budget which is to be submitted to the State Duma this week, the budget for 2018–2020. I have to say that a lot of complicated work has been done. The main financial document of the country was prepared at a time when the national economy is only beginning to move into a period of steady growth. That naturally imposes certain constraints, above all those connected with the national treasury revenues.
I have to note that like in previous years, we managed to stick to a responsible approach in the planning of public spending and ensure the overall balance of the federal budget and address the main priorities of the country’s development. These are support of the economy and the development of infrastructure, strengthening national security and defense capabilities and, of course, meeting the social obligations of the state to its citizens, investment in education and healthcare, support of science and culture.
Ahead lies close joint work with parliament. Together with the State Duma deputies we will have to go over every budget item. I repeat, I am aware that resources are limited. We all know it only too well, but still I urge you to see if there are untapped reserves for supporting key sectors of the economy, for solving the tasks of raising living standards, developing cities and communities. I would like to note that all these topics have been discussed repeatedly in various formats and at various meetings.
One of the key areas of the economic part of the budget is support for agriculture. Over the past several years this sector has registered robust growth rates and a bumper grain harvest is expected this year. We have to maintain the positive dynamics in agriculture and stimulate the continued development of domestic producers. Of course it is necessary to raise the rural living standards, to build new social infrastructure facilities, create modern comfortable conditions for work and recreation. Again, we have discussed this at various meetings in my office and I know you have discussed it with the Prime Minister. I urge you to allocate an additional 20 billion rubles every year over the next three years for the development of agriculture and the social sphere. We have discussed this topic, and there are such opportunities. I want you to keep it in mind
We have to carry on the urban improvement program in cities. If you remember, we discussed it at the meeting of the Council for Local Self-Government in Kirov on August 5. Questions were raised as to what amounts of financing were needed. We are talking about creating a modern urban environment, creating public gardens, museums, recreation places, as well as about additional support for such projects in small and historical towns, which is particularly important for safeguarding our national memory. This program has just got under way, and it is working effectively. I am requesting more federal funds to finance these areas of activity.
We have to plan a large-scale ecological program to save the River Volga. We have to repair the harm inflicted on the ecosystem of that river and ensure prudent use of the Volga’s resources. I would like to stress that this is a very important and sensitive topic for tens of millions of our citizens. This topic has also been discussed more than once in various formats, and I urge you to remember it and address all these needs in the budget.
Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets prior to the meeting with Government members.
Finally, one more question. It has to do with culture, grant support, the financing of creative groups and cultural institutions. We have to work out a uniform approach to indexing such grants, and they have not been adjusted for quite some time. It is not such a large amount of money. I urge you to take that into account.
Russian Government in preparing the budget worked very intensively on every aspect. I would just like you to remember some things I consider sensitive. Let us discuss all these topics. And not only those I have mentioned, but broader, global issues that you dealt with in preparing the budget.
Mr. Siluanov has the floor.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov:
Thank you Mr. President.
Russian Government has completed the drafting of the budget. In drafting this document we sought to solve several tasks.
The first is to support the economic growth which began late last year, and we see good rates exceeding the forecasts. For next year we put interest rate cuts into the budget parameters, which is to say the cost of loans to entrepreneurs, and this translates into a corresponding boost in investment activity. We are expecting real investments to grow next year which would actually be one of the foundations for increasing sources of economic growth.
The second goal. We have drafted the budget assuming we will meet our obligations regardless of the conditions of external markets. We have assumed a fairly conservative oil price of $40 per barrel, a decrease of the oil and gas budget deficit to below six percent in 2019–2020 and around 7 percent in the following year. We are also taking into account the meeting of our obligations via those parameters, independent of what happens with the external restrictions.
We expect the budget deficit to decrease from 2.2 percent of GDP this year to 1.4 percent next year, and below one percent in subsequent years. What does this give us? It gives stability to the budget, resilience of the budget structure to different external factors which used to significantly impact budget performance. We do not need to cut expenses, we do not need to reconsider our programs next year.
The second task is meeting all the social obligations specified in the May 2012 Executive Orders, primarily on government workers’ wages. The funds for that have been allocated in full. Starting in 2018, the provision of the Order on increasing wages to government workers will be fulfilled in full. We are confident that there will be a corresponding increase in the quality of services.
We have envisioned wage growth in budget-funded sphere, which makes it possible to predict that wages will grow in the whole economy. According to forecasts, real wages will grow 4.1 percent next year, in part thanks to our increase of wages and benefits in the budget-funded sector.
The next point I would like to make is the consolidation of next year’s budget structure. What does this mean? 64 percent of total federal budget revenues now come from non-oil and gas revenues that are not linked with short-term factors. Remember that some time ago everything was the other way round. The bigger part of budget revenues depended on short-term factors, creating risks during implementation of the budget.
Both this year and next year we will continue carrying out all measures aimed at improving tax collection and administration without increasing the tax burden. We have planned measures to merge the data bases of the Federal Taxation Service and the Federal Customs Service. They are increasingly integrating their systems to improve fiscal performance. We will introduce systems for product traceability as well as markers. Cash register equipment will be installed in accordance with our timetables. All these measures will provide additional revenues to the treasury, which are accounted for in next year’s budget. Let me repeat once again that this will be done without increasing the tax burden for responsible taxpayers.
Our draft budget also provides for improving the quality of expenditures, which will increasingly take the form of priority projects that differ from state programs in that they fix the indicators for the implementation of these projects. Their number is limited as distinct from state programs when there were 2,500 key indicators for 40 state programs. Naturally, it is impossible to monitor all of them, whereas priority projects will have a limited number of such indicators. We in the Government are regularly monitoring the implementation of these projects and holding accountable those in charge of implementation. More and more spending on such projects will be or already has been reflected in the draft budget for 2018–2020.
Importantly, there will be a qualitative change in inter-budget relations starting next year. In accordance with your instruction, Mr. Putin, we factored in budget loan refinancing for the regions of the Russian Federation. On the one hand, this will considerably alleviate their debt burden. We have already met with governors at the session of the regional development commission in the Government of the Russian Federation. We discussed the issue in detail and explained how this will be done. This is the first point.
Secondly, we are substantially changing the system of inter-budget transfers. For the next three years we are allocating a large part of funds with due account of the assessments, the so-called model budgets of the Russian regions that we are drafting by assessing their spending commitments. The Government of the Russian Federation has carried out this work and this will make fairer the distribution of inter-budget transfers.
In general, we have envisaged incentives for the regions – grants that will be given to those regions of the Russian Federation that achieve the best results in economic growth, attracting investment and increasing their own budget revenues.
On the whole, next year the structure of federal budget expenditures will be based on the priority of the social sphere: 36.4 percent of spending will go to the social sphere, 29 percent to defense and security and about 15 percent to support for the economy. Social spending will be higher than in the previous budgets. We believe this is an absolutely correct re-orientation of spending toward the human capital that is producing immediate returns and contributing to economic development.
Mr. Putin, we have already started working with MPs. In July we held parliamentary hearings on budget policy for the next three years. Next week we will conduct parliamentary hearings on the draft budget in the Federation Council. I am sure we will make a joint decision with MPs during the discussion and probably certain revisions of the draft budget in the parliament of the Russian Federation. I hope MPs will support us. The policy that we discussed (in fact, it was supported) will now be expressed in specific figures and programs. I am sure that MPs will back us. Thank you.
Vladimir Putin:
Thank you.
Since much has been done and, as always, such work is the result of compromise, I would like to ask heads of relevant departments to speak during debates in parliament as one team, to represent the interests of the entire Government rather than their sectoral interests. The interests of the Russian Government as a whole are expressed in the draft budget. Obviously, it is impossible to meet the interests of everyone in everything. This is understandable and natural but we must proceed from the premise that the budget is a uniform balanced document. I would like to ask you to treat it as such.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin listened to a report via video conference on the destruction of Russian last remaining chemical weapons.
Destruction of the last remaining Russian chemical weapons.
Mikhail Babich, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Volga Federal District and Chairman of the State Commission for Chemical Disarmament, reported to President Vladimir Putin on the completion of chemical disarmament ahead of schedule.
Also in attendance at the video conference were:
Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade
Valery Kapashin, Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Federal Directorate for Safe Storage and Disposal of Chemical Weapons
Hamid Ali Rao, Deputy Director-General of the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good afternoon.
We are witnessing an important, you could even say historic, event because the last chemical ammunition from Russia’s chemical weapons arsenal will be destroyed today.
Without exaggeration, we can say that this is a historic event considering the massive amount of chemical weapons inherited from the Soviet Union – an amount that, experts believe, would be enough to destroy every living creature on the planet several times. This is a huge step towards greater balance and security in the modern world.
Today’s event means our country will fulfill the main international obligation under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is to completely eliminate its chemical weapons. Russia was one of the first to sign this treaty and has worked closely with its partners to relieve humankind of the threat of the use and proliferation of such barbaric, lethal weapons. On a related note, I would like to remind you of Russia’s key role in resolving the chemical weapons issue in Syria.
We can say that this is a historic event considering the massive amount of chemical weapons inherited from the Soviet Union. This is a huge step towards greater balance and security in the modern world.
President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
Implementation of the Russian program got underway back in the 1990s when our country was experiencing serious economic difficulties. In the early 2000s we found the resources to step up implementation. A truly enormous amount of work has been done over the course of 20 years. Modern high-tech enterprises were established and domestic technology developed to ensure that the chemical weapons were destroyed safely, in line with the toughest environmental standards and requirements.
It is important to make effective use of this experience and built facilities to develop the production of high-tech civilian products. Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov is here today and I would like to ask him to report separately on what is planned to do in this regard. We have repeatedly discussed this issue at different meetings.
Chemical disarmament completed in Russia.
Colleagues, I would like to emphasize once again: Russia is strictly fulfilling its international commitments, including its obligations on disarmament and non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. We are well aware of the potential dangers and risks associated with the resumption of the arms race and attempts to upset strategic parity. We are always open to meaningful dialogue on enhancing global security and strengthening confidence-building measures.
We expect that Russia’s efforts to eliminate chemical weapons will serve as an example to other countries as well. As is known, the largest chemical weapons arsenals belonged to Russia and still belongs to the United States that, regrettably, does not abide by its commitments on deadlines for chemical arms destruction. The deadlines for their elimination have been postponed three times, including supposedly due to a shortage of necessary budget funds, which sounds strange, to be honest, but let it be. We expect the United States and other countries to fulfill their commitments under international agreements.
Vladimir Putin at a video conference on the destruction of Russian last remaining chemical weapons.
Russia is strictly fulfilling its international commitments, including its obligations on disarmament and non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. We are always open to meaningful dialogue on enhancing global security.
I would like to thank all those who took part in implementing this program, who displayed the utmost professionalism, responsibility and, at times, courage. I congratulate you on successfully eliminating the last of Russia’s chemical weapons.
I would like to note that our country planned to complete this work by 2020 but completed it ahead of schedule this year, 2017. This is a great success, the result of large-scale, comprehensive and important work of large teams of scientists, workers, and engineers who worked at enterprises specially built for this task.
Congratulations to all of you once again.
Go ahead, please. You have the floor.
Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Volga Federal District Mikhail Babich: Mr. President,
Today, as per your instructions, we are completing the implementation of the presidential program on the complete elimination of chemical weapons in the Russian Federation. This effort covered six regions where seven state-of-the-art industrial complexes were built.
Let me stress that the technology and all the equipment that was used were developed by Russian researchers and engineers. In addition, in accordance with your instructions, in all municipalities where the facilities for the elimination of chemical weapons were located, social infrastructure facilities were renovated or built, with some 11.5 billion rubles allocated. These funds went towards building more than 400 residential buildings, 20 schools and kindergartens, 14 hospitals, 3 sports complexes, more than 160 kilometers of roads, 640 kilometers of gas pipelines, 240 kilometers of water utilities, and many other social and utility infrastructure facilities that will continue to serve these municipalities and their residents.
Vladimir Putin listened to a report via video conference on the destruction of Russian last remaining chemical weapons. With Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov.
As you have noted, in accordance with international treaties Russia was to complete the elimination of chemical weapons by 2020. However, in accordance with your instruction that seeks, among other things, to ensure the safety of the population in cities and districts where chemical weapons were located, this work has been completed three years ahead of schedule. The fact that today, on September 27, 2017 the last chemical ordnance was destroyed here in Kizner village of the Republic of Udmurtia, was made possible by the efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Defence Ministry, the Federal Security Service, the Foreign Ministry, as well as the staff of the Federal Directorate for Safe Storage and Disposal of Chemical Weapons.
As you have already noted, out of more than 70,000 tonnes of chemical weapons that existed across the world, 40,000 tonnes were located in the Russian Federation and 28,000 tonnes in the United States. However, the Russian Federation has completed this work more than six years earlier than our US colleagues, despite having a much larger stockpile.
Representatives of international organizations and countries that are party to the Convention who are here today express their gratitude to the Russian Federation and you personally for completing this work so fast while observing the strictest environmental requirements. This is a big contribution to international security. It is important to note that during all these years not a single accident took place at a single Russian facility.
Mr. Putin, the State Chemical Disarmament Commission has completed all tasks set before it. All these years you personally monitored the implementation of this most difficult task. Starting today, the Russian Federation will be country that is completely free of chemical weapons. To begin the process of destroying the last chemical ordnance, allow me to turn things over to Head of the Federal Administration for the Safe Storage and Elimination of Chemical Weapons Lt-Gen Valery Kapashin.
Vladimir Putin: Mr. Kapashin, go ahead please.
Head of the Federal Administration for the Safe Storage and Elimination of Chemical Weapons Lt-Gen Valery Kapashin: Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief! We are ready to eliminate the last ordnance bearing the toxic substance VX. Requesting permission to initiate destruction.
Vladimir Putin: Permission granted.
Valery Kapashin: Initiate destruction.
What we are seeing is an ordnance after it was drilled and placed in position to remove the chemical agent where the ordnance is clasped. The device is checked to ensure that it is hermetically sealed, it is rotated 180 degrees, the chemical agent leaves the ordnance, then it is moved back into the initial position and washed with a de-gassing solution after which it undergoes thermal decontamination and deformation.
Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief! Chemical weapons in the Russian Federation have been fully destroyed.
That concludes my report.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Congratulations!
Mr. Ali Rao, go ahead please. Deputy Director General of the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Hamid Ali Rao:
Mr. President, it is a momentous occasion today which signals the full elimination of all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the Russian Federation.
It is truly a historic milestone for the Russian Federation, the OPCW and the international community.
This joint success further contributes to strengthening provisions of the Convention and highlights its effectiveness in our journey together to eliminate the chemical weapons and work together for a chemical-weapon-free world.
It showcases Russia’s steadfast commitment and contribution to disarmament and nonproliferation.
I sincerely appreciate your personal interest and decisions to achieve this and offer warm congratulations to you, Mr. President, the Russian Government and all those who worked tirelessly to make this remarkable success a reality.
Thank you, Mr. Putin.
Vladimir Putin: Mr. Ali Rao,
In turn, I would like to thank you, all your colleagues and the entire Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the joint work conducted over many years to reach the goal that it took us almost 20 years to accomplish. We worked together for 20 years to move closer to today.
I would like to thank you again and express hope that your organization will continue working with the international community to enhance confidence-building measures and make the world safer, more stable and more secure. Many thanks to you for cooperation.
And now I would like to ask our Minister of Industry, Mr. Manturov, to report on plans for using the facilities, structures and infrastructure that has been built, to address national economic tasks.
Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov: Thank you, Mr. President.
Eight facilities were built for the destruction of chemical weapons. This is cutting-edge infrastructure. Almost 300 billion rubles were spent from the federal budget for this purpose alone over these years. We would be interested in using these facilities for commercial purposes. For instance, we plan to organize the production of pharmaceuticals and chemicals at the Pochep facility in the Bryansk Region and the Maradykovsky facility in the Kirov Region. We are planning to use the Kizner facility, where the last chemical arms stockpile was destroyed today, to produce gunpowder and explosives. We are ready to shut down the gunpowder plant in the center of Kazan and transfer gunpowder production to a completely new site.
Mr. President, I would like to stress that at present Russia, in fact, does not have the necessary capacities to neutralize industrial wastes of hazard class 1 and class 2 which total about 400,000 tonnes per year. To treat the bulk of this amount, we are going to set up inter-regional centers of hazardous waste decontamination, using such facilities as Kambarka in Urdmurtia, Gorny in the Saratov Region, Shchushye in the Kurgan Region and Leonidovka in the Penza Region. To attract businesses, we intend to grant a concession to operate those facilities, since the most interested parties are companies, including those which use pension funds. Accordingly, under the law, only a concession agreement is possible.
Some legislation has to be amended. At the same time, in order to ensure that all the seven facilities are handed over to investors now that the chemical weapons have been destroyed, we have to completely restore those enterprises to a healthy state. To do this, we have earmarked 5.3 billion rubles in the 2018 budget.
But taking into account the clean-up work that follows the destruction of chemical weapons, we have prepared a separate sub-program for the period 2019–2024. With your support, we will be able to submit it for consideration, submit it to the Russian Government and, jointly with the Finance Ministry, to reserve funds for the period 2019–2024.
Vladimir Putin: All right. Have the final details worked out and submit it to the Government of the Russian Federation.
Denis Manturov: Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, I am addressing our colleagues in Kizner, let me thank you again for the work you have done, and express hope that the plan laid out by the Minister of Industry of the Russian Federation will be implemented. All the infrastructure that has been built, all the assets invested in the noble cause of eliminating chemical weapons, will not be buried here, at these enterprises; they will be used in the future for positive work aimed at creating and developing. There are also enterprises connected with the defense complex. By the way, gun powders are used not only in the defense industry but also in civilian industries, so all that should contribute to the development of the respective regions. And the jobs created, I hope, will not end up on the chopping block, we will do everything possible to preserve them.
