President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. Mr Kostin, the bank’s performance looks positive across all the main indicators. What would you like to highlight?
VTB CEO Andrei Kostin: Yes, Mr President, the performance looks positive. This year, we expect our profit to increase. Last year, it amounted to just over 500 billion rubles, and this year we are targeting more than 600 billion.
One area we are particularly proud of is that the bank remains focused on financing major industrial projects. These projects are moving forward, and there are quite a number of them.
I will begin with the largest one. We are the lead lender for the development of the Baimsky copper deposit in Chukotka. The project is estimated at 1.3 trillion rubles.
Vladimir Putin: Are we implementing this together with our Kazakhstani friends?
Andrei Kostin: Yes. An important point is that once the project reaches full capacity, Chukotka will no longer be a subsidised region but will become self-sufficient.
There are also other major projects. Construction of the Chernogorsk Mining and Processing Plant in Norilsk is nearing completion. There are also projects such as the Moscow–St Petersburg High-Speed Railway, as well as Gazprom’s Amur Gas Processing Plant, among others. So, despite the relatively high interest rates, these projects are continuing to move ahead and develop.
Of course, if we succeed in countering inflation and lowering the key interest rate, that will further accelerate these projects and make their implementation easier.
Overall, therefore, our outlook is positive. We continue to work actively with small and medium-sized businesses. We can see that, despite relatively modest growth rates, our economy remains stable and, overall, continues to develop.
Vladimir Putin: Good. Let us discuss this in more detail.
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