Mr Putin and Mr Dmitriev also discussed the development of mortgage lending, including military mortgage loans.
* * *
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Dmitriev, could you say a few words about how the year has been going so far and how you view the results?
chairman of Vnesheconombank (VEB) Vladimir Dmitriev: Mr President, since the start of the year, we have been following the strategy that you approved, and which continues on what I think were the decent results we obtained last year. Our investment portfolio, that is, the project portfolio being implemented with Vnesheconombank’s support, contains around 140 projects now, and we will launch 27 new projects this year.
The projects are in a broad range of economic sectors, from industry, infrastructure, and agriculture to social projects that we are carrying out on a public-private partnership basis. As I said, we will launch 27 new projects this year, some of which were finalised during the first quarter of this year.
Vladimir Putin: Which of them would you note in particular?
Vladimir Dmitriev: The Olympic project is obviously one of our big priorities right now. You personally attended the opening of a number of facilities, including the Adler power station, stadiums, and hotels. Of course, everyone will have to work very hard this year in order to complete all of the projects on time and get them up and running.
We also hope to complete this year a unique project that will use oil-associated gas to produce polypropylene. This is the Tobolsk Polymer project. The modernised Khabarovsk Oil Refinery will go into operation this year as well. In other words, we have a whole number of projects that will be completed this year. Aside from the figures I have named, this is the most visible result of the bank’s work.
Vladimir Putin: What is the approximate funding for the Tobolsk project and for the oil refinery in Khabarovsk?
Vladimir Dmitriev: It is around 1 billion euros. The funding is coming in full from foreign loans, since it is a number of European countries that are supplying the equipment. The refinery level will be around 96 percent.
Vladimir Putin: You are referring to the oil refinery?
Vladimir Dmitriev: Yes.
Vladimir Putin: And the Tobolsk project?
Vladimir Dmitriev: Tobolsk Polymer involves around 2 billion euros in investment. The project is being carried out by SIBUR and will give Russia a facility that is the first of its kind.
Vladimir Putin: How many people will it employ?
Vladimir Dmitriev: There will be around 1,500 people working there. These are all high-skilled jobs in the latest technology. The facility itself will be unique in every respect, including in terms of its equipment supply infrastructure.
It is changing the face of Tobolsk too. I’ve been there many times since the project began. This really is a modern production facility with a highly skilled workforce, and what’s more, people have come from all around Russia to work there.
VladimirPUTIN: Good.
<…>