On arrival in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the President spoke via video linkup with the Orlan drilling platform located in the Sea of Okhotsk. The platform was built as part of the Sakhalin-1 project, which includes the development of Chaivo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi offshore deposits on the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin. Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin reported on the completion of the drilling operations.
Vladimir Putin also visited the Uspenovsky training ground, where he observed the military exercises underway as part of a comprehensive troop inspection in the Eastern Military District. The President watched the manoeuvres from the observation tower and later made a helicopter flight over the area.
In completion of the visit’s agenda, Mr Putin held a meeting on the integrated social and economic development of the Sakhalin Region. The President noted that Sakhalin’s geographic location and established relations with the Asia-Pacific countries provide a solid base for the establishment of a global energy centre here. Mr Putin stressed that the development of such a centre and growth in oil and gas production must go hand in hand with the launch of new refineries and expansion of the gas network in the region. The meeting participants also discussed the interim results of the Kuril Islands development programme to 2015 and the possibility of its extension, as well as the modernisation of the transport infrastructure in the Far East.