The conference discussed the establishment of a joint administrative system in federal districts. Mr Putin said it was high time to start strengthening the country’s statehood and stressed that nobody wanted the regions to become politically and economically weaker, and governors must remain strong. Mr Putin also said that at the same time they must prevent the federal authorities from getting weaker. The conference also focused on socio-economic issues and inter-budgetary relations.
After the conference, Mr Putin chatted with journalists and expressed hope that the establishment of federal districts would make the state administration system more effective. He told media workers that he was absolutely sure that this mechanism would be perfected.
Talking about his forthcoming visits to the Korean Peninsula and Japan, Mr Putin said that Asia was a very important region for Russia. The President said Russia was a Eurasian country. He compared Russia to a bird and said it would fly better on two wings.
When asked by journalists to comment on the reorganisation of the national Strategic Missile Force, Mr Putin said there was no such reorganisation going on, only discussions among experts.
Mr Putin visited the Second Ural Expo Arms and admired Russian military equipment. The President was quite fascinated by the Pchela (Bee) unmanned reconnaissance plane, which was used in Chechnya, and the Vena self-propelled gun, produced by the Motovilikha artillery plant.
After that, Mr Putin and Sverdlovsk Governor Eduard Rossel opened a military equipment parade involving modern armoured vehicles and the legendary T-34 medium tanks.
That same day, Mr Putin visited the Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works and laid the cornerstone of the Mk 5000 rolling mill. He placed a 1708 five-kopeck copper coin in accordance with an old tradition dating back to the times of the Demidov industrial tycoons.
Addressing an official meeting of company workers, Mr Putin said the Government would do its best to support export-oriented sectors, including metallurgy, and would continue to standardise customs tariffs.