Vladimir Putin: Allow me to congratulate you on completing a substantial amount of organizational work. Our German partners have shown themselves to be very reliable, interested in every detail, and inclined to carefully study each issue before making a decision. I am especially pleased that you were able to reach an agreement with the government of the Russian Federation so that part of the production cycle will take place on Russian territory. This so-called geographical problem has been resolved in complete harmony with Russian legislation and we have established clear and comprehensible conditions for other, similar cooperation.
I hope that your activities will be successful. I am very glad that a large and respected company such as Volkswagen is entering the Russian market.
Bernd Pischetsrieder (translation from German through Russian): Many thanks Mr President. You must certainly know the Russian proverb that says: what takes a long time comes to a good end. It is true that our company discussed the possibility of producing in Russia for a very long time and we took a long time weighing the pros and cons associated with working in Russia. And finally we made this decision.
Vladimir Putin: There is another good German proverb on this topic that says: all’s well that end’s well.
Bernd Pischetsrieder: I consider that we received excellent support from the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Mr Gref. The Governor of the Kaluga region also supported our decision and we are very grateful to him. Already next year we would like to start producing Volkswagen and Skoda automobiles here on Russian territory. And by 2009 we want this production to be a hundred percent Russian — right up to assembling and producing auto bodies here. We are also happy that our decision to choose the place of production was not delayed. And we are glad that we could sign that agreement at the same time as the investment contract and start producing the model that we have developed and would like to produce in Russia.
Today journalists who were at the press conference asked me what our goals are and what percentage of our production will take place in Russia.
Vladimir Putin: How much?
Bernd Pischetsrieder: 20 percent.
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