OREANDA-NEWS. July 27, 2009. "I did get to hear is testament to the fact that young people are thinking about the countryЎЇs problems, they are thinking about how to solve them, and they are putting forward their proposals. Sometimes they are the most simple, but I think, very effective, solutions. This also goes for selecting the projects, attracting investors, and tackling various problems that confront society, from the fight against corruption to medicine."

Transcript of the meeting: Vladimir Putin: Hello everyone! Guys, first let me congratulate you for being here, in this beautiful place. It must surely be one of the best places in Russia. But natural beauty aside, when I was on my way here I saw how people had come here from all over the country, and here they all have an opportunity to meet, to talk, make friends, and - what's most interesting - to hear and evaluate each other's proposals and ideas.

I couldn't really do it fully on my way here, but what I did get to hear is testament to the fact that young people are thinking about the country's problems, they are thinking about how to solve them, and they are putting forward their proposals. Sometimes they are the most simple, but I think, very effective, solutions. This also goes for selecting the projects, attracting investors, and tackling various problems that confront society, from the fight against corruption to medicine.

And overall, all this makes quite an impression and undoubtedly broadens our horizons. That is why the very fact that so many beautiful, talented people have come together in one place, where they have the opportunity to interact, exchange views and thoughts, and simply relax in these gorgeous surroundings, is just great. I congratulate you and wish you all the best.

I don't want this meeting to be a monologue, so, let's start talking.

Sergei Markanov: Good afternoon Mr Putin. My name is Sergei Markanov, and I am from Moscow. I would like to start by saying that I know how to increase the Mongolian economy tenfold, but that's not what I'd like to talk about now.

Vladimir Putin: Maybe next time we'll meet in Mongolia.

Sergei Markanov: In fact, my project is about how set up free Internet access in Russia. The technology is as follows: The client registers on a site, giving their personal data, their age, and sex. Then they download a small programme that opens on the screen as two banners. The client gets money from looking at advertising, which he then uses to pay for using the Internet.

Advertisers pay about 5 kopeks. This is a third of the market price, which means that this has wide distribution potential across all regions, as well as through the WiFi-WiMax network. We have an agreement with one company.

Vladimir Putin: And why would the advertisers be interested in paying?

Sergei Markanov: It's high-end marketing, responsive advertising. All online stores are interested in direct sales, they want direct contact with the consumers. They can choose who to contact, perhaps they could carry out surveys about, say, whether someone wears glasses or lives in a given area... It's very interesting.

It's not a unique idea. There are examples of similar processes in other countries, and they work. Which means it could also work in Russia, and it would allow everyone in Russia to have free access to the Internet, which means free access to education, to information...

Vladimir Putin: To be honest, it's difficult to say how realistic this is. But at first glance it looks...

Sergei Markanov: But my idea about Mongolia was more interesting!

Vladimir Putin: Tell me what your Mongolia idea was.

Sergei Markanov: Mongolia has a vast territory, and they have sunshine 280 days a year.

Vladimir Putin: Yes.

Sergei Markanov: So if you devote 60,000 hectares to solar panels, then the electricity could be sold to China.

Vladimir Putin: So the first question that springs to mind is: Where would you get so many solar panels?

Sergei Markanov: The solar panels? We could just build a factory in Mongolia. They mainly need sand.

Vladimir Putin: OK. And how much would the solar panels cost? Where would you get so much sand from?

Sergei Markanov: It would need 37 billion dollars in investment, and the annual profit would be 21 billion dollars.

Vladimir Putin: That would work. In fact it's very efficient.

Sergei Markanov: If you increase the solar panel efficiency to 40%, from 12%, then the profit would be even greater.

Vladimir Putin: And what are your calculations of the profit based on?

Sergei Markanov: On electricity sales to China.

Vladimir Putin: And have you considered that those regions of China that you'll have to supply to...

Sergei Markanov: Well of course we'll need to build quite a long supply route.

Vladimir Putin: That's just what I was going to say, you will need to deliver this electricity to them somehow. But the idea itself isn't bad. Not a bad idea at all. You haven't been in touch with the Chinese yet?

Sergei Markanov: I was going to approach the Mongolian Embassy.

Vladimir Putin: No, you see, the main thing is... I can believe that the Mongolian Government would be interested in this, but the main thing is a market. That's why you first have to find out where this can be realised and to what capacity.

Sergei Markanov: Mongolia's perfect for it. They will also need the necessary equipment to get water there, hummus for the soil, and then they'll be able to grow sweetcorn, feed pigs to produce meat...

Vladimir Putin: Well done. Let's get back to Russia.

Svetlana Shasherina: Hello, Mr Putin, I am Svetlana Shasherina from Krasnodar. I lead a project on diffusion alloying and using liquid solutions in the subsequent nanopatterning of the surface layers in steel construction.

Vladimir Putin: We all understood that. Go on.

Svetlana Shasherina: This technology makes it possible to get...

Vladimir Putin: It's some kind of alloying agent?

Svetlana Shasherina: No it's not an alloying agent, it is actually a technology.

Vladimir Putin: And it is something that means we can move away from alloying agents?

Svetlana Shasherina: Yes, we can move away from alloying agents.

Vladimir Putin: It is in fact a very progressive idea, you shouldn't all have laughed. We are still making special kinds of steel with the help of various additives, to put it plainly, we're still doing it...

Svetlana Shasherina: By surface alloying...

Vladimir Putin: And our colleague suggests an entirely new approach.

Svetlana Shasherina: It can be used for different components. The fact is that this kind of coating increases the components' efficiency, especially those working in harsh environments, because by increasing the level of hydrogen sulphide, we also increase its ability to withstand corrosion, and its conductivity. I am making nanopatterning harder, i.e. the rate at which the strain deforms the material.

As a teacher I specialise in car maintenance, and unfortunately I had to assemble my apparatus using what prototypes there already were.

For example, the pressure put on the diffusion coating by the KAMAZ car's power steering system.

Vladimir Putin: And where did you carry out this research?

Svetlana Shasherina: In Krasnodar, in my own laboratory. I can show you the diagrams.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, do show them to me. Where is your lab?

Svetlana Shasherina: It's in the faculty. The thing is, that I was lucky. I was able to go to the forum, and our technology was noticed by Mr Anatoly Chubais.

Vladimir Putin: Oh, in that case let him complete it!

Svetlana Shasherina: And what if it doesn't work out?

Vladimir Putin: How could it fail to? He's got public funds.

Svetlana Shasherina: It's not necessarily just about receiving certain coatings, it could lead to a scientific discovery in material sciences, because no one has examined this before. There is a lot to it.

But there is another question that concerns me, to be frank. There are many talented people...

Vladimir Putin: And have you been in touch with any experts at the specialised academic and scientific establishments that are working on this...?

Svetlana Shasherina: Yes, last year I went to St Petersburg, on my own initiative...

Vladimir Putin: There is an institute there, headed by the academician Igor Gorynin.

Svetlana Shasherina: But the point is that I paid for all this, out of my own pocket. In order to do good quality research, to get good quality results, I need time to save money, and then spend my own money on going there and ordering it.

Vladimir Putin: So really this is an issue of equipment, or is it something else?

Svetlana Shasherina: Yes, it's about equipment. So that at least there is somewhere to do the research that I wouldn't have to pay for out of my own pocket. I make the coating, I have done it under particular conditions, and I need to observe what happened, what transformation phases occurred on its surface.

Vladimir Putin: I understand. Sveta, this is a very specialised question, we need to think about where the best testing site would be for this kind of experiment.

Svetlana Shasherina: I have another, related, question. There are quite a lot of people like me in the regions.

Vladimir Putin: I hope so.

Svetlana Shasherina: I was simply lucky, thanks to the forum, thanks to my superiors for making Rosnano aware of our technology, letting them have a look at it. Are you planning to set up any regional facilities where people like me can go for support for their inventions?

I am the supervisor for the Krasnodar Territory, and have brought 43 people here with me.

Vladimir Putin: We are developing a system of support for young scientists. There are presidential grants. And those awards are entirely adult in size: 2.5 million. Then we have introduced grants for young research scientists, and we will also implement a whole programme, although, it is true that due to the crisis we have had to cut back on financing a little. We also have a programme for teachers. And there are also funds for it.

As for a kind of facility or platform like this one, the one we have here is unique, but if, as we see, you are here, then clearly it gives results and will be continued.

Svetlana Shasherina: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: We will have a look at your project. We really need to find somewhere where Sveta can work under appropriate conditions.

Alexander Yakovlev: Mr Putin, I am Sasha Yakovlev. Here in Seliger we have set up a prototype of a youth national TV channel, called YTV.

Vladimir Putin: What's it called?

Alexander Yakovlev: YTV.

Vladimir Putin: And why did you choose YTV?

Alexander Yakovlev: To keep them guessing.

Mr Putin, YTV broadcasts 17 hours a day. It involves young journalists from across the country. It incorporates all TV genres, and broadcasts directly over the Internet. We have also set up TV training studios for young people, to help develop a new generation of journalists.

Vladimir Putin: Don't you like the old generation?

Alexander Yakovlev: No, not really. Because the innovative development of our country is impossible without changing the way that a whole generation sees the world, without promoting a new life strategy for young people. And for that, we need tools. We have a lot of hope that our project will, in time, turn into the first national youth channel. But in the meantime our TV channel can be focussed on any event.

For example, recently our respected colleagues at VGTRK Russian National TV and Radio Broadcasting Company organised a direct These guys have come from all over the country, from Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Moscow, Kotovsk.

Vladimir Putin: They've gathered together here? And are you offering your services while you are all together here? Will it all disintegrate after this?

Alexander Yakovlev: We can set up a TV channel in any part of the country.

Vladimir Putin: I understand, but is that only while the Seliger camp is on?

Alexander Yakovlev: At the moment we are all here. We have TV training studios for young people in all five federal districts.

Vladimir Putin: And they work on a permanent basis?

Alexander Yakovlev: Yes they do.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

Alexander Yakovlev: Mr Putin, one last point. Perhaps this is a breach of protocol, but I would like to invite you to appear on YTV, if you have the opportunity after this event.

Vladimir Putin: I will try. I am sure you will get an opportunity to work on an event that I am involved in - either in Moscow, or somewhere else in the country, or possibly abroad. Although I don't go abroad very often, there is a lot of work for me to do here, but that would also be possible.

Alexander Yakovlev: Thank you.

Ivan Krasnov: Hello, my name is Ivan Krasnov. I am involved in the Dvorykin project.

Vladimir Putin: Which project?

Ivan Krasnov: Dvorykin. My project is putting pictures on wheels. Rather, I am building a device that makes it possible for bicycle wheels to light up and display pictures, while in motion. In the future, if it works out, it will be the most popular...

Vladimir Putin: Why?

Ivan Krasnov: It's beautiful. It's safe.

Vladimir Putin: Firstly, it's beautiful?

Ivan Krasnov: Yes it's beautiful. Beauty will save the world. It's a customised improvement.

Vladimir Putin: And secondly, it could show advertisements?

Ivan Krasnov: Yes it could also be that.

Vladimir Putin: I'll give you another idea. It could be a business project.

Ivan Krasnov: It is a business project, it's a working business project. It is supported by the Bortnik Fund (providing assistance to small innovative enterprises), it's publically funded in effect. It is supported by my university.

Vladimir Putin: So tell me, how will it work?

Ivan Krasnov: I can show you, the bike is over there.

Vladimir Putin: Go ahead.

Ivan Krasnov: Right now?

Vladimir Putin: Right now.

Voice: Bring it over.

Vladimir Putin: You won't get very far on it but that's nothing to do with the pictures.

Ivan Krasnov: It's a great help.

Vladimir Putin: I'd like to repeat that you need to think carefully about how this could be introduced, because it must not distract people from the traffic on the roads. OK. Please, go ahead.

Yekaterina Abdulova: Mr Putin, my name is Katya Abdulova, and I've come here from Kaluga. You visited Kaluga recently, and I hope it left a good impression.

My project is to build a new restaurant culture in Russia.

Vladimir Putin: I was expecting you to talk about space science, but this isn't a bad subject either. And what do you mean by restaurant culture? We won't just be eating any more?

Yekaterina Abdulova: In Moscow and St Petersburg, for example, and in major cities there is a culture of fine dining. The situation regarding public dining is better than in the regions. We have big problems with this; people just don't know how to eat well.

Vladimir Putin: Really?

Yekaterina Abdulova: It's really true. I have been working in the service sector for six years and I have seen a lot. Now I am working on my first start-up project in Kaluga. I am opening a cafЁ¦. And I hope than in September I'll be able to send you...

Vladimir Putin: Thank you, but I would still like to get a sense of what you mean by a dining culture? What is it?

Yekaterina Abdulova: We're currently setting up a society for young Russian restaurateurs, bringing together those who have come here to Seliger.

Vladimir Putin: But what is the essence of the project? Is it a business project? Or is it about charity, or education? What is the core of it?

Yekaterina Abdulova: It's all of that rolled into one. The club comprises young people who all have their own ideas. Because the restaurateurs we currently have are all adults with their own set values. We want to create a new culture, to teach people not only how to eat well but to teach them how to enjoy the service they receive, to change the attitude to waiters and staff in those establishments. Because currently many young people see the profession of being a waiter, or waitress, as something to be ashamed of, something temporary, but in fact it is very important. Because the waiter sets the mood for the customer, and when the customer has good service, he or she feels like a different person.

Vladimir Putin: Do you want to teach people how to eat differently, or how to wait on tables differently?

Yekaterina Abdulova: They are interdependent. How you eat depends on how they serve you the food, and a lot depends on their attitude to you.

Vladimir Putin: Agreed. So overall it is not just about those people working in the service industry. It is similar in any profession. If it is needed, if the people doing it enjoy their work, if they enjoy interacting with people, and they earn decent wages, then all that deserves the very best support the state can offer. Of course, any profession has the right to demand respect for those who work in that field.

Yekaterina Abdulova: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: In that sense, of course, any profession related to public dining, whether it's being the waiter or the chef, they are much needed professions. And as for being a chef - that's more than a profession, it's an art.

Yekaterina Abdulova: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: It really is an art. Of course you can make a meatball, grill some meat easily enough, but it is not as simple as that, it takes real talent.

Yekaterina Abdulova: I agree. And for some reason now in the restaurant business in Russia it has become common practice to invite famous foreign stars, to pay them large sums of money, and in exchange we get French restaurants, Italian restaurants... But Russian restaurants, for some reason, always serve pancakes... And pancakes are actually the Chinese national dish.

Vladimir Putin: Not only Chinese, they are part of other countries' cuisine too, in European cuisine - French and German cuisines both have them.

Yekaterina Abdulova: I agree. So let's develop our chefs, our own stars, so that foreign restaurants invite our chefs, our waiters to work for them. That's one way we can change the service culture here.

Vladimir Putin: That's ambitious.

Yelena Bocharova: Mr Putin, while we're on the topic. My name is Yelena Bocharova. I lead the "You can be a businessmen" project. It is one of the largest programmes during this Year of Youth. You have said that we need 70% of the country's working population to be involved in small business. And I am making that happen.

Literally seven days ago more than 5,000 young people went away from that forum seriously thinking about how they could set up their own business. There were various different business ideas, at different levels. Some were about high-tech, others really simple business plans. But it's all business. So, now I can say with confidence, that in a year's time every region in the country will see a new young hero-businessman. Perhaps not just one, but they will appear, and they will grow in number.

Mr Putin, this really is my life's work. I have been working on this for three years, and I'm going to continue. But I am finding it very difficult. Because we don't have an entrepreneurial culture in our country.

If, say after year 9 in every school across the country, we held a Business Olympiad, that would at least do something to significantly improve both the work that we are doing, and the effect from our current and future work.

Vladimir Putin: Would that be as an extra-curricular activity?

Yelena Bocharova: Just an Olympiad; a nationwide competition that we would declare open, and which each year would produce results.

Vladimir Putin: I agree with you that something needs to be done so that people in our country understand from a young age what being an entrepreneur is all about. The question is how this can be done within the framework of existing programmes.

An Olympiad - I'll have to think about that. In any case, I agree with you that we need to talk about this, that we need to think it through and get something started.

Maxim Permin: Hello Mr Putin, I am Maxim Permin, and I represent the Fakultet publishing house. We are only two and a half years old, but we have already become the largest young people's publishing house. We seek out young, talented authors and poets from across the country. We publish and promote them.

We are also working closely with writers; we have held two major literary competitions, in which 5,000 people participated. We have published four books with a combined print run of 40,000.

Vladimir Putin: Who paid for it?

Maxim Permin: It is privately funded.

Vladimir Putin: Privately funded by who?

Maxim Permin: The three founders of this publishing house are myself and two friends. We are all young, but we all have other jobs.

Vladimir Putin: And how much of your personal funds do you put into your business? What is its budget?

Maxim Permin: It costs about 400,00 to 500,000 roubles to publish a book at a print run of 10,000. But if it sells, you can make a good profit.

Vladimir Putin: What you're doing is great. I mean it sincerely, putting joking and irony aside. Because it really is very important to support contemporary, young, authors. And regrettably, they don't get the support today that they should.

Maxim Permin: Mr Putin, I have got about 30 young authors altogether. Their names aren't all that well known at the moment, but we're working on it. Believe me, in five or ten years they'll be world famous.

I have one small request. Would it be possible for us to send you one publication each year - the winner of our competition? We'd like to get a short book review from you. I promise that we won't ever send you a four-volume "War and Peace". They'll be short, three to four A4 pages. Just so we can publish your review, whether it's positive or negative, on the back cover. And then we can claim that our chief reader is Mr Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin: It would give me great pleasure, because it also enables me to become familiar with the work of new authors. Thank you!

Maxim Permin: Thank you, Mr Putin.

Ilya Zenov: Hello, Mr Putin, my name is Ilya, and I'm from Moscow. What I'm working on is going very well, and everything is going very well in Chechnya too, although people aren't aware of that yet but my project, which is called "The Un-Armoured Train" will change that. The essence of it is this: we send a team of 100 young journalists from all over the country to Chechnya.

Vladimir Putin: They'll enjoy that.

Ilya Zenov: But why Chechnya? The republic has moved beyond revival, to development. And the Chechen people that I have met here, at Seliger, have a burning desire to communicate this, to start a dialogue.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, they are proud of it, and there really is something to be proud of.

Ilya Zenov: But none of the good news from Chechnya gets beyond the republic's borders.

Vladimir Putin: But why do you say that? It does get out. One merely wishes that it travelled further.

Ilya Zenov: That's what I am talking about. That is why we will put 100 journalists on a train, young journalists with fresh approaches, and take them to Chechnya, where they will get information first hand. Then they can publish it online, make community videos, communicate it in their articles, in their reports and TV films for their readers, listeners and viewers. And a couple of months after their trip, people all over Russia will know what the situation is like on the ground in Chechnya.

Vladimir Putin: And you will select the journalists from all the regions of Russia?

Ilya Zenov: Yes, from practically all regions.

Vladimir Putin: Well, I think that's quite a good idea. But you need to talk to the Republic's Government, with Ramzan Kadyrov.

Ilya Zenov: We have met his delegation, and talked, and they are in principle setting things in motion there to help organise the trip. Now we just have to reach an agreement with Russian Railways.

Vladimir Putin: With Russian Railways?

Ilya Zenov: Yes, regarding the actual train carriages.

Vladimir Putin: All right, I see. We can talk about that, I think it's a good initiative.

Albert Stepanyan: Hello, I am Albert Stepanyan from Moscow. I am setting up a technology that would make it possible to turn liquid into powder using unheated air streams.

Vladimir Putin: What kind of powder?

Albert Stepanyan: Any kind. Made from liquid solutions. Milk, for example. The technology makes it possible to make powders that are unrivalled in quality, such as, for example powdered eggs, dried milk, and instant coffee. And it can be used not only for products from the food industry but also in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

At the moment we are working with two companies to start producing something currently not made anywhere in Russia. It is a component used in the construction industry, which is brought in from abroad, as there is no one here in Russia able to make it. Here in the lab at Seliger I can show you how it works, it's just over there. I can switch it on, and make dried milk easily, imagine it, at room temperature. People from all over the country come to Moscow State University Institute of Mechanics to try it, to use it to dry things. Even from Bulgaria. I have dried all sorts of things, even colostrum and artificial blood. A company in Paraguay asked me to dry orange juice. I think it has great potential, and that the country's future needs this technology.

Vladimir Putin: We will dry everything. 

Albert Stepanyan: I can honestly say I have dried many liquids. This niche has a great future. Of course, there is milk and egg produce...

Vladimir Putin: No, no, in fact he's quite right to bring it back to dairy production. This really is an important question.

Albert Stepanyan: When the law on milk and dairy drinks was passed, I gave an interview to Channel 1.

The institute also supports my work on powdered egg. But in terms of moving the project forward, their support is not forthcoming. But there are a wide range of directions it could go in. Creating an experimental industry...

Vladimir Putin: Let's start by passing your idea on to the Ministry of Agriculture for further development.

§Ўlbert Stepanyan: It's not just about agriculture. A lot of people from the Mendeleev Institute have come to me, asking if they can install the equipment in their labs. I told them that I don't have the money at the moment, but that as soon as I win a grant I'll supply them, so that they can test and further understand a range of substances. There it is over there. And I can dry things at room temperature. It is a wholly new process. Quite a different quality.

Vladimir Putin: (turning to Vasily Yakemenko) Vasily, you know a lot of people, they can surely help. He really needs a grant.

Good. Thank you very much, guys.

M. Drokova:  I would like to ask what you think, do you like these people?

Vladimir Putin: You mean the ones here? Yes, I like them a lot.

M. Drokova: You know, I like them a lot too, that's why I make programmes about these young inventors, successful businessmen, and civil servants, for the online channel Russia.ru.

But those programmes only get a few hundred thousand viewers on the online channel. We would like to improve this, and have invited all those involved in making decisions about what is broadcast on the national TV channels. We invited all of them.

Would you be able to help those people, those decision makers when it comes to what's shown on TV, to meet us, see and hear our work, get to know about the project, and explain why these individuals aren't shown on TV?

Vladimir Putin: You mean get them all to come here?

§®. Drokova: Or we could go to them. It's not that the people who have come together here are looking for fame...

Vladimir Putin: You mean you want your product to be shown on TV?

M. Drokova: I want to see these people's faces on TV, since at best all the young people we get to see on TV are young performers and athletes.

Vladimir Putin: I agree with you, let's move it forward.

Yasha Somov: I have a great project, I just can't help talking about it! I have to tell you about it right now! My name is Yasha and I'm from St Petersburg. I want to set up a unified Internet library of recordings of lectures given across all Russian universities.

We could record the lectures and post them on the site for free; they would be freely accessible in one place, in a huge internet library. Each lecture would only be posted with the agreement of the lecturer and students involved. This is clearly something greatly needed by undergraduates, school graduates and also those doing correspondence courses.

Vladimir Putin: I absolutely agree.

Yasha Somov: But there's one sensitive point to it. We will be creating competition for academic establishments, because anyone who visits our Internet library will be able to give each lecturer marks based on how much they liked, or didn't like, a particular lecture. And we would publish these independent evaluations.

Vladimir Putin: It is happening in some countries in Europe.

Yasha Somov: Yes, that's right. There they've been filming lectures for a long time. It's easy for them to simply gather the recordings and post them all on the site together. It's rare here for lectures to be recorded.

But I have the site ready, and the content categorisation system, I have signed agreements with many universities and have encountered a great deal of support. The project gets off the ground in October.

In addition, the lectures we will gather in, will all be standardised and published in one format, called multiscript. It is used on three websites in Russia: on your site, on RIA Novosti's and now on mine. It involves linking the video and text transcript by timecodes. You can search for a word that interests you, click on the results, and the video starts playing from that point.

Vladimir Putin: Yasha, can I ask you this? The project seems really spot on, and greatly needed. But my question is - what do you get out of it?

Yasha Somov: Of course, I hope that it will become possible to commercialise this project.

Vladimir Putin: I meant, I would like to hear how you think you can commercialise it.

Yasha Somov: Of course through additional service provision. In many different ways, from closed investment clubs to content linked advertising. I am involved in organising residential schools in St Petersburg, including from the Physics Department. And I understand how much effort universities currently put into that competition.

They are ready to put money towards filming their classes. If they produce a good course of lectures, then high school students will choose them. And how the site can be rendered profitable is a separate question. But I would really like it to exist. And it will.

Vladimir Putin: Did you just want to tell me about it, or did you want me to do something?

Yasha Somov: I really wanted to boast about it. And also, unfortunately, I haven't been able to talk to Mr Andrei Fursenko about it. It would be even better if someone like him could recommend me to the universities.

Vladimir Putin: He recommends you.

Yasha Somov: He's put in a good word for me?

Vladimir Putin: He doesn't know about it yet, but he really wants to put a good word in for you.

Yasha Somov: Could you tell Vasya (Yakemenko) to recommend me to Mr Fursenko, to make it easier?

Vladimir Putin: I will tell Mr Fursenko he should meet you. OK?

Yasha Somov: Agreed. Thanks.

Vladimir Putin: Just go and see Mr Fursenko and tell him all about it. He's on holiday at the moment, but he will be back at work soon. Where are you from?

Yasha Somov: St Petersburg.

Vladimir Putin: As it happens he's based in the Leningrad Region, perhaps you'll bump into each other there. I'll call him myself. I just need your contact details.

Nastya Fedorenko: Mr Putin, I am Nastya Fedorenko, we invited 50,000 talented young people from all over Russia to Seliger this year. Unfortunately not all of them could come, because not all Governors were supportive. For example, in Yekaterinburg people spent five whole hours picketing the city authorities to help fund the trip.

It really is the only platform young people have that gives them the tools they need to develop their talents. Our Governors always wait for some kind of go ahead from above.

Vladimir Putin: There's no need to tar all the Governors with the same brush.

Nastya Fedorenko: But many of them for some reason always wait for the green light from above. Doesn't your visit here indicate that the state is willing to invest in young people's talents? Doesn't it mean it is some kind of priority in national policy? I would like to see Seliger become a permanent, annual, event.

Vladimir Putin: It isn't my presence here now that indicates that the state is listening to the problems that young people face, but the fact that we have been organising it for several years in a row. It has been working and will go on working in the future.

My visit indicates that we are paying more and more attention to young people's problems. Young people are just starting out in life, it's a lot harder for them than for other people to find their way. That's why they need this support, not because they aren't capable, but because taking that first step is difficult.

That is why we have incorporated the question of how to address the problems faced by young people into a range of programmes. For example, there is the demographic programme, which aims at boosting the country's birth rate. That is entirely aimed at supporting young people who are starting a family or who have decided to have their first child. Then there is the housing programme, the programme for young teachers and so on.

Unfortunately, so far, this has not been enough. But that is linked to the financial resources the state has. We will definitely continue all this work.

Nastia Fedorenko:  So Seliger will go on next year?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, we'll have another Seliger next year.