OREANDA-NEWS. December 18, 2009. Russian Prime Minister V.V. Putin Conducts a Meeting of State Corporation ‘Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)’ Supervisory Board.

V.V. Putin’s Opening Address: Good afternoon, Esteemed Colleagues!

At today’s Vnesheconombank’s Supervisory Board meeting we’ll hear out a report on implementing the Government’s crisis management measures and discuss a number of new investment projects.

As you know, Vnesheconombank played a prominent role in supporting our country’s banking system in the crisis period and continues to play this prominent role. The Bank also extended subordinated loans worth 388 billion rubles to 16 commercial banks that went through a selection procedure and undertook to increase financing amounts to end borrowers at interest rates affordable for enterprises.

Our latest arrangement was the Central Bank’s refinancing rate plus three percent. I am not sure that all this was effective and implemented in due time but I nevertheless hope this played a positive and stabilizing role in the most difficult period of time.

Given that subordinated loans were extended for a period of 10 years, these additional financial resources would support business activity in the economy in the future.

In this respect, I’d like to place particular emphasis on the Government’s joint efforts designed to support the country’s banking sector in the crisis period. As opposed to the said events during the 1988 crisis we succeeded in preventing the collapse of the banking system and bankruptcy of our largest financial institutions. I think that everybody remembers quite clearly that in 1988 all the largest commercial banks that looked like giants and absolutely reliable giants, namely, Incombank, Imperial, ONEXIM Bank all but ceased to exist.

I think that owners did not suffer much but depositors, citizens lost a considerable part of their deposits in these financial institutions. We managed to prevent this worst-case scenario and supported all those who were viable. We defended the interests of depositors and above all citizens of the Russian Federation.

And those banks that proved to be in the most complicated situation and failed to overcome this complicated situation on their own – there were 18 such banks – were transferred for a symbolic payment, sometimes for 1 ruble, into the state system of the Deposit Insurance Agency.

This measure is designed to reorganize these financing institutions, to consolidate them and create viable banking institutions for them to be able to continue working normally with economic players, with natural and legal entities.

Today, we have to determine the future of Svyaz-Bank.

Like a number of other lending institutions it failed to resolve on its own the problems that emerged. And for this reason, it was transferred under Vnesheconombank’s management. Vnesheconombank fully restored the Bank’s solvency for a short period of time.

Our task now is to work out a strategy of Svyaz-Bank’s development as well as terms on which we are ready to engage partners into this project.

Moreover, we have to take a decision on committing 21 billion rubles to the United Aircraft Construction Corporation’s charter capital. We have been discussing this issue for a long time, it took several months to prepare the decision, it was thrashed out thoroughly and we should take it today.

This is targeted money designed to financially rehabilitate the company and enable it to make payments to its creditors and suppliers.

At the start of the next year, the company is to receive additional 10.7 billion dollars from the federal budget. And this money will be used not to fill in the gaps but to manufacture new civil aircraft, domestic aircraft.

We’ll also consider proposals for financing a new investment project in the Far East; this project is aimed at reconstructing the Khabarovsk oil refinery.

There are plans to fully upgrade this production facility, which is of great importance for the region, and introduce there the most advanced and environmentally friendly technologies and make it possible to manufacture engine fuel meeting the highest standards: Euro-4 and higher. The project’s total value is 1.3 billion dollars.

I would like to remind you that at our previous Supervisory Board meetings we made decisions on establishing Vnesheconombank’s subsidiary institutions to manage its assets as well as a specialized engineering company. Its main task is to conduct expert’s examination of project documentation, monitor thoroughly the implementation of investment projects and, if necessary, take measures against non-targeted and inefficient use of Vnesheconombank’s credit resources.

Today, we’ll discuss and approve documents that will make it possible for VEB-Capital and the engineering company to start operating.