OREANDA-NEWS. August 19, 2010.  The discussion focused on the labour market, which “has seen a steady decline in unemployment, in both unofficial and official figures (the number of people registered with employment authorities) since the beginning of this year,” the deputy prime minister said. Mr Putin was also interested in Mr Zhukov’s duties as head of the Olympic Committee.

Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr Zhukov, we have seen a revival and growth in the labour market in the past few months, in the first half of this year. Can you describe the most recent trends?

Alexander Zhukov: Yes, Mr Putin. Russia has seen a steady decline in the number of unemployed, in both unofficial and official figures (the number of people registered with employment authorities) since the beginning of this year.

Total unemployment peaked at 9.2% earlier this year, but has decreased to 6.8% at this point; the most recent official statistics suggest 1.763 million people were officially registered as unemployed as of August 11. This is half a million less than this year's high at the beginning of 2010.

The official figures are on a steady decline, decreasing every week by a small margin; last week's decrease was 22,600. We see this trend in most regions. Another important statistic we follow is the number of people who are employed but who are forced to work part-time, a shortened week or are on forced leave. The number of these people decreased by 400,000 in June; the most recent estimate is 680,000 people, down from 1.6 million.

Vladimir Putin: This is in fact close to your pre-crisis figures.

Alexander Zhukov: Not quite, but we are getting there. We must also bear in mind that it is summer. There is always a seasonal decline during the summer.

I was in Russia's Far East last week. As you know, that region saw the most alarming unemployment levels, in the Primorye Territory, Sakhalin, and the Khabarovsk Territory. Unemployment was snowballing there, reaching the highest levels among Russia's regions. The situation has changed dramatically there, which was very encouraging to see.

There is an important labour market measurement, the ratio of unemployed workers to job openings, known as labour market tightness. I visited a labour exchange and employment fair in Vladivostok. This ratio is below one at the moment - that is, job openings outnumber unemployed workers.

I visited Sollers. They have commissioned a new auto assembly plant, and they are recruiting.

Vladimir Putin: Help wanted.

Alexander Zhukov: Indeed. In Sakhalin, which is in the middle of the fishing season, the number of job offers exceeds the number of job seekers. Local SMEs have created many jobs under regional employment programmes, which is also encouraging. The programme is progressing and everyone agrees that we were right to extend the programme for next year. It would work well beyond that too.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Mr Zhukov, how long has it been since you were elected head of the national Olympic Committee?

Alexander Zhukov: More than two months. Since May.

Vladimir Putin: Doesn't this appointment dovetail nicely with your responsibilities as a Cabinet member? You are responsible for sports there. So how do you manage to combine the two jobs? Does your government position help in combining the different responsibilities, which are in fact not that different?

Alexander Zhukov: Mr Putin, the government allocates sufficient funds to support grassroots sports as well as professional sports. As you have seen at Lake Krugloye, which we visited together, where we had an onsite presidium meeting on sports - you must have seen the facilities where our swimming team was practicing. They have recently returned from the European Championships with good results. They all won medals - all those athletes you saw practicing, swimmers and divers and others. The fencing team - we have seen them practicing too - also recently won a World Championship. Therefore, I believe we should combine our efforts here. The government could contribute to the effort by supporting the facilities used by the national teams... Incidentally, the athletics team that practiced in Sochi - in our southern sports centre - also performed well at the European Championships, and won the team finals...

Vladimir Putin: Do you think you and I should take another trip?

Alexander Zhukov: Of course. But seriously, we need more sports centres where Olympic teams can practice. This is a key to success. We do have a programme for that, and it is being implemented. Our young athletes are now participating in the first youth games in Singapore. I just returned from Singapore, where I attended the opening ceremony and talked to the team members. They are very serious and determined, and they got off to a successful start. They are the next generation of athletes; I think many of them will do well at the London Olympics.

Vladimir Putin: How old are those athletes?

Alexander Zhukov: Under 18. But many of them would be quite competitive now; they could participate in "adult" competitions. The Olympic Committee has put a lot of effort into this. We set up a medical centre in Singapore, close to the Olympic village, where they live, so that they can receive additional health services if needed. We sent physicians and psychologists there. I think this will help our athletes perform better. Generally, I believe that our biggest objective is to combine the efforts of the government and of public associations, including the Olympic Committee (the main public association) and the federations, which are in fact part of the NOC, to draft programmes to prepare our teams for the Sochi Olympics. We plan to draft and adopt a very detailed programme by the end of this year. We do not have much time left.

Vladimir Putin: Good.