OREANDA-NEWS.  Vladimir Putin had a meeting with heads of leading international news agencies.
The President, among other things, expressed his satisfaction with the work of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. He noted that one of the discussions dealing with fuel and energy came up with proposals to stabilise the global energy market.

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PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Thank you for your interest in Russia and the St Petersburg Economic Forum. Speaking of which, we can see that this interest is growing every year.

This year the media coverage of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum is wider than over the previous two years. It is very good news.

We established good rapport with our partners in all areas of production, from all sectors of the economy. Just now, I had a very informative meeting with heads of major global fuel and energy companies.

I think their session is not over yet, though they are probably approaching the end. They are sharing opinions on the state of the global energy industry, coming up with proposals on measures to stabilise the global energy market. I asked them to develop proposals regarding Russia as well.

Generally, we are very pleased with how cooperation with our partners is going. Many of them have had a presence in Russia for years. They have significant assets, which increases capitalisation of companies and helps them get access to financial markets.

Some members of the Russian-speaking audience inquired about further improvement of Russian laws, including fiscal policy. We will discuss it with them in early June.

Coming back to this meeting, I would like to repeat that we are very glad you are interested in working in Russia. I would like to congratulate your colleague, Mr Mikhailov, on the 110th anniversary of ITAR-TASS, the largest news agency in Russia. It is a brand known all over the world. I hope that with Mr Mikhailov at the wheel, the agency will take on a new lease of life – also in international collaboration.

I’m impressed with the attendance of this meeting. Your agencies make up about 80% of the global information flow. Your influence on the global and national news agenda cannot be overstated. You have great influence that is dispersed by your colleagues throughout the mass media – both print and online media outlets. I hope that today we’ll be able to discuss some current issues and talk about building relations with Russian government institutions and your colleagues in the Russian market.

I think this is all I want to say for a start. Thank you very much. I suggest we begin an informal question and answer session. I hope you have questions, we can discuss them, and I will try to give you comprehensive answers.

Please.

SERGEI MIKHAILOV: Mr Putin, thank you very much for the opportunity to have this meeting. I think it would be fair to give the floor to Florence Biedermann from France Presse, the oldest French agency with an almost 200 year history, as the only woman at this table. It just so happens. Go ahead please.

FLORENCE BIEDERMANN (retranslated): Mr President, you will soon go to France to attend the 70th anniversary of the allied landing in Normandy. Will you hold separate meetings with the heads of state that will be present there? And may I ask you one more question on a different subject. Will you consider the elected president in Ukraine legitimate?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: The first point. The trip to Normandy will be restricted to the occasion on which we will all meet. Indeed, the President of France has reaffirmed his invitation and it was, of course, accepted with gratitude. During World War II our countries were fighting Nazism together. As you know, Soviet and Russian peoples contributed much to the altar of this common victory and so it is quite natural that we all meet in Normandy. We are to give credit to our allies in the coalition – the Americans, the British and the French. We remember French Resistance fighters and the direct participation of the French in World War II, including the legendary Normandie-Niemen.

Will there be any meetings on this occasion? As far as I understood, the French President would like to hold a separate meeting to discuss issues of bilateral relations and the international agenda. Naturally, I’m open to any talks. If the schedule of the French President permits, I’ll be pleased to meet with him and discuss subjects of mutual interest. This is the first point.

Your second question is about recognition or non-recognition of the election in Ukraine. I replied in detail to this question yesterday. One of your colleagues tired me out trying to approach this issue from different angles. I’ve already answered this question and can repeat what I said.

I believe it would have been more logical to fulfil the agreements – at least in narrow format – that were reached by President Yanukovych and the opposition on February 21 of this year. There was no point in calling into doubt from the very start even some aspects of the legitimacy of the future Ukrainian authorities on the grounds that a presidential election cannot be held with the legally operating Ukrainian President. This is an obvious fact – it’s enough to open the Ukrainian Constitution to see what is written there.

In this context it would have been more logical and, in my view, more serious to first hold a referendum, then adopt a constitution and then hold elections based on the new fundamental law. However, the current authorities in Kiev and those people who control the power have decided to follow a different course. They want to stage the election first and then deal with constitutional amendments. It is unclear for the time being what amendments they have in mind – this is always an issue of debate and certain agreements in society.

You know what I think? The people who are controlling the power in Kiev and the main presidential candidates are still different people. Maybe those who are in charge today are not interested in the new president being completely legitimate. This may be the case. After all, they are engaged in a serious internal political struggle. In the end it’s up to Ukraine, its domestic business. I can just repeat what I said yesterday: we’ll respect any choice made by the Ukrainian people.

FLORENCE BIEDERMANN: As far as I understand, President Yanukovych will remain the legitimate President, even after the election. I’m talking about legitimacy.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: You know, we can all read. Let’s open the constitution and read it. We are grown-up people, we can read. Take the Ukrainian constitution and read it. It says that there are four legitimate reasons when an incumbent president has to go. They are: death, a serious health condition, impeachment – and there was no constitution-based impeachment – and resignation, when the president hands in his resignation to the Parliament. So we either stick to the constitution or dismiss it.

My point is they should have dealt with this issue first. But the current Kiev authorities had a different plan. All right. In any case, we are interested in stabilising the situation. What are they saying now? They are going to adopt a new constitution. If so, a newly elected president might still be a temporary figure or, on the contrary, he or she will take over all the power. Beyond doubt, both scenarios will only aggravate the political struggle in the country.

As I said, we will by all means respect the choice of the Ukrainian people and will cooperate with the authorities that will come to power as a result of the election.

SERGEI MIKHAILOV: Please, colleague from Xinhua, which means “New China”, by the way.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes. Excuse me, I would like to ask Florence: are you satisfied with my answer?

FLORENCE BIEDERMANN: Yes, I’m satisfied.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Merci beaucoup.

SERGEI MIKHAILOV: Please, Mr Zhou.

ZHOU XISHENG: First, I would like to start by congratulating you on the successful talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The joint declaration on their results states that China-Russia relations advanced to a new level.

What I wanted to ask is how relations between Russia and China can play, as you have said, a bigger role in promoting stability in international relations and the development of our two countries?

My second question is how do you expect the upcoming 70th anniversary of the victory in World War II to impact the situation around the world and how can we celebrate it?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: The meetings in Shanghai several days ago and the documents that were signed prove without any doubt that relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation have advanced to a new level. Over the recent years, we noted on numerous occasions the high level of cooperation between our countries, but with the results that were achieved in recent days in Shanghai and the agreements that were reached, we have every reason to believe that yet another step has been made in enhancing our trust-based dialogue and bringing our strategic partnership to new heights.

This is not just about the gas supply contract, although it goes without saying that this was a landmark achievement, and experts were right to point it out. For Russia, the importance of this deal is comparable with the decision by Soviet leaders and heads of the Federal Republic of Germany to enter into the famous “gas for pipes” contract back in the 1960s. Today, Russia makes the necessary products on its own, including large-diameter pipes and big pipes. For Russia, this is an opportunity to gain a foothold in the Asia Pacific Region and its large market. As you know this contract is valued at USD 400 billion. It will make gas infrastructure development across Russia’s Far East and Eastern Siberia economically viable. This is what matters the most for Russia with respect to this contract.

For the People’s Republic of China, this contract is expected to reduce energy deficit, which is also crucial. As I said yesterday, we share the concerns of China’s leaders regarding the need for reducing air pollution in major cities. As we all know, natural gas is the most environmentally friendly hydrocarbon resource. We really hope that our cooperation will help improve the environment in major Chinese cities.

The next step would be to enter into a similar deal for the so-called Western Route. The first contract is about delivering gas to the eastern part of China, while the second contract could target the west. The first contract will be served by Kovykta and Chayanda deposits that hold a total of 3 trillion cubic metres of gas, which is expected to last 30 years. To tell you the truth, we are confident that it will last at least 50 years. Deposits that could serve the Western Route are located in Western Siberia. This project is expected to be cheaper. Since all the main issues regarding price calculation, price formation and government support and benefits for this project have already been addressed by both sides, the second project, if greenlighted by China, could be implemented even faster than the Eastern Route project. Of course, it will all depend on the People’s Republic of China and its need to develop specific regions. So this is a separate topic.

That said, our cooperation does not boil down to energy and hydrocarbons. We continue active discussions on nuclear power, ambitious cutting-edge projects in the energy sector, including renewables. We attach great importance to cooperating in high technology, aircraft construction, space exploration and medicine. Joining efforts on monetary and financial issues is very important for both China and Russia.

There is no secret that the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation have large foreign currency reserves. China ranks first globally in this respect. It is of utmost importance for us to ensure that these funds are placed rationally and safely. We must join efforts in finding ways and means to ensure that, especially bearing in mind the challenging global economic environment and market turbulence we are currently witnessing. We must ensure and guarantee that these reserves are safe and used rationally and efficiently. Using national currencies, the yuan and the ruble, in international settlements is another topic. We have made the first modest steps in this direction and we will continue exploring opportunities for working together in this segment.

We also discussed many other opportunities including in agriculture, trade and regional cooperation, and we are committed to further promoting them. Significant advances were achieved in all those segments. I would like to commend the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping on the special role he played in facilitating these agreements. It was his direct support that paved the way to some of the visit’s achievements.