Russian President Vladimir Putin Meets Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev

The main subject of the meeting was the development of mortgage lending, including military mortgage lending. Vnesheconombank Chairman V. Dmitriev informed the President on the projects being implemented with the Bank’s support.

***

V.PUTIN: Mr Dmitriev, could you say a few words about how the year started and how you assess its results?

V. DMITRIEV: Mr President, since the start of the year, we have been implementing the strategy that you approved, and from my point of view this strategy is a consequence of good results we achieved last year. Our investment portfolio, that is, our portfolio of projects being implemented with Vnesheconombank’s support is comprised of about 140 projects now, and we are going to launch 27 new projects this year.

Here I mean projects in various sectors, ranging from industry, infrastructure, and agriculture to social projects that are being implemented on a public-private partnership basis. As I’ve already said, we are going to launch 27 new projects this year, decisions on some of which were taken in the first quarter of this year.

V.PUTIN: Which of them would you single out in particular?

V.DMITRIEV: The Olympic project is obviously our top priority now. You personally attended the opening of a number of facilities, specifically, the Adler power station, stadiums, and hotels. Of course, this year we’ll have to work very hard in order to complete all these projects on time and put them into operation.

We also hope to launch a unique project this year to produce polypropylene from associated petroleum gas. This is the Tobolsk Polymer project. The modernized Khabarovsk Oil Refinery is to be put into operation this year as well. In other words, we have a whole number of projects that will be completed this year. Aside from the figures I have cited, this is the most visible result of the Bank’s activity.

V.PUTIN: What is the approximate amount of funding for the Tobolsk project and for the oil refinery in Khabarovsk?

V.DMITRIEV: It is about 1 billion euros. The funding is coming in full from foreign loans, since a number of European countries are supplying equipment. And oil processing level will amount to about 96 percent.

V.PUTIN: You are referring to the oil refinery?

V.DMITRIEV: Yes, I am.

V.PUTIN: And what about the Tobolsk project?

V.DMITRIEV: The Tobolsk Polymer project’s financing amount is about 2 billion euros in investments. The project is being implemented by SIBUR, and this production facility is unique for Russia.

V.PUTIN: How many people will it employ?

V.DMITRIEV: There will be around 1,500 people working there. These are the most advanced high-skilled jobs. The facility itself will be unique in every respect, including in terms of its equipment supply infrastructure.

It is changing the face of Tobolsk too. I’ve been there many times since the project began. This really is an advanced production facility with a highly skilled workforce, and what’s more, people have come from across Russia to work there.

V.PUTIN: Good. And what about mortgage lending?

V.DMITRIEV: Vnesheconombank’s participation share in mortgage lending under the government program is 250 billion rubles, with 150 billion rubles being used to buy out mortgage bonds. This program is advancing pretty dynamically. As far as the 150 billion rubles are concerned we have already provided 92 percent.

We appealed to the government to prolong this program, given that securitization of these mortgage loans is delayed because of purely technical problems that arise upon extending loans. Nevertheless, we believe that in 2014 these bonds will be bought out in full.

This program is designed to extend mortgage loans at interest rates of no more that than 11 percent per annum. And this program made it possible to significantly reduce mortgage interest rates in the mortgage lending system not covered by this program.

I would also like to stress that Vnesheconombank’s subsidiary commercial banks are also involved in the mortgage lending activity. I’d like above all to single out Svyaz-Bank which is a leader in extending mortgage loans to servicemen under the program which is being implemented through Rosvoenipoteka. The bank accounts for 25 percent of the market  and it is ahead of other commercial banks.

 We are funding this program through Svyaz-Bank and monitoring its dynamic development being aware that this is one of very important social issues and that mortgage loans should be extended to servicemen on preferential terms. We intend to further enhance this program in parallel with the main mortgage lending program that is being implemented through Vnesheconombank.

Origin: Official site of the President of the Russian Federation