Vnesheconombank Fist Deputy Chairman Anatoly Tikhonov’s Interview to the Information Channel Vesti

TV Channel Vesti-24
16.09.09, 14:35

HOST: Issues of saving government funds have hit the headlines of the leading economic publications lately. We’ll discuss today how to spend government funds wisely including those intended for the Olympic Games in Sochi with our guest. Our guest today is Vnesheconombank First Deputy Chairman Anatoly Tikhonov. Good afternoon, Anatoly Vladimirovich!

Anatoly TIKHONOV, Vnesheconombank First Deputy Chairman: Good afternoon!

HOST: Just at the beginning of September Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed to set up a specialized institution responsible for supervising the construction of facilities financed by Vnesheconombank. Would you tell us what sort of institution it is?

Anatoly TIKHONOV: You are right. On September 2, Vnesheconombank’s Supervisory Board approved the Management Board’s proposal to create a specialized engineering company with the participation of a leading foreign company. What was the reason for it? The fact is that Vnesheconombank is a state-run development institution and projects implemented by Vnesheconombank are financed by public money and we should be well aware what is being created with this money in all these projects. For example, we have been charged by the government with implementing a number of Olympic facilities construction projects. What are the Olympic Games for us? They are not only an investment project for us. They are projects that are closely associated with the dates when Olympic facilities are to be commissioned. We are cooperating with Olympstroy and we are well aware that there are certain dates set by the Olympic Committee and Olympic facilities are to be commissioned on these dates. But in order to understand what our money is spent on, that is, what sort of project solutions were adopted, how the investor economizes on funds under the today’s market conditions, we need a relevant expertise. And having examined what’s going on in the market today, we made a decision to establish our own independent company, our subsidiary company. And we are inviting one of the leading foreign partners to this company. Moreover, we are developing engineering expertise, that is, by accomplishing our internal objective we are working out training programs, we are introducing high technologies to exercise control over Olympic construction projects. And this will allow us to see what’s going on our construction sites more professionally and most importantly bring new technologies to Russia.

HOST:  Do you already know who is going to be your foreign partner?

Anatoly TIKHONOV: On the instructions of our Supervisory Board we have worked out a procedure to be used for selecting such companies. We have sent invitations to participate in a new joint company to those partners who in our opinion are relevant to objectives we have to address. And we hope that within a month or a month and a half we’ll perform such an analysis and hold detailed negotiations with companies and as I’ve already said we are sure to find out what expertise, technologies and programs they prepared to share with us.

HOST: When do you intend to launch this subsidiary company?

Anatoly TIKHONOV: We plan that this company will start operating as an instrument in December. We are pressed for time. We have to act.

HOST: What projects are you financing under the Olympic construction program? What criteria do you use to select projects and facilities which you are ready to finance?

Anatoly TIKHONOV: In the first place, Vnesheconombank in its capacity of a development institution finances infrastructure projects and such projects are included in the Olympic program. These are the Sochi International Airport, Port Sochi Imeretinsky, and the Sochi Thermal Power Plant Expanding Reconstruction. There are also a number of projects that are Olympic facilities as such. Here I mean the Gornaya Karusel project, the Rosa Khutor project where Olympic facilities will be located including, of course, the Olympic Village. That is, all the projects that are directly linked to the Olympic Games. We believe that these projects are fully in line with our memorandum because the Olympic Games are not just a major sports festival; they are, above all, a major investment project aimed at creating a world class resort in the Russian Federation.

HOST: There are opponents and proponents of the Sochi Olympic Games. Opponents say that Olympic expenses are huge funds that would be put down the drain and that they would not produce any multiplier effect for the economy. How do you feel about this sort of opinions?

Anatoly TIKHONOV: First, everything we are doing to make preparations for the Olympic Games is being created for us, for our entire country, for our people. Having built Olympic facilities we might not be able to utilize 100 percent of them for holding international competitions after the Olympic Games in the future.  But this is a sports infrastructure to be used by people. Is that right? Here I mean children’s sports and mass sports. And we should not forget that Sochi’s unique feature is that it is an all-year-round resort and this unique feature was taken into account by the Olympic Committee. So, it’s quite evident for me that it’s going to be a world-class resort with its entire infrastructure which will be accessible to us, our citizens.

HOST: For many years ahead.

Anatoly TIKHONOV: Yes, of course.

HOST: Anatoly Vladimirovich, how realistic is the Olympic budget? We know that now the state’s expenses are being reduced where it is possible, won’t it prevent you from performing all work in due time?

Anatoly TIKHONOV: It’s good after all that expenses are going down and actually prices for many materials are going down. And our government requires construction companies to reduce costs and  this is also going to be a function of our new engineering company. It’s absolutely normal that under the conditions of competition expenses have to go down. This doesn’t mean that the number of facilities is falling. There are facilities that were approved by the Olympic Committee that are to be commissioned on certain dates and these facilities are being built. Maybe, some investors who wanted to implement projects related to the Olympic Games but not directly related to the Olympic infrastructure would cut their expenses or would not do excessive things. But it’s a matter of taste, a matter of business itself. As far as the Olympic Games and Olympic facilities are concerned, everything is being done in a thoughtful way.

HOST: Is the budget realistic as of today?

Anatoly TIKHONOV: The budget is realistic. Of course, we have to search for new state-of-the art engineering solutions and in principal we are doing it. In implementing our projects today, we have to change certain solutions but it’s a positive factor, given that such changes enable us to save funds. The main thing is not to affect quality negatively.

HOST: You are right. How much can you save in the situation of the crisis due to lower prices for construction materials, construction work, can you give us any specific figures with regard to potential or actual funds saving?

Anatoly TIKHONOV: I can’t say for everybody, but the analysis performed by our specialists on the basis of the analysis made available by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development finds that we might reduce costs by 15-20 percent with regard to a number of projects and this is already happening today. And I think that such industrial sectors involved in the Olympic construction as the construction and the metal making industries are also well aware that having such a big guaranteed order they need to adopt an economical attitude to their supplies to Olympic construction projects.

HOST: Anatoly Vladimirovich, thank you for your interesting interview, I wish you all the best in your work and thank you for finding time to come to our studio.

Anatoly TIKHONOV: Thank you.

HOST: I’d like to remind you that our guest today was Anatoly Tikhonov, Vnesheconombank First Deputy Chairman.