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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Gagloyev.

Let me once again congratulate you and the entire people of South Ossetia on Victory Day.

Twenty-two thousand of our citizens, citizens of the Soviet Union, residents of South Ossetia fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, and almost half – 10,000 – died. It is no coincidence that, per capita-wise, South Ossetia is second to none in terms of the number of heroes of the Soviet Union. The Ossetians fought courageously, heroically, without any exaggeration.

Our current relations are based on the Treaty on Alliance of 2015, which marks the 10th anniversary this year. As in previous years, we will do everything in our power to support South Ossetia. I know that you pay great attention to patriotic education, and in this regard, we are currently carrying out activities related to maintenance of memorials and graves of our soldiers from the times of the Great Patriotic War in due condition and we will help you in every possible way.

As well as in other extremely important areas, I mean economy, social sphere, healthcare, and education. Of course, we will continue to pay the necessary attention to security issues as before. All of these areas are important, if not extremely important, in the context of our work. And I am very glad to have the opportunity to discuss with you today the whole range of these issues.

I am very glad to see you.

President of South Ossetia Alan Gagloyev: Thank you.

Mr Putin, I am sincerely glad to meet with you.

On behalf of the Ossetian people, allow me to personally congratulate you and, through you, the entire multinational people of the Russian Federation on a great holiday, the Great Victory Day, and, of course, thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to take part in the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

On these sacred days for us, we remember, with deep respect, the deed of the Soviet people. In South Ossetia, as you have already indicated, about 22,000 Soviet citizens, residents of South Ossetia, fought in the ranks of the Soviet army. Of the residents of South Ossetia, we have eight heroes of the Soviet Union, we rank first per capita. It was a common cause.

We highly value the special, truly fraternal relations between the Russian Federation and South Ossetia, and we hold these relations dear. And, of course, South Ossetia always supports the decision of the Russian Federation leadership. We fully support the special military operation. You know that there are about 1,500 soldiers from South Ossetia in the special operation zone, and they are showing heroism and giving their lives for the common cause.

Yet again we have to defend our common history and prevent the history, which is about to be taken away from us, from being rewritten. And at the same time, together with the multinational people of the Russian Federation, we are defending the future of our younger generations. Our guys have been awarded state honours of both the Russian Federation and South Ossetia.

We – both the republic's leadership and ordinary citizens – based on our capabilities, support our guys, periodically travelling to the zone of the special military operation, meeting with them and bringing them humanitarian aid. Everyone understands that this is our common cause and our common future. No one doubts that we will achieve another victory together, and together we will celebrate it.

We – both the people and the leadership of the republic – would like to express once again our enormous gratitude to you for your large-scale support for the republic and its people for such a long time. Today we are implementing the investment programme. Last year, we implemented the programme by 95 percent: considering the difficult situation, I believe that this is a very good indicator.

At the same time, we are implementing the state programme of socio-economic development, and a number of projects have been implemented under this programme. At the end of last year, together with our colleagues from the Ministry of Economy, we launched the first production facility – it is producing and processing fruit and vegetable products. This year we launched stone processing, we quarry local stone, and we get a very high-quality product. In the near future we will launch the third production facility – it is to deal with timber processing. We are creating jobs, and people start to receive salaries.

This year, both the investment and the socio-economic programmes will come to an end. We have achieved positive results, we have positive dynamics, but at the same time, of course, there are still issues that require your attention and assistance among others, Mr President.

I want to thank you for your decision: under your instruction we got the opportunity through the Presidential Grants Foundation to restore monuments to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War in schools and villages. This is valuable and very important for us. Practically all generations, starting from first year pupils to elderly people are engaged in it. So, we cherish our history and we will instill this in our children, the younger generation.

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