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Vladimir Putin held a meeting on implementing a financial reform programme for defence industry companies.

Keynote reports were made by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov.

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Opening remarks at the meeting on implementing the financial reform programme for defence industry companies

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today, we will return to discussing an issue that is critical for the country's economy and industry, namely, the stability of the defence industry’s financial situation.

As you know, we have already met several times to discuss this. We operate on the premise that such stability should stimulate diversification, technological renewal and production growth.

I mentioned this earlier and I want to say it again, we are past the peak of arms deliveries under the state defence order, and this work is close to completion in other areas.

Now, in addition to their core work and creating the groundwork for new-generation equipment, defence industry companies are facing ambitious goals to increase the production of civilian, high-tech products that enjoy demand and are competitive both inside our country and internationally.

National projects provide ample opportunities for manufacturing such products, especially medical and road construction equipment, telecommunication systems and waste and garbage processing equipment.

In general, analysts say that the potential demand is quite high at about 6.2 trillion rubles. It is imperative to have most of this demand met by domestic manufacturers.

Of course, before our defence industry companies can begin to work on this, we need to adopt organisational, technical, personnel and, of course, financial measures, which we will talk about today.

Clearly, large debt is the restraining factor here. Loans seriously limit the possibilities for diversifying output, introducing advanced technologies and developing personnel.

As you may recall, at a meeting of the Military Industrial Commission in Izhevsk in September, we noted the need to improve the financial situation among defence industry companies, and agreed that this issue would be worked through promptly and substantively.

To reiterate, proposals for improving defence companies’ financial condition should primarily focus on diversifying output.

Let us talk about your accomplishments and proposals. I remember well that we had several scenarios.

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