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President Vladimir Putin: Mr Greenberg,

First of all, I am very happy to welcome you to Moscow. We are well acquainted with your corporation’s activities. The work that you have been doing with our Chamber of Commerce and Industry means a lot to us. As for your plans to sign documents aimed at developing mortgage loans in Russia together with Gosstroi, they are of paramount importance.

I know that your corporation is also quite active on the U.S. market and that you have a lot of experience in this area. We took into account the American experience when drafting our documents on mortgages, and your practical participation in this work in Russia is of great importance for us now.

Other areas are no less interesting. There is no shortage of work to do here in Russia. It is good to see that the investment process is now becoming a two-way street. One of our companies, Norilsk Nickel, has acquired a controlling stake in a major American platinum group metals producer. I think that this kind of mutual investment is the direction in which we should work to develop our cooperation. I would like to point out that last year unfortunately, the United States was only in eighth place for volume of investment in Russia.

The United States still has a good position in terms of overall investment over time, but at the moment it is only in third place for volume of investment here. My colleagues and I are preparing now for the meeting with President Bush in September. George and I often discuss economic issues. I think that this meeting should also concentrate on economic development and cooperation issues. I very much hope that the American business community will help to create favourable conditions for developing our economic cooperation.