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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Your Highness,

I am very pleased to see you. And at the beginning of our meeting, I would like to ask you to convey my best wishes to your father, the Sultan of Oman. He was part of the beginning of our relations. We will be happy to see him in Russia at a convenient time next year as this year is coming to an end.

Our trade is still modest, but it is being actively developed: in the first nine months of this year it increased many times over.

I know that you are interested in logistics projects. The President of Iran, Mr Raisi, has arrived to visit us today, and we will be able to discuss the North-South corridor.

Our companies are interested in working in the energy sector. Direct air flights are now operating, and tourism is also one of the areas of activity, very interesting and promising.

In general, we have a lot to do, and we are very happy that you are here. During your visit, we are sure to find additional and promising areas for cooperation.

We are happy to see you.

Crown Prince, Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports of the Sultanate of Oman Ziyazan Bin Haytham Al Said (retranslated): Thank you, Mr President.

Mr President, first of all I would like to thank you for the opportunity to get to know and meet you personally. I would also like to convey the best wishes of my father Sultan of Oman, who greatly values relations with you.

I am grateful for the invitation you have just extended to my father. I am sure that his visit will take place, hopefully in the near future, and will indeed open new opportunities for the development of bilateral relations.

Mr President, I would like to note that bilateral relations between our countries go back to 1985, and since then they have been gradually developing. I agree with you that the trade volumes in the economic sphere are still modest, but as a result of recent geopolitical events, there seems to be every chance to develop them, regardless of emergency situations.

Mr President, I listened to your speech at the opening of today’s event very carefully. I would like to confirm that I share all your assessments of the current international situation, primarily with regard to the necessity of ending the current unfair world order and the dominance of the West, as well as to build a new fair world order and economic relations without double standards.

I also agree that the current developments around the world dictate the need to create new mechanisms for trade and economic interaction between countries without imposing ideologies or without pressure from third countries. I agree that it is necessary to create new international economic centres. Considering the factors of population and natural resources, I believe that this should include centres in Asia and Africa. And considering the strategic position of the Middle East, the participation of this region in strategic logistics infrastructure projects seems promising.

Mr President, I would also like to note that we highly appreciate Andrei Kostin’s personal participation and his role in promoting bilateral projects between our countries. We remain interested in continuing our investments in the Russian economy; we are investing in food security. We are developing projects in other areas, including cultural areas.

We are ready to study our prospects. I believe that we need to maintain existing communication channels, including through Mr Kostin, as well as develop others.

Vladimir Putin: It is true that Mr Kostin is a very effective manager, but don’t praise him too much lest he might also want to be a sultan. Anyway, overall our financial system is showing good performance, partly thanks to the efforts of VTB, which is headed by Mr Kostin. This year our banking system as a whole will earn a little more than three trillion rubles; they will recover everything they lost last year, plus they will gain a profit.

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