Meeting with Head of the Lugansk People’s Republic Leonid Pasechnik

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Pasechnik.

Where shall we begin? Let's begin with the real economy.

Head of the Lugansk People's Republic Leonid Pasechnik Pasechnik LeonidHead of the Lugansk People's Republic : Mr President,

Here is what I have to report. Regrettably, the situation in the republic remains complicated and tense. The main reason is that there is a line of battle contact, with active combat operations, in our territory. Much to our regret, this is having its effect on the situation as a whole.

However, we are more or less in control of the situation, thanks to the efforts of our service personnel, our country's Armed Forces and the law enforcement officers, who are also operating in the republic, so that we can implement the tasks that you, the Government and our people are setting for us, as well as other tasks that need to be fulfilled now.

I would like to begin with the industry. We are now working actively in this sphere, with support from the Government and our sponsor regions. We are actively rebuilding the enterprises which stopped working after 2014, as well as the facilities that continued operations but were funded, were developing residually. Today, we are trying to put absolutely all enterprises back to their feet, as they say, including by attracting investors. We are using the opportunities of the special economic zone, which offers benefits, towards this end. I believe that we can report positive results in this sphere, despite the current challenges.

Our main task is to focus on people, of course. We are working towards the goal you have set for us, which is to reach the country's average socioeconomic indicators by 2030.

Here is what our industrial structure looks like today: metallurgy accounts for 77.4 percent, food industry about 12 percent, engineering 6.3 percent, and other sectors four percent. Of course, there is still a great deal to be done, and there is room for improvement, so we will continue to work actively towards this end.

To be continued.