President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Kadyrov, good afternoon.

I asked you to join me in this meeting because I knew you were taking part in protocol events and meetings with our foreign guests. We agreed to see each other a long time ago to discuss the current situation in the Chechen Republic. How are things going, Mr Kadyrov?

Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov Kadyrov RamzanHead of the Chechen Republic : Mr President, thank you for finding time in your busy schedule. We got off to a good start this year - with major economic indicators growing by 32 percent, industrial production increasing by 47 percent, and construction booming - it has exceeded 8 million square metres by now.

Vladimir Putin: Chechnya broke another record here, didn't it?

Ramzan Kadyrov: You can say so.

Vladimir Putin: Last year, you had good indicators as well.

Ramzan Kadyrov: We were in the lead, and still are.

The region is becoming more and more attractive to investors every year: 600 investment projects worth 108 billion rubles are being implemented; they are expected to create almost 10,000 jobs. I would like to note that the unemployment rate in Chechnya has dropped to 4 percent. I promised you to reduce it to 5 percent, but we have brought it down to 4 percent.

Mr President, as you know, we place a special emphasis on participating in the special military operation. In total, since the beginning of the operation, Chechnya supplied 55,500 active fighters, including 21,600 volunteers. At the moment, there are more than 11,000 our fighters on the battlefield, including Defence Ministry troops, the National Guard, the Akhmat special force and the combined detachment of the Interior Ministry branch in the Chechen Republic. These fighters fulfil their assigned missions with full dedication. For the entire period [of the special military operation], 7,540 fighters from Chechnya have been decorated with state awards.

The Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov Regional Public Foundation regularly sends humanitarian supplies for civilians to the liberated territory. Their total contribution has exceeded 27,000 tonnes by now. We also pay special attention to the programme to support families of the participants in the special military operation.

To be continued.