Congress of the Union of Machine Engineers of Russia

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends,

It is a great pleasure to be here and to take part in the work of the Congress of the Union of Machine Engineers of Russia.

It is one of our country's largest sectoral associations, comprising such leading, backbone, and important companies as Rostec, Roscosmos, United Aircraft Corporation, Almaz-Antey, Uralvagonzavod, AvtoVAZ, and many other enterprises where numerous teams of specialists - true professionals in their field - are employed.

Naturally, in modern life and the contemporary economy, everything is important. Services are important, as are financial operations and securities; nevertheless, it is a pleasure to deal with people who are engaged in tangible work.

Mr Chemezov has just said that we have many challenges and complicated issues that need to be resolved collectively. After all, this is the 10^th anniversary congress, so I will not dwell on sombre matters - I will not speak of the key rate, nor of the need for long-term capital and the strengthening of the ruble. We meet regularly with many of you; all of this is known, and we discuss these matters with the Government and with the Central Bank - you are fully apprised of the situation. I will note that, despite all the difficulties, in recent years domestic machine engineers have been operating in challenging conditions, including the severance of ties with certain foreign counterparties and external pressure from unfriendly countries.

Nonetheless, under these circumstances, Russian companies, their managers and employees have shown flexibility and the ability to apply non-standard approaches. By reconfiguring logistics chains, replacing a number of components, and developing their own original scientific and technological solutions, they have not only maintained steady operations but also, in numerous instances, secured new positions in both domestic and foreign markets. They implement development programmes, invest in fundamental research and the strengthening of human resources.

Despite all the problems that we are all aware of and that I have just touched upon in passing, the results are substantial. By the end of last year, the output of the Russian manufacturing industry was almost 25 percent higher than in 2021.

The reason for my emphasising this is that it was after 2021, in 2022, that all the aforementioned challenges emerged.

To be continued.