Report by Andrei Kolesnikov about how Vladimir Putin and Andrei Kostin discussed in the Kremlin what is and is not a money-box

On November 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin with the head of VTB Bank Andrei Kostin. Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov believes that no one felt ill at this meeting or as a result of it. But it became good.

Vladimir Putin invited Andrei Kostin to start the meeting with shipbuilding.

— How do you master it? — Mr. Putin clarified.

As you know, we “master” first of all budgets. And that is why the concept of “mastering” undoubtedly has a sweet aftertaste. There is anticipation of something very, very good. There is nothing better like this.

In the case with which Mr. Putin proposed to start, we are talking about more or less a new grandiose asset of VTB: the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).

“Together with the general director,” said Andrey Kostin, “I visited the largest enterprises in the industry: Sevmashzavod, Zvezdochka in the Arkhangelsk region, Baltic Plant, Proletarsky Plant and Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg, Krasnoe Sormovo in Nizhny Novgorod.

The names alone, I must admit, give me goosebumps. This is not even Dynamo Moscow. This is different.

“In general, it seems to me that the work in the corporation on state defense orders can be considered satisfactory,” concluded the head of VTB. “There are, of course, shortcomings – both in the work of the corporation, and in the work of related companies, and in the mechanism of relations with the Ministry of Defense… I think that we can cope with this task… As for civil shipbuilding, here, in my opinion, very great prospects are opening up. As a positive example, I can tell you about the program that is being implemented by the Baltic Shipyard on behalf of Rosatom – the construction of nuclear icebreakers for the Northern Sea Route. Russia is the only country that produces this type of ship… I am confident that in five to seven years we will have a modern, efficient shipbuilding industry.

Meanwhile, a truly interesting conversation began when Mr. Kostin began to talk about affairs in the banking industry.

“This year is very successful not only for VTB, but for the entire banking sector,” said Andrei Kostin. “You know, I reported to you last year, the bank suffered greatly from the fact that there was absolute chaos against us: they took away our foreign banks, we are now liquidating them. We suffered, of course, serious losses. But this year we seriously made up for it. We are restoring the capital base and achieving record profits – about 420 billion rubles, which, of course, is very significant.

Here, however, the head of VTB warned:

— Next year, we still expect a decrease in the growth of the banking sector and our income, because the Central Bank has taken anti-inflationary measures: raising the rate, limiting lending, including consumer lending.

He was clearly preparing to say this. But how? The whole question is how to do this? You need to maintain decency, not quarrel with anyone, preferably make friends, but still say something.

It was very interesting how Mr. Kostin would cope with a non-trivial task.

– But we understand that these are temporary measures! — he assured in the meantime. “And we expect that as soon as the economy reaches the target inflation figures, the Central Bank will adjust its policy and make monetary policy less tight!” Or maybe even better – softer!

We must admit: well, it’s masterful! After all, it is necessary to grasp the fundamental difference between “less hard” and “softer”.

“We also need to be very careful here with softness…” Mr. Putin also switched to halftones.

– We understand! – Andrei Kostin exclaimed.

“You see,” Mr. Putin explained, “our ill-wishers apparently did not expect that the Russian banking sector would thus go through all the difficulties that are created from the outside.” They didn’t take into account the seemingly basic things that a bank is not just a box where money is stored, but it is part of the economy!

On some information resources, the phrase “A bank is not just a box where money lies” will, without a doubt, become the “Quote of the Week.”

– Undoubtedly! — Andrei Kostin quickly agreed. “And the banking sector was preparing, of course, for different developments in the situation, but the economy turned out to be stable, so we see economic growth.”

“And you know,” the president added, “after all, this once again showed that we could not be isolated.”

This thought still haunts him.

— Are you ultimately satisfied with the work of the bank? – Vladimir Putin asked.

He wanted to hear all this again and again.

“Yes, we worked well this year,” repeated Andrei Kostin. “I think that today we are looking forward with great optimism.” We’re in such a mood!

That’s it, Vladimir Putin got Andrei Kostin to make these words sound like a song.