September 24, 2007 (LPAC)--"Under no circumstances will we allow the emergence of so-called bubbles in the economy. We will not let this happen but will react swiftly to events taking place on world markets," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his concluding remarks at the Sochi International Investment Forum, which included both Russian and foreign participants. The statement is posted on the Russian Presidential website today.

In his brief remarks, Putin first focussed on the real economy, saying that discussion at the forum had "gone beyond the limits of regional interests," to discuss the general energy sector, and the potential "impact this could have on the real sector of the economy, particularly on the metallurgy industry." He added later that Southern Russia "is an area of strategic interest.... Above all, of course, we will concentrate on infrastructure development. This concerns communications, telecommunications, railways, developing a network of highways and building new bridges, tunnels and ports (we did not talk about seaports today), all of which is extremely important for the implementation of large-scale projects."

He then shifted to the financial crisis, saying: "I would like to say from the outset that under no circumstances will we allow the emergence of so-called bubbles in the economy. We will not let this happen but will react swiftly to events taking place on world markets. The Russian economy, financial and banking system have reached a level of development that enable us to respond rapidly and effectively to events and guarantee that the Russian economy continues to develop normally. There should be no doubts in this respect."