ello (@piers)

#Putin: **"Mr Potanin, you are working in many spheres, but how is the parent company doing?"** Potanin: "Norilsk Nickel is our top priority today, of course. The company has been working in difficult conditions for a long time, at least for the past five years, but we have acquired many useful skills over that period. We have learned how to enter new markets and build a new payment architecture and logistics chains. We have replaced almost all foreign-made software with domestic alternatives and no longer depend on our former Western partners." VVP:**" Which Russian company developed software for you?"** VP: "As you know, the Metallurgy Industrial Competence Centre (ICC) is operating in the sphere of import substitution to connect us with software developers, and we have paid our own money to substitute many software programmes. They are also available to our industry colleagues, just as the products of other competence centres are available to us." VVP: **"In other words, you have done this not only for your company but also for your colleagues, right?"** VP: "Yes, we have done this not only for ourselves but also for our colleagues. They were also involved in this project because they need these products, too. As I have said, we also use the products created for our colleagues; it is a healthy exchange that benefits all sides. "You know that we do this while maintaining high social standards and meeting our environmental commitments. Over 10,000 families have recently improved their living conditions in the Norilsk Industrial District alone. "As for ecology, last year, we exceeded our commitments under the Clean Air project by approximately 50%, and this year we will exceed them twofold." VVP: **"In all the 12 cities?"** VP: "Yes, and we have made a very substantial contribution to this programme. Norilsk Nickel accounts for over one third of it, and we intend to continue doing this. "We are now working to eliminate our remaining dependence on technologies from countries with which cooperation has become increasingly difficult. Our teams have all but performed a feat in completing this sulphur programme, which is now yielding such impressive results. We therefore intend to complete the remaining stages of the programme using exclusively Russian technologies, or, where necessary, in cooperation with partners from friendly jurisdictions. "Our performance in 2025 and this year shows that we have almost completely adapted to the challenging conditions in which we operate. This is reflected, among other things, in record ore production: this year we expect to mine more than 17 million tonnes of ore in the Norilsk Industrial District. We have also managed to reverse the decline in labour productivity and return to productivity growth. We intend to make further gains in productivity one of our key priorities." VVP: **"I know you are achieving this by using the most advanced technologies."** VP: Absolutely. "The scope for raising labour productivity through traditional methods is largely exhausted, which is why we are relying on automation and have even begun introducing robotics into mining processes. All of this is being implemented with the help of artificial intelligence." VVP: **"Yes, I have been briefed on that."** VP: "Indeed. We attach great importance to the adoption of artificial intelligence. Last year alone, the economic effect of introducing these technologies amounted to around 10 billion rubles. By 2030, we expect that figure to increase to 30 billion rubles. "These are not merely aspirations or unfounded plans. We already have concrete projects underway with our partners, including our Belarusian partners at BELAZ. In addition to the long-established supply and servicing of mining equipment for Norilsk, we have now begun…" VVP: **"From Belarus?"** VP: "We import conventional equipment from Belarus, while maintenance and repair works are carried out locally at Russian facilities. "But we have now also embarked on a programme for the development of mining machinery, specifically next-generation units capable of operating underground in an autonomous, unmanned mode. The results of the initial testing of such technologies are encouraging. Should these developments prove successful, we intend to share these advancements with our colleagues. Indeed, in essence, we are now only a few steps away from deploying such units underground and realising a fully unmanned mine." VVP: **"Excellent. How is the current situation on global markets shaping up?"** VP: Mr President, the market environment is indeed challenging. On the one hand, demand for our metals remains stable; on the other, the refusal of numerous countries to purchase our goods has made logistics and sales challenging [...]." Kremlin (15.7.26); p (4) http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/80295